Chamber and committees

The guidelines for the diagnosis of thrombosis and similar artery and vein clot conditions are provided by the Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network (SIGN), specifically SIGN 122 for the prevention and management of venous thromboembolism.

The Diagnostics in Scotland Strategic Group (DiSSG) is the national group that holds responsibility for ensuring the continued coherent development and delivery of high quality diagnostic services in Scotland. The DiSSG acts as an advisory board including providing strategic direction and advice on new diagnostic tests.

The NHS Recovery Plan commits to innovation in diagnostic procedures and an increase in capacity over the next 5 years of 90,000 procedures by 2025-26, including diagnostics of thrombosis and similar artery and vein clot conditions.

Case transfer is a joint programme between the Scottish Government and the Department for Work and Pensions. We aim to have safely and securely transferred the awards of everyone living in Scotland in receipt of devolved disability and carer benefits currently delivered by the Department of Work and Pensions to Social Security Scotland by the end of 2025.

From 29 August 2022, adults in Scotland in receipt of Disability Living Allowance will have their awards moved to Adult Disability Payment if they would otherwise have been asked by the Department for Work and Pensions to apply for Personal Independence Payment. Final policy is still being developed on moving the awards of all other adults currently in receipt of Disability Living Allowance.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-08833 on 14 June 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 .

Since May 2021 the Cabinet Secretary for Justice and Veterans has taken a number of meetings and attended events at which victims/survivors have been present. As people will not always disclose or wish to mention the nature of their experiences, or want these recorded, it is not possible to provide a definitive answer. However, at least 14 meetings and events over the period where victims/survivors have been present have been identified.

Potential extension of the Waverley line, to Carlisle via Langholm, and other route variations, was appraised as part of the second Strategic Transport Projects Review (STPR2). Whilst the outcome was that the extension of the line was not included within the 45 draft recommendations, there does remain a path for regional or local rail projects to come forward, and Transport Scotland will consider these subject to a strong business case being developed in accordance with Scottish Transport Appraisal Guidance (STAG) and suitable funding being available. The Scottish Government have committed up to £5 million through the Borderlands Inclusive Growth Deal to enable regional partners to assess the benefits and challenges of extending the Borders Railway, and continue to work with partners to implement that commitment.

Through the Borderlands Inclusive Deal the Scottish Government have allocated up to £5 million to assess the benefits and challenges of extending the Borders Railway. That funding will be released on the achievement of agreed milestones, in line with the usual business case and governance processes that apply to all growth deal projects. As this is a joint funding commitment, the Scottish Government are currently awaiting the outcome of internal UK Government discussions on governance procedures to be able to align advice to partners and move things forward.

The Scottish Government has recently announced a new set of ambitious targets to eliminate long waits, with an initial focus on long waits over two years for new outpatients by August 2022 and for inpatients and day case procedures by September 2022.

We have recently stepped down the Clinical Prioritisation Framework that was in place since November 2020 to help Boards prioritise waiting lists throughout the Covid-19 pandemic.

This move is a return to pre-pandemic approach of treating patients on an urgent and routine basis, giving Health Boards and clinicians full flexibility to manage waiting lists with a focus on eliminating long waits, as well as continuing to treat the most clinically urgent patients.

There have been four Gateway Reviews of Scotland’s Deposit Return Scheme. Regular Gateway Reviews are a standard part of the Scottish Government’s project management framework, there is no requirement to notify the Scottish Parliament in advance when a Gateway Review is commissioned.

All NHS Boards in Scotland already have access to resources to support the early prevention of thrombosis-related deaths. These include SIGN 122, the national clinical guideline for the prevention and management of venous thromboembolism. The implementation of SIGN guidelines is the responsibility of NHS Boards.

On 24 June it was confirmed that all Temporary Covid Policies (including Special Leave) will be removed ( https://www.sehd.scot.nhs.uk/dl/DL(2022)21.pdf) and that from 1 September 2022, NHS Scotland colleagues who are absent due to COVID-19 will revert to contractual sick leave entitlement (Section 14 – Sickness Absence https://www.msg.scot.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/AfC-Handbook-Master-Scottish-Copy-2021-Revamp.pdf ).

All NHS colleagues benefit from the Once for Scotland Attendance Policy ( https://workforce.nhs.scot/policies/attendance-policy-overview/attendance-policy/ ) which aims to encourage attendance and support employees, where health issues impact on their ability to be at work.

At present, support for people with Long COVID in Scotland is underpinned by the full range of NHS services, including local primary care teams, community based rehabilitation services and referrals for secondary care investigation where needed.

To ensure care continues to be resourced and delivered across Scotland in the most appropriate way, we are investing an initial £3 million from our Long COVID Support Fund over this financial year to support NHS Boards and key partners to take forward a range of projects to improve care and support for people with Long COVID.

This will provide resource to enable Boards to design models of care tailored to the specific needs of their local populations, which may involve strengthening the co-ordination of existing services, or establishing dedicated services where appropriate.