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Following a fair and open recruitment exercise Scottish Ministers have appointed a Chair and three non-executive Directors to the Board of David MacBrayne Limited.

Analysis of the recruitment exercise confirms that a total of 52 applications were received, and 6 of those were from Island residents.

A total of 6 applications were received for the position of Chair of the Board, direct links to Scottish islands cannot be broken down for this appointment.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-05073 on 7 January 2022. 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 .

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-05073 on 7 January 2022. 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 .

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-05073 on 7 January 2022. 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 .

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-05073 on 7 January 2022. 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 .

The Scottish Government recognises the scale of the challenge facing NHS Scotland and is working closely with partners to accelerate domestic and international recruitment to Scotland. On 5 October, I announced a £300 million investment in health and social care as a direct response to winter planning and systems pressures. This includes funding of £15 million for health boards to recruit 1000 new health and care support staff by March 2022. The Scottish Government is also supporting boards to recruit at least 200 international nurses by March 2022 through an additional £4.5 million of funding.

The wellbeing of our health and social care workforce, wherever they work, remains a key priority. This year we have made £12 million available to support the wellbeing of the workforce. This includes £8 million from the NHS Recovery Plan to provide ongoing wellbeing support for the workforce alongside an additional £4 million to provide further support to address winter pressures. We have also made available the National Wellbeing Hub, a 24/7 National Wellbeing Helpline, confidential mental health treatment through the Workforce Specialist Service, and funding for additional local psychological support.

Remuneration is clearly a crucial element in retaining staff, and earlier this year the Scottish Government agreed a NHS pay deal which represents an uplift of at least 4% for most NHS staff, higher than the 3% uplift being implemented in England and Wales. Agenda for Change staff in Scotland were already the best paid in the UK and the 2021/22 pay deal has enhanced this position further.

We know that career progression is another attraction of working in NHS Scotland. The NHS Scotland Academy is currently developing a range of accelerated education and training programmes for existing staff which will enable them to enhance their existing knowledge and skills. This will open up access to new roles and additional opportunities for career progression.

In addition, there are a range of programmes in place to support nurses and midwives at various stages of their career under the Scottish Preceptorship Framework for nursing and midwifery. This framework sets out the additional support and guidance offered to nurses and midwives during their transition or adaptation, to a new role.

Decisions on local staffing requirements and recruitment are the responsibility of individual NHS Boards. However, Scottish Government officials are continually engaging with NHS Boards to identify particular areas of concern.

NHS Highland advise that they, like all NHS Scotland boards, are experiencing sustained pressures on their services and a shortage of registered professionals to fill posts. NHS Highland recognises that staff across the organisation are feeling tired and concerned about their ability to provide the high standards of care that they wish to, and are doing all they can to support them.

NHS Highland has been actively managing the situation in partnership with staffside colleagues to understand the greatest areas of pressures and to address these.

This dialogue will continue over winter months, allowing local healthcare providers and Scottish Government to anticipate emerging pressures and implement targeted responses where necessary.

Although NHS Scotland’s staffing levels are at a record high, following nine years of consecutive growth, we are fully aware of the difficult circumstances that Boards and frontline staff are working in. That is why we have announced a record £300 million of investment to support Health Boards and their staff over the coming months.

As part of this investment, NHS Highland is receiving additional in-year and recurring finance to support international recruitment of registered nurses and additional Healthcare Support Workers for acute services. The Board has also received a share of in-year investment to provide additional support to its recruitment team and to recruit an international recruitment lead.

Scottish Government officials are continually engaging with NHS Boards to identify particular areas of concern. This includes the gathering of daily capacity and weekly absence reporting from all territorial Health Boards.

Through this ongoing engagement, NHS Highland advise that they have embedded an established structure for daily clinical and care huddles which are designed using the principles of the Scottish Patient Safety Programme. These forums are used for reviewing staffing and escalating any concerns in relation to patient safety and quality and staff wellbeing.

We are fully aware of the unprecedented pressure that the pandemic is putting on services within NHS Highland and across Scotland. That is why we have announced a record £300 million of investment to support Health Boards and their staff over the coming months.

As part of this investment, NHS Highland is receiving additional in-year and recurring finance to support international recruitment of registered nurses and additional Healthcare Support Workers for acute services. The Board has also received a share of in-year investment to provide additional support to its recruitment team and to recruit an international recruitment lead.

Safety is at the heart of everything we do and the Scottish Government wants everyone in Scotland to receive the best possible care and treatment from our health and care services. Along with NHS Scotland, the Scottish Government has a shared vision for an open and learning culture and we want to learn when there has been dissatisfaction or harm and encourage organisations to identify improvements.

Our commitment to this is strongly demonstrated in the development of our approach to openness and learning in the introduction of the statutory Organisational duty of Candour legislation, and in our commission to Healthcare Improvement Scotland and NHS Education for Scotland to work together on a Joint Commission to make this a reality.

A number of reviews and processes are in scope for the Joint Commission, which will seek to take a human factors/ safety science approach to minimising duplication and reducing variation in review processes as well as supporting and upskilling staff in leading and taking part in these.

NHS Health Boards are responsible for delivering safe, effective, person-centred care at a local level, which includes leading on learning and improvement in areas of challenge and to drive quality; creating an environment that values staff and supports them when concerns are raised; and monitoring and improving the quality of health care which is provides to individuals. The Scottish Government and NHS Health Boards work closely together to ensure local policies and processes are implemented and improved in line with national policy and frameworks.