Seòmar agus comataidhean

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-09419 on 13 July 2022. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers .

The increasing options for flexible working available through less than full-time training (LTFT), has had a positive impact on the demographics of the medical profession.

Women’s participation in medicine is currently at a good level. There are proportionately more women than men graduating from Scottish medical schools. The requirement for Scottish trainee doctors (junior doctors) to provide gender details is not mandatory, but of the 4,744 of 6,167 current trainees in medical programmes who have disclosed this information, 2,787 are women against a figure of 1,957 for men. Across the UK, women make up just under 48% of all doctors. However, the number of licenced women doctors has been increasing at a higher rate than doctors who are men, year-on-year.

There are currently 53 trainees in cardiology programmes, of the 37 who have provided information on gender, 11 are women, against a figure of 26 for men. Historically, cardiology has been dominated by doctors who are men, an issue that is not specific to Scotland. In recognition of the gender disparity, the Cardiology Specialty Training Board is taking steps to address the issue. This includes a review of their membership and that of the Speciality Training Committee memberships across the regions, in terms of both gender and ethnicity.

There are no plans to review home educated pupils' entitlement to free school meals at present. Free school meals are not normally provided for children and young people whose parents have chosen to home educate them, as the local authority is not responsible for providing their education. Free school meals would only be provided to children and young people who are not receiving their education at a local authority run school if they had entered into an agreement to do so through their local authority. The Scottish Government is not normally made aware of these arrangements.

Local authorities have the flexibility to make discretionary offers of free school meals to families experiencing financial hardship due to exceptional circumstances if they do not meet the regular eligibility criteria. We would urge any families who are home educating their children and experiencing financial hardship to contact their local authority to enquire about what alternative forms of assistance might be available to them.

Families can also access Money Talk Team, a free service provided by Citizen’s Advice on behalf of the Scottish Government that helps to ensure that families are receiving all available benefits and are not paying more than is required for services. More information about this service can be found online at https://moneytalkteam.org.uk/ or by calling their free phone helpline on 0800 085 7145.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-09230 on 11 July 2022. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers .

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-09230 on 11 July 2022. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers .

The information that has been requested is not held centrally by the Scottish Government.

Official statistical reports relating to the Scottish Ambulance Service can be found on the following link. Public Health Scotland .

Scottish Government is working with NHS 24 and partners to develop a new Musculoskeletal (MSK) pathway, with particular consideration being given to digital options and a more preventative approach.

The Scottish Government is committed to finding cancer early, when the chance of survival and even cure is higher. NHS Dumfries & Galloway established Scotland’s first Early Cancer Diagnostic Centre in May 2021. The Centre provides primary care with a new referral route for patients with non-specific symptoms suspicious of cancer, such as weight loss, fatigue and nausea – this is often how blood cancers present.

In addition, we continue to invest in our £44m Detect Cancer Early Programme which adopts a whole-system approach to diagnosing and treating cancer as early as possible across Scotland. The NHS Recovery Plan, published August 2021, commits an additional £20m for the Programme.

As part of the Scottish Government’s work to develop a sustainable healthcare workforce, we continue to look for opportunities to increase levels of recruitment and retention of healthcare staff in rural areas through the development of our Remote and Rural workforce recruitment strategy.

Furthermore, the Allied Health Professions (AHP) Education and Workforce Policy Review is currently examining recruitment and retention across the country. Whilst recommendations have not yet been agreed, a subgroup focussing on workforce and recruitment will provide recommendations later this year.

Public Health Scotland (PHS) receives monthly data from most NHS Boards on the number of patients covered by the 18 weeks Referral to Treatment (RTT) standard seen within each specialty, including audiology. Due to the aggregate nature of this data collection, the requested detail on average length of wait and age are not available.

However, the following table shows the total number of patients seen and the number that waited over 18 weeks to be seen for audiology services across NHS Scotland, from January 2014 to December 2021 – the latest complete calendar year. This includes all patients reported as seen on the 18-week Referral to Treatment (RTT) pathway for audiology.

Total patients seen and number of patients that waited over 18 weeks, January 2014 – December 2021, NHS Scotland, Audiology