Chamber and committees

GP practices are independent contractors and therefore decisions relating to telephony are at their discretion. On top of practices’ core funding allocation, the Scottish Government is making an additional £600,000 funding available this year for the Health Boards to allocate to GP practices for the purpose of upgrading or replacing telephony systems.

Consideration for people who do not have digital access has been built into our vaccination programme from the start. Communication has gone out via non-digital channels and we have also undertaken a door-to-door paper leaflet drop with important information on vaccines. COVID-19 vaccine leaflets are available in audio, BSL, easy read and large print as well as other languages.

Those who do not have online access can call the COVID-19 National Helpline on 0800 030 8013. The helpline allows people to check and, where required, reschedule appointments. All information and services on NHS Inform are available via this phone line. We encourage people to double check their GP holds correct address details, to make sure that any appointment letter reaches them.

For those who are eligible for flu and/or COVID-19 booster vaccines, we have ensured that:

• Those aged 70 and over or those who are clinically extremely vulnerable will receive a vaccine invitation by post or may be contacted by their GP.
• Letters will be sent to those aged 60-69 years of age inviting them for vaccination from late October.
• When the online booking portal becomes available for those in stage 2, people who do not have access to digital booking will also be able to book their vaccinations via the COVID-19 National Helpline.

Our forthcoming national marketing campaigns for both flu and COVID-19 booster will direct people towards both the online booking system as well as the phone line so no one should be left out.

Informed consent is integral to the vaccination programme, and we have developed detailed information for young people and their parents or carers to allow them to make informed decisions on vaccination. Vaccinators are fully trained and have materials to support discussions on informed consent at appointments.

Further information on consent for children and young people can be found on NHS Inform: Vaccinating 12 to 15 year olds | NHS inform .

A new leaflet from Public Health Scotland will be circulated and is available to view online at: COVID-19 vaccine information for young people in English (healthscotland.com) .

Whilst we strongly encourage those eligible to receive coronavirus vaccination to do so, the decision is one of personal choice and the Scottish Government has no plans to introduce mandatory vaccination.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-03321 on
‎ 18 October 2021. 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 refer the member to the answer to question S6W-03321 on
‎ 18 October 2021. 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 remain on track to increase the number of GPs working in Scotland by at least 800 by 2027. We have taken a number of actions, including increasing the number of medical places at universities, and taking steps to encourage medical graduates to choose general practice. To that end, between 2015-16 and 2021-22 the Scottish Government will have increased the annual intake of medical places in Scottish universities from 848 to 1117 (269 places, a 32% increase). The majority of these new places are focused on general practice.

By increasing the amount of undergraduate curriculum that is delivered in general practice to 25%. We are confident increased exposure to general practice will encourage more students to train as GPs. With an increase of 89 GPs in 2019/20 we are now confident we are starting to see the positive impact of these actions.

Number of GPs working in Scotland since 2017

Weekly information on the mode of outpatient clinical interactions by NHS Board is published by Public Health Scotland (PHS) as part of the Wider Impacts Dashboard .

Table one shows new and return outpatient face to face appointments by NHS Board of Treatment between 2 March 2020 to 27 December 2020

We recognise the extreme pressure facing the Scottish Ambulance Service due to the Covid-19 pandemic, and our thanks go out to the paramedics, technicians and wider ambulance staff for the continued work they are doing in exceptionally challenging circumstances.

Last month, the Scottish Government announced an additional package of support for the Scottish Ambulance Service, backed by an additional £20 million, which will help increase capacity and improve response times and staff wellbeing.

On 7 September 2021, the Scottish Government published the 2021/22 Programme for Government which confirmed that the Scottish Government will start work on a detailed prospectus for an independent Scotland. The Scottish Government is now determining how this work will proceed and the resourcing it requires, as we do for delivering all commitments in the Programme for Government. It is the role of the civil service to support delivery across the full range of Government commitments.

The Case Record Review is underway. Introductory interviews with the participants are close to completion. More than half of the participants have received an ‘information gathering’ form from the Administrator. Following return of this form, Clinco, a commissioned contractor involved in the retrieval of patient records, will request the appropriate case records from Health Boards. This process is already underway for a number of participants.

As is standard practice, data sharing agreements are required for the release of medical records. Agreements are in place already for a number of Health Boards and it is expected that agreements will be in place in relation to all relevant Boards shortly.

Health Board Accountable Officers have been kept abreast of developments with the Case Record Review through the Short Life Working Group on mesh complications.

The requested level of data on individuals who Do Not Attend (DNA) vaccination appointments is not currently held. While we can show the number of people who did not attend a scheduled appointment, or who have cancelled or rescheduled, we don’t know all the reasons why they may have done so.

The Public Health Scotland COVID-19 Statistical Report published on 16 June 2021 contains information on DNAs from 1 Feb to 6 June 20201.