Chamber and committees

Scottish Government were advised of Mr Alexander’s death by NHS Ayrshire & Arran on 16 February 2021. At that time, the Board also confirmed that a review was ongoing to determine Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrence Regulations (RIDDOR) reportable status. They further advised that the Health and Safety Executive had been advised by telephone of the death of a member of staff and that NHS Ayrshire & Arran would submit a RIDDOR notification if the internal review indicated this requirement.

Scottish Government has since been advised that in accordance with Health and Safety Executive COVID-19 RIDDOR guidance, Mr Alexander’s death was not, and has not, been formally reported to the Health and Safety Executive as it did not meet the requirements for reporting under RIDDOR.

Waiting time statistics for patients requiring treatment related to MS is not held centrally by the Scottish Government or Public Health Scotland (PHS). Patients’ specific condition or diagnosis is not collected by the PHS Waiting Times Team.

In regards to improving early diagnosis and understanding symptoms, the Scottish Government has provided a total of £650,000 funding to the Future MS project led by the University of Edinburgh. Future MS involves the collection of clinical data and biological samples from recently diagnosed, treatment naïve, relapsing-onset multiple sclerosis patients in order to develop a more personalised approach to clinical management. The project has recruited more than 400 MS patients from across all the territorial NHS Boards in Scotland.

We will invest £4.5 million over 5 years to implement the 17 commitments of the Neurological Care and Support in Scotland: A Framework for Action 2020 – 2025 . The aims include improving the provision of co-ordinated health and social care and support, developing sustainable workforce models and ensuring high standards of person-centred care for those with neurological conditions, such as MS. Over £300,000 has been committed so far to projects which improve the health and wellbeing of people with MS in Scotland, via the Framework.

The Scottish Government maintains positive relationships with third sector partners such as the MS Society, the MS Trust and Revive MS Support, supporting them to complement services provided by NHS Boards and improve understanding of the early symptoms of MS.

The Scottish Government is clear that we wish to maintain and advance the high standards Scotland has enjoyed as part of the EU. Ministers have no current plans to use the discretionary powers to align with the European Union legislation provided through the UK Withdrawal from the EU (Continuity) (Scotland) Act 2021 in the area of nature restoration legislation.

A well-functioning care sector will be vital in delivering a prosperous wellbeing economy for Scotland – one that is strong, fair and green.

The Scottish Government’s Economic Recovery Implementation Plan published in August 2020, acknowledged the care sector as key economic infrastructure and recognised that investment in care yields significant economic returns.

The Scottish Government has committed to delivering a 10 year National Strategy for Economic Transformation in Autumn 2021. This strategy will set out the steps we will take to deliver a stronger, fairer and greener economy.

The Scottish Government is not able provide this information; this would require minute by minute analysis of all data held for the specific areas and all surrounding areas as the Scottish Ambulance Service operates a national service.

Vehicle cover provided is dynamic and fluid with ever changing variables.

The Scottish Government met with the EIS on 8 September for their bi-annual meeting with the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills. Education recovery, Staffing and COP26 were discussed.

The Scottish Government has regular meetings with the EIS to discuss a range of issues relating to education.

Information on how many people have received a dementia diagnosis in each year since 2007, broken down by NHS board, is not collected or held centrally.

Advice from clinicians is to continue to use PCR testing for international travel, which is more accurate than other forms of testing. In addition, positive results should be genomically sequenced, which is harder to do using other types of test. We will, however, consider the use of lateral flow testing as technology improves and more data is available. Regardless of any testing regime, individuals should be following the protocols set out to minimise transmission.

Ambulances are not single-crewed other than in exceptional circumstances, such as short notice unplanned staff absences, and every effort is made to double crew ambulances through rostered and relief staff, overtime or ambulance bank staff. Scottish Ambulance Service Technicians are able to deliver high quality care to patients, but where a paramedic skill set is required, paramedics will be tasked to calls.

The Scottish Government has been working closely with the Scottish Ambulance Service to reduce single-crewing wherever possible. Prior to COVID-19, we had a plan in place with the Service to reduce instances of single crewing. This resulted in instances of single crewing falling to 0.9% in quarter 1 of 2019/20.

Unfortunately as a result of COVID-19 there has been occasions where single crewing has had to be used as a result of late notice staff abstractions, however we are continuing to work with the Scottish Ambulance Service to reduce this where possible.

As part of the NHS Scotland response to coronavirus (COVID-19), an Innovation Workstream has been created to manage the evaluation of antibody and swab (PCR) tests. This workstream is led by NHS NSS and clinical scientists from NHS Health Boards, and is designed to take advantage of rapid innovations within testing, while at the same time avoiding duplication of effort between Health Boards.

As part of this workstream, antibody tests being used within Scotland are validated by NHS Scotland. The evaluation reports for the antibody assays which have currently been validated and are in use are publicly available, and can be found on NHS Scotland’s Health Innovation Assessment Portal . These evaluation reports show the high sensitivity and specificity of antibody tests approved for use within Scotland.

Scotland is also part of the UK National Testing Programme, participating in UK-wide antibody studies such as the Post Positive PCR Antibody Testing Initiative, where antibody tests have been validated by the UK Government. These validation reports are publicly available, and can be found on the UK Government website .