Chamber and committees

As advised in my previous answer, health boards lead on the local delivery of the vaccination programme and they manage the process for housebound people locally. We therefore do not hold information on average, longest, or shortest waiting times for housebound people and this information would have to be requested from the relevant health board.

NHS Lothian has, as part of their response to the reports, sent diagnostic appointments for those children identified in the review as being of clinical concern and requiring recall. In addition, the Board is working with the British Academy of Audiology to review the Auditory Brainstem Response (ABR) recordings of all children seen by the service for ABR testing during the last five years. An agreed escalation process is in place to highlight any cases of concern on a weekly basis and those of significant concern within 24 hours.

The Board is also undertaking work to review children known to the service who have risk factors for hearing loss and, based on the outcome of each review, recall children where appropriate in line with national guidance.

NHS Lothian will continue to report to the Scottish Government on a monthly basis.

The commitment to reduce car kms by 20% by 2030 (against a 2019 baseline) as set out in the Scottish Government’s Climate Change Plan update (CCPu) published in December 2020 remains unchanged, either in terms of measurement or time scale.

An incorrect graphic was posted on social media on the 10 th of December. As soon as the error was noticed, the post was removed at the earliest opportunity to avoid further confusion, and we remain fully committed to reducing car km driven in Scotland by 20% by the year 2030.

The Scottish Government is not considering the possibility of allowing Health Boards to take over the running of community pharmacies that are struggling to remain open. Community pharmacies, along with other primary care contractors, are wholly independent private entities providing NHS services on behalf the Health Board. Any challenges faced by community pharmacy contractors in delivering existing pharmaceutical care services should be discussed with the Health Boards who will be able to consider actions to support service provision.

he A92 A96 Haudagain Improvement project, which was anticipated to be complete in winter 2021, has faced a number of challenges including the impact of the pandemic continuing to disrupt progress. The contractor has indicated a revised date for completing the works, with the Improvement now due to open to traffic by the end of March 2022 as detailed in the recent press release available on the Transport Scotland website at https://www.transport.gov.scot/news/a92a96-haudagain-improvement-update-to-expected-completion-date/ . I also refer the member to the answer to question S6W-05362 on 21 December 2021 available on the Parliament's website at the following link: https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers/question?ref=S6W-05362

I can confirm that the project remains on budget. There is no change to the estimated total project cost of £49.5m at Q4 2018 prices, of which the construction contract value is £18m, as reported in the Infrastructure Investment Plan updates.

The pharmacy profession and provision of pharmaceutical care is regulated by the General Pharmaceutical Council, who assure and improve standards of care for people using pharmacy services. The Achieving Excellence in Pharmaceutical Care strategy, published in 2017, setting out the priorities, commitments, and actions for improving and integrating NHS pharmaceutical care in Scotland up to 2022. The strategy sets the direction for how pharmaceutical care would be delivered in Scotland and the crucial contribution of pharmacists and pharmacy technicians, working together with other health and social care practitioners, to improve the health of the population and impact on health outcomes.

The Scottish Government has commissioned National Services Division (NSD) to undertake a programme of activity to assist in identifying the capacity needs of NHS Boards and staff in delivering safe, effective and person-centred support for people with long COVID.

As part of this activity, a Short Life Working Group on managing the long-term effects of COVID-19 was set up. The Short Life Working Group identified the need to establish a Strategic Network to support the delivery of the policy framework outlined in ‘Scotland’s Long COVID Service’, which includes exploring how a care co-ordination model might be able to enhance the way in which primary, community and secondary care services work together in order to meet the needs of people living with complex needs as a result of long COVID.

The Strategic Network will then support experts, clinicians and lived experience and will have a key role in identifying and ensuring that the £10m long COVID Support Fund is targeted at areas where this additional resource is most needed and can make the biggest impact.

The draft Budget for 2022-23 provides £40 million in support for bus services as patronage recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic. This is in addition to the continuation of pre COVID bus service support funding of £53.5 million. Where coach operators run registered local bus services they may also be eligible for this support.

Identifying and ensuring that the £10m long COVID Support Fund is targeted at areas where this additional resource is most needed will make the biggest impact for those people with long COVID. That is why a Strategic Network is being set up to support the delivery of the policy framework outlined in ‘Scotland’s Long COVID Service’.

The list of private providers is owned by the UK Government. All providers included on the list must complete or be working towards full United Kingdom Accreditation Service accreditation. If a provider does not complete this or fails the accreditation then they are removed from the list.

Officials continue to work with UK Government to monitor performance of private tests providers. This is done at the private testing provider working group with the Department of Health and Social Care and the devolved administrations, which meet every 2 weeks.

The providers have various standards to meet, which are defined in our regulations and the key performance indicators (KPIs) that are set on turnaround times, customer service and sequencing requirements. Any provider not achieving these standards or engaging in unethical practices are removed from the list.

If individuals are having or have had an issue with a private test provider, they should first report this back to the provider. If they are not satisfied with this then they can submit a complaint here: https://enquiries.test-and-trace.nhs.uk/s/enquiries where the complaint will be investigated.