Chamber and committees

A full public consultation into proposed restrictions on the advertising and promotion of vaping products was launched on February 3. The consultation will run for 12 weeks and all responses will be independently analysed.

NHS Boards are expected to assess their patients’ travel needs and can, if required, direct them to appropriate support this will include local volunteer groups and charities who they have engaged with. For example NHS Ayrshire and Arran has a service level agreement with Ayrshire Cancer Support which provides transport for patients.

The Scottish Government acted on requests by retail organisations not to launch the consultation in the run-up to Christmas which is the busiest trading period and may not have allowed retailers the full opportunity to share their views. We took the opportunity to liaise with a short-life working group and update the consultation in line with the most recent emerging evidence.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-06307 on 28 February 2022. 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 is committed to ensuring that people living with kidney diseases are able to access the best possible support and benefit from healthcare services that are safe, effective and put people at the centre of their care. We expect NHS Boards to adhere to current guidelines on the diagnosis and treatment options from authorative sources such as the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) and the UK Kidney Association (UKKA).

In Scotland we are at the forefront of using service and performance data to improve care and diagnosis of kidney disease. This includes the work of the Scottish Renal Registry which reports on patients receiving renal replacement therapy and promoting excellence in renal care in Scotland through best practice audits.

The National Cancer Quality Steering Group (NCQSG) has responsibility for the development and oversight of tumour specific national quality performance indicators (QPIs) to measure the quality of care for patients, this includes a set specifically for renal cancers.

We have also invested in research which is intended to inform new approaches for earlier diagnosis of kidney disease through the Scottish Chief Scientist Office: Kidney function and cancer risk: An analysis using creatinine and cystatin C in a cohort study (nih.gov) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8413238/ .

Where GP practices are unable to routinely accept new patients onto their lists, Scottish Government expects Health Boards to work with practices as constructively and as flexibly as is appropriate to help manage the situation.

We recognise the need for more GPs in Scotland and this is why we have committed to increasing the workforce by 800 by 2027.

As part of the 2018 GP contract, we have recruited over 2400 Multi-Disciplinary team members. The recruitment of these pharmacists, advanced practitioner nurses, mental health workers, MSK Physios and Community Link Workers is helping create additional capacity in practices.

To ask the Scottish Government how it plans to reach its target of investing 1% of the health budget in CAMHS services by the end of this parliamentary session. We are committed to increasing direct investment in mental health by 25% and to working with NHS Boards and other stakeholders to ensure that at least 10% of frontline NHS spend goes towards mental health and 1% goes on child and adolescent services by the end of this Parliamentary session.

The £40 million additional funding this year for improvement across child and adolescent mental health services from the Recovery and Renewal Fund and our plans for increased investment in next and future years will contribute towards delivering the commitment.

The Scottish Government welcomed and supported the recommendation of the Virtual Trials National Project Board, which has the potential to deliver significant benefits for victims by reducing the traumatising impact of the court environment. The Report acknowledges that existing legislation with guidance issued by the Lord Justice General could support the further use of virtual trials. We will consider the need for legislation in a future consultation exercise.

As of 31st January 2022, 54,726 women in Scotland have waited more than 36 months since their last breast screen. Data presented in relation to S6W-06127 on 28 February 2022 sets out the average length of time between screening appointments by screening centre. Historically, the Scottish Breast screening Programme has invited around 260,000 women per year. In 2019-20 just under 270,000 women were invited.

The programme continues to recover from the March 2020 Covid-19 related pause, and the National Screening Oversight, Scottish Screening Committee and Breast Screening Programme Board (BSPB) continue to work with health boards to increase the number of available appointments, including through deploying additional mobile breast screening units and providing additional appointments during evenings and at weekends.

It should be noted that the data provided is management information that has not been subject to quality checks applied on an official publication.

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 is committed to resuming the pause to self-referrals for those aged 71 and over as soon as it is feasible. The Breast Screening Programme Board (BSPB) agreed that the option for women over 70 to self-refer into the breast screening programme should resume once all screening centres are able to offer those aged 53-70 their breast screening appointments within 39 months of their previous screening. However, in recognition of the anxiety the pause is causing, the screening programme is exploring whether there are other options that will accelerate the restart without unduly impacting appointment times for the eligible screening population. Any decision will be informed by clinical advice and the on-going pandemic.

In the meantime, the programme is working hard to increase capacity, including by deploying additional mobile units and offering appointments at evenings and weekends.

Regardless of their age, women should remain symptom aware and report any symptoms to their GP immediately for these to be investigated.