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Questions and answers

Parliamentary questions can be asked by any MSP to the Scottish Government or the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body. The questions provide a means for MSPs to get factual and statistical information.

Written questions must be answered within 10 working days (20 working days during recess)
Other questions such as Topical, Portfolio, General and First Minister's Question Times are taken in the Chamber

Urgent Questions aren't included in the Question and Answers search. There is a SPICe fact sheet listing Urgent and emergency questions.

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Question reference: S6W-14151

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 19 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 2 February 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how it is ensuring that (a) consistent and (b) tailored digital skills learning and development on accessible platforms exist for all health and care staff.

Currently, staff can access digital skills learning and development resources through the Turas platform managed and run by NHS National Education for Scotland, and through the skills platform of SSSC. Work is underway on reviewing the accessibility of this, with a view to considering the creation of a Central Library of Digital Skills Resource. This work aims to understand the user needs in relation to digital confidence, accessing technology and building digital skills. It is tailored to the requirements of specific roles to enhance career progression for all staff across health and care. We will work with our wide range of partners across health and care to ensure effective communication of this resource and that it complements existing resources.

Question reference: S6W-14140

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 19 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 2 February 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the commitment in its Digital Health and Care Strategy, what it has done to ensure that essential health and care digital services are secure-by-design and that this approach is adopted across the supply chain.

The Scottish Government promotes the use of the Cyber Security Procurement Support Tool, which was developed to help public sector organisations to identify cyber risks and improve the cyber security of supply chains by asking suppliers consistent questions about protection against cyber threats. The need to embed secure-by-design will be further reinforced in the developing Procurement and Commercial Strategy and through ongoing industry engagement.

Question reference: S6W-14134

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 19 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 2 February 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what it has done to modernise its core health and care business systems.

Scottish Government is undertaking a wide range of digital programmes to support partners including work on Microsoft 365, the roll out Hospital Electronic Prescribing and Medicines Administration (HEPMA),the rollout of new General Practice IT systems, development of the National Digital Platform and Digital Diagnostics. Delivery is ongoing, as set out in the annual delivery plan for Digital Health & Care (see Care in the Digital Age: delivery plan 2022 to 2023 - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

Question reference: S6W-14108

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 19 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 2 February 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the commitment in its Digital Health and Care Strategy, how many devices or pieces of equipment it has bought since October 2021 to enable health and care staff to work remotely/flexibly, broken down by (a) NHS board and (b) type of device or equipment.

Question reference: S6W-14148

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 19 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 2 February 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the commitment in its Digital Health and Care Strategy, how many health and social care staff do not currently have the essential digital skills that they need to do their job, broken down by NHS board.

Question reference: S6W-14162

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 20 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 2 February 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what work it has done with (a) the Digital Health & Care Innovation Centre (DHI) (b) Innovation Centres other than DHI, (c) The Scotland 5G Centre, (d) the cyber resilience sector, (e) the Centre for Sustainable Delivery and (f) Public Health Scotland to ensure that Scotland gets maximum benefit from digital health and care.

Question reference: S6W-14105

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 19 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 2 February 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how it is closing the digital divide to support people in (a) rural areas and (b) Scotland to access online health and care information.

We recognise that technology can have a positive and transformative impact on peoples’ lives, but equally, we must ensure that no-one is left behind who wishes to engage in this way. Our focus on digital inclusion is a key priority not just in health and care but across Scotland, as key in addressing digital access inequalities.

The Near Me Service enables people to attend appointments in their homes via video consultations and reducing the need to travel long distances. While available across Scotland, the service is beneficial to people living in rural areas who otherwise may face long journeys to attend appointments. Near Me is valuable in giving people options on accessing healthcare in a way that is convenient for them and saves people having to take time off work, arrange childcare, or arrange transport. The service currently supports around 12,000 consultations each week and has saved an estimated 60 million travel miles to date, with associated benefit to the environment. The scheme is being extended so that people can use it in community settings such as libraries, community, and health and care facilities. These new hubs also provide private confidential spaces, improved connectivity, and support for people with lower digital confidence or limited or no access to a suitable device, further helping to reduce the digital divide. We are also working with Social Security Scotland on a dedicated video platform, initially piloting use in support of child disability payments, as well as the use of Near Me in social care settings.

In 2021 we launched the Digital Inclusion in Care homes programme, which saw strong partnership with the social care and social work sectors. This involved the distribution of iPads and Mifi connectivity to 75% of care homes (91% of resident population). Some 9% of homes had no devices for resident use prior to initiative. We have extended connectivity support and data packages for devices for a further year, and we have extended the digital training and leadership package available to residents and professionals through a collaboration with Barclays Digital Eagles.

Through initiatives like the Connecting Scotland programme, the Scottish Government continues to invest in digital inclusion, enabling people to interact with their health and care data digitally, where they wish to. Some 60,000 people have benefited from the programme to date from devices, skills and connectivity, with a commitment to support a total of 300,000 people over the length of this parliament. We have also launched a new Digital Inclusion programme, with a focus on mental health and housing. The programme will develop, test, and implement a range of digital inclusion models, supporting the delivery of the Digital Health and Care Strategy and contributing to the work of Connecting Scotland to address digital exclusion.

Question reference: S6W-14149

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 19 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 2 February 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the commitment in its Digital Health and Care Strategy, how much it has spent on training health and social care staff to ensure that they have the essential digital skills that they need to do their job, broken down by NHS board.

The development and maintaining of digital skills across the workforce is the responsibility of individual employers and academic institutions. We do not hold information centrally on the amount spent by health and social care organisations on development of digital skills. At a national level, we are supporting the provision of materials, resources and courses to support digital skills via the Digital Skills and Leadership Programme. This programme is led by NHS Education for Scotland, and from October 2021 to December 2022 the Scottish Government spent £790,637 on this national programme.

The Building Digital Skills and Leadership Programme enables the delivery of Priority 4 of the refreshed Digital Health and Care strategy where ‘Digital skills are seen as core skills for the workforce across the health and care sector’, and associated commitments in the Health and Social Care: national workforce strategy. The associated programme priorities are found within the Care in a Digital Age Delivery Plan 2022-2023.

Question reference: S6W-14088

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 19 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 2 February 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the commitment in its Digital Health and Care Strategy, what it is doing to enable prevention, independent living, and healthy ageing through the provision of digital services in the home.

Scottish Government is doing a range of things to support partners including work on telecare, enhanced use of Near Me and remote monitoring. Delivery is ongoing, as set out in the annual delivery plan for Digital Health & Care (see Care in the Digital Age: delivery plan 2022 to 2023 - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) ). An update will be published later this year with delivery priorities for 2023-24 and will include an overview of progress against existing commitments.

The Action Plan for Digital Approaches in Care Homes also responds to the current and emerging needs of care home providers and their residents and to realise the benefits of digital technologies. The Plan supports delivery of the Digital Health & Care Strategy and is aligned and informed by a wide range of national strategies, plans and programmes.

Question reference: S6W-14130

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 19 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 2 February 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has published a cloud-first strategy across health and care.

The Digital Directorate have published Scotland’s Cloud First policy alongside a set of principles and a framework for adoption. Cloud First – Cloud First - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) . The Cloud First policy is an integral part of delivering the Scottish Government Digital Strategy - A changing nation: how Scotland will thrive in a digital world - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

The Digital Health and Care Strategy is set within the wider context set out by the Digital Strategy for Scotland and acts as a support to it and confirms how our health and care services will adopt and embed its principles and approaches including the Cloud First policy. Within that context, work is currently underway on the overall Technical Roadmap for Scotland's health & care system, which includes the use of cloud technology as appropriate.