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Will all health boards follow the same guidelines? If we are not monitoring spending, do we run the risk of some health boards spending a lot more on Covid than others, or, indeed, some not spending enough on measures?

Thanks. Are enough conversations happening among Government departments before they make announcements such as, “There are going to be 800 extra GPs”? Are they then speaking to the universities and giving them the funding? We hear that Scottish universities are limiting the number of Scottish students because they need fee-paying students to pay the costs. Is enough funding being given for those places?

You spoke about primary care workers as well. The Government is trying to put in place more pharmacists to help GPs and reduce the workload. I have, however, heard that, after pharmacists have gone in, GPs have reduced their hours because they are burned out, so that measure is not helping. There is also an issue with workforce planning for pharmacists. Is enough funding being given to the universities to make sure that we can give places to Scottish students?

Good morning. The report highlights significant challenges facing the NHS in Scotland, while noting that healthcare systems are under extreme pressure across the world. How is the NHS in Scotland performing compared with other countries’ healthcare systems?

What is your assessment of the progress of the Scottish Government’s Covid costs improvement programme?

The report highlights the point that workforce capacity is the biggest risk to recovery and shows that one key recruitment target, that of increasing the general practitioner workforce by 800, is not on track to be achieved by the 2027 deadline. What is the Scottish Government doing to address that? Is the target still achievable?

The report also states that Covid-19 spend will no longer be monitored. Given your call for transparency, recovery and progress, is it premature for the Scottish Government to stop monitoring that spending?

Good morning. In paragraph 15, the section 22 report states that the auditor has reported

“that issues remain where the SPCB and the Commissioner’s Office need ‘to work together to address some of the specific governance issues identified’”.

Could you tell us more about those issues?

Will we continue to be updated on the issue?

The section 22 report says, at paragraph 17, that directions were issued by the Standards Commission for Scotland. Do you have any information about how long they are likely to remain in place?

The delay in confirming the funding would have had an impact on actioning the recommendations in the report.