Question reference: S6W-06457
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
- Date lodged: 11 February 2022
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Current status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 4 March 2022
Question
To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether there is a need for additional support, including clinical nursing specialists, for blood cancer patients due to the specific and complex nature of the disease.
Answer
Clinical nurse specialists make a valued contribution to delivering services and supporting patients and families who require specialist care. The Scottish Government has invested £2.5 million annually in the Specialist Nursing and Care Fund since 2015.
The National Cancer Recovery Group (NCRG) recently carried out a short survey in November to identify workforce requirements to inform wider workforce planning. This looked at roles specifically related to cancer, including Cancer Nurse Specialists. Scottish Government Officials and the National Cancer Recovery Group are working collaboratively in the development of the National Workforce Strategy and work will be conducted around the cancer workforce over the coming year.
Information on the numbers of blood cancer specialist nurses is not held centrally.