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Influenza vaccine uptake is monitored by Health Protection Scotland (HPS) based on aggregate level data for all population groups eligible for free influenza vaccine in Scotland.

Information on vaccine uptake estimates during each season is routinely published in HPS weekly Respiratory Reports. Information on cumulative provisional vaccine uptake estimates for the eligible groups for this season as at week 7 (week ending 17 February 2019) is available at: https://www.hps.scot.nhs.uk/resp/resourcedetail.aspx?id=3671 .

Breakdown of the 2018-19 vaccine uptake estimates by board and eligible group is not available until later this year once the immunisation programme has been completed and evaluation of the data is undertaken.

Detailed information on vaccine uptake from 2010-11 to 2017-18 by board and eligible group are published on the HPS website and available at: https://www.hps.scot.nhs.uk/resp/seasonalinfluenzavisualisation.aspx .

I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-20959 on 23 January 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 .

There are a number of specialist cardiac services and provisions for children with heart conditions in Scotland. The National Paediatric Cardiac Service (PCS), based at Glasgow's Royal Hospital for Children, incorporates cardiac surgery, interventional cardiology and neonatal cardiac services; providing an expert package of care for children with cardiac conditions, up to age 16. This service operates closely with the Scottish Adult Congenital Cardiac Service, providing transitional support between paediatric and adult congenital heart disease services. There are also Paediatricians with an interest or expertise in cardiology in most local NHS Boards.

The PCS is commissioned by the National Services Division, funding in the previous three years is £7,438,162 (2015/16), £7,740,834 (2016/17), £7,827,748 (2017-18).Funding for local services is through individual Boards. Scottish Government does not hold information on numbers of medical staff employed by NHS Boards.

As set out in an update to Parliament on 26 February, officials are in the concluding stage of appointing two co-chairs of this review. It will be for these independent co-chairs to determine the remit, timeframes and approach of the review and, once established, this information will be shared with Parliament.

The work to develop the Respiratory Care Action Plan for Scotland is currently being taken forward with a wide range of stakeholders and the expectation, at this stage, is that it will be published in late 2019.

We are committed to improving the prevention, detection, diagnosis, treatment and aftercare for all people living in Scotland who are affected by any form of cancer. This is reflected in our £100 million, 5 year national cancer strategy, ‘Beating Cancer: Ambition and Action’.

We are particularly committed to early detection, through our £42 million Detect Cancer Early Programme and national bowel screening programme. Such screening can identify pre-cancerous signs in men and women over 50, and treatment at such an early stage is usually incredibly effective.

A clinical refresh of the Scottish Referral Guidelines has been completed, based on the latest evidence and published on 22 January 2019. The revised guidelines will support primary care clinicians, including GPs, refer patients, regardless of age, that have a suspicion of cancer, allowing for earlier diagnosis and treatment and increasing their survival chances. Eight pathways were updated as part of the clinical refresh, including Lower GI which colorectal cancer falls under.

I am aware that NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde have required, on occasion, to temporarily close Out of Hours centres often for a short period of time. This is due to the difficulty in finding GPs willing to fill certain shifts in the out of hours period. The decision to close any Out of Hours centre is taken on the grounds of patient and staff safety.

Patients should access Out of Hours services by first contacting NHS 24 where, if assessed as being required to attend an Out of Hours service, they will be directed to the closest most appropriate centre. NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde also provide a home visiting service in the Out of Hours period for those patients who cannot attend a centre.

I am aware that NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde are in the process of reviewing their Out of Hours service and are looking at a range of options to make the service more resilient including the use of Advanced Nurse Practitioners and salaried GP posts for the service.

The Scottish Access Collaborative has developed a comprehensive programme of work over the last year to support a sustainable balance between demand and capacity in the health and care service in Scotland. It has endorsed a number of challenges which are being taken through an agreed development, testing and mandate process, and is actively working to identify new high impact challenges for future inclusion in the programme. Current workstreams include:

• Active Clinical Referral Triage (ACRT)
• Enhanced Recovery Pre-operative anaemia programme
• Waiting List Validation
• Team Job Planning
• Accelerating the Development of Enhanced Practitioners (ADEPt)
• Virtual Attendance scoping and piloting
• Clinical Pathways Infrastructure Scoping

It has also supported a series of Specialty Group workshops through the year, which are co-producing a series of recommendation reports. These are completed for Cardiology, Urology, Gynaecology, Gastroenterology, Respiratory and underway for ENT, Chronic Pain, Neurology, Dermatology, Breast Services, General Surgery and Vascular Services. Orthopaedics and Ophthalmology continue to contribute through their existing national Specialty Groups.

The requested information is not held centrally as ISD do not collect vacancy data on support staff, including hospital porters.

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/ .

The Scottish Government is supportive of the innovative approach being developed by NHS Grampian to set up an international health office to provide support and guidance for staff who choose to get involved in global citizenship. These plans are aligned to the aims of the NHS Scotland Global Citizenship Programme, which is a key part of the delivery of the Scottish Government’s International Development Strategy.