Seòmar agus comataidhean

The Scottish Government is committed to an infrastructure solution to address landslip risks at the A83 Rest and Be Thankful and shares the urgency communities and businesses place on maintaining and improving connectivity of this vital route. At the recent Cabinet public discussion on 2 October in Inverary, the First Minister gave a firm commitment to a solution to the challenges at the Rest and Be Thankful, including a commitment for the funding.

Spending as set out in the Scottish Budget 2023-24 is confirmed which includes progressing the necessary detailed design work for the long term solution, currently progressing at pace. The detailed development and assessment of the preferred option will culminate in the publication of draft road Orders, compulsory purchase Orders and Environmental Impact Assessment Report for formal comment and we expect to publish draft Orders by the end of 2024.

Progress following publication of draft Orders will depend on the level and nature of any representations, including objections, to the published draft Orders. Procurement of a main works contractor for the permanent, long term solution can only commence upon completion of the statutory authorisation process.

The current estimated cost of the preferred option is approximately £405 million - £470 million (at 2023 prices). We will continue to develop and assess the scheme proposals in order to deliver the best value for taxpayers’ money.

Funding to take forward the construction stage of the long-term solution in future years will be determined as part of the annual Scottish Budget setting process and subsequent capital spending reviews.

The statutory responsibility for delivering and commissioning services at a local level lies with local authorities, NHS boards and integrated health and social care partnerships. Publicly funded places in care homes are covered by the National Care Home Contract, which is negotiated annually between COSLA and Scottish Care. The information requested on the number of NHS funded beds that are currently empty is not held by the Scottish Government.

The figure of 10-15% reflects data taken from the 2022 Care Home Census. The latest census will be published in due course and may reflect different data.

Reasons behind this figure include: the fact that registered beds do not necessarily equate to available beds for a wide range of reasons; a UK-wide staff shortage in the social care sector which has an impact on bed availability; different care home providers using different business models which can affect the number of people that can be admitted at any one time.

Scottish Government has asked Health Board Chief Executives within each region to nominate a lead Chief Executive to plan and deliver the changes to neonatal intensive care through the Regional Planning infrastructure. Health Boards will submit detailed implementation plans to the Best Start Programme Board and the NHS Chief Operating Officer, with the expectation that the National model is rolled out by 2025. To support planning, the Scottish Government has commissioned national modelling and capacity work.

The Best Start Implementation Programme Board is considering the future role of the Perinatal Sub Group (which undertook the Options Appraisal Process) to support implementation.

It is the responsibility of the Regional lead Chief Executives to determine whether they will set up implementation working groups and set their terms of reference and membership, and whether they will publish their papers. Timescales for completion of implementation have been set by the Scottish Government.

Our Heart Disease Action Plan, Respiratory Care Action Plan and Stroke Improvement Plans recognise the importance of timely and equitable access to care for people living with chest, heart and stroke conditions. We are working closely with NHS Boards and people with lived experience, as well as our national advisory groups as we implement these strategies. We have also established a £10 million long COVID Support Fund to support NHS boards to increase the capacity of existing services, develop these into more clearly defined local pathways and provide a more co-ordinated experience for people living with long COVID.

We are aware that people living in remote and rural areas may face disparities in access to health care. To address this we are committed to publishing a Remote and Rural Workforce Strategy and have recently established a National Centre for Remote and Rural Health and Social Care.

The Scottish Government is considering all of the recommendations made as part of the Independent Review of Audiology Services in Scotland.

We will provide an update to Parliament on next steps in due course.

The Scottish Government is currently considering all of the recommendations made as part of the Independent Review of Audiology Services in Scotland.

We will provide an update to Parliament on next steps in due course.

The Scottish Government expects that where Health Boards are aware of any patient who has been adversely affected by any poor-quality infant auditory brainstem response (ABR) assessment, the relevant Health Board follows up with the patient and their family to provide appropriate support, reassurance and advice on next steps.

Studies looking at the impact of respiratory infections on those with lung conditions have often demonstrated that this cohort are at greater risk of hospitalisation. We recognise that people with lung conditions often have pre-existing reduced lung function and if they become infected with COVID-19 or flu, are at a disadvantage from the onset.

As set out in Priority 5 of our Health and social care: winter preparedness plan 2023-2024, “Protecting people who may be most impacted by severe illness, hospitalisation or death from Covid-19 and flu, through vaccination, is a key means of protecting individuals from illness and reducing demand on our health and social care systems.”

Our successful vaccination programme means many people previously considered at highest risk of infection and severe disease, and the wider population, are now far less likely to become seriously ill from Covid-19 or flu.

However, a group of people do remain at high risk – primarily people who have a weakened immune system. These people should continue to follow the advice of their GP or specialist clinician, who best know their health condition and circumstances.

Care and support for people with chest, heart and stroke conditions or long COVID is being provided across the full range of services being delivered by our NHS. This includes local primary care teams, community-based rehabilitation services and referrals for further investigation delivered in secondary care settings where needed.

The Scottish Respiratory Advisory Committee identified three initial priorities for implementation of the Respiratory Care Action Plan (2021) which were; child to adult transitions, access to data and pulmonary rehabilitation. The child to adult transitions sub-group has produced recommendations which will be shared shortly. We have recently commissioned Public Health Scotland to begin scoping work to develop a respiratory audit programme, and we are working closely with services across Scotland to deliver improvements in pulmonary rehab.

We are making progress on delivery of our Heart Disease Action Plan (2021) and have recently completed a scoping exercise with cardiac rehabilitation services to identify priority areas for improvement.

Since publication of the Stroke Improvement Plan in June, the Scottish Government has appointed a Consultant Stroke Physician as Clinical Lead for Stroke to lead on its implementation. We are developing a bundle of rehabilitation measures for inclusion in the Scottish Stroke Care Audit and are also developing measures of patient experience of rehabilitation.

We have established a £10 million long COVID Support Fund to support NHS boards to increase the capacity of existing services, develop these into more clearly defined local pathways and provide a more co-ordinated experience for people living with long COVID. We made an initial £3 million available from the fund over 2022-23, and a further £3 million is being made available from the fund over this financial year.