Seòmar agus comataidhean

The Scottish Government’s consultation process for the new cancer strategy, which will include the earlier diagnosis vision, completed in June 2022 with over 250 responses. An independent analysis was then undertaken throughout July to September to ensure a balanced interpretation of responses.

Focus groups with those with lived experience of cancer and third sector are taking place throughout September to ensure the reflections of all cancer patients, including those with blood cancers, are considered in the new strategy and vision.

Information on the number of clinical nurse specialists in NHS Scotland broken down by NHS board is not centrally held.

A review of the content of the Scottish Health Survey took place between 18 July and 26 September 2022. The review asked users to explain their use of the current survey content and provided the opportunity for them to suggest any new questions, which could include questions relating to eating disorders. A report will be published in advance of the 2024 survey reporting the findings of the review and decisions on the survey content going forwards.

£25.8m has been allocated to date through the Bus Partnership Fund (BPF) and has been awarded to support local authorities, in partnership with bus operators and Regional Transport Partnerships, to deliver bus priority infrastructure.

Funding has been awarded through the BPF for Partnerships to undertake the projects outlined in Table 1 below. The approach in the first year of the Fund was to deliver infrastructure already identified that could be constructed in the short term. This includes making permanent previously temporary projects that Transport Scotland funded to help passengers and operators during Covid through our Bus Priority Rapid Deployment Fund (BPRDF).

Given the limited number of projects that were ready to implement we also provided funding for business development in the form of Scottish Transport Appraisal Guidance (STAG) studies and Outline Business Cases (OBC). This essential work will enable Partnerships to identify more projects that provide the most benefit for passengers, businesses and communities across Scotland while ensuring value for money.

Table 1: Bus Partnership Fund awarded projects as at September 2022

The information requested is not held centrally.

All eligible individuals will be offered a safe and effective vaccine that has been approved by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) and in line with Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) advice. JCVI have consistently said that ‘simplicity is the cornerstone of a successful public health vaccination programme’ and allowing a choice of vaccine is not possible for logistical and planning reasons.

For Winter 2022, the JCVI has advised using Moderna and Pfizer bivalent vaccines that target the original and Omicron strains of Covid-19. For those with specific allergies, or conditions which contraindicate these vaccines, an alternative is available in exceptional circumstances. If an individual has concerns about a medical condition or allergy then they should highlight this to the local vaccinator who would be best placed to advise.

We recognise the importance of the Scottish Events Campus as one of the world’s top conference and events venues, as recently exemplified in the successful hosting of COP26. It is clear that the SEC makes a vital contribution not just to Glasgow’s economy, but to Scotland’s economy as a whole.

As Cabinet Secretary for the Constitution, External Affairs and Culture, I engaged with Peter Duthie, the CEO of the SEC, with regards to the SEC expansion plans and broader matters affecting the events sector. These discussions have necessarily been paused due to emerging budgetary pressures and reassessment of budget priorities as set out in the Resource Spending Review. We are therefore unable to commit to the provision of funding support via a capital finance package for the expansion of the conferencing centre at the current time.

However, we are keen to continue to engage with the SEC and the wider business conference and events sector on how the review of the National Event Strategy Scotland: The Perfect Stage, can enable us to build on its success, and to deliver on the priorities of our National Strategy for Economic Transformation.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-10578 on 27 September 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

Pulmonary rehabilitation services are made up of multidisciplinary teams which can include the following professions: physiotherapists, nurses, occupational therapists, pharmacists and doctors.

The Scottish Government does not hold data on the number of graduates from each profession who work in pulmonary rehabilitation services. However, the Scottish Funding Council (SFC) collects and analyses data relating to the provision of further and higher education in Scotland and a breakdown of the number of overall graduates from each profession over the past five years is available from the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (BIB number 63608). This is broken down by domicile: Scottish, rUK, EU, international.

It is important that NHS Boards can call on additional staffing when required, in order to deal with the exigencies of the service. It is for NHS Boards to decide when the additional support represented by agency staffing is required but the Scottish Government is clear that Boards should always make use of NHS bank staff as a first choice and the majority of additional staffing needs are met through NHS Scotland’s well established bank system. These act as, de facto, in house agencies. We have over 35,000 nurses registered on NHS Scotland Staff Banks. It would not be appropriate for the Scottish Government to establish a commercial agency. Combined spending on all agency staff (medical and nursing) remains less than 1% of the overall NHS Scotland budget.