Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government is not considering implementing formal protocols for risk stratification of patients requiring oncology services.

The National Endoscopy Training Programme (NETP) offers a range of training packages to improve the quality of endoscopy care for patients in Scotland, helping to provide the clinical capacity needed to reduce Endoscopy and Cancer waiting times. This includes:

• Immersion Training
• Basic Endoscopy Skills Courses
• Train the Trainer Course
• Upskilling for Colonoscopy
• Endoscopy Non-Technical Skills (ENTS)
• National Assistant Practitioner Programme
  

As of 31 May 2023, over 380 staff have participated in NETP programmes, helping to develop the endoscopy workforce in a coordinated ‘Once for Scotland’ approach.

The Scottish Government has not received any interim reports from the Independent Review into Audiology.

However, given the serious nature of this issue the Scottish Government has been clear that action needs to be taken before the final report from the Independent Review is published. As such, the Scottish Government is already engaging with senior leadership in all Health Boards to seek assurances there are robust structures in place to deliver audiology services safely and effectively, and that Boards are sufficiently prepared to take forward any recommendations when they are published.

The final report is currently going through the publication process and the Scottish Government is confident that this, and any associated recommendations, will be published in August 2023.

As committed to in the National Workforce Strategy for Health and Social Care, we undertook a data collection exercise to inform future decisions about workforce investment in 2022. This has informed actions in the new Cancer Action Plan for Scotland 2023-2026 including establishing and delivering the Oncology Transformation Programme. It also includes and action to ‘Complete a workforce review of key professions in cancer services, including modelling, to inform recruitment, training and allocation’.

The Scottish Shape of Training Transition Group (SSoTTG) is currently undertaking its annual review of medical training numbers and will be making recommendations to Scottish Minsters later this year for expansion taking place in 2024.

Whilst the Scottish Government sets the strategic policy direction for workforce development with the NHS, it is up to the individual health boards on how to best undertake recruitment planning requirements.

Additionally, the National Oncology Coordination Group has been commissioned to support a coordinated and collaborative operational response to immediate service pressures, like retirees or moves.

How many (a) medical and (b) clinical oncologists are (i) currently employed (A) across NHS Scotland and (B) in each NHS board and can be found in this link to TURAS - NHS Scotland workforce | Turas Data Intelligence .

We do not hold the information for question (ii) how many medical and clinical oncologists are expected to retire in the next five years within NHS Scotland, however this link to TURAS shows the % of the workforce over the age of 55 - NHS Scotland workforce | Turas Data Intelligence .

The controlled target intake for funded places for Academic Year 23-24 has been maintained at 4,837 overall, comprising 4,536 nursing places and 301 midwifery places. However these figures are subject to annual review with key stakeholders as previously agreed by the then Health Secretary, Mr Humza Yousaf.

While the promotion of workforce diversity is a matter for the Chief Constable of Police Scotland and Scottish Fire and Rescue Service, the Scottish Government set clear ambitions on equality, diversity and inclusion in the Strategic Police Priorities 2023 and the Fire and Rescue Framework 2022 .

Police Scotland’s Joint Equality Outcomes for Policing include outcomes on workforce diversity monitoring, leadership, recruitment, progression and retention. Progress across a broad range of activity is highlighted in the Police Scotland EDI Mainstreaming and Equality Outcomes Progress Report 2021-2023 , published in April this year.

SFRS has developed a Positive Action toolkit to proactively engage with Scotland’s diverse communities, host community targeted recruitment events and present SFRS as an inclusive employer. SFRS also has a range of initiatives to encourage retention of its diverse workforce for example in developing a Race Employee Network and in mainstreaming its dignity and respect policies.

The Scottish Government welcomes the focus of the research and is committed to increasing the representation of racialised minorities in the public sector. The research estimates that 2.8 per cent of public sector employees identified as belonging to a “black and minority ethnic group”, 76.5 per cent were white and 20.7 per cent were marked as “unknown”, which included “not completed”, “don’t know” and “prefer not to say” responses.

The report acknowledges it does not function as a perfect census of Scotland’s public sector workforce. The Annual Population Survey by the Office of National Statistics notes that from January to December 2022, the proportion of public sector workers in Scotland aged 16 and over who are minority ethnic was 6.2 per cent. This is higher than the proportion of the population aged 16 and over who are from minority ethnic groups (5.5 per cent in 2022).

As an employer, our Race Recruitment and Retention Action Plan published in 2021, supports the Scottish Government and its agencies to increase the representation of racialised minorities, across all grades, to be reflective of the working age population. We are making progress in this regard, with an estimated 4.1% of staff in the Scottish Government and its agencies identifying as a racialised minority (December 2022). This is almost double the figure from 2017 (2.2%).

The Scottish Government published A Fairer Scotland for All: An Anti-Racist Employment Strategy in December 2022 which sets out a series of actions, including those recommended in the report. We will be piloting the use of an anti-racist workplace training framework with employers; supporting employers in their use of positive action measures; and continuing to engage with public sector leadership on recruitment and representation, data and understanding institutional racism.

We are also reviewing the operation of the Public Sector Equality Duty in Scotland with a view to improving the Scottish Specific Duties, including data reporting on ethnicity. We have consulted on proposals which include extending the existing gender pay gap reporting duty to ethnicity and disability, with listed public authorities required to make more evidence-based decisions on the information they publish.