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NHS 24 will have recruited an additional 41.81 Whole Time Equivalent (WTE) staff by 1 December 2022. These additional posts support the recruitment priorities set out in the Winter Resilience Plan.

The following table shows the breakdown by role of the total number of WTE staff joining NHS 24 through to 1 December 2022. The role of Call Operator was re-created in September 2022 to supplement NHS 24's call handling capacity.

The requested information on how many whole time equivalent staff working for NHS 24 in the financial year (a) 2018-19, (b) 2019-20, (c) 2020-21 and (d) 2021-22, including a breakdown by (i) call handlers and (ii) nurse advisers is not centrally available.

Information on how many whole time equivalent staff working for NHS 24 since 2012 can be found in the following link: NHSScotland workforce | Turas Data Intelligence

The Scottish Government recognised in 2021 that partial implementation of the pharmacotherapy and community treatment and care services, on a national level, meant that general practice was facing a difficult winter without all of the support Scottish Government and the BMA had agreed it should have in 2018.

GP practices will receive £10 million in Sustainability Payments this year in addition to their regular funding (Global Sum and Income & Expenses Guarantees) of £696,549,007, to which an uplift will be applied backdated to April 2022.

We also now have more than 3,220 healthcare professionals recruited to support general practice since 2018 and are committed to investing at least £170 million a year on growing primary care multi-disciplinary teams.

The requested information on how many whole time equivalent radiographers who were fully qualified to undertake MRI scans working in the NHS in the financial year (a) 2018-19, (b) 2019-20, (c) 2020-21, (d) 2021-22 and 2022-23 to date, broken down by NHS board is not centrally available.

Information on how many whole time equivalent Radiographers (Diagnosis and Therapy) working in the NHS since 2012, broken down by NHS Board can be found in the following link: NHSScotland workforce | Turas Data Intelligence

113 paramedics will be recruited as a result of the investment of £45 million by the Scottish Government, as outlined in the Winter Resilience Plan.

The Emergency Budget Review (EBR) sets out in-year redistribution of funding within the Health and Social Care Portfolio. Future years funding will be set out in each year’s Scottish Budget, with the 2023-24 Budget to be published on 15 December 2022.

Junior Doctors are a valuable part of the NHS Scotland workforce. The Scottish Government has implemented a 4.5% pay uplift this year which is in line with the independent DDRB recommendations. The Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care is aware of Junior Doctors concerns in relation to this pay award and wishes to ensure fairness across the NHS pay system.

The Scottish Government has been working with BMA and NHS Employers to take forward the Expert Working Group recommendation and key priorities within the BMA Wellbeing report. A Joint Statement on Junior Doctor Health and Wellbeing was agreed between all parties on 1 June 2022 and work is now underway to implement this important work.

The Scottish Government is not removing funding for Primary Care implementation plans. Reserves that have been built up over four years by HSCPs are now being used so that recurring funding for recruiting multi-disciplinary teams can be maintained. It is prudent to reinvest these public funds given that these reserves have been steadily accumulating over a number of years, especially at a time of considerable inflation. At the same time, we have increased the recurring funding for primary care improvement to £170m in 2022-23.

Reserves held by Integration Authorities, comprising Primary Care Improvement Fund (PCIF) funding from previous years, have been utilised in funding this year's PCIF allocation, resulting in a one-off benefit. The distribution of these reserves is set out in the following table:

Health Board expenditure and staff numbers are set out in Annual Accounts which are available on Board's websites.

With regards to reserves, Health Boards are not permitted to hold reserves.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-12117 on‎ 28 November 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