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The Scottish Government has committed to increasing the number of training places for Doctors, Nurses and Midwives and Paramedics across the NHS in Scotland. This includes an extra 50 places which have been allocated to Scottish medical schools for new entrants from 2016 onwards which will result in an additional 250 medical trainees created by 2020-21.100 new GP training places will be advertised in a further recruitment round opening at the end of July. This will take the total number of GP training posts advertised across Scotland in 2016 to 439, an increase of 134 on 2015, and beyond the First Minister’s commitment to increase the numbers to 400. Trainees will start in these posts in February 2017.The Scottish Government has committed to providing an extra 1,000 new Nursing and Midwifery training places in addition to the commitment to train 500 additional Advanced Nurse Practitioners. A proportion of these Advanced Nurse Practitioners will be existing staff along with new posts. The numbers will be confirmed when NHS Boards undertake service and training needs analysis.In addition, the Scottish Ambulance Service (SAS) will train 1,000 new paramedics over the next five years, enhancing the clinical skill mix of staff and introducing new ways of working to better meet the needs of patients in all communities. As part of the “Towards 2020: Taking Care to the Patient” strategy, the Scottish Government has invested £5m in SAS for 2016-17. This investment will allow these new paramedics to be recruited from the current cohort of ambulance technicians, supported by the recruitment and training of 200 new technicians to backfill those posts.

The Scottish Government has ensured opportunities for engagement, particularly as part of a wider debate on the future of general practice, and are grateful for the contribution that the Royal College General Practitioners has already made and look forward to continuing to engage with them, as well as with other stakeholders who share our common desire to further improve the quality of primary care services for the benefit of patients.The profession's representative body for contract negotiations is the Scottish General Practitioners Committee of the British Medical Association, however there is a shared commitment around the future vision for the delivery of primary care services, and the Scottish Government fully recognises the important contribution of all key stakeholders in taking this agenda forward.

Local Delivery Plans (LDP) form the performance contract between the Scottish Government and NHS Boards. LDP standards are priorities that are reviewed and agreed between the Scottish Government and NHS Boards each year. The current standards are available at http://www.gov.scot/Topics/Health/Quality-Improvement-Performance/NHS-Performance-Targets

It is intended that a grant scheme for research proposals to address Scottish Government policy priorities be introduced by the Scottish Government Chief Scientist Office by the end of 2016.

The planned grant scheme for research proposals to address specific Scottish Government policy priorities has not yet been introduced. Once introduced, calls for research proposals will be published by the Scottish Government Chief Scientist Office.

The Scottish Government supports medical research financially by three routes: (1) through research and infrastructure support allocations to the NHS Boards, (2) by its contribution to the Office for the Strategic Co-ordination of Health Research which allows Scottish researchers to bid for National Institute for Health Research Grants and (3) through the research funding committees and fellowship schemes run by the Chief Scientist Office. The Scottish Government does not routinely hold information of funding allocated for research into specific health conditions via routes 1 and 2.

The following table shows the figures for funding awarded via the Chief Scientist Office research funding committees and fellowship schemes for the period 1 April 2010 to 31 March 2016. The figures also include the Chief Scientist Office contribution to a number of co-funding initiatives with medical research charities.

The Scottish Government Chief Scientist Office continues to support Scottish-based medical researchers and all of its research funding and support mechanisms remain in place.

Details of the Scottish Budget are available online at the following address: http://www.gov.scot/Topics/Government/Finance/18127/Documents. Information specific to Health Research can be found in the supporting information of the published support documents.

The Scottish Government has regular discussions with NHS boards through the Scottish Health Protection Network’s Sexual Health and Blood Borne Virus Programme. A number of the framework sub-groups, which meet regularly, are involved in action relevant to this aspiration, including the prevention, diagnoses, testing and treatment, and information and data. On 28 May 2016 the World Health Assembly adopted the first ever Global Viral Hepatitis Strategy and made a commitment to the elimination of viral hepatitis as a major public health threat by 2030. The Scottish Government supports this international commitment and is working towards elimination by 2030.

Under this government we currently have the highest NHS staffing levels ever, and we greatly value the significant contribution made to our health service by our dedicated NHS workforce – including those doctors, nurses and other staff from EU countries who care for us daily.

As members of the EU, free movement of staff has not required us to hold information on numbers of EU citizens working within NHSScotland. However, on the basis of information from the Office of National Statistics, it is estimated that EU citizens account for approximately five per cent of the NHSScotland workforce.

The Scottish Government assures EU citizens working in Scotland that we want them here, we value their contribution, and we will be doing everything we can to make sure they can continue with us without detriment.