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I am pleased to confirm that the procurement exercise for mesh removal services outside of the NHS has now concluded and I can today announce that there have been two contracts awarded: one to Spire Healthcare in Bristol and the other to Mercy Hospital in St Louis, Missouri. The contracts are expected to start later this Summer and are subject to agreement of, and compliance with, the terms specified by NHS National Services Scotland (NHS NSS).

These additional services will complement the Complex Pelvic Mesh Removal Service already established in NHS Scotland and, alongside the option of referral to NHS England Centres, are intended to allow everyone affected by transvaginal mesh complications choice over where their treatment and care is delivered.

The procurement exercise has been undertaken in line with NHS NSS’s standard commissioning procedures, with quality of care and patient safety of paramount importance.

The Scottish Government is absolutely determined to do everything in its power to help those impacted by mesh complications and I hope that today’s announcement will be welcome news to those so badly affected.

I am pleased to confirm the publication today of the Scottish Government’s first thematic report on implementation progress following Dame Elish Angiolini’s Final Report.

The thematic progress report showcases the significant steps partners have taken to implement Dame Elish Angiolini’s recommendations, as well as highlighting our commitment to consult on legislative proposals in advance of bringing forward primary legislation.

I commend Police Scotland, the Scottish Police Authority, the Police Investigations and Review Commissioner, the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service and Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary in Scotland for the collaborative working and progress to date. The report features updates from all partners, with tables to record progress against every recommendation grouped under the following themes:

• Rights & ethics
• Jurisdiction & powers
• Governance & accountability
• Transparency & accessibility
• Equality, diversity & inclusion
• Conduct & standards
• Training & HR
• Efficiency & effectiveness
• Audit & review

The report can be accessed here: https://www.gov.scot/ISBN/978-1-80201-073-2

As announced in March, the recommendations from the Review will be taken forward by an Implementation Group which I am pleased to announce will be Co-Chaired by Dennis Robertson and a clinical lead that will be confirmed shortly.

I am also pleased to announce today that we are providing £5 million of funding to respond to the recommendations from the Review in this financial year. The majority of this funding will be provided to NHS Boards to support them respond to the increase in eating disorder presentations due to the Covid-19 pandemic, which is Recommendation 1 from the Review. This funding is being provided from the £120 million Mental Health Recovery and Renewal Fund.

In addition, in response to Recommendation 6 (Self-help Resources) and Recommendation 13 (Families and Carers) from the Review, we are also providing funding to Beat, the UK’s Eating Disorder Charity, to provide a wide range of support options such as support to families and carers of those with an eating disorder, support for children, young people and adults who are currently waiting to be seen by services and peer support services. We will shortly announce further details of this package of support.

The Health and Social Care Alliance (‘the Alliance’) has today published their report “My Path, My Health, My Life”. It is available on the Alliance’s website at: My Path, My Health, My Life – Learning from the experiences of women to plan future mesh services - Health and Social Care Alliance Scotland (alliance-scotland.org.uk)

This builds on earlier patient engagement carried out by the Alliance in 2019, published in their “My Life, My Experience” report.

The Scottish Government is extremely grateful to all women who shared their experience with the Alliance. We will now consider the recommendations made by the Alliance, alongside our colleagues in NHS Scotland. The views presented by women will directly influence the design and operation of the National Complex Pelvic Mesh Removal Service in NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, and this will be documented in the Service Level Agreement for the Service.

Whilst we consider the recommendations, the Alliance has already agreed to begin work to establish a Stakeholder Participation Group. This Group will gather views on the specialist service as well as services provided more widely across the NHS. These views will be considered in conjunction with the results from patient satisfaction surveys, as well as other relevant outcome data, and will be reflected in our services here in Scotland.

Our Alcohol Framework set out a commitment to engaging in a national marketing campaign to increase public awareness of the UK Chief Medical Officers’ lower-risk drinking guidelines. The ‘Count 14’ campaign aims to increase awareness of the weekly 14 unit lower-risk guidelines and to break down what this means in terms of specific alcoholic drinks.

We delivered the Count 14 marketing campaign over two phases, for three weeks in March 2019 and for six weeks through January and February 2020. The campaign included TV, radio, print and digital advertising as well a roadshow in local supermarkets and a range of partnerships.

The campaign was evaluated independently via pre and post campaign tracker surveys. I have today published an evaluation report summarising the effectiveness of the campaign, available at www.gov.scot/isbn/9781800047976 .

The results are positive and demonstrate that the campaign has made a positive impact on increasing awareness and understanding of the UK CMOs’ low-risk drinking guidelines in Scotland.

The proportion of those aware of guidelines, who could identify 14 units as the correct weekly limit, substantially increased from 21% pre-Count 14 to 39% after both phases of the campaign, an 18% increase. Among all of those surveyed, not just those who were aware of guidelines, awareness of the 14 unit limit increased from 17% pre-Count 14 activity to 32% after both phases.

The Scottish Government will consider future national marketing and health messaging on alcohol consumption in light of these findings.

The Scottish Government has today published its School Age Childcare: Progress Report which sets out progress towards developing a future school age childcare strategic policy framework in Scotland including recognition of the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic on children, parents and carers and the school age childcare sector.

You can access the Progress Report here

The Scottish Government is committed to improving the lives of trans and non-binary people in Scotland. Trans people continue to suffer poorer outcomes relative to the wider population, and this needs to change.

We are committed to ensuring that all children and young people are supported in school and are able to reach their full potential, including transgender young people. We committed to develop guidance to support schools to do this.

Due to the significant impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, schools are very focused on supporting pupils and are working hard on the phased return of schools. Consequently, we feel it would not be the best time to provide this guidance when attention is on ensuring the continued safety and wellbeing of pupils and staff during the pandemic. Therefore guidance will be published when all pupils have returned to school, or at the earliest opportunity in the new Parliamentary term. Education Authorities and schools should continue to use resources and guidance that they have determined responds positively to the needs of all pupils.

The International Travel Regulations require to be reviewed at least every 28 days. In the time since the last review on 8 February, the Scottish Government has amended regulations to introduce managed quarantine. I have concluded that the requirements imposed by the regulations, as amended, remain proportionate and necessary and should be retained.

The regulations are due to expire 12 months after they were first introduced, which is 8 June 2021. Considering the pre-election period and that parliamentary procedure following the election may continue later into May, I will provide for a short extension to the expiry of the regulations. This will now fall due on 20 September 2021.

This does not change the requirement to review the regulations at least every 28 days. The next review must be completed no later than 5 April, which is during the pre-election period, and I will inform Parliament of the outcome of that review by writing to Committee Conveners and the Presiding Officer.

The Scottish Government is committed to ethical recruitment and protecting the healthcare systems of developing countries. That is why we have published a Scottish Code of Practice on 26 February 2021, in response to the review by the World Health Organisation. It will set out updated principles and practices for the ethical recruitment of health and social care personnel. The Scottish Code of Practice will adhere to the common aims, objectives and guiding principles as set out in the revised UK Code of Practice, but will reflect the different organisational structure within Scotland. Work is underway with NHS Boards to co-produce a model to manage international recruitment in the future. This new NHS Scotland recruitment centre will undertake an advisory role with Boards to ensure that recruitment is aligned with the aims of the Code of Practice.