Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government is grateful to everyone who has volunteered for COVID-19 vaccine trials in Scotland. The clinical trials participants have made an important contribution in tackling the coronavirus pandemic.

The digital application to record the COVID-19 vaccine will be available from 30th September. Clinical trial participants who have received a licenced product and are un-blinded will be able to access the application.

Other clinical trial participants will not have access to the application at this time. However, other measures are in place to provide proof of vaccination. This includes a letter of support and subsequently participants will receive a hard copy Record of Vaccination which contains security features and 1-D barcode.

This Record of Vaccination can be used across the UK. In due course, this will be replaced by a QR Record of Vaccination with a QR code.

The Scottish Government are committed to ensuring that these participants are not disadvantaged. Work is ongoing to ensure that vaccine status is correctly presented on the coronavirus vaccine database.

All those individuals who have participated in coronavirus vaccine clinical trials in Scotland, should have already received a letter from their Chief Investigator confirming their involvement. The letter allows them to attend events or access services throughout the UK in the same way as those who are fully vaccinated.

You may find more information on clinical trials on NHS inform: Coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccination status for clinical trial participants | The coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine (nhsinform.scot)

The Scottish Government is grateful to everyone who has volunteered for COVID-19 vaccine trials in Scotland. The clinical trials participants have made an important contribution in tackling the coronavirus pandemic.

The Scottish Government are committed to ensuring that these participants are not disadvantaged. Work is ongoing to ensure that vaccine status is correctly presented on the coronavirus vaccine database.

An interim letter was sent to study investigators to send on to participants, including those in the Valneva study, on 15 July advising how they can provide vaccination status. An updated letter is currently being prepared and will be sent out in the coming weeks.

The digital application to record the COVID-19 vaccine will be available from 30 September. Clinical trial participants who have received a licenced product and are un-blinded will be able to access the application. Other clinical trial participants will not have access to the application at this time. However, other measures are in place to provide proof of vaccination.

This includes a letter of support and subsequently participants will receive a hard copy Record of Vaccination which contains security features and 1-D barcode. This Record of Vaccination can be used across the UK. In due course, this will be replaced by a QR Record of Vaccination with a QR code.

Participants should receive a record of vaccination status and do not have to do anything. If they have not received it or have lost it, they should contact their Principal Investigator.

General advice is on the NHS Inform pages at https://www.nhsinform.scot/covid-19-vaccine/after-your-vaccine/get-a-record-of-your-coronavirus-covid-19-vaccination-status and https://www.nhsinform.scot/clinicaltrialparticipants .

Skills Development Scotland has already put in place measures to support training providers who are unable to access employer premises due to Covid-19.

This will ensure that training providers can continue to register starts and draw down funding, which was a concern for some of the training provider network. It will provide some support and reassurance to providers about continuity of business in the immediate future. From April 2020 (the start of the new contract year), SDS is working with Scottish Government on additional support to maintain the apprenticeship training infrastructure.

On 15 November 2019, the Irish Government hosted a summit meeting of the British-Irish Council (BIC). The meeting was attended by Ministers from seven of the Member Administrations and was chaired by the Taoiseach, Leo Varadkar. The First Minister, the Cabinet Secretary for Government Business and Constitutional Relations, Minister for Public Health, Sport and Wellbeing and myself, represented the Scottish Government.

Although ministers from the Northern Ireland Executive were not in attendance, officials from the Northern Ireland administration were present.

The meeting focused on the Misuse of Substances and the steps that are being taken to tackle the related issues facing each of the administrations. Following a discussion by Health Ministers where the Minister for Public Health, Sport and Wellbeing represented the Scottish Government, the First Minister reminded the Council that Misuse of Substances is one of the most important work sectors within BIC and that Scotland was keen to share expertise whilst willing to learn from best practice. The First Minister stated that governments have an obligation to stop young people choosing that path and recognised the need for health led strategies, presenting the strong view that a justice led approach has prevented people from receiving services they need.

The Government of Guernsey expressed a wish to see the introduction of Green Finance as a future work sector of BIC, with the aim of decarbonising the economy. Whilst I welcomed this in principle, I asked that we are given more detail of the nature of economic issues in order to consider properly. It was agreed that officials would meet to consider further work in relation to this.

The latest political developments were also discussed, including the United Kingdom’s exit from the European Union. The First Minister reiterated that Scotland’s preference is to remain in Europe and voiced her continuing concern that we may be placed at a competitive disadvantage to Northern Ireland however, she stressed that this should not be read as opposition to Northern Ireland’s access to the single market and customs union.

The Communiqué that was issued by the British-Irish Council after the meeting can be found on its website at:

https://www.britishirishcouncil.org/sites/default/files/communiqués/33rd%20Summit%20Held%20in%20Dublin%20Communique.pdf

Please find the information requested in the following table.

NHS ISD collate statistics on the number of qualified nurses and midwives per 100,000 population for NHS Scotland only. Statistics on the number of qualified nurses and midwives for England and Wales are collected by NHS Digital and StatsWales respectively.

According to the latest available published information, the number of qualified midwives in Scotland per 100,000 population is 45 WTE (whole or full-time equivalent), compared to 39 WTE in England and 43 WTE in Wales.

According to the latest available published information, the number of qualified nurses in Scotland per 100,000 population is 771 WTE (whole or full-time equivalent), compared to 518 WTE in England and 688 WTE in Wales.

NHS ISD collate statistics on the number of hospital consultants, GP's, dentists and all NHS staff for NHS Scotland only. Statistics on the number of hospital consultants, GP's, dentists and all NHS staff for England and Wales are collected by NHS Digital and StatsWales respectively.

a) According to the latest available published information, the number of hospital consultants in Scotland per 100,000 population is 101 WTE (whole or full-time equivalent), compared to 86 WTE in England and 81 WTE in Wales.

b) According to the latest available published information, the number of GP’s in Scotland per 100,000 population is 92 (headcount), compared to 73 (headcount) in England and 70 (headcount) in Wales.

c) According to the latest available published information, the number of dentists in Scotland per 100,000 population is 68 (headcount), compared to 44 (headcount) in England and 47 (headcount) in Wales.

d) According to the latest available published information, the number of all NHS staff in Scotland per 100,000 population is 2,594 WTE (whole or full-time equivalent), compared to 1,952 WTE in England and 2,493 WTE in Wales.

The Expert Advisory Group on Migration and Population has completed work in response to my initial commission that they investigate the impact of migration policy changes on areas of devolved responsibility in Scotland, and I have received their report. I am publishing that report today, and it will be available online at http://www.gov.scot/ISBN/9781787815599 . I will be making a Ministerial Statement in the Chamber this afternoon.

The support for promotion and conservation of Scotland’s heritage is a key function for a number of Scotland’s publicly funded bodies, including Historic Environment Scotland, Museums Galleries Scotland, National Museums Scotland and Scotland’s Industrial Museums. The National Mining Museum in Newtongrange, for example, promotes the history of mining and mining heritage sites across Scotland, including from Fife.

The Scottish Government is committed to working with all NHS boards to increase the early detection of cancer.

A number of initiatives are underway to help improve early detection rates of bowel cancer, including:

(a) A new bowel screening test - FIT - was introduced to the Scottish Bowel Screening Programme in November 2017 which those eligible for screening in NHS Fife will now be receiving and benefiting from. The easier single-sample test is believed to be helping boost participation in bowel screening, which remains the most effective way to find bowel cancer early.

(b) Public awareness of early signs and symptoms is key to driving early stage diagnoses and ultimately improving cancer outcomes for people in NHS Fife. A new Detect Cancer Early campaign was launched in September this year to reduce fear around cancer and empower people to act early