Chamber and committees

The Best Start recommendation to move to a model of three intensive care units in Scotland was based on evidence that this will improve outcomes for the smallest and sickest babies.

The Framework for Practice ‘Criteria to Define Levels of Neonatal Care including Repatriation within NHS Scotland’, published on 25 July 2023 describes the care that can be provided at each level of neonatal care. It outlines that Local Neonatal Units can continue to care for babies requiring short periods of intensive care in accordance with agreed pathways.

In addition the British Association of Perinatal Medicine published ‘ Optimal Arrangements for Neonatal Intensive Care Units in the UK’ in 2021, which provides a framework for practice for neonatal care. This sets out the optimal arrangements for neonatal intensive care to provide the lowest mortality and morbidity, and the best baby and parent experience.

The three NICU units; Royal Hospital for Children in Glasgow, the Aberdeen Maternity Hospital and the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary will serve the West, North and East regions of Scotland. Data on births in Scotland is published on the National Records of Scotland website for every year since 1991, broken down by NHS Board or council area of birth.

The membership of the Best Start Review Group and the Best Start Sub-Groups is published in Appendix E and Appendix F of the Best Start Report .

Dr Ian Wallace, at the time Medical Director at NHS Lanarkshire, was a member of the Best Start Review Group and the Neonatal Models of Care sub group.

I wrote to the Local Government Housing and Planning Committee on 27 October 2023 to set out the scope of the implementation update on short-term let licensing. In this letter I have committed to provide an update to Parliament in early 2024. A copy of this letter is available on the Scottish Parliament website at:

https://www.parliament.scot/-/media/files/committees/local-gov/correspondence/2023/shorttermlets27oct.pdf

The locations of the three Neonatal Intensive Care Units was based on clinical evidence that the very smallest and sickest babies, including those born extremely premature (below 27 weeks), do best when they are cared for in larger specialist neonatal units which look after a lot of these babies, and have the right staff and services available on site to give them the very best care. The Best Start report recommended that we move to three of these units in Scotland, to meet the needs of our population.

The Options Appraisal Report , published on 25 July 2023 describes the process undertaken to determine the three final Neonatal Intensive Care Units, and the feasibility analysis and testing that followed the conclusion of that process. Annex A of the Report includes the criteria and weighting used for the Options Appraisal Process. Based on the evidence, the criteria focused on collocated clinical specialist services.

To support all parents who have babies admitted to neonatal care the Young Patients Family Fund provides funds to cover the cost of travel, subsistence and any accommodation required.

In the most challenging budget settlement since devolution we are providing nearly £13.5bn in the Local Government Settlement 2023-24. We are increasing the resources available to Local Government by over £793m, which represents a real terms increase of £376m or 3%.

The Scottish Government’s policy towards local authorities’ spending is, however, to allow local authorities the financial freedom to operate independently. As such, the vast majority of funding is provided by means of a block grant. It is then the responsibility of individual local authorities to manage their own budgets and to allocate the total financial resources available to them, including on Education, on the basis of local needs and priorities, having first fulfilled their statutory obligations and the jointly agreed set of national and local priorities.

Local Government Financial Statistics for 2021-22 showed that local authorities spent around £6.9bn on education in Scotland, and that 2021-22 was the seventh year in a row education gross revenue expenditure saw a real terms increase.

The Scottish Government provides additional revenue funding to local authorities to support Gaelic medium education through the Gaelic Specific Grant Scheme. Information on funding from 2012 has been placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre under Bib. No 64655.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-22531 on 13 November 2023. 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.

As noted in S6W-19908 on 31 July 2023, the age ranges for breast screening are based on recommendations from the UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC), an independent expert advisory group which informs decisions taken across the UK on screening programmes. There is no clear evidence that the benefits of screening this age group outweigh the potential harms.

Since October 2022, women aged 71-74, and those over 75 with a history of breast cancer, have been able to self-refer for a screening appointment. Due to the challenges around programme capacity and wait times as a result of the pandemic, self-referrals for those over 75 without a history of breast cancer remain paused. This ensures those between 50 and 70 and for whom screening has clear benefits are prioritised. The most recent statistics show that breast screening uptake has increased across Scotland which is the most important factor when maximising cancer detection and effectiveness of the screening programme.

Considerable work has been undertaken to improve programme capacity, including extending screening hours, using additional mobile units, and optimising appointment allocation. The scale of the challenge facing the screening programme since the pandemic means it has taken time for this work to have a significant impact. However, considerable progress has been made, and the scope to extend self-referrals to all those over 75 remains under active review. Both Parliament and NHS Inform will be updated when any decision is made to lift the current pause.

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

We do not hold information on the revised projected passenger journey times between Glasgow Central Station and London Euston Station following the UK Government’s recent decisions on High Speed Two.

The UK Government has yet to advise us what its plans for Glasgow to London rail services will be in the light of this recent cancellation.

The Scottish Government is of the view that this decision will not assist modal shift from air travel.

The first workshop will be set up by the end of 2023 as outlined in the Short Life Working Group report, published on 2 October 2023.