Seòmar agus comataidhean

On behalf of the National Advisory Committee for Chronic Pain (NACCP), the Deputy Chief Medical Officer commissioned Scottish NHS Boards to provide information about the quantity of different healthcare professionals working within specialist pain services across Scotland, as well as qualitative information about recruitment/ retention challenges and succession planning for this workforce group. As the survey and subsequent report were commissioned and produced by the Scottish Government, any associated costs were absorbed internally.

The survey results informed the report “Findings of Scottish Specialist Pain Workforce Study” which was published with the June 2019 minutes of the National Advisory Committee for Chronic Pain (NACCP). Sessions, rather than whole-time equivalent (WTE) are the basis of consultant contracts and job planning, and thus for understanding available workforce consultant figures show sessions rather than WTE. This allowed a more meaningful response, reflecting actual hours in the pain service. The report also shows the WTE of other healthcare staff working in pain clinics, broken down by discipline where able to do so, in accordance with Data Protection legislation.

The Scottish Government intend to publish all the returns made by NHS Boards to the survey early in the new year. This will be subject to, and in accordance with, Data Protection legislation.

I refer the member to the answer to the question S5W-26424 on 27 November 2019. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx .

I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-26424 on 27 November 2019. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx .

Following discussions between Scottish Government officials, academics and the Scottish Screening Committee, a pilot proposal for a feasibility study on lung cancer screening has been submitted for funding and a decision is expected in December 2019.

We are unaware of when the UK National Screening Committee will form a view on lung cancer screening but we understand that they will review the evidence on lung cancer screening again after the results of the NELSON randomised lung cancer screening trial are published.

I refer the member to my answer to question S5W-26377 on 27 November 2019. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx .

The Scottish Government is advised on all aspects of screening by the UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC), an independent expert group who assesses screening programmes against a robust set of criteria, before advising the NHS and Ministers in the UK. The UK NSC continues to monitor and consider all available evidence and recommendations and this will include the results of the cluster-randomised trial, currently underway in England, when these are published. The trial which is looking to extend the age range to 47-73 began in 2009 and is still recruiting women. The main results of this trial are expected in the 2020s.

Breast screening is a valuable public health service and plays an important role in detecting cancer at an early stage. We know that screening remains the best way to detect breast cancer early and help reduce health inequalities in cancer outcomes. The Scottish Breast Screening Programme needs to be as effective as possible and needs to adapt in order to keep pace with the increasing population and changes in technology and lifestyles, which is why we have approved a review of the Scottish Breast Screening Programme, to ensure it continues to support early diagnosis of breast cancer. The review, carried out by National Services Scotland, will look at everything from invitation processes, advances in technology, future requirements, and ways to increase participation and address health inequalities.

The total spend on the "Quit your way Scotland" campaign which ran in 2018, was £608,198. Spend from this campaign was frontloaded in Financial Year 2017-18:

2017-2018 - £552,975

2018-2019 - £55,223

The available information is provided in the following table, which has been produced from the Scottish Government’s criminal proceedings database .

This information is not routinely collected but individual Health Boards may have information on the position in each hospital in their area.

Running bi-level or multi-level course classes is one approach many schools have used for many years to increase the amount of choice available to their pupils.

There will be varying levels of prior attainment in any class and Education Scotland has yet to see any firm evidence from inspections of educational disadvantage due to multilevel teaching.

In line with the unanimous decision of the Parliament on 1 May 2019, we will be conducting an independent review of the senior phase of Curriculum for Excellence. The review will provide an opportunity to look at the impact of different approaches to learning and teaching, including bi-level and multi-level teaching.