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Further to the answer to question S6W-04701 I can confirm that the case review was undertaken by a small number of NHS Lothian clinicians who are all suitably qualified and experienced in their relevant fields. As none of the clinicians who undertook the review had previously looked after Mr Slorance there was no conflict of interest in undertaking the review.

The Scottish Cardiac Audit Programme, within Public Health Scotland, have been actively seeking data submissions from all sites across Scotland that previously contributed to the UK National Cardiac Audit Programme, managed by the National Institute for Cardiovascular Outcomes Research (NICOR). This includes sites which carry out TAVI procedures.

Employers with ten or more staff are eligible to participate in the workplace asymptomatic testing programme. The programme allows participating organisations to offer COVID-19 testing to any individuals who work at the location, including employees, volunteers, contractors and agency staff. Agencies which meet the criteria can also enrol in the programme to provide their staff with tests. This includes agencies providing staff to the health and social care sectors.

If an employer or agency does not provide workplace testing, lateral flow device test kits are widely available to individuals through the universally accessible testing offer. Kits can be collected from test sites, pharmacies and local authority collection points, or ordered online for home delivery.

Information on TAVI procedures in Scotland for 2018-19 and 2019-20 was submitted by sites to the UK National Cardiac Audit Programme. Published data is available from the British Cardiovascular Interventional Society (BCIS) - Audit Results - British Cardiovascular Intervention Society (bcis.org.uk) .

The published reports indicate that in 2018-19 there were 310 TAVI procedures, and in 2019-20 there were 400 TAVI procedures carried out in Scotland. The reports do not break down the number of cases per Scottish site.

The Scottish Cardiac Audit Programme is currently working with TAVI sites across Scotland to collate data for 2020-21 onwards.

Primary care professionals have access to multiple sources of education and update regarding heart valve disease and management both at undergraduate and postgraduate level. Through local interface groups local pathways to support diagnosis and management have been developed at board level with opportunities for specialist advice and rapid referral where required.

Scottish Government has no current plans to carry out a public awareness campaign on heart valve disease.

We recognise that the Covid-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on our NHS including diabetes services. We took the opportunity to reflect on these challenges as we determined the priorities for our Diabetes Improvement Plan refresh, which was published in February 2021.

On 25 August 2021 we launched our NHS Recovery Plan which is backed by more than £1bn of investment over the next five years. The plan takes forward our aim of increasing NHS capacity by at least 10% as quickly as possible in order to address the backlog of care and meet the ongoing healthcare needs for people across the country.

The table below from Public Health Scotland shows the numbers of inpatient and day case hospital admissions with a primary diagnosis of diabetic ketoacidosis and the number of these admissions where the patient died in hospital.

Due to the way that complications of diabetes are coded in the international ICD10 coding system this only includes cases of diabetic ketoacidosis without coma. These figures do not include cases of diabetic ketoacidosis with coma, which cannot be identified separately from instances of diabetic coma without ketoacidosis.

We welcome the publication of the Scottish Diabetes Survey which provides an annual summary of key issues and trends in diabetes care and treatment in Scotland. As in previous years, the number of people living with diabetes in Scotland is increasing. However, we are not seeing a great increase in the number of new cases, but rather people with diabetes are living longer with the condition.

At the end of December 2020 the Scottish Diabetes Survey reported that 317,128 people have been diagnosed with diabetes of all types in Scotland compared to 312,390 people diagnosed in 2019.

We are committed to ensuring that everyone living with diabetes in Scotland can access appropriate, high-quality, person-centred care. In February 2021, we published our Diabetes Improvement Plan refresh, which builds on the progress made since 2014 and sets out our priorities to deliver safe, effective and person-centred healthcare, treatment and support to those living with diabetes.

Our Type 2 Diabetes Early Detection, Intervention and Prevention Framework was published in 2018 and is designed to support those at risk of, or diagnosed with, type 2 diabetes. It provides guidance to NHS boards on the provision of evidence-based, person-centred targeted interventions across diabetes and weight management services.

In July 2019, the Scottish standards for the delivery of tier 2 and tier 3 weight management services to children and young people and to adults were published. These standards provide a detailed framework to drive forward consistent, equitable and evidence-based approaches across Scotland in the treatment of higher body weight and associated health risks.

We are committed to reducing the impact of inequalities on health outcomes for people living with diabetes, and equity of access is highlighted as a key priority in our Diabetes Improvement Plan refresh, published in February 2021.

We are working with key partners including NHS Boards, Health & Social Care Partnerships, Diabetes Scotland and people living with diabetes to ensure that evolving care models address existing health inequalities by integrating pathways with existing services and resources such as social work, mental health services, education and third sector.

As diabetes services evolve and include more virtual offerings, we will work to ensure that those people with diabetes who are unable to access services digitally are not disadvantaged as a result of digital exclusion.

A statutory public inquiry has been established to examine the handling of the COVID-19 pandemic in Scotland. The inquiry will undertake scrutiny of the handling of the COVID-19 pandemic in Scotland as a whole and identify lessons and implications for the future.

Audit Scotland will publish its report on Scotland's financial response to COVID-19 in May 2022. This audit is a review of the public sector’s financial response to the COVID-19 pandemic as a whole. It will consider the financial management, governance and oversight arrangements in place for public bodies to quickly distribute funding to those that need it.

In addition, the Scottish Government continues to review on an ongoing basis the support provided to the social care sector to ensure that it remains appropriate. This is undertaken on a collaborative basis with partners across the sector to ensure understanding of the impact of decision making on providers and those receiving care.