Seòmar agus comataidhean

The Glasgow Regional Test Centre, located at Glasgow Airport is one of the five regional testing centres which are now operational in Scotland as part of the UK Testing Programme.

Testing information for Scotland is published daily which reports the total numbers of tests carried out by the Regional Testing Centres in Scotland and the tests carried out by NHS labs. This data is not broken down by individual test centres.

Testing data is not currently broken down by employment groups. Testing for Health and Social Care Workers is primarily carried out through NHS testing at local NHS facilities.

The COVID-19 data and trend charts for Scotland are published daily and provide a range of information, including the number of care homes notifying cases of COVID-19 and the number of suspected cases of COVID-19 in care homes. The data also includes the daily number of people in hospital with confirmed or suspected COVID-19 but does not include details on how many of these are care home staff.

The link to the daily data update is:

https://www.gov.scot/publications/trends-in-number-of-people-in-hospital-with-confirmed-or-suspected-covid-19/

The Scottish Government is co-ordinating and sharing intelligence with UK Government colleagues including, where necessary, to agree on allocation of certain chemical reagents that have a limited global supply. In the case of swabs and other consumables, the Scottish Government is coordinating efforts with NHS Supply Chain and continue to purchase on behalf of NHS Scotland. The Scottish Government is also working with the public and private sector on offers of laboratory facilities and has harnessed the successful approach used to improve PPE supply chain to work on testing supply chain led by the Minister for Trade, Investment and Innovation .

This information is not held by the Scottish Government.

The Chief Medical Officer and Chairs of both the Royal College of General Practitioners and the British Medical Association wrote to all GP practices to emphasise that general practice should continue to be fully accessible to care home staff and residents. We expect health and care professionals to continue to enter care settings such as care homes to provide care and support which is required, when there is a clinical need to do so, after taking appropriate precautions (PPE).

The number of deaths reported daily by the Scottish Governments represents any individual who has died and has had a laboratory confirmed report of COVID-19 in the 28 days prior to death.

Further information on deaths involving coronavirus, including presumed deaths in the community is published weekly on the National Records of Scotland website:

https://www.nrscotland.gov.uk/statistics-and-data/statistics/statistics-by-theme/vital-events/general-publications/weekly-and-monthly-data-on-births-and-deaths/deaths-involving-coronavirus-covid-19-in-scotland

I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-28927 on 15 May 2020. 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 most recent published data for the number of neurology consultants by NHS board can be found from the Public Health Scotland website at: https://www.isdscotland.org/Health-Topics/Workforce/NES-Publication/#core_workforce. The data for specialist epilepsy consultants is not reported separately within the Neurology speciality.

Our Neurological Framework for Action recognises that building a sustainable neurological workforce fit for the future is a priority. The Framework includes specific commitments around improving workforce, looking to improve workforce data to address capacity issues and enhance workforce planning for team-based approaches to neurological care. This work is being overseen by the our National Advisory Committee for Neurological Conditions.

Last year we published a National Framework 'Neurological Care and Support in Scotland 2020-2025' that sets out an overview of current provision informed by lived experience engagement nationally with 17 commitments across five aims detailing how we will work with stakeholders and partners to drive improvement in health and social care from diagnosis to anticipatory care planning needs. Further information is available at https://www.gov.scot/publications/neurological-care-support-scotland-framework-action-2020-2025/

This National Framework builds on support already available to NHS Boards through the Specialist Nursing and Care Fund that invests £2.4 million annually to enhance the specialist nursing care for people living with a range of conditions across the life spectrum and across hospital and community settings. As of May 2017, reports from NHS boards show that specialist nursing capacity had been enhanced through the additional investment by 31.4 whole time equivalents (WTE).

We are committed to ensuring people receive the correct information about the level of risk to them if they become infected by COVID-19 and what actions they should take to protect themselves if they are classed as at the highest risk of severe illness from the virus. We have published advice for people with long-term health conditions, including neurological conditions, at: https://www.gov.scot/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-tailored-advice-for-those-who-live-with-specific-medical-conditions/ . The guidance has been widely circulated to clinicians, organisations supporting people with neurological conditions, including Epilepsy Scotland, for them to disseminate through their networks.

We have been clear that patient safety remains the utmost priority and NHS Scotland continues to deal with urgent non-Covid related referrals as well as providing on-going essential care provision. NHS Boards have mobilised their activity including protecting critical neurological services and establishing mechanisms to support their local population including the use of telephone and video consultations to minimise face to face contact unless absolutely necessary.

The Chief Nursing Officer in Scotland has also written to NHS Board Nurse Directors to ensure they prioritise community support for the most vulnerable people to enable them to manage their conditions and remain in their own homes.

We continue to work with NHS Boards and Integrated Joint Boards alongside the wider neurological community to understand and address the emerging implications from the COVID-19 pandemic.

The data for epilepsy referral and treatment waiting times are reported within the wider Neurology speciality. The most recent published data for the quarter ending 31 December 2019 is available from the Public Health Scotland website at: https://beta.isdscotland.org/find-publications-and-data/healthcare-resources/waiting-times/nhs-waiting-times-stage-of-treatment/ . The data for the quarter ending 31 March 2020 will not be published until 26 May 2020.

We have been clear that throughout this unprecedented and difficult time that vital services will remain in line with clinical priority and that some scheduled non-urgent procedures and care will be postponed to ensure other, seriously ill people can be treated and cared for. We expect NHS Boards to reschedule appointments as soon as clinically appropriate or advise of alternative arrangements where possible to minimise physical contact, including the use of telephone and video consultations facilities.