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During the COVID-19 outbreak all cancer screening lab staff have continued to work on a variety of activities, including ongoing processing of tests which were returned prior to the pause of the screening programmes and assisting with testing for COVID-19.

There is ongoing work to prepare for the resumption of screening which includes lab staff preparing to start work on new tests as soon as they are received.

The Scottish Government continues to consider evidence and recommendations including from The Scientific Advisory Group on Emergencies (SAGE).” . Our guidance on face coverings also makes clear one of the most effective measures to reduce transmission is to stay 2 metres away from other people, apart from members of your household. That remains our instruction to those who are exercising.

The Scottish Government is working with NHS National Services Scotland (NSS), NHS Lothian and NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde on an application for a new Managed Clinical Network (MCN) for National Child and Adolescent Learning Disability Services. The responsibilities of the Network will include developing standards and pathways for Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) Learning Disability community services.

An Incident Management Team (IMT) was established to investigate and manage the incident at the Nike conference. The IMT is an independent, multi-disciplinary and multi-agency group, which provides a framework, response and resources to enable the NHS board(s) and other statutory agencies to fulfil their remits.

It is part of the IMT’s remit to consider what actions are required following any incident. Each incident is judged individually. On the Nike Conference incident, as all contacts had been identified and contacted, the risk to the public was deemed by the IMT to be low.

Research from the University of Glasgow published on 8 June on viral lineages of the disease concluded that the actions taken to manage the Nike outbreak were successful in containing spread from that incident. This led to the eradication of this particular viral lineage, with no evidence of any wider outbreak associated with it in Scotland since that time.

The IMT will produce its report in due course and within the agreed timescales of within three to six months of the debrief.

I have asked Teresa Medhurst, Interim Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. Her response is as follows:

NHS Health Boards are responsible for the treatment and care of those with mental conditions in Scotland’s prisons, this includes those who may have a bipolar disorder. SPS are working with partners, including NHS, to support those in custody during this time.

If any person in custody wishes access to a member of the Mental Health Team, then they are able to self-refer. A Healthcare Professional will conduct an assessment within 7 to 14 days of a self-referral being submitted.

SPS staff are experienced in dealing with and supporting people who have mental health conditions. Where SPS staff have any immediate concerns regarding an individual’s mental health or risk of suicide, they can request an urgent assessment by the Mental Health Team. Where someone is identified as at risk of self-harm or suicide, SPS staff will initiate a concern form and interview the individual concerned. Those at risk of suicide are managed under SPS’ suicide prevention process, ‘Talk to Me’.

Self-help support leaflets, designed by SPS Psychologists, have been issued to everyone in custody and these provide information and tools which can be used to maintain a sense of wellbeing during the current pandemic.

All prisons continue to have Chaplains on site and they are available to talk to individuals who request pastoral support.

As at 5 June 2020, 19 medics who declared themselves as retired on an Expression of Interest form through the Accelerated recruitment Portal have subsequently been employed.

Retired medics who have been granted a temporary license to practise may seek employment either through a health board, the Accelerated Recruitment Portal, or both.

In addition to staff made available through the portal, local recruitment activity already begun in NHS Greater Glasgow has already led to 1,517 appointments and in NHS Lothian to 760 offers of employment.

Over 1500 staff have been made available to NHS Scotland Boards through the Accelerated Recruitment Portal so far, which has also supported the placement of over 4,600 nursing and midwifery students and over 560 medical graduates in boards to assist with our response.

Ministers have made it repeatedly clear that the guidance on the use of Do Not Attempt Cardiopulmonary (DNACPR) forms has not changed in light of the Covid-19 outbreak and that they expect conversations around such matters to be handled with the utmost compassion, care and tact.

Where concerns have been shared with Ministers about the use of DNACPR forms for specific individuals, they have asked Scottish Government officials to raise this with the relevant health and social care organisation so that any issues can be quickly resolved.

On the 10 April, the Chief Medical Officer, Chair of the Scottish General Practitioners Committee of the BMA and Chair of the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) wrote to GPs to provide advice and support on having anticipatory care planning conversations and to make clear that there is no requirement for health professionals to have a DNACPR discussion as part of this conversation, unless the patient wishes to discuss it or clinician feels strongly it is necessary to raise in conversation for the patient’s wellbeing. On the 17 April, a further joint letter from the Scottish Government’s Chief Medical Officer, BMA and RCGP was sent to GPs to reinforce the advice already provided.

A quality framework for care homes for older people was published by the Care Inspectorate in 2018.

Self-evaluation is an important marker of quality assurance and covers all aspects of a care home’s performance and outcomes for the people experiencing care. It is a dynamic and continuous process. In the context of Covid-19 it has been supplemented by other steps taken under the enhanced clinical and professional leadership which the Scottish Government has introduced.

Learning from the coronavirus emergency offers an opportunity to strengthen and reflect good practice in relation to infection prevention and control, for future reviews of the Care Inspectorate’s quality frameworks. The Care Inspectorate has amended the quality framework for care homes for adults and care homes for older people to support the assessment of care and support during the Covid-19 pandemic. This includes sections on well being, infection prevention and control and staffing. Specifically this will be used during inspections and support the evaluation of services in response to the pandemic.

I continue to have discussions with the Care Inspectorate on what further changes to its approach it wishes to embed in work going forward.

The Scottish Government introduced free car parking on all NHS owned car parks in December 2008, a policy which has saved patients, staff and visitors over £41 million since it was introduced.

The Scottish Government is actively pursuing a long term solution for the parking situation at the three PFI owned hospital car parks, but due to the commercial sensitivities of any option being considered, we are not in a position to provide a detailed update at this point.