Chamber and committees

This information is not currently available. Weekly updated data on the proportion of the NHS workforce reported absent for all COVID-19 related reasons in total is available at:

https://www.gov.scot/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-daily-data-for-scotland/

The Scottish Government is supportive of the work of Versus Arthritis including the six-point support package. In support of this the Minister for Public Health, Women’s Health and Sport is due to meet with representatives of Versus Arthritis soon to discuss the initiative.

We are working in collaboration with the organisation to ensure that patients on waiting lists receive good communication and relevant support while they await treatment. This work will be ongoing with essential collaboration with patients, carers and providers including the National Advisory Committee for Chronic Pain NACCP.

The Scottish Government does not hold this information centrally. We are however developing a meaningful equality and diversity objective for Chairs of NHS Boards that directly support the work of staff equality networks, ensuring they have a voice and influence to drive change, with clear and defined lines of accountability. While this is in development we are actively encouraging Health Boards to develop staff led equality networks across a range of protected characteristics, which includes disability.

We are also working with service-led disability organisations to support graduates with disabilities enter the NHS workforce and the development of a user-focussed workplace adjustment policy.

The most recent long COVID statistics published by the Office for National Statistics on 1 July 2021 state that, over the four-week period ending 6 June 2021, an estimated 962,000 people living in private households in the UK reported experiencing long COVID (symptoms persisting more than four weeks after the first suspected coronavirus (COVID-19) episode that are not explained by something else). Of those people, an estimated 81,000 lived in Scotland. Detailed estimates by age are available for the UK at Prevalence of ongoing symptoms following coronavirus (COVID-19) infection in the UK - Office for National Statistics (ons.gov.uk) .This detail is not available for Scotland.

We do not currently have for Scotland a breakdown of people experiencing symptoms of long COVID by age, or according to whether or not they were originally hospitalised due to the virus. We are working with the EAVE II project, on which the University of Edinburgh and Public Health Scotland collaborate. Funded by the Medical Research Council, this project used pseudonymised GP and other patient data to track the COVID-19 pandemic as it unfolded across Scotland. This dataset is now being used in a separate project funded by the Chief Scientist Office to investigate long COVID, and will generate analysis of people assessed as having long COVID. Early results will be available later in 2021.

Statistics on the waiting times patients experience waiting for family genetic testing following a sudden arrhythmic death syndrome bereavement are not held by Public Health Scotland (PHS). PHS does not hold information on the conditions patients are waiting to be seen for.

Statistics relating to the waits patients experience for new outpatient appointments at specialty level are published up to 31 March 2021. These include waiting times for Clinical Genetics and Cardiology. These can be found at the following link: https://www.publichealthscotland.scot/publications/nhs-waiting-times-stage-of-treatment/nhs-waiting-times-stage-of-treatment-quarter-ending-31-march-2021/ .

For clinical genetics, the median waiting time for patients seen during Jan-Mar ‘21 was 40 days.

The Scottish Government has supported the following research:

‘Genetic Testing for Sudden Arrhythmic Death Syndrome and the British Coronial System’. This is currently in follow-up in NHS Grampian and ran from May 2014 to June 2020.

‘The Role of Genetic Testing & Molecular Autopsy in Sudden Arrhythmic Death Syndrome (SADS)’, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde which ran from 2011 – 2014.

‘Phenotype-driven molecular autopsy for sudden cardiac death’ through the Familial Arrhythmia Network Scotland, the Scottish Genetics Consortium, NHS Grampian and NHS Highland which ran from 2001 to 2013.

‘Non-invasive prediction of total and sudden cardiac mortality in patients with heart failure’, University of Glasgow, which ran from 1994 to 1996.

The Scottish Government in terms of its marketing and communication planning, utilises a number of communication channels, to reach those that are hesitant under the generic campaign, Roll Up Our Sleeves, targeting 18-49 year olds.

The Scottish Government does not hold this information.

The Scottish Attainment Challenge Programme, including the Pupil Equity Fund, has a vital role to play in building upon the progress being made to close the poverty related attainment gap.

In 2021 to 2022, over £215 million of targeted funding will be invested to help close the poverty related attainment gap. It marks the first year of record investment in an expanded £1 billion Attainment Scotland Fund which will be provided over the new Parliamentary term after an investment of over £750 million in the previous Parliamentary term.

As a part of this, in 2021-22 Headteachers will receive almost £147 million of Pupil Equity Funding (PEF) which they will decide how best to invest to support disadvantaged pupils. This includes a top up PEF Premium payment of up to £20 million, recognising the new and additional challenges schools face as a result of the pandemic.

Closing the poverty-related attainment gap and ensuring every young person has the chance to fulfil their potential remains central to this Government’s work. Our ambition is a long-term one and we know that the challenges presented by the pandemic mean our efforts to deliver equity in education are more vital than ever.

The Advisory Sub-Group on Education and Children’s Issues has concluded that the previous position on self-isolation for children and young people as contacts was not commensurate with the risk going forward and should be revised to exempt all children and young people from isolation as close contacts unless they are symptomatic or have a positive test. The sub-group concluded that, when a COVID-positive case is identified, school-aged close contacts should be advised to book a PCR test as soon as possible, and only end self-isolation and return to school if/when they receive a negative PCR test result. Further details of the sub-group’s conclusions can be found in their recently published advice .

Updated guidance on reducing the risks in schools published on 3 August details changes to self-isolation for schools in line with sub-group advice, which apply from 9 August onwards.