Chamber and committees

As committed to in Programme for Government 2021-22, work is underway to develop a new earlier cancer diagnosis vision for Scotland which will form part of the new cancer strategy, due to publish Spring 2023. This will outline the future direction of our Detect Cancer Early (DCE) Programme which we continue to invest in.

The Scottish Cancer Coalition, and its Early Diagnosis & Screening Sub-Group, which is Chaired by Pancreatic Cancer UK, have been consulted on the new vision and DCE awareness campaign that’s under development.

DCE’s website and social media channels continue to raise awareness of possible signs and symptoms and empower people to present early – this includes the development of an interactive symptom-checker tool.

An interim report published by the University of Strathclyde on 21 November 2022 shows that one of the most common types of cancer being diagnosed in our first Rapid Cancer Diagnostic Services (RCDS) are hepato-pancreato-biliary (HPB) cancer. We are committed to rolling out RCDS's across NHS Scotland.

A clinical refresh of the Scottish Referral Guidelines for Suspected Cancer was completed in 2018 with revised clinical guidance published January 2019. The guidelines support primary care clinicians in ensuring those with symptoms suspicious of cancer are put on the right pathway at the right time.

The Scottish Government continues to work closely with primary care clinicians across NHS Scotland, including the Scottish Primary Care Cancer Group, to raise awareness of symptoms and best referral practice for all cancer types, including pancreatic.

The timetable process is embedded and set out in both (a) Clyde and Hebrides Ferry Service (CHFS) and (b) Northern Isles Ferry Service (NIFS) contracts and is monitored through the management of these contracts by my officials in Transport Scotland.

Both operators should engage directly with community groups on timetable issues.

There have been no recent discussions between the Scottish Government and Teresa Medhurst, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service regarding apprenticeships in the SPS. The Scottish Prison Service are responsible for the recruitment and development of their workforce including apprenticeships.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-12380 on‎ 2 December 2022. 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

I have asked Teresa Medhurst, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. Her response is as follows:

The Scottish Prison Service does not record this information.

We are making good progress on our commitment to increase the headcount of GPs by 800, with Scotland’s GP headcount increasing by 277 from 4,918 to 5,195 from 2017 to 2021.

The most recent estimate for whole time equivalent of GPs can be found in the General Practice Workforce Survey 2019 , published by Public Health Scotland in October 2021. This estimated that there were 3,613 GP whole time equivalents (WTE) in Scotland in 2019. This is an increase of 93 WTE from an estimated 3,520 WTE in 2017, with 8 sessions per week equating to one WTE.

The latest data on GP WTE is scheduled to be published shortly by Public Health Scotland (PHS), and they have pre-announced publication of this analysis report for Tuesday 29 November 2022. PHS has also pre-announced publication of its latest annual data on GP headcount for Monday 12 December 2022.

As set out in the Emergency Budget Review (EBR), published on 2 November, the Scottish Government’s mental health programme budget has been revised to £252 million. This has resulted in revisions to this year’s Mental Health Service Improvement budget line, which now stands at £119,109,000.

Actual expenditure will not be available until after the end of the financial year.

Following the EBR publication, we are engaging with those organisations which have been incurring spend in order to formally confirm the remainder of the 2022-23 funding allocations.

All of the employees of the Scottish Government earn above the real Living Wage, with the minimum full-time salary on our pay scales being £22,182 (£11.48 per hour).

For indirectly employed staff, agency workers doing the same grade of work as Scottish Government employees receive the same rates of pay as Scottish Government employees under our pay parity rules, and so are also earning above the real Living Wage as a minimum.

As a condition of Scottish Government procurement terms, employees of contractors working in Scottish Government buildings are paid the real Living Wage and the recent increase to the real Living Wage will be paid with effect from 1 November 2022.

The Scottish Government has committed to undertake further work to quantify Scotland’s offshore wind potential. We will update Parliament once this work is concluded, and at that point also consider which legacy documents, including the National Strategy for Economic Transformation, may need to be updated.