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In the 2021-22 academic year, the Nursing and Midwifery Student Bursary eligibility criteria was expanded to incorporate paramedic science students studying in Scotland and renamed the Paramedic, Nursing and Midwifery Student Bursary (PNMSB).

In the 2021-22 academic year, there were 700 funding applications from students studying a paramedic science course with 670 being awarded the bursary.

The Scottish Government are aware that there have been continuing shortages across the UK due to a number of factors. The supply of medicines, including HRT products and the associated legislation, is a reserved matter for the UK Government. We continue to engage with the Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC) to seek a lasting solution.

A series of UK-wide Serious Shortage Protocols (SSPs) have been issued by DHSC, after consultation with the Scottish Government and other UK administrations, allowing community pharmacists to supply specific alternatives without needing to seek agreement from the prescribing doctor. An SSP is an additional tool to manage and mitigate medication shortages. This gives individuals the option to receive substitute products in a safe and effective way to ensure medication continues to be available to all.

There are over 70 HRT products available in the UK and supply issues are affecting only a small number of them.

The following table illustrating the number of staff trained to become qualified in delivering support for Mental Health First Aid and the year this was completed.

The Scottish Government remains committed to delivering Anne’s Law which will support the rights of people living in adult care homes to connect with their loved ones.

At Stage 1 of the National Care Service (Scotland) Bill, evidence was heard from seven committees and many individuals and representatives on a wide range of topics. An extension will allow the Scottish Parliament and the Scottish Government the necessary time to consider all of the evidence to best inform the development of Anne’s Law and the Bill.

Meantime, the Scottish Government has already utilised existing powers to adopt the core foundations of Anne’s Law through the development of two new Heath and Social Care Standards introduced in April 2022.

The new Standards established that people living in care homes should have the right to see someone who is important to them, even during an outbreak and be able to name a person or persons who can directly participate in meeting their care needs. The Care Inspectorate now refer to these Standards when registering, inspecting and supporting care homes.

In addition Public Health Scotland COVID guidance now reflects that three named visitors can visit a resident, one per day, in the event of an outbreak, and essential visiting for end-of-life care and distress should always be supported, regardless of the circumstances.

The strengthened Public Health guidance and the new Standards have helped to minimise disruption to visiting, with 99% of adult care homes reporting that they are supporting indoor visiting.

During the extension to Stage 1 of the National Care Service (Scotland) Bill the Scottish Government will continue to work with care home providers, relatives and organisations to develop the detail of Anne’s Law and prepare for its implementation.

The Scottish Government work closely with NHS Grampian and NHS Scotland Assure on all capital investment projects. The priority is ensuring that a safe, high quality healthcare facility is delivered and the Key Stage Assurance Review (KSAR) process has been recently introduced to ensure that happens. NHS Grampian are preparing an action plan to address the issues identified in the KSAR and we will review timelines once that exercise has been completed.

The Scottish Government has committed to providing a full breakdown of the implementation of Medication Assistant Treatment (MAT) standards in June 2023.

The Minister for Drugs and Alcohol Policy will update Parliament on progress in June and this will coincide with the publication of the 2022-2023 implementation update which will be produced by Public Health Scotland. The data published will be broken down by each local authority implementation area, detailing the progress each area has made on all MAT standards since the 2021-22 Benchmarking Report on Implementation which was published in June 2022.

The Scottish Government is considering the options in relation to collecting data on secondary breast cancer in Scotland, taking consideration of clinical time required and how it can be used to improve services.

The National Cancer Quality Steering group have overseen the development of a newly proposed Quality Performance Indicator on ‘Recurrence Following Breast Cancer Treatment’ in 2022.

Further to this, the Scottish Government continues its dialogue with Public Health Scotland, NHS England and the Healthcare Quality Improvement Partnership alongside breast cancer specialists and the charity Breast Cancer Now regarding data collection for secondary breast cancer.

The Scottish Government does not hold this information centrally.

sport scotland will write directly to Tess White MSP to provide the information requested.

The Scottish Government has received no reports of shortages or problems with production of radionuclide leading to delays in scans for prostate patients.