- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 08 October 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Humza Yousaf on 11 November 2021
To ask the Scottish Government whether the additional funding of £62 million for unmet need in social care is recurring funding.
Answer
As set out in the announcement, £62 million for 2021-22 has been allocated for building capacity in care at home community-based services. This is recurring funding intended help to fulfil unmet need, and deal with the current surge in demand and complexity of individual needs, also helping to ease pressures on unpaid carers.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 25 October 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Humza Yousaf on 11 November 2021
To ask the Scottish Government how many NHS staff are administering COVID-19 booster jabs, and how this compares with the initial vaccination programme.
Answer
We issued standing instructions to health boards as part of the delivery of phase 1 of the Covid-19 vaccinations programme (broadly December 2020 – August 2021), requiring health boards to build a capacity to deploy up to 1,400 Whole Time Equivalent (WTE) vaccinators in any given week, subject to scheduling of appointments and supply. We maintain this standing instruction for the current winter seasonal Flu and Covid-19 booster programme which requires up to 1,400 WTE vaccinators to be in place for deployment. Deployment in any given week is determined in coordination with the scheduling of appointments and clinics. The substantive difference between phase 1 and the winter programme is that we co-administer flu and Covid-19 boosters, which allows Boards to administer vaccinations at significantly higher rates. We continue to monitor workforce deployment capacity on a weekly basis through the collation of management information.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 20 July 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Humza Yousaf on 11 November 2021
To ask the Scottish Government by what date it plans to start the roll-out of the 2021-22 flu-immunisation programme, and how many people will be eligible for a free flu vaccination, broken down by eligible groups.
Answer
We are currently working with Public Health Scotland and Health Boards to plan and deliver the 2021-22 Seasonal Flu Vaccination Programme for the autumn.
We welcome the advice from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation who have indicated that where possible, a COVID-19 vaccination booster programme could run synergistically with the flu vaccination programme. This allows for eligible cohorts to be offered both the flu vaccination and a COVID-19 booster at the same appointment and we are working closely with partners to align the programmes to achieve this where possible (taking into account the minimum 24 week gap required between a 2nd dose and booster).
In light of this advice, we have started this year’s programme on the 6 September aiming to vaccinate over 3 million people, with work completed to identify the eligible group populace. It began with rollout of the childhood and schools programme and Health & Social Care Workers were able to book appointments using the online portal from 21 September. Those age 70 years and over have been sent letters inviting them for vaccination and pregnant women are being offered through maternity services.
Those aged 60-69 years of age are being sent letters from late October inviting them for vaccination and an online self-booking portal is being developed for those aged 50 years and over and unpaid carers to allow people to book an appointment at a convenient time and location allowing greater flexibility during November and December in advance of the anticipated start of flu season.
Cohort | Eligible Population |
65 and over- | 1,101,519 |
Children aged 2-5 who cannot receive LAIV | 877 |
Children Aged 2-5 | 168,209 |
Primary School Aged Children | 421,295 |
Secondary School Age Children less than 18 years | 336,125 |
Under 65 years old in an at-risk group | 773,085 |
Pregnant women(with & without risk factors) | 36,905 |
Health & social care staff | 308,073 |
Unpaid and young carers | 48,600 |
Independent NHS Contractors, (GP, dental and optometry practices, community pharmacists, laboratory staff working on COVID-19 testing) including support staff | 72,919 |
Teachers, support staff, Prison staff and support staff operating the detention estate. | 80,581 |
Prison population (Fluctuates daily – approximate figure provided. Population may also be included in cohorts above.) | 7,500 |
50-54 not at risk | 363,473 |
55-59 not at risk | 356,254 |
60-64 not at risk | 312,366 |
Total | 4,387,781 |
Influenza vaccine data is published by Public Health Scotland and on the 28 October indicated that 944,989 eligible individuals have received their flu vaccine.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 08 October 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Humza Yousaf on 11 November 2021
To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether any reductions to care packages by local authorities will be halted in light of the additional funding of £62 million for unmet need in social care.
Answer
The health and social care system is currently experiencing significant pressures. We recognise that some people’s care services have been affected by this, and the impact this may have on them and their unpaid carers.
That is why an investment of more than £300 million for health and social care was announced by the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care on 5 October 2021, including £62 million to address care at home pressures.
This funding will help to enhance capacity in care at home provision. It will help to increase social worker assessment capacity, fulfil unmet need, and deal with the current surge in demand and complexity of individual needs.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 08 October 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Humza Yousaf on 11 November 2021
To ask the Scottish Government how the £62 million for unmet need in social care will be allocated, broken down by local authority.
Answer
The additional funding of £62 million to expand care at home capacity has been approved for distribution to local authorities by the Settlement and Distribution Group meeting on 18th October and will be passed in full to IJBs . The distribution methodology for the funding is GAE for All Adult Social Work for 2021-22 and thereafter.
The distributions for 2021-22 will be made as redeterminations of the General Revenue Grant in March 2022. A letter with the full breakdown of allocation by Local Authority will be issued shortly.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 21 October 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Humza Yousaf on 11 November 2021
To ask the Scottish Government, in relation to applications to study nursing, how many (a) were received and (b) were successful, broken down by each year since 2007.
Answer
Table 1 highlights data from UCAS showing both the number of applications and number of accepted applicants to pre-registration nursing programmes from 2007 to 2020. Figures for 2021 have not yet been published yet.
Table 1
Applications and acceptances to nursing at Scottish providers by year
Source: UCAS
Year | Applications | Acceptances |
2007* | 2,715 | 285 |
2008* | 2,540 | 330 |
2009* | 2,515 | 325 |
2010 | 17,125 | 3,530 |
2011 | 19,230 | 3,265 |
2012 | 18,440 | 2,940 |
2013 | 18,800 | 3,040 |
2014 | 21,260 | 3,370 |
2015 | 21,105 | 3,355 |
2016 | 20,725 | 3,350 |
2017 | 20,900 | 3,615 |
2018 | 20,435 | 3,725 |
2019 | 21,710 | 4,040 |
2020 | 23,640 | 4,785 |
*Prior to 2010, the Centralised Applications to Nursing and Midwifery Training Clearing House (CATCH) was not incorporated into the UCAS undergraduate admissions scheme. This means that UCAS data is not comparable over the longer term due to changes in the courses included within the UCAS application process. For time comparisons, therefore, data prior to 2015 is used not included.
In 2015, around 120 courses at providers in Scotland that were previously part of the UCAS Teacher Training scheme moved into the UCAS undergraduate scheme. The numbers for providers in Scotland in 2015 and later recorded through the UCAS Undergraduate scheme will include those which were previously part of UCAS Teacher Training – estimated to be around 2,000 acceptances per year, mostly aged 21 or over.
For the 2010 cycle, the Centralised Applications to Nursing and Midwifery Training Clearing House (CATCH) was incorporated into the UCAS Undergraduate admissions scheme. Data from 2010 onwards includes nursing and midwifery diploma courses in Scotland.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 21 October 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Humza Yousaf on 11 November 2021
To ask the Scottish Government what the cost is of training a nursing student.
Answer
The Scottish Government package of support for Scottish student nurses and midwives is currently at its highest level. The average cost of training a nursing student, over three years of full-time university education, is £55,000. This comprises:
- Teaching grant and tuition fee payments to the university;
- £10,000 non-means tested, non-repayable annual bursary payments to the student;
- travel costs;
- uniform costs;
- health checks;
- disclosure checks;
- and a range of additional funding students can also apply for, such as Dependant’s Allowance, Single Parent’s Allowance, Childcare Allowance for Parents and Disabled Students’ Allowance.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 22 October 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Humza Yousaf on 11 November 2021
To ask the Scottish Government whether district nurses are being used to administer COVID-19 booster vaccines and winter flu vaccines to individuals at home, and, if so, under what circumstances.
Answer
Due to the importance of the autumn/winter vaccines, some health boards are utilising Community Nursing Teams.
This will particularly be for those patients who are on their current caseloads and are housebound. Community Nurses are also supporting vaccinations in care homes, not only to those on caseload but to help support delivery to this priority group. Community Nurses are also undertaking additional shifts in vaccination clinic settings.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 21 October 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Humza Yousaf on 11 November 2021
To ask the Scottish Government how many additional nursing students it believes will be needed to resolve the reported staffing issues, and how much it believes it will cost to fill these places.
Answer
Growing our nursing workforce is crucial and we have steadily increased places on undergraduate nursing courses over 9 consecutive years. Each year we undertake a robust nursing student intakes planning process to determine the target number of nursing students to which Scottish universities should recruit to meet future nursing workforce demands. The process involves significant input from key stakeholders from across the health and education sectors, and uses detailed modelling of current and projected staff and student numbers, including workforce supply and demand for 3-5 years hence, as well as anticipated key service drivers, in coming to a decision.
To address more immediate staffing pressures, the NHS Recovery Plan, which was published on 25 August 2021, commits more than £1 billion of targeted investment for the recovery and renewal of our health service. A key requirement to delivering the Recovery Plan is having the right workforce in place at the right time and it is therefore key that we now develop a new supporting workforce strategy to enable us to do this. We will therefore publish a National Workforce Strategy by the end of this year, which supports remobilisation, recovery and renewal of Health and Social Care Services.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 28 October 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Graeme Dey on 10 November 2021
To ask the Scottish Government whether special public transport arrangements are being made to ensure that key workers, such as nurses, are still able to get to their workplaces in the event that rail workers take industrial action during COP26.
Answer
Transport Scotland worked closely with ScotRail to develop contingency measures to mitigate the impact that strike action would bring. COP26 Delegates, business as usual and key workers were considered in the development of mitigation measures. I am delighted that an agreement has been reached with the RMT which means that all four rail unions have now accepted a pay offer ending all current disputes.