Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government recognises the importance of ensuring equitable access to living kidney donation. All nine Renal Units in Scotland are currently supporting living kidney donation, with sixteen living donor co-ordinators in post across the Renal Units. In 2016, the Scottish Government supported the creation of the Living Donation Scotland Board, whose role, working with referring Renal Units and Transplant Centres, is to make it easier to access living donor kidney transplantation. The Scottish Government also supports the Renal Units in their work by hosting an annual event for staff to share good practice and learning.

In addition, the Scottish Government is taking a number of steps to make accessing kidney donation easier as set out in the Scottish Donation and Transplantation Plan: 2021-2026 . The plan makes clear that whilst it will not be feasible for everyone, the aim is to encourage all those who need a kidney transplant to consider and explore options for a living donor transplant as their first transplant.

To ensure that every recipient who would benefit from a kidney transplant receives standard information about living donation during transplant assessment, the Scottish Government provides living donor information packs and a range of resources through the Organ Donation Scotland website, including written information, video and clear pathway contact information access for recipients and donors. Annual living donation multi-media campaigns have also proven successful in increasing awareness for donors.

Finally, following a pilot project, the Renal Education and Choices at Home (REACH Transplant) programme was implemented in 2022. REACH Transplant is funded by the Scottish Government and has involved the appointment of both a REACH transplant programme lead and ten REACH Transplant nurses across Scotland, based in each Renal Unit. The REACH Transplant nurses work with local nephrologists to identify those at an early stage who may need a kidney transplant in the future. A visit is organised with the recipient and their support network in a place of their choice to provide information on living kidney donation and to support the recipient to discuss living donation. The aim of this tailored support and timely referral for living donor transplantation is to increase the likelihood of pre-emptive transplantation by overcoming barriers and ensuring equity of treatment choice.

As the former First Minister reported to the member in answer to S6F-01607, the Scottish Government expects the Board of Scottish Water to take a proportionate position when setting charges; balancing affordability with critical investment needs to protect the quality of our drinking water and the environment.

The Scottish Government is committed to supporting people in light of the rising costs of living and has already taken action on affordability of water charges; from 1 April 2021 – the start of the current 6-year regulatory period for the water industry - we increased the maximum discount under the water charges reduction scheme from 25% to 35% to support those struggling to pay their bills.

The answer to S6F-01607 is available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/official-report/search-what-was-said-in-parliament .

As the member is aware from previously submitted questions, most recently S6F-01607 on 8 December 2022, arrangements for setting water charges are set out in the Water Industry (Scotland) Act 2002, and the role of setting of annual price rises is primarily a matter for the Board of Scottish Water. During 2021-27, customers are protected by a cap on charges of CPI+2% as set out in the Water Industry Commission for Scotland’s Final Determination.

The answer to S6F-01607 is available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/official-report/search-what-was-said-in-parliament .

Drinking water quality is regulated by the Drinking Water Quality Regulator. The Scottish Environment Protection Agency monitors the water environment by assessing water quality and quantity.

Both regulators publish information on their websites about the compliance of drinking water quality and environmental water quality on their websites at https://dwqr.scot/public-water-supply/national-water-quality/ and https://www.sepa.org.uk/environment/water/

The Scottish Government does not hold data on how many whole-time equivalent GPs have (a) been employed and (b) retired or left the profession, in each year since 2019.

Data on the GP Workforce is published annually by NHS Education for Scotland in the General Practice Workforce Survey report and includes the whole time equivalent number of GPs in Scotland.

Data on the Whole-Time Equivalent GP Workforce is published annually by NHS Education for Scotland (NES) in the General Practice Workforce Survey report . As of March 2023 the estimated WTE number of GPs (excluding GP registrars/specialist trainees) was 3,478.4, where 1 WTE is defined as 8 contracted sessions per week.

GP headcount is published by NES through the General Practitioner Headcount report. In September 2023 there were 5,168 Headcount GPs in Scotland (including GP Registrars on placement in general practice).

NES are due to publish results from the 2024 General Practice Workforce Survey and the 2024 General Practitioner Headcount data later this year.

Information on how many (a) paediatric and (b) neonatal nurses have been employed by each NHS board, in each of the last five years, can be found on the TURAS NHS Education for Scotland workforce statistics site at:

NHS Scotland workforce (phase one) | Turas Data Intelligence (Employment over time tab)

The requested information on how many graduate nurses have been employed by NHS Scotland in 2024, broken down by (a) NHS board and (b) speciality is not centrally held.

Information on the number of nursing staff joining the NHS broken down by band, NHS board and specialty can be found on the TURAS NHS Education for Scotland workforce statistics site at: NHS Scotland workforce (phase one) | Turas Data Intelligence (turnover tab)

Special Advisers are appointed in accordance with Part 1 of the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act 2010 by the First Minister as a Special Adviser for the purpose of providing assistance to the Scottish Ministers. There are currently 12 Special Advisers.

The Scottish Government has published a list of the Special Advisers and their specific portfolio responsibilities at: Special advisers - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

The number of undergraduate medical school places available since 2015, broken down by domicile, has been provided in the following table. As requested, these reflect the places available, rather than the eventual entrants.