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Due to developments in the NHS Research Scotland infrastructure, directly comparable data across the clinical specialties is only available from 2015-16. The following table shows patient recruitment to clinical trials by year, broken down by the 27 NHS Research Scotland clinical specialties. The 2017-18 figures are subject to final verification.

The number of health visitors employed by NHSScotland is published quarterly by Board.

• Data from 2015 to the most recent data, published on 5 December 2017, can be found at https://www.isdscotland.org/Health-Topics/Workforce/Publications/2018-03-06/Health_Visitors_D2017.xls .

Further notes:

• Further information on the statistics, including information on how the data are collected and notes to aid interpretation, is given in the 'FAQs' section of the Workforce Statistics website at http://www.isdscotland.org/workforce/

Numbers of Consultants working in Surgical Specialities have increased by 41.7% during the lifetime of this government.

Information on consultant vacancy figures, of which consultants working in surgical specialities is a sub category, is published by ISD Scotland and is available at the following web links:

https://www.isdscotland.org/Health-Topics/Workforce/Publications/2018-03-06/Consultant_Vacancies_D2017.xls .

and

http://www.isdscotland.org/Health-Topics/Workforce/Publications/2012-11-27/Consultant_Vacancies_S2012.xls?40942485 .

Information on how many NHS surgeon positions remained unfilled in each year since 1999, broken down by NHS Board, is not centrally held. Specific local information may be available from individual NHSScotland Boards.

The information requested is not held centrally. This information may be available from NHS Boards.

We are continuing to develop the Health Visiting Services to deliver a consistent enhanced service to all families and grow the workforce to meet additional demands. The Universal Health Visitor Pathway, published in October 2015, outlines a core home visiting programme as a minimum standard to be offered to all families with children under 5 years of age. The pathway is being implemented by NHS Boards on an incremental basis as new health visitors are recruited, and it is expected that full implementation will be achieved by 2020.

The Scottish Trauma Network (STN) aims to better meet the needs of the population of Scotland. The STN has been established to support four regional networks (North, East, South East and West), the Scottish Ambulance Service and the Scottish Trauma Audit to working collaboratively across traditional specialty and geographical boundaries to effectively deliver high quality, integrated care to severely injured patients. The STN has made assessment of trauma-informed emergency services, from pre-hospital through acute and into rehabilitation provision. This new approach will save more lives and improve patient outcomes.

This specific information is not held centrally.

Integration Authorities are responsible for strategic planning of adult social care services. Since April, Integration Authorities also have new responsibilities under the Carers (Scotland) Act 2016 for local carer strategies setting out carer support available locally, including short breaks, and an assessment of demand. They are also responsible for publishing short breaks services statements providing information about short breaks available for both carers and those they care for.

Data from the Respite Care Survey 2014-15 ( http://www.gov.scot/Publications/2015/12/6824 ) shows that:

• 31% of respite weeks were for overnight care such as in a care home; 65% was daytime respite care and 4% was provided as a direct payment.
• Older people aged 65+ were more likely to use overnight respite. 36% of older people using respite services had overnight respite care compared to 23% of those aged 18-64 and 31% of children.
• 89% of overnight respite nights took place in a care home setting, 4% at the person’s own home and 7% in another setting.

Data showing the cases of exclusion for each local authority for the academic years 1999-00 -2002-03 is available on the Scottish Government website here:

http://www.gov.scot/Publications/2004/09/19874/42462

Data showing the cases of exclusion for each local authority for the academic years 2003-04 – 2016-17 is available in table 24 of the supplementary tables, on the Scottish Government website here:

http://www.gov.scot/Topics/Statistics/Browse/School-Education/exclusiondatasets/exclusionsdataset2017

Since 2010-11 the data has been collected biennially so no data is held for 2011-12, 2013-14 or 2015-16.

Cases of exclusion refers to the number of incidences of exclusion, not the number of individual pupils excluded, as a pupil can be excluded multiple times.

The Scottish Government works closely with the UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC). This independent expert advisory group advises Ministers and the NHS in the four UK countries about all aspects of screening policy using the international research evidence base and establishing pilot programmes where appropriate to collect additional evidence.

The UK NSC and the Scottish Government recognise that lung cancer is the most common cause of cancer death in the UK and, unless found at an early stage, the outcome is poor. Nevertheless, the UK NSC does not currently recommend a national screening programme for lung cancer because there is not yet enough evidence that this is a good approach to reduce the burden of the disease. In particular there are concerns around significant over-diagnosis leading to potentially invasive investigations in people who are well.

The policy is due to be reviewed again, taking into account the results of the NELSON randomised lung cancer screening trial. If there is any change to the policy this will be carefully considered by the Scottish Government.

Information on the number of patients who have self-funded their drug treatment in each year since 1999 is not held centrally by the Scottish Government.

If accepted by the profession, Phase 2 of the contract will introduce an income range that is comparable to that of consultants and directly reimburse agreed practice expenses.

As these measures would change GP practice funding and GP income they will be subject to negotiation and a second poll of the profession after specific details (including financial details) are available. Negotiations on this phase will include arrangements for the protection of GP income and practice expenses.