Chamber and committees

The NHS Scotland Climate Emergency and Sustainability Strategy 2022-26 sets out the approach and actions which will be taken by NHS Scotland, with support from the Scottish Government and working in partnership with others, to respond to the climate emergency and to contribute towards the achievement of the United Nations’ (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The Strategy emphasises the importance to Health Boards of climate change adaptation, and the need to carry out climate change risk assessments and produce climate change adaptation plans. A recently published report: "NHSScotland Climate Change Risk Assessments and Adaptation Plans: A Summary Report" summarises the assessments that Boards have carried out and their adaptation plans. It includes Boards with rural communities.

The NRAC (resource allocation formula) is an objective measure of the need for health care services across Scotland. The current formula, which was established in 2005, considers the population share of each Board adjusted for the age/sex composition of the population, the relative health needs due to morbidity and life circumstances, and the excess cost of delivering healthcare to rural and remote areas. We have committed to a review of the funding formula. This supports vital work to reduce health inequalities; ensuring that we continue to allocate funding according to the relative need for healthcare in each Board area.

Social media related activities undertaken by the Scottish Government encompass abroad set of teams and workstreams. A significant proportion of the management of Scottish Government accounts on social media platforms and the production of organic content, is managed by internal teams.

Neil Gray: Since 2021, we have provided three permanent CT scanners to support core diagnostic imaging capacity within Boards, including a mobile CT pod which is deployed flexibly to Boards that require additional capacity. In addition, one further mobile CT and seven mobile MRI scanners are being used across multiple NHS Boards to provide additional capacity.

In the last 2 years, the Scottish Government has supported the North Imaging Alliance to:

• Test a regional mobile MRI service, hosted within one of the North region boards, with the potential to be used anywhere in the North or across Scotland.
• Provide additional capacity (over and above existing mobile MRI arrangements) to accelerate work on reducing waiting times for MRI.

During 2024-25:

• The regional mobile MRI van is anticipated to remove circa 3,700 patients from waiting lists in the North, participating boards are Grampian, Highland, Orkney, and Tayside.
• 2,408 patients have received scans to date and have been removed from waiting lists
• This has saved NHS Orkney approximately £180k and meant 313 patients were able to receive scans locally rather than having to travel further afield.

Significant additional activity is already underway following the allocation of £30 million funding to target reductions to the national backlogs that built up throughout the pandemic. This includes over 40,000 extra diagnostic procedures.

Artificial intelligence is already proving itself to be a force for good in our health and social care service, providing a range of healthcare solutions that are transforming services for the better and in a number of cases, saving lives. An example where AI activity is already taking place in rural areas is through the North of Scotland AI Strategy for Health and Social Care.

Health data is shared, typically in an aggregated and anonymised format, with trusted third parties through trusted research environments known as ‘Safe Havens’. These Safe Havens comprise of a national Safe Haven within Public Health Scotland and four regional Safe Havens associated with NHS Grampian, Greater Glasgow and Clyde, Lothian, and Tayside.

Safe Havens play a crucial role in protecting personal data, providing a secure space, and supporting the secure use of NHS data for researchers to access and analyse healthcare data without compromising individual privacy. Within Safe Havens researchers can work with anonymised or pseudonymised data, reducing the risk of re-identification of individuals. By implementing robust security measures and access controls, Safe Havens ensure that only authorised individuals can interact with the data, and that they can only access the level of data that is appropriate and proportionate.

I refer the member to the answer to the question S6W-33751 on 29 January 2025. 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

I refer the member to the answer to the question S6W-33751 on 29 January 2025. 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

It is the responsibility of all Health Boards in Scotland, including those with rural communities, to ensure they put measures in place to address future challenges posed by climate change.

The Climate Change Sustainability and Environment Team within NHS Scotland Assure is available to provide support and advice to Scotland's Health Boards on climate change adaptation actions, including addressing any issues specific to rural areas.

See answer to question S6W-33537 on 27 January 2025 regarding progress. Telemedicine related developments focus on ensuring people get choice in how they access care services, support independent living and reduce unnecessary appointments, regardless of where they live.