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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.

NHS Scotland advertised vacancies through focussed campaigns in ten countries during the first quarter of 2018. Subsequently candidates have been through selection, shortlisting and assessment phases.

Advertising spend on the campaign was £28,400, this was met by the participating health boards. The campaign attracted some 60 applications, of which health board selection and assessment panels determined that there were 8 potentially appointable candidates, health boards have confirmed that they have made five appointments.

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 .

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 .

Scotland’s new Forestry Strategy 2019-2029 sets out a strategic framework for action including increasing the use of Scotland’s forests and woodlands to improve people’s health and wellbeing.

Urban woodlands in particular play an important part in improving the quality of life of people in our towns and cities. They reduce air pollution and provide green spaces for recreation which have been shown to be particularly beneficial for people’s mental well-being. In recognition of this, the Scottish Government has signed the Woodland Trust’s statement promoting urban forestry.

The Scottish Government provides specific grants to target woodland creation and access in urban areas and works in partnerships, such as with NHS Greenspace to improve access at health board sites. Furthermore, the Scottish Government provides around £950k per annum to the Central Scotland Green Network Trust (CSGNT) to support the co-ordination of delivery of the CSGN. Planned woodland creation in the CSGN area is now at its highest level since 1999.

Forest Enterprise Scotland (FES) acts as a responsible manager of access across Scotland’s National Forest Estate. It currently welcomes 10 million visitors annually, a figure which is growing. Visitors tale access to the Estate for a range of physical activities ranging from easy access trails and dog walking through to more challenging activities and sports such as mountain biking.

Opportunities exist across the Estate including in some key urban areas such as the Clyde Gateway where Cunnigar Loop Woodland Park is proving very popular with all age groups seeking the opportunities which woodlands and recreational facilities offer to improve physical fitness and mental wellbeing.

Details of the facilities and opportunities for enjoying access to Scotland’s National Forest Estate are currently promoted though the FES website, on social media and a range of leaflets and other media outlets. A new website will be launched for the new Forestry and Land Scotland Agency on 1 April 2019.

Work is underway to develop a comprehensive plan to help address some of the recruitment and retention challenges faced by our health and care sector. We have already published workforce plans covering the NHS, Primary Care and Social Care.

We intend to publish our integrated health and social care workforce plan this year, as the Health Secretary made clear when she updated parliament in November. We are also currently taking our safe staffing legislation through the Scottish Parliament – the first multidisciplinary workforce and workload planning legislation in the UK.

Workforce supply pressures are compounded by the impact of Brexit, and we will undertake additional international recruitment activity in this financial year to promote the resilience of NHS Scotland as a result of EU Withdrawal.

Through the Forestry Grant Scheme, the Scottish Government supports the public access improvements within woodlands and the management of woodlands within the Woods In and around Towns (WIAT) initiative area.

The Scottish Government provides enhanced support through the Forestry Grant Scheme for woodland creation in WIAT areas within the Central Scotland Green Network (CSGN) area. Approvals for woodland creation in urban areas across Central Scotland were worth approximately £10 million during 2018-19, with similar funding expected for 2019-20.

In addition Forest Enterprise Scotland continues to manage in excess of 40 WIAT woodlands within the CSGN, with the sites receiving almost 1.5 million visits in 2017. This will require an annual management and maintenance investment of approximately £1.5 million.

The Scottish Government recognises the value of the Branching Out programme that uses forests to help to improve the health and wellbeing of people with mental health problems across Scotland. The Scottish Government remains committed to continuing the programme and will announce in due course plans to develop the programme further in 2019-20.

I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-21337 on 26 February 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 requested information is not held centrally as ISD do not collect clinical waste data on support staff, including hospital porters.

ISD do not hold details of the contracts which individual NHS Boards have with 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/ .