Chamber and committees

By developing Carbon Neutral Islands that attract jobs and investment, the project aims to retain and bring more people to Scottish islands. It will be informed by the development of the Islands Bond policy and align with Strategic Objective One of the National Islands Plan which states that we will address population decline and ensure a healthy, balanced population profile.

To relieve some pressure on acute services, NHS Highland took the decision to pause their orthopaedic elective programme through August, and the board are continuing to treat patients on the basis of their clinical urgency and in line with the Clinical Prioritisation Framework.

Last year the Cabinet Secretary for Health and sport published a national Clinical Prioritisation Framework for Supporting Elective Care across NHS Scotland. This Framework sets out the key principles that NHS Boards should follow when considering decisions around prioritising cases on their elective care waiting lists during the COVID-19 pandemic. The expectation is that NHS Boards will follow these principles to categorise patients based on their particular clinical needs, ensuring patients with the greatest need are treated quickest.

We are working proactively with health boards to manage pressures and take rapid action to support increased capacity, including expedited recruitment, flexible deployment of existing staffing and supporting mutual aid across the system.

Moving forward, our NHS Recovery Plan sets out commitments over the next 5 years, backed by over £1 billion of funding, to support an increase in inpatient, daycase, and outpatient activity to address backlogs, which will be supported by the implementation of sustainable improvements and new models of care.

To date, the Scottish Government has provided more than £2 billion to NHS Boards and Integration Authorities, with NHS Western Isles receiving £7.7 million, to address pressures arising from Covid-19.

We will continue to assess the impact of Covid-19, and its financial implications for our health service, in order to ensure that frontline services receive the support that they need throughout the pandemic.

Prior to introducing plans for Covid-19 vaccine passports at certain events, the Scottish Government consulted the Scottish Football Association on the potential operational issues which would need to be considered in delivering a workable and proportionate vaccine certification scheme.

Since the Parliamentary vote, the Scottish Government has been consulting directly with impacted football clubs, and will continue to do so, to further discuss these operational issues with a view to arriving at workable solutions to allow implementation from 1 October.

Scottish Ambulance Service staffing is up 63.5% under this Government, by 2,346.1 WTE between Sept 2006 and June 2021, and now stands at 6,040.4 WTE.

In terms of specific numbers of paramedics in post since 2017, this is detailed in the following table:

The cervical screening programme routinely invites anyone with a cervix who is between the ages of 25 and 64 for a test every 5 years. This is in line with the recommendation given by the UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC), to change the primary screening test from cytology (looking at cervical cells through a microscope to find those which could develop into cancer) to testing for high-risk human papillomavirus (HPV). The new test is more effective at identifying those at risk of developing cervical cancer, meaning those who don’t have HPV will be invited for a cervical screening test every five years instead of every three. The Scottish Government, along with the rest of the UK, is advised on all aspects of cervical screening including the move to HPV testing by the UK NSC.

Further information on the UK NSC’s recommendation can found on the following website: https://view-health-screening-recommendations.service.gov.uk/cervical-cancer/.

The Scottish Government is clear that we wish to maintain and advance the high standards Scotland has enjoyed as part of the EU. Ministers have no current plans to use the discretionary powers to align with the European Union legislation provided through the UK Withdrawal from the EU (Continuity) (Scotland) Act 2021 in the area of nature restoration legislation.

Ministers will set out a statement of policy on the factors to be taken into account when considering whether to use the discretionary power within the UK Withdrawal from the EU (Continuity) (Scotland) Act 2021 in the coming months .

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-02419 on 21 September 2021. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers

The Scottish Government welcomes the report on Non-Communicable Disease Prevention published on 6 September and recognises that its recommendations are in line with the Government’s own approach, based on the World Health Organisation strategies of reducing Affordability, Availability and Attractiveness of alcohol, tobacco and unhealthy foods.

We are committed to supporting individuals and local communities by delivering measures to target harmful health behaviours early and provide access to holistic and person-centred treatment when needed.