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This table contains the data available by calendar year to 31 December 2016 regarding the number of people reported to be diagnosed hepatitis C positive in Scotland.

¹ ‘NHS Board’ refers to the person's NHS Board of residence, or where this is not known, the NHS Board of source of referral.

This table contains the data by financial year for people initiated onto hepatitis C treatment in Scotland to 2016-17.

Hepatitis C treatment data by NHS Board has only been reported routinely since 2011-12.

*2011-12 initiations are based on the NHS Board where treatment was administered, however 2014-15, 2013-14 and 2012-13 initiates are based on NHS Board of residence where known.

The Orkney/Shetland/Western Isles data are summarised as a collective total and proportion in a combined Island NHS Board field.

NA - not applicable. There are no specialist HCV services available in these NHS Board areas.

The Scottish Government Hepatitis C Treatment and Therapies Group has established a Short Life Working Group to generate guidance on how best to identify hepatitis C infected people who are either undiagnosed, diagnosed but never in follow up, or diagnosed and lost to follow up. The Group will report back to the Scottish Government in mid 2018. it will also make recommendations on new models of care and treatment for infected people in the context of the highly effective and safe therapies for hepatitis C now available.

Minutes of a meeting of Scottish Government officials with Chief Officers and Chief Finance Officers of a number of Integration Joint Boards, along with COSLA to discuss the implementation of Free Personal Care for under 65's, which took place on 26 October 2017, will be published on the Scottish Government website in the near future. Membership of this group will be expanded to form an implementation advisory group for the extension of free personal care. Minutes from this group will also be published on our website.

The Scottish Government welcomes the 2017 Pulmonary Rehabilitation survey, published by Chest Heart & Stroke Scotland in partnership with the Scottish Pulmonary Rehabilitation Action Group on the provision of pulmonary rehabilitation in Scotland.

The Scottish Government recognises that pulmonary rehabilitation is an important element of respiratory disease care.

Pulmonary rehabilitation has a well-established evidence base for its benefit in helping to support self-management and reduce exacerbation and hospital admissions.

Pulmonary rehabilitation is a key recommendation in national clinical guidelines, which we expect NHS Boards to follow.

We are working with the Respiratory National Advisory Group to develop the Respiratory Health: Quality Improvement Plan.

The 2017 Pulmonary Rehabilitation survey, published by Chest Heart & Stroke Scotland in partnership with the Scottish Pulmonary Rehabilitation Action Group notes that completion of pulmonary rehabilitation is a well-recognised challenge for a number of reasons, including the unpredictable nature of respiratory health.

Overall completion rates in Scotland are similar to those reported elsewhere in the United Kingdom.

Through the Respiratory National Advisory Group we would encourage the sharing of best practice from areas with higher completion rates and recommend that other solutions, such as digital are explored to help overcome some of the barriers highlighted in the survey.

The Scottish Government’s role is to provide frameworks, policies, and resources to enable Scotland’s NHS Boards to deliver the healthcare services that meet the needs of their local populations.

We note that whilst NHS Lothian currently leads the way in the provision of pulmonary rehabilitation there is much more to be done.

This is why from next year Scotland will be participating in the United Kingdom wide National Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease & Asthma audit. This audit has been a key driver for improvement in England and Wales and collects information on outcomes for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease including pulmonary rehabilitation which will assist Health and Social Care planners in developing services that will improve the care of their populations.

I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-11945 on
9 November 2017. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx.

The Scottish Government is aware of the study which considered the effect that increasing vitamin B3 in the diet had on preventing malformations in the growing foetus.

We understand the long term positive effects that good nutrition can have for pregnant women that is why we have introduced the universal offer of Healthy Start vitamins to pregnant women throughout their pregnancy. These vitamins contain the recommended daily dose, which contains vitamins C and D and folic acid to support a healthy pregnancy.

The GP Recruitment and Retention fund was set up to explore with key stakeholders, the issues surrounding GP recruitment and retention. The programme has examined and taken forward proposals to increase the number of medical students choosing to go into GP training, as well as encouraging those wanting to work in rural and economically deprived areas. To date this has resulted in a number of initiatives directly recruiting GPs as part of their test of change and numbers are reflected in the following table by health board area:

The fund is also supporting a range of initiatives including the establishment of a Scottish Rural Medicine Collaborative involving ten NHS Boards. This initiative will bring together recruitment strategies and support networks for GPs working in remote and rural areas; GPST bursaries for hard to fill places; Development of a new national GP recruitment website to be hosted and managed by NSS that will act as a one stop shop for GP recruitment across Scotland; and continued support for the NES Enhanced Returners scheme which supports GPs wishing to return to the profession. In Scotland over 90% of the 1082 GP Training places are now filled.

We will work with stakeholders to monitor the impact of expansion of early years workers on other areas of the social services workforce and to consider what action might be beneficial, in the light of any significant impacts identified.

Attracting and retaining the right people, and raising the status of social care as a profession, is key to delivering quality care. That’s why we have taken action to protect our social care services, including paying the Living Wage to adult care workers.

We support our public body, the Scottish Social Services Council, in their work to help and promote recruitment in the sector, which includes the development of foundation and modern apprenticeships, Career Ambassadors and a range of resources for those providing careers advice.