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The September 2019 Programme for Government commitment to develop proposals for a new medical school was paused in March 2020 due to the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic. We are currently considering how this commitment can be implemented or linked to the new Programme for Government (PfG) Commitment to increase medical undergraduates by 100 per year and to double the number of Widening Access places over the lifetime of this parliament.

Scotland’s resilience response structures involve very well established mechanisms for coordinating clear public communications during emergencies, and organisations involved in the response will work together to ensure swift and accurate advice is provided across a range of media.

The specific emergency alert system in place in other countries, used for example to warn of earthquakes, utilises a technology known as Cell Broadcasting. Activating this capability on the UK telecoms network is a matter reserved to the UK Government, and we note that the introduction of this technology, initially anticipated for summer 2021, is now scheduled for early 2022. Scottish Government officials are working with their counterparts in the UK Government to ensure that the deployment of any such capability reflects the devolved responsibilities of our responder organisations.

The new statutory National Concessionary Bus Travel Scheme for Young People currently covers bus travel only, as does the existing statutory National Concessionary Travel Scheme for Older and Disabled People. The schemes do not extend to other modes of travel.

he Scottish Government’s Chief Scientist Office has funded nine research projects designed to improve our understanding of the longer term effects of the COVID-19 infection, or long COVID. Three projects focus on the prevalence and symptoms of long COVID. All started in early 2021 and will run for two years.

LTE2015.pdf (scot.nhs.uk) ‘Developing and validating a risk prediction model for long COVID-19’. Undertaken by the University of Edinburgh, in collaboration with Public Health Scotland, this research builds on the EAVE II study, originally funded by the Medical Research Council ( An Introduction to EAVE II | The University of Edinburgh ). EAVE II has used a pseudonymised patient dataset to track the COVID-19 pandemic as it unfolded across Scotland. This dataset will now be used to develop a model which will identify people at greatest risk of developing long COVID. In the course of developing that model, the research will generate data about the number of people in Scotland diagnosed with long COVID and their use of health services. This project will cover the population as a whole, including children.

lte2006.pdf (scot.nhs.uk) ‘Defining and understanding the longer-term effects of COVID-19: a mixed methods study exploring the frequency, nature, and impact of ‘long COVID’ in the Scottish population’. Undertaken by the university of Glasgow, this study will identify how many people continue to be unwell, their symptoms, and how it affects their lives. Scottish adults who had a positive COVID-19 test, and a negative test comparison group, will be sent an SMS message inviting them to take part in the study. If they agree, they will answer questions about their health before and after COVID-19, and any effect on their lives, with the questions repeated at regular intervals. This project will cover people aged 16+.

LTE2008.pdf (scot.nhs.uk) ‘COVID-19: Tracking Persistent Symptoms in Scotland (TraPSS)’ – undertaken by the University of the West of Scotland. This project aims toimprove our understanding of long COVID in the Scottish population, and particularly in people whose original symptoms were relatively mild. The current evidence describing the types of symptoms other studies have reported will be reviewed, and people will be surveyed at different stages of recovery to find out what kinds of persistent symptoms they have. The project will survey adults aged 18+.

Currently the best source of estimated long COVID prevalence data for Scotland is the monthly Office for National Statistics (ONS) reporting on ‘Estimates of the prevalence of self-reported long COVID and associated activity limitation, using UK Coronavirus (COVID-19) Infection Survey data’.The most recent report is here.

Prevalence of ongoing symptoms following coronavirus (COVID-19) infection in the UK - Office for National Statistics (ons.gov.uk) This showed that, over the four-week period ending 31 October 2021, an estimated 99,000 people (95% confidence interval: 89,000 to 109,000) in the private residential population in Scotland (1.87%; 95% CI: 1.68% to 2.07%) reported experiencing long COVID of any duration. Detailed estimates by age group and symptoms are available for the UK, but this detail is not available for Scotland.

The COVID-19 Scientific Advisory Sub-Group on Education and Children’s Issues published a summary report of the evidence on children, schools, early learning and childcare settings and transmission from COVID-19 on 12 August 2021. This included a brief summary of available evidence on Long-COVID in children and young people , along with a list of references to relevant evidence which may also be of interest. Public Health Scotland also provide a regular review of evidence for the sub-group in relation to COVID-19 and children and young people.

The Sub-Group continues to review the evidence on acute and prolonged health effects of COVID-19, and will update their advice if required in light of new findings.

In addition, the UK wide clinical guideline on managing the long-term effects of COVID-19 produced by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), the Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network (SIGN) and the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) is continuously reviewed and updated in response to emerging evidence.

For the November 2021 update, the evidence for children and young people was reviewed. A full overview of this evidence reviewed can be found on page 37 of the clinical guideline, accessible at Guideline COVID-19 rapid guideline: managing the long-term effects of COVID-19 (nice.org.uk)

NHS Scotland will consider fertility preservation and gamete storage for patients who have been assessed and referred by the Gender Identity Service as suitable for gender reassignment.

As of 06 December 2021, 54.8% of people in Scotland have registered a donation decision on the NHS Organ Donor Register.

The Scottish Government takes action to ensure that people in Scotland who have not yet registered a donation decision with the NHS Organ Donor Register are able to do so as follows:

• An annual summer public awareness campaign using TV, radio, newspaper, social media, posters in pharmacy windows and on bus shelters and partnership with Health Boards, stakeholder organisations and employers.
• Participation in UK national Organ Donation Week in September each year using radio, newspaper, social media and partnership with third sector organisations and employers.
• Ongoing partnership with Kidney Research UK, who train peer educators to raise awareness of donation in south Asian communities in Glasgow and Edinburgh.
• Letters to young persons reaching aged 16 to inform them of the law on donation and how to make a donation decision.
• The Organ Donation Scotland Website, which provides information on deceased and living donation including information in accessible formats and languages and on faith and donation
• Ongoing social media and additional newspaper media throughout the year using case studies, for example a focus on living kidney donation in the lead up to Christmas.

The Annual Report on the COPFS Victims' Right to Review Scheme for 2020-21 has been published today on the COPFS website. It is available to view at the following link:

Victims Right to Review Annual Report 2020-21.pdf (copfs.gov.uk)