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The Digital Health and Care Strategy was further reinforced in November 2022 with the publication of the Digital Health and Care Delivery Plan . In addition, a Data Strategy for health and care is due to be published early this year, which was consulted on extensively throughout 2022. This included public consultation, including in relation to patients' use of their own health and care information.

The Scottish Government has spent £5.512 million since Near Me was launched in 2019.

The Digital Front Door is currently in the programme startup phase of its development and is not currently a live service. The commitment is to introduce an interactive ‘Front Door’ by the end of this Parliament in 2026, following public consultation and engagement.

We are currently developing a variety of asynchronous communication pathways across health and care in Scotland. Digital health and care developments provide a form of asynchronous communication including the Remote Health Pathways Programme (including the use of Connect Me), My Diabetes My Way, Renal Patient View, Dynamic Scot and vCreate Neuro. Email can also be used in a range of different ways to facilitate asynchronous communication with patients and, depending on local priorities and circumstances, individual Health Boards and local providers of health services continue to implement asynchronous appointments.

We do not set national targets for its implementation nor intend to do so. We are actively encouraging a public centred care approach which allows people to access services in a way which is comfortable and convenient for them. Where appropriate clinically and for the individual, everyone should have the choice of attending appointments via an easy and convenient Near Me video call and having this as an option has expanded public choice. Feedback can be provided at the end of each Near Me call through a survey and satisfaction rates from those who complete the survey remain high at 97%.

Costs for computerised cognitive behavioural therapies are paid at the national level rather than split between NHS Boards. National costs are provided in the following table.

We established the Digital Mental Health Programme in late 2020 to oversee ongoing development of cCBT and other digital mental health services. The development and expansion of digital services was supported by a national implementation team.

The number of available cCBT treatments has increased from 1 in 2019 to 27 in 2022. The introduction of self-referral treatments, Sleepio and Daylight have greatly increased access to digital treatments with 25,668 self-referrals in 2022, compared to 12,356 the year before.

These numbers continue to rise, with usage of cCBT programs increasing from 22,385 in 2020 to 66,163 in 2022. We continue to invest in the long term sustainability of digital therapies (including cCBT), including innovation, staff training, evaluation and inclusion.

Patient referrals and self-referrals to cCBT services from 2017 to 2022, by Board.

The total cost of the 2021-2022 campaign was £206,970. The 2023 campaign has been developed to have a much greater media presence and will aim to reach a broader audience than previous campaigns. With this, the projected spend for the 2023 campaign is £500,000. This also cost also includes activities on insights gathering to gain further clarity on how the campaign messaging is received and the public perceptions of a career in social care to help inform and shape future recruitment support.

We recognise that veterans may have specific health needs as a result of their military service. Scottish Government works with key partners, including NHS Armed Forces and Veterans Champions to ensure that veterans are identified as a distinct group to ensure their needs are met within the healthcare system.

As a result of a project in NHS Fife, it was agreed at the UK wide MoD/ Department of Health and Social Care Partnership Board that a single code identifying veterans within primary care records be used.

In addition, as part of our commitment to establish a GP’s Armed Forces and Veterans Recognition Scheme, we have developed a training package for health and social care staff, working in general practices to help them understand the specific health needs that veterans can present with.