Chamber and committees

Contaminated uniforms are always washed in NHS laundry facilities and there should be no exception to this. NHS laundry facilities can be used to launder non-contaminated uniforms, where available. Where staff have access to NHS laundry facilities this is also subject to the capacity available.

I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-28349 on 20 May 2020. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx

The latest published data on the NHS workforce shows that as at 31 December 2019, 142,471.4 Whole Time Equivalent people were employed in the NHS workforce in Scotland. Full details can be found at:

https://www.isdscotland.org/Health-Topics/Workforce/NES-Publication/2020-03-03/Visualisation-Overall.asp

The latest published data on the social services workforce shows that as at 31 December 2018, 204,610 people were employed in the social services workforce in Scotland. Full details can be found at: 

https://data.sssc.uk.com/data-news/15-announcements/217-publication-of-2018-workforce-data-report

The COVID-19 data and trend charts for Scotland are published daily and provide a range of information, including the number of care homes notifying cases of COVID-19 and the number of suspected cases of COVID-19 in care homes. These data are available from 11 April 2020 and are updated daily. There are also data on the number of people that have been tested for COVID-19 in Scotland, these are available from 2 March 2020 and provide a cumulative number. There is no breakdown of how many of these tests were for care home residents.

The link to the daily data update is:

https://www.gov.scot/publications/trends-in-number-of-people-in-hospital-with-confirmed-or-suspected-covid-19/

The COVID-19 data and trend charts for Scotland are published daily and provide a range of information, including the number of care homes notifying cases of COVID-19 and the number of suspected cases of COVID-19 in care homes. The data also includes the daily number of people in hospital with confirmed or suspected COVID-19 but does not include details on how many of these are care home residents.

The link to the daily data update is:

https://www.gov.scot/publications/trends-in-number-of-people-in-hospital-with-confirmed-or-suspected-covid-19/

I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-28665 on 18 May 2020.

Current guidance, issued by Publish Health Scotland on 29 April 2020, advises that new admissions to care homes should be tested and isolated for 14 days on entering the home. Furthermore, any patients who may be showing symptoms of Covid-19 should have two negative tests before being discharge to a care home.

All care home residents showing symptoms will also now be tested for Coronavirus, a move from previously only testing the first residents to show symptoms to establish the presence of the virus.

Public Health Scotland's guidance is available at https://www.hps.scot.nhs.uk/web-resources-container/covid-19-guidance-for-stepdown-of-infection-control-precautions-and-discharging-covid-19-patients-from-hospital-to-residential-settings/ .

All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx

NHS Scotland has more than trebled its adult ICU capacity from a base of 173 beds to a surge capacity of 585 and, further, Health Boards are preparing to quadruple the base ICU capacity, bringing the total number of adult beds to over 700.

To deliver that increase, we have ordered ventilators from a range of manufacturers. They have begun to arrive and we expect more deliveries in the coming weeks. To bridge any gaps between now and the delivery of new ventilators, Health Boards have worked to repurpose operating theatre anaesthetic machines for use as ventilators. That is not a long-term solution, but it is allowing us to rapidly increase our capacity of intensive care beds.

Questions around non-Scotland data and associated publication regimes are matters for each relevant Government.

I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-28361 on 19 May 2020. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx .

Jointly with COSLA, I have agreed there will be no delay for adult social care support workers receiving at least the new Real Living Wage rate of £9.30 an hour for all hours worked, including sleep-overs and hours worked by personal assistants. This is payable from 1 April and avoid delay from prolonged contract negotiations. This package will also provide funding to third sector and independent providers specifically to ensure staff receive sick pay if they are off work ill or because they are self-isolating. A joint letter with Cllr Currie was issued to all local authorities setting out details of this arrangement on 10 April.

I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-28366 on 13 May 2020. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx