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The Scottish Government has had a wide range of discussions with Police Scotland over many years about its use of technology to support effective policing in communities through its Change Programmes.

In 2019-20 the Scottish Government provided an additional £12 million in capital funding to support the introduction of mobile devices for 10,000 officers, as part of an investment programme to build operational capacity enhance digital capabilities and enable frontline officers to spend more time in communities.

Police Scotland is the lead delivery partner for the Digital Evidence Sharing Capability (DESC) Programme – a collaborative transformation programme supported and funded by the Scottish Government and currently being piloted in Dundee. It will deliver significant efficiencies to Police Scotland and its partners, making the process of collecting, editing and sharing evidence with the prosecutor much simpler and quicker for officers than current processes. DESC is also a critical platform for future transformation, such as the national roll out of a body worn video capability, and greater use of pre-recorded evidence.

The Scottish Police Authority provide oversight and scrutiny when new technologies are being introduced to ensure that ethical, legal and human rights are considered, so that public confidence can be maintained.

The 2021-22 Programme for Government, alongside the Bute House Agreement, set out our plans to develop and implement breakfast policy for the whole parliamentary term. Subsequent Programme for Government publications have reiterated that food provision is an important part of the mission to tackle child poverty. Work to map existing breakfast provision is expected to be completed by Spring 2024 which will inform policy on school breakfasts, and a plan for breakfast provision, designed around the needs of children and families.

The Scottish Government remains committed to developing plans to deliver free breakfasts to all primary and special school children. Work is underway to map existing breakfast provision which is expected to be completed in Spring 2024. This will inform policy on school breakfasts, and a plan for breakfast provision, designed around the needs of children and families.

Scottish Government has contracted AssistFM to map existing breakfast provision. This mapping is expected to be completed in Spring 2024. There are no plans to publish it separately, as this work is just one of the elements which will inform policy on school breakfasts, and a plan for breakfast provision, designed around the needs of children and families.

The Scottish Government remains absolutely committed to the founding principles of the NHS. As is the case across the UK, hospitals in the independent sector were contracted to provide additional capacity for NHS priority patients throughout the pandemic. NHS Scotland makes limited use of the independent sector, in contrast to the position in NHS England.

Our National Treatment Centres (NTCs) Programme is the single biggest increase in planned care capacity ever created in NHS Scotland; these centres are planning to deliver over 20,000 additional planned care procedures by 2024-25.

NHS Scotland’s Centre for Sustainable Delivery (CfSD) is also playing a central role in working with Health Boards to ensure that they are able to continually identify new ways to increase capacity, and to respond to demand through service innovation and redesign.

CfSD’s clinically-led Specialty Delivery Groups (SDG) have supported several new and innovative pathway developments, many of which are now being successfully scaled up across Scotland, including Active Clinical Referral Triage (ACRT), Patient Initiated Review (PIR) and Enhanced Recovery after Surgery (ERAS). These improvement programmes will support delivery of the targets and provide sustainable solutions for the future.

Text messages have been used routinely and positively for many years in NHS Scotland. Scottish Government’s Information and Risk Assurance Team has been working extensively with Health Boards and other NHS delivery partners in assessing the proportionality of using text messages for different purposes, including appointment reminders, medication adherence, health education, and remote monitoring.

The benefits often identified across different NHS organisations include reduction in non-attendance, improved patient engagement, increased adherence to treatment plans, and cost-effectiveness. The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) have previously stressed the importance of wording text messages appropriately and advice was given during the COVID-19 pandemic on messages not adding unnecessary confusion and being easy to read. We also recognise that the use of text messages is limited by critical privacy and security requirements and potential for misinterpretation.

The national Connect Me programme has been well received in allowing patients to report information like blood pressure readings via text message to receive feedback based on their condition. Alongside web and mobile app access, this importantly supports public choice in how they engage with NHS services whilst reducing the need for unnecessary appointments.

The Scottish Government regularly holds cross-portfolio meetings to discuss matters related to public health. The overall governance for cross-portfolio engagement on population health and its drivers is the Care and Wellbeing Portfolio. The most recent cross portfolio meeting under this governance was the Place and Wellbeing Programme Board (which sits within the Care and Wellbeing Portfolio) which last met on 7 December. Matters discussed included progress on how health and social care bodies can operate as effective anchor institutions and contribute to improved public health, as part of the wider community wealth building agenda.

The Care and Wellbeing Portfolio Board, which provides oversight of a portfolio of work to improve population health; address inequalities and improve system sustainability, last met on 26 July 2023.

At that meeting the Board considered joint work across Economy/Health and Social Care Portfolios and Public Health Scotland on economic inactivity and the impact it has on Scotland’s economy and population health. The Board also discussed the Verity House Agreement and the shared priorities of tackling poverty, transforming our economy through a just transition to deliver net zero and, delivering sustainable, person-centred public services. 

The Board next meets on the 24 January 2024 and is scheduled to consider long term planning around population health.

Additionally, the Scottish Government has regular cross-portfolio meetings about wider determinants that contribute to improving public health - including the Tackling Child Poverty Programme Board, the Fair Work Oversight Group and the Ministerial Population Taskforce.

The NHS Scotland National Access Policy states that Health Boards should review reasons why patients may DNA or cancel appointments in order to take necessary steps to address issues and barriers as necessary including what support can be provided by Health Boards to reduce non-attendance. The policy can be found at The NHSScotland National Access Policy - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) .

Public Health Scotland data up to 30 September 2023 showed the Did Not Attend (DNA) rates for New Outpatients has reduced by 1% over the last year - from 7.7% on 30 September 2023 to 6.7% in the most recent quarter. While DNA rates for inpatient and day-cases has been consistently at 0.7% in each quarter over the same period.

We recognise the importance of transparent and regular communication with patients, which is why we have included a standard package of communications that all Health Boards should be providing in the revised Waiting Times Guidance . This includes what patients should expect and their responsibilities while they are waiting for their appointment, test or treatment.