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The Scottish Government is greatly concerned at this report. NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde is unaware of any shielding issues relating to lung cancer patients and are unable to investigate the issue raised in the question with the information provided. The Scottish Government has asked Ms Baillie to contact NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde directly to provide further details. People who have undergone radical radiotherapy for lung cancer or are receiving active chemotherapy treatment for any type of cancer are advised to shield. The vast majority of people in these categories were sent letters of advice in the week commencing 30 March. People who have started treatment since then should have been advised that they will need to shield before they began their treatment.

Public Health Scotland provides the Scottish Government with numbers of residents and staff tested in care homes. The Scottish Government is working with Public Health Scotland to quality assure this information.

Initial data was published on the 10th of June together with information that will be included in future weekly publications.

The 2014 Future of Residential Care for Older People in Scotland report made a number of important recommendations to help shape the future of the care home sector in Scotland. The Residential Care Task Force Implementation Group was established to take forward the report recommendations. Whilst many of the recommendations made were taken forward and were implemented relatively quickly, there were some longer term recommendations which required considerable development, planning and potentially funding. At the time the Taskforce anticipated that the integration of health and social care would open up opportunities for the care home sector to be developed through strategic commissioning based on local need, with an increase in intermediate care in care homes and at home, alongside a greater provision of extra-care housing as an alternative to care homes. In this context a number of significant recommendations, including the development of strategic commissioning plans, were made which are now being implemented by our Health and Social Care Partnerships (HSCPs). Some of the most significant recommendations were around support for the workforce, in particular with the implementation of the real living wage for all social care workers. As a result of this work, the Scottish Government has since October 2016 provided resources to enable all social care workers to be paid the real living wage for day time hours and that this was later extended to overnight support. However work to address the workforce challenges doesn’t end there. The Scottish Government has committed to working with national and local partners to take forward the recommendations set out in the Fair Work Convention’s Social Care Sector 2019 report to improve fair work practices for the workforce. Having reflected on progress within the care home sector five years on from the residential care taskforce report, the Scottish Government launched the adult social care reform programme last year along with COSLA. As part of that programme, the Scottish Government had started, prior to the COVID-19 outbreak, to look at ways to improve care home sustainability. While the current focus needs to be on supporting the care home sector through the COVID-19 crisis, it will be important to reflect on the lessons learned during this pandemic and identify what that means for the future of care home provision.

These data were published by National Record of Scotland on 3 June. Up to 17 May, there were 1,623 deaths where confirmed or suspected COVID-19 was mentioned on the death certificate either as the underlying cause or as a contributory cause. A further 154 care homes residents died in hospital with a confirmed or suspected COVID-19.

The Scottish Government is working closely with NHS Boards during the pandemic to monitor the impact of Covid-19 on demand and capacity. We wrote to NHS Boards on 14 May highlighting mental health as a clinical priority and asking them to set out plans for reinstating services and to work with partners to estimate the anticipated rise in mental health need in the population and their response. These plans will allow us to understand where Boards are now and what they need to do to address the mental health needs of their population as we move into the next phase.

Although clinical advice and available scientific evidence suggests that it is too early to predict the long-term mental health impacts of Covid-19, in anticipation of increased demand for mental health support, the Scottish Government has invested heavily in services, including more than £1 million to expand the Distress Brief Intervention (DBI) programme to help people in distress and £3.8 million to increase the capacity of NHS 24’s telephone and online services and extend digital therapies available through the NHS.

The Business Support Grant Scheme is administered by local authorities, and they aim to make payment within 10 working days from receipt of a fully completed application and once all information and evidence in support of an application has been verified. Applications can be subject to delay if incomplete or incorrect details are supplied.

The Scottish Government’s £50 million Wellbeing Fund is supporting third sector organisations that have expanded their work to provide vital assistance for communities at risk in the face of Covid-19. Among the 558 organisations recently offered funding in the first application round for Wellbeing Fund support are 344 for which applicants identified “Mental Health and Wellbeing” as the primary area of focus and which collectively received £8.07 million. Provisional results from the second application round show that 392 applications have been approved for funding, with a total value of £7,592,000. More detailed breakdown information about these (including how many focus on mental health and wellbeing) will become available shortly.

On 12 May we extended eligibility for the Small Business Grant Fund (£10,000) to include non-domestic properties in receipt of any Charitable or Sports Rates Relief, and eligible for Small Business Bonus Scheme who also meet the qualifying criteria.

Through the Children, Young People and Families Early Intervention & Adult Learning and Empowering Communities Fund, the Scottish Government is continuing to contribute to the core costs of Third Sector organisations which support the emotional wellbeing of children, young people and families.

In addition to a number of third sector partners funded to help deliver our vision for improved mental health and wellbeing in Scotland, we have announced additional support this year to the following third sector organisations responding directly to the increased demand resulting from the Covid-19 crisis:

• As part of the £1 million to expand and develop the Distress Brief Intervention programme into a nationwide response to people in distress associated with Covid-19, support to third sector bodies including the Scottish Association for Mental Health, Penumbra and Support in Mind Scotland as key partners will be over £800,000.
• We announced a £1 million package for children, young people and families on 1 May which includes:

- £768,000 for a relationships helpline to be delivered by The Spark counselling service

- £105,000 to support Young Scot to develop enhanced digital content and resources on mental health

- £205,000 to support 47,000 autistic people across Scotland. This consists of funding to increase capacity at the Scottish Autism Helpline, and help for the National Autistic Society to keep people in touch online during lockdown.

The Scottish Government does not hold estimates on the number of people that will be affected by mental health concerns as a result of domestic abuse during the COVID-19 crisis. However, we understand from regular discussions with key stakeholders that the mental health impact of lockdown continues to be a significant concern for organisations who support victims.

A Mental Health Research Advisory Group has also been established and will follow research developments closely to understand the medium and long term impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental health.

Backed by £1.5 million of Scottish Government funding, support services have made changes to ensure they can still be accessed and are there to help people. National helplines are fully operational and also now with text and web chat functions.

Scottish Government published Coronavirus (COVID-19): guidance on domestic abuse which makes it clear that rules on staying at home do not prevent anyone from leaving their home to escape or keep themselves safe from domestic abuse.

We are also continuing to provide wider mental health support in Scotland through this time. The Scottish Government has provided funding to increase the capacity of NHS 24’s mental health services and digital therapies. These services will continue to be available throughout the COVID-19 pandemic for anyone who needs it.

Investment of more than £1 million has also been provided to roll out the Distress Brief Intervention programme on a national basis. The programme gives people over the age of 16, who are in emotional distress, the opportunity to speak to specially trained staff.

We do not hold information as to which individuals attended the match.

I am working closely with partners across the health and social care sector, including NHS Boards, Health and Social Care Partnerships and local employers, to ensure mental health and wellbeing support is in place for the workforce.

A range of support services has been established at local level, including staff wellbeing ‘hubs’, common rooms and rest areas, helplines and listening services, links with Occupational Health and Chaplaincy services, peer support, leadership development and coaching initiatives, mental health guidance and digital offerings. We have encouraged the sharing of services across health and social care to ensure as many people as possible can benefit from these.

On 11 th May, we launched the National Wellbeing Hub for health and social care workers (www.promis.scot). The Hub signposts staff, unpaid carers, volunteers and their families to relevant services, and provides a range of self-care and wellbeing resources designed to support the workforce as they respond to the impact of Covid-19. The Hub is part of a programme of activity at the national level which includes the allocation of a further £3.8 million to begin to increase the capacity of NHS 24’s Mental Health Hub and Breathing Space service, alongside increased access to digital therapies.

Based on evidence and experiences here and internationally, we will continue to explore how best to respond to those who need more specialist mental health support and care over the coming months.