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Travellers arriving into Scotland from green and amber list countries must use the NHS tests, which can be booked through the UK Government’s booking portal for international travel. These kits are home test PCR kits provided by NHS Test & Trace.

Travellers arriving into England from green and amber list countries are allowed to book private sector tests.

To date, there are concerns with the flow of data from private sector providers into Public Health England/Public Health Scotland to help with contact tracing and to identify Variants of Concern (VoCs). The UK Government has recently introduced key performance indicators (KPIs) for private providers to meet and is increasing the requirements on such providers to try to address these problems in England.

There are risks associated with the use of private sector tests. In particular, there have been concerns with the data flow from private laboratories into relevant contact tracing systems on either side of the border. There have been examples of it taking 30 days for positive test results to be transferred, making it impossible for contact tracing to be undertaken to interrupt chains of transmission.

We are currently exploring options to allow the use of private sector tests, provided this can be done safely and we can be assured that there aren’t any issues with the flow of data from the testing provider to Public Health Scotland regarding test results, as well as the need for positive test results to be analysed for evidence of any variants of concern. No decision has been made yet on this, however this is under review.

Travellers returning to Scotland from green and amber list countries must use the NHS tests, which can be booked through the UK Government’s booking portal for international travel. These kits are home test PCR kits provided by NHS Test & Trace.

NHS Scotland has no role in setting the price of the kits. The cost of the kits is set by the UK Government and the process managed through its contract with the travel management company, so our ability to reduce costs unilaterally is limited.

Scotland’s daily PCR test capacity is over 66,000 per day. This is made up of a combination of the aggregate capacity of all testing sites/facilities and distribution/collection services where individuals can get a test, and laboratory capacity to process the samples taken.

As set out in our updated Testing Strategy, published on 22 June, testing is key to quickly identifying and isolating positive cases to break chains of transmission within a community. The testing system is designed to be completely flexible so neither sampling nor laboratory capacity is allocated to a specific local authority area. We work with Public Health Scotland to provide local decision makers with insights and data to target tests where they are most needed. We are also helping to maximise existing testing interventions at the request of local incident management teams (IMT). Local authorities’ testing response will vary as their approaches will be targeted to meet the needs of their communities.

Details of the daily number of tests carried out and number of positive cases in the Glasgow area are available from the Public Health Scotland dashboard.

If an individual has specific concerns arising from the results of a test they have taken, including related to their immunological response following vaccination, they should consult their primary clinician, who can determine whether further investigation is necessary.

The results of serology (antibody) tests, while indicative, may not be definitive. The value of antibody tests is currently limited to answering the question of whether someone has had COVID-19 before and providing data and a greater understanding on the spread of the virus. An antibody test cannot tell you if you’re immune to COVID-19 or whether you can or cannot spread the virus to other people.

Some individuals may not develop a serologically detectable antibody response to vaccination. Additionally, vaccination does not have an immediate protective effect, but takes up to 3 weeks to produce an antibody response. This is particularly true for elderly, immunocompromised, or infirm people.

In addition to the individual level of protection against severe disease or hospitalisation afforded by vaccination, an additional benefit of the vaccination programme is to assist in developing widespread community immunity and thereby reduce the force of transmission and viral reproduction rate, controlling the prevalence of COVID-19. The inoculation of a large proportion of the population will help to provide a degree of passive protection in the community for those who may develop a weaker immune response, although further research into the impact on transmission is underway. The majority of those inoculated with two doses of vaccine develop a high level of protection.

Further research is being conducted on the effect of the vaccination programme on transmission both in relation to current and new variants of concern. Until we know more, it is essential that everyone continues to follow public health guidance and the COVID-19 protection level rules which apply in their Local Authority area.

The Scottish Government has remained engaged with the aviation sector throughout the pandemic and will continue to do so, including on testing of international travellers.

Travellers returning from green and amber list countries must use the NHS tests, which can be booked through the UK Government’s booking portal for international travel. These kits are home test PCR kits provided by NHS Test & Trace. The cost of the kits is set by the UK Government and the process managed through its contract with the travel management company, so our ability to reduce costs unilaterally is limited.

Currently, we are not using private test providers for international travellers arriving into Scotland from green and amber list countries due to concerns about the speed and reliability of the flow of data from private companies. We are having on-going discussion with the UK government on any issues with using private test providers and any risks attached to this. We are keen to understand fully the key performance indicators (KPIs) that have been recently set for these companies and the process should these not be met.

The Scottish Government holds monthly performance meetings with all NHS Boards, including NHS Grampian. Their last meeting was earlier this month.

Officials also hold weekly cancer performance meetings to monitor the Board’s progress with regards to cancer services.

Recovering the NHS is our immediate focus, and this is why we have committed to publishing an NHS Recovery Plan within the first 100 days.

As part of this, we are investing over £330 million in a network of National Treatment Centres, one of which will be located in NHS Grampian. This will provide additional capacity for elective care.

The Scottish Government does not hold a breakdown of the requested figures by local authority area. The annual figures are shown in the following table:

Information on the number of patients within NHS Grampian who have been waiting more than 12 weeks is published quarterly by Public Health Scotland and can be found at NHS waiting times - stage of treatment 25 May 2021 - Data & intelligence from PHS (isdscotland.org)

This data shows the number of (a) inpatient or day case admissions and (b) outpatient appointments who have been waiting over 12 weeks.

We have no plans to bring forward secondary legislation to introduce a no-fault compensation scheme at this time.

Despite carrying out considerable research and a number of consultations since no-fault compensation proposals were first introduced in 2007, forming expert groups and looking to other countries, including Sweden, there has never been consensus on the most appropriate compensation or redress model for Scotland, or how such a scheme would meet its objectives within our health and social care framework. The member herself has previously questioned whether a no-fault compensation scheme might introduce an additional administrative burden, a culture of compensation, more litigation and a charter for lawyers.

Working with Healthcare Improvement Scotland and other health and care partners we are creating a health and social care environment that uses knowledge from adverse events to inform continuous improvement to health and care services in a culture that embraces openness and learning, without fear of censure when things go wrong. The Duty of Candour Procedure (Scotland) Regulations, which we introduced in April 2018, places this approach on a legal footing.

We will continue to focus our energies and use all the mechanisms at our disposal in driving forward preventative measures in the delivery of person-centred treatment and care that is safe and of a high quality.

A web-based app has been developed as a means to collect data from those who agree to participate in the COVID in Scotland Study to understand the long-term health of people who have had COVID-19. This research study, led by the University of Glasgow in collaboration with Public Health Scotland and funded by the Scottish Government’s Chief Scientist Office, is Scotland-wide. Invitations to take part in the study are sent via SMS to all adults in Scotland who have had a positive COVID-19 test with the app available to those that agree to participate to submit data on their symptoms. This approach using an app to collect data from study participants will be described and evaluated as part of the reporting of this study once completed.