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Whilst the Scottish Government sets the strategic policy direction for workforce development with the NHS, it is up to the individual health boards on how to best undertake recruitment planning requirements.

Additionally, the National Oncology Coordination Group has been commissioned to support a coordinated and collaborative operational response to immediate service pressures, like retirees or moves.

The controlled target intake for funded places for Academic Year 23-24 has been maintained at 4,837 overall, comprising 4,536 nursing places and 301 midwifery places. However these figures are subject to annual review with key stakeholders as previously agreed by the then Health Secretary, Mr Humza Yousaf.

How many (a) medical and (b) clinical oncologists are (i) currently employed (A) across NHS Scotland and (B) in each NHS board and can be found in this link to TURAS - NHS Scotland workforce | Turas Data Intelligence .

We do not hold the information for question (ii) how many medical and clinical oncologists are expected to retire in the next five years within NHS Scotland, however this link to TURAS shows the % of the workforce over the age of 55 - NHS Scotland workforce | Turas Data Intelligence .

While the promotion of workforce diversity is a matter for the Chief Constable of Police Scotland and Scottish Fire and Rescue Service, the Scottish Government set clear ambitions on equality, diversity and inclusion in the Strategic Police Priorities 2023 and the Fire and Rescue Framework 2022 .

Police Scotland’s Joint Equality Outcomes for Policing include outcomes on workforce diversity monitoring, leadership, recruitment, progression and retention. Progress across a broad range of activity is highlighted in the Police Scotland EDI Mainstreaming and Equality Outcomes Progress Report 2021-2023 , published in April this year.

SFRS has developed a Positive Action toolkit to proactively engage with Scotland’s diverse communities, host community targeted recruitment events and present SFRS as an inclusive employer. SFRS also has a range of initiatives to encourage retention of its diverse workforce for example in developing a Race Employee Network and in mainstreaming its dignity and respect policies.

NHS Ayrshire & Arran engaged with the Scottish Government in late February about their interim arrangements for transferring the three Intensive Care Unit beds from University Hospital Ayr to University Hospital Crosshouse.

The Board has also engaged with the Scottish Government in recent years about their proposals to retain interim changes (made during the pandemic) to the model for delivery of local systemic anti-cancer therapies (including chemotherapy). The Board launched a formal consultation on the proposals which ran from 13 February to 19 May 2023 and the details can be accessed at: https://jointheconversation-nhsaaa.co.uk/sact-public-consultation-2 .

It is for Healthcare Improvement Scotland's Community Engagement Team (HIS-CE) (formerly the Scottish Health Council) to answer questions on what proposed service changes NHS Boards have consulted them about.

The Scottish Government would expect that all health boards, including NHS Ayrshire & Arran, follow the national Planning with People guidance, which includes the need to engage with HIS-CET when considering service change.

The guidance is available at the following: https://www.gov.scot/publications/planning-people-community-engagement-participation-guidance/

The Scottish Government welcomes the focus of the research and is committed to increasing the representation of racialised minorities in the public sector. The research estimates that 2.8 per cent of public sector employees identified as belonging to a “black and minority ethnic group”, 76.5 per cent were white and 20.7 per cent were marked as “unknown”, which included “not completed”, “don’t know” and “prefer not to say” responses.

The report acknowledges it does not function as a perfect census of Scotland’s public sector workforce. The Annual Population Survey by the Office of National Statistics notes that from January to December 2022, the proportion of public sector workers in Scotland aged 16 and over who are minority ethnic was 6.2 per cent. This is higher than the proportion of the population aged 16 and over who are from minority ethnic groups (5.5 per cent in 2022).

As an employer, our Race Recruitment and Retention Action Plan published in 2021, supports the Scottish Government and its agencies to increase the representation of racialised minorities, across all grades, to be reflective of the working age population. We are making progress in this regard, with an estimated 4.1% of staff in the Scottish Government and its agencies identifying as a racialised minority (December 2022). This is almost double the figure from 2017 (2.2%).

The Scottish Government published A Fairer Scotland for All: An Anti-Racist Employment Strategy in December 2022 which sets out a series of actions, including those recommended in the report. We will be piloting the use of an anti-racist workplace training framework with employers; supporting employers in their use of positive action measures; and continuing to engage with public sector leadership on recruitment and representation, data and understanding institutional racism.

We are also reviewing the operation of the Public Sector Equality Duty in Scotland with a view to improving the Scottish Specific Duties, including data reporting on ethnicity. We have consulted on proposals which include extending the existing gender pay gap reporting duty to ethnicity and disability, with listed public authorities required to make more evidence-based decisions on the information they publish.

The Scottish Government has no plans to establish a Young Cancer Patient Travel Fund.

Financial support for travel to hospital is available for patients and authorised escorts, in line with eligibility criteria and medical requirements under the Patient Travel Expenses Scheme and Highlands and Islands Travel Scheme. Boards also have discretion to reimburse patient travel expenses where it is viewed to be an extension of treatment costs and deemed to be clinically necessary.

Furthermore, the Young Patients Family Fund helps families of young inpatients under 18 to cover some of the costs of hospital visits. This fund is available for all patients including those diagnosed with cancer.

The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring that all people living in Scotland with chronic lymphocytic leukaemia are able to access the best possible care and support, and benefit from healthcare services that are safe, effective and have people at the centre of their care.

Clinical nurse specialists (CNS) make a valued contribution to delivering services and supporting patients and families who require specialist care. The Scottish Government has invested over £2.4 million annually in the Specialist Nursing and Care Fund since 2015, which continues to increase access to CNS nationally.

The Scottish Government has overall responsibility for health and social care policy in Scotland; however, the statutory responsibility for delivering or commissioning services at a local level lies with local authorities, NHS Boards and integrated health and social care partnerships. Operational decisions, including whether there is a need for lymphocytic leukaemia specialist nurses, are therefore matters for those bodies.

However, within cancer services we have piloted 12 Single Point of Contact (SPoC) programmes. This approach will ensure patients with a confirmed or suspected diagnosis of cancer have dedicated person-centred support to discuss their specific circumstances.

The Scottish Government does not yet have complete data for the Young Patients Family Fund for the period 2022-23 and are committed to working with Health Boards to achieve this.

For the latest data I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-17130 on
‎ 17 May 2023. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers