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Throughout the pandemic, a UK-wide approach to the procurement of therapeutics has been vital to allow the UK to have the buying power to secure significant numbers of therapeutics in a competitive global market. This approach has ensured patients across the UK have had equal access to safe and effective medicines.

Evusheld ® was developed and tested before the emergence of the Omicron variant, and the UK Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency’s (MHRA) conditional marketing authorisation outlined some remaining questions, including how effective Evusheld ® is against Omicron and the duration of its effect against current circulating variants. As a result, there is currently no established supply arrangement for Evusheld ® in the UK. The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) is carrying out further testing on the effectiveness of Evusheld ® against the Omicron variants which involve “live virus” tests taking place in the lab (“in vitro”). These tests are important because they provide certainty of the effectiveness of Evusheld ® against circulating variants and avoid the risk of introducing new variants through viral mutations.

The Scottish Government continues to closely monitor the outcome of further research to ensure that any decisions to make Evusheld ® available to patients in Scotland in the future are based on the best available evidence.

The Scottish Stroke Improvement Programme (SSIP) Lead conducts a review process and meets with all NHS boards to understand the provision of stroke services and create a local action plan to improve performance where needed.

We recognise that the Scottish Stroke Care Standards are challenging for the service and expect Stroke Managed Clinical Networks and Health Boards to work together to drive forward quality improvement programmes of work to achieve these.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-10404 on 20 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

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-09978 on 24 August 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.

The Scottish Government is committed to the recruitment of a minimum of 1,500 additional staff to support the operation of Scotland’s National Treatment Centres (NTCs) and is supporting a range of activity to achieve this.

The recruitment data we collate is management information and not suitable for publication. NTC Recruitment is the responsibility of each NHS Board. It is therefore for NHS Golden Jubilee to provide detail regarding their recruitment.

The Scottish Stroke Improvement Programme team works closely with services and NHS boards to use learning from the Scottish Stroke Care Audit to support improvement across the whole stroke pathway, including timely access to thrombolysis.

For example, planning work is ongoing within NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde to develop a telemedicine stroke service. This aims to introduce remote specialist assessment of hyperacute stroke patients out-of-hours at Glasgow Royal Infirmary and 24/7 at Royal Alexandra Hospital to improve overall door-to-needle (DTN) times for thrombolysis.

The number of thrombectomy procedures carried out at each stroke centre in the last year are:

West of Scotland: 16

East of Scotland: 17

North of Scotland: 31

The Scottish Government does not hold information about individual patients transfers.

We are not currently aware of any stroke unit closures.

Our vision is for everyone with rehabilitation needs to be able to access the care and support they need to live well, on their own terms.

Defined performance markers such as access to acute therapy, access to inpatient stroke therapy, access to community stroke therapy and six-month reviews are being included in the refreshed Stroke Improvement Plan, and annual board reviews carried out by the Scottish Stroke Improvement Programme Team, led by the Scottish Stroke Improvement Programme Lead, will assess rehabilitation performance against these targets.

Despite the continued and unprecedented challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Scottish Stroke Improvement Programme report, published on 28 June, highlights areas where a high level of care is provided for stroke patients, including improvements in the number of patients who receive brain imagining within 12 hours of arrival to hospital.

We recognise that there are areas within stroke care that have proven particularly challenging and we are committed to continued improvement. We expect health boards to identify aspects of their stroke services which do not meet the Scottish Standards and to work to improve standards of care locally.