Chamber and committees

Information on the routes of referral for metastatic breast cancer patients is not held centrally.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-01706 on 24 August 2021. 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 Cancer Registry does not hold the kind of tracking information required to be able to report on secondary breast cancer. Therefore, Public Health Scotland cannot answer this question.

Clinical guideline implementation is the responsibility of NHS Boards. The ultimate decision about a particular clinical procedure or treatment will always depend on each individual patient’s condition, circumstances and wishes, and the clinical judgement of the healthcare team.

Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network (SIGN) guidelines have primacy in Scotland however NHS Boards and Integration Authorities may also choose to consider National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines in the planning and delivering services. Where there is not a current SIGN guideline in place Boards are expected to use other guidelines, such as NICE.

The decision to create, update and/or replace any SIGN guideline is not made by Scottish Government, it is made independently by the Evidence Directorate Work Programme Committee in Healthcare Improvement Scotland (HIS). Proposed guidelines under consideration can be found on the SIGN website: Our guidelines (sign.ac.uk) .

Tables 1 and 2 present the number of patients covered by the Treatment Time Guarantee (TTG) waiting within an inpatient or day-case setting by NHS Board at 31 December 2021, and the number waiting over 1, 2 and 3 years for a hip or knee replacement procedure, respectively.

Table 1: Number of patients waiting for a hip replacement procedure 1,2 as an inpatient or day case at 31 st December 2021, broken down by NHS Board of treatment and length of wait.

Table 1 presents the number of patients covered by the Treatment Time Guarantee (TTG) waiting for a hip or knee replacement procedure within an inpatient or day-case setting by NHS Board at 31 st December 2021.

Table 1: Number of patients waiting for a hip or knee replacement procedure 1,2 as an inpatient or day case at 31 st December 2021, by NHS Board.

The Scottish Government and COSLA published a National Workforce Strategy on 11 March 2022. This Strategy sets out a new framework to shape Scotland’s Health and Social Care workforce over the next decade; which places training, wellbeing, job satisfaction and the principles of Fair Work at its heart.

The Scottish Government has not engaged with this organisation specifically but a collaborative partnership approach has been taken to develop the Strategy. We have engaged with key partners across Health and Social Care, including NHS Boards, Local Authority representation, third and independent sector and staff-side representation through the National Workforce Planning Group and the Scottish Partnership Forum.

Moving forward with implementation of the strategy, we have committed to continuing to work jointly with partners across Health and Social Care.

The Strategy commits to publishing new workforce growth projections in the autumn, once we have had the opportunity to consider Health Board and Health and Social Care Partnerships' three year workforce plans. The staffing needs for services and professional specialties across NHS Scotland will be, in partnership with stakeholders, factored into the development of those projections.

A procurement process is underway for a web-based PROMS system to track the condition of long-waiting patients. Information and resources are being updated on NHS inform, and some joint work is ongoing with Versus Arthritis.

Earlier this year, the Scottish Government announced an extra £240,000 through the Chronic Pain Winter Support Fund to help 13 Scottish Government-funded projects across Health Boards, third-sector and other partners to enhance the support available for people with chronic pain. The money will go towards a range of services for people experiencing painful conditions, including those with knee pain, and also provide support to help people remain physically active.

The Water Industry Commission for Scotland (WICS) has responsibility for setting charge caps and otherwise sets out expectations or forecasts including for income as a guide to Scottish Water and stakeholders. Across the 2021-27 regulatory period the maximum increase to charges will be capped at CPI+2% on average for each year of the regulatory control period. Scottish Water must propose charges in its Annual Scheme of Charges that are consistent with this average annual cap and the cumulative application of this cap. It has discretion as to the precise profile of charges that it seeks to levy on customers within the regulatory control period. In line with its statutory duties, WICS considers any Charges Scheme that could be consistent with the overall cap on the amount of charges that can be levied on customers during the 2021-27 regulatory control period. The average household charge for 2022-23 remains lower than the average charge in England and Wales.

Water charges remain linked to the council tax banding of the house occupied. Higher banded houses are usually expected to be occupied by higher income households and so linking water charges to council tax band will frequently reflect ability to pay. But, importantly, the linkage to Council Tax also means that discounts and exemptions which apply to Council Tax are also available for water and sewerage charges. The present range of discounts is worth over £150m per year and helps to reflect an individual’s circumstances and ensure ability to pay.