Chamber and committees

Marine Scotland – Licensing Operations Team (“MS-LOT”) intends to publish the written report by Seagreen Wind Energy Limited in respect of unexploded ordnance clearance activities on its website (marine.gov.scot) once the internal review of the report is complete.

The focus of Scottish Government remains on pandemic response and supporting the NHS and its entire workforce through this challenging winter and beyond. The wellbeing of the entire workforce of the NHS is a key priority which is why, in the current financial year, the Scottish Government has made over £12 million available to support the wellbeing of the workforce.

The Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care meets regularly with representatives from BMA Scotland, and other trade unions, to discuss and agree actions to support the entire NHS workforce. The next meeting between the Cabinet Secretary and the BMA will take place on 10th January. In addition there is a regular tripartite forum with Scottish Government, BMA and NHS employers which has a focus on all aspects of junior doctors working lives, and agrees and implements actions to improve these.

Through this group several important actions have been implemented including abolishing junior doctors working more than seven days in a row, and ensuring no junior doctors works for seven night shifts in a row.

We have agreed with BMA Scotland that we will work through this group to explore how we can implement the recommendations contained within the Junior Doctors - 48-hour Maximum Working Week (Without Averaging): Expert Working Group Report. This group will also consider the recommendations in the BMA report Supporting Junior Doctor Wellbeing – Now and for the Future .

The Scottish Government notes the updated National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidance on sapropterin published September 2021 following a resubmission by its manufacturer Biomarin. The Scottish Medicines Consortium (SMC) previously considered sapropterin (Kuvan) in August 2018 and the medicine was not recommended for use in NHSScotland because the submitting company’s justification of the treatment’s cost in relation to its health benefits was not sufficient and in addition the company did not present a sufficiently robust clinical and economic analysis to gain acceptance by SMC. The submitting company (BioMarin) has not been in contact with SMC regarding a resubmission for this medicine.

The first generic version of sapropterin has received a Marketing Authorisation from the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA). To support ensuring best value for NHSScotland, NSS National Procurement will shortly be tendering for the future supply of sapropterin to NHS Scotland.

Given the launch of the first generic, we are currently considering how best to provide advice to Health Boards on whether sapropterin should be made available for routine use in NHSScotland, based on the latest available evidence.

The Scottish Government would expect all employers to ensure that all staff have the necessary rest breaks and support; and this was re-emphasised by the Chief Pharmaceutical Officer in her joint letter with the leaders from the pharmacy sector, including the Royal Pharmaceutical Society, to the service on 8 December outlining the importance of wellbeing to all pharmacy staff and detailing support available.

The COVID-19 pandemic has shown to us all the value which the pharmacy profession bring to the NHS in Scotland be that hospital, community pharmacy or general practice settings. In particular the pharmacy network has been pivotal in the NHS response to the current pandemic in ensuring people across the country have continued access to their medicines and professional healthcare advice. We take the wellbeing of pharmacy teams very seriously and that is why we have made £12m available to support the wellbeing of the pharmacist workforce. That includes £8m from the NHS Recovery Plan to provide ongoing wellbeing support for the workforce – alongside an extra £4m to provide further support to address winter pressures.

The funding supports the 24/7 National Wellbeing Helpline, our National Wellbeing Hub, Coaching for Wellbeing and the Workforce Specialist Service, alongside tailored psychological interventions for staff, providing individualised wellbeing support focusing on people’s physical and emotional needs.

Wider workforce issues and challenges will be discussed at the Chief Pharmaceutical Officer’s Workforce Forum, which will bring together stakeholders from pharmacy education and pharmacy service provision to set a strategic workforce plan for the profession.

I refer to member to the answer to question S6W-05124 on 10 January 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 has no plans to revise its ambitious woodland creation targets as a result of Storm Arwen. Neither is there any plans to review species of trees to be planted as the range of species already being planted adds to Scotland’s rich, abundant and thriving landscape.

This year the Scottish Government has made £12m available to support the wellbeing of the pharmacist workforce. That includes £8m from the NHS Recovery Plan to provide ongoing wellbeing support for the workforce – alongside an extra £4m to provide further support to address winter pressures.

The funding supports the 24/7 National Wellbeing Helpline, our National Wellbeing Hub, Coaching for Wellbeing and the Workforce Specialist Service, alongside tailored psychological interventions for staff, providing individualised wellbeing support focusing on people’s physical and emotional needs.

The Chief Pharmaceutical Officer for Scotland in a joint letter, issued 8 December, with the leaders from the pharmacy sector, including the Royal Pharmaceutical Society (Scotland), has written to all pharmacy teams outlining the range of wellbeing support available to pharmacy teams and encouraging them to access these resources for support when needed.

This year the Scottish Government has made £12m available to support the wellbeing of the pharmacist workforce. That includes £8m from the NHS Recovery Plan to provide ongoing wellbeing support for the workforce – alongside an extra £4m to provide further support to address winter pressures.

The funding supports the 24/7 National Wellbeing Helpline, our National Wellbeing Hub, Coaching for Wellbeing and the Workforce Specialist Service, alongside tailored psychological interventions for staff, providing individualised wellbeing support focusing on people’s physical and emotional needs.

The Chief Pharmaceutical Officer for Scotland in a joint letter, issued 8 December, with the leaders from the pharmacy sector, including the Royal Pharmaceutical Society (Scotland), has written to all pharmacy teams outlining the range of wellbeing support available to pharmacy teams and encouraging them to access these resources for support when needed.

We engaged with a range of stakeholders to inform the development of the draft Framework for Pain Management Service Delivery including the people with lived experience who were members of the National Advisory Committee for Chronic Pain (NACCP).

The structure and membership of the Committee was reviewed in 2020 in order to increase representation of people with lived experience and other key groups with an interest in improving care and support for people with chronic pain. As set out in the updated Terms of Reference, the Committee is advisory in nature, and members were encouraged to seek consensus in providing advice. The Committee met in its new format in February and May 2021 with all members invited to attend these meetings. Members were also asked to provide feedback and responses a number of other relevant request between meetings.

All members of the Committee had the opportunity to freely share their views on the priorities for improving pain management support which were used to inform the development of the draft Framework. Lived experience members of the Committee were provided with additional support in their role in a number of ways including: meetings to gather the views of a wider cohort of people with chronic pain via the Chronic Pain Patient Reference Group; being offered the choice to participate in capacity building sessions; and being offered the opportunity to directly share a summary of the views of people with chronic pain both in advance with officials and during Committee meetings as part of dedicated agenda items. We have also carried out a Scotland-wide survey to better understand the priorities of people with chronic pain and increase the range of voices involved.

All members of the Committee had access to the same information and resources throughout the development of the Framework, and were provided with a draft version in advance of the launch of the public consultation.

As communicated to the Committee previously, we are currently reviewing existing stakeholder engagement processes and structures, including the NACCP, to ensure that they are fit for purpose and can meaningfully support the future delivery and implementation of the Framework once the current public consultation has been completed.

An aim of the refreshed Out-of-Hospital Strategy 2021 to 2026 is to ensure that 20% of all OHCAs will have a defibrillator applied before the arrival of ambulance service. We want to improve bystander confidence in the use of these devices and the Strategy includes an aim for the Save a Life for Scotland partnership to increase familiarisation with defibrillator usage across Scotland, through embedding defibrillator usage in awareness raising campaigns and CPR training.