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The supply of PPE is primarily the responsibility of social care providers themselves, and in the case of social care personal assistants, the responsibility of the person/people who employ them. However, given the immense pressure on normal supply chains due to COVID-19, the Scottish Government (via National Services Scotland (NSS)) has been providing top-up and emergency provision from the national stock to ensure that staff, unpaid carers, and social care personal assistants have the PPE they need.

PPE from the national stock is currently being supplied through two routes:

• Local PPE Hub(s) in every Health and Social Care Partnership area where providers, personal assistants and unpaid carers can access PPE if they cannot get it through their normal supply routes; and
• A central PPE support centre through NSS dedicated to urgent need, that can be accessed in emergency situations and when Hubs are unable to meet need.

As at August 31 2020, over 2.6 million items have been provided through these routes to social care personal assistants. This is over and above PPE that personal assistants or their employers have accessed through their normal supply routes.

On the 29 June, I wrote to Scottish Hospices to confirm that their funding requests (totalling £10.1m) related to loss of income during the pandemic during the first financial quarter of 2020 would be met in full. Integration Authorities and NHS Boards were also notified of this on the same date, and the funding was processed for onward allocation to hospices at the end of June 2020.

It is important to reflect that this funding was provided on a one off basis for the full first quarter of the year to account for loss of income during the pandemic, and that we expect the existing commissioning arrangements between hospices and Integration Authorities to be maintained going forward.

It is also important to reflect that in April 2020, I indicated that Scotland was likely to receive an estimated £19 million in consequentials in respect of the £200 million for hospices included in the UK Government’s announcement of £750 million for charities. HM Treasury have not yet provided an updated final consequential funding figure associated with the original announcement, although it is expected to be significantly lower than the £19m originally expected.

When we have clarification on the total consequential funding we will receive this will be allocated in full to Scottish Hospices.

Charitable organisations providing hot meals and supplies for those who need it should follow appropriate COVID-19 infection prevention and control guidelines which apply to the catering/food service sector. Food Standards Scotland has published a guidance package for all food businesses which details the measures that should be implemented to protect staff, volunteers and users of these services from COVID-19. The Scottish Government has also produced guidance for the hospitality sector which includes useful advice on measures for preventing the spread of COVID-19 in settings where food is served.

However, it is also important that those responsible for managing these services contact their Local Authority Environmental Health department for advice on how this guidance applies to their particular circumstances.

The Scottish Government recognised that the Covid-19 pandemic has had a major impact on the third sector and that is why we launched the £25 million Third Sector Resilience Fund (TSRF). This fund was part of a wider £350 million emergency coronavirus funding. Health and social care organisations have received just over £6 million in funding through the TSRF.

The Scottish Government values its relationship with the third sector health and social care organisations. This relationship will continue to support our response to Covid-19 as we consider our ‘Remobilise, Recover, Re-design’ work. We are committed to working with our third sector partners to ensure that there is a person centred approach to re-mobilisation across our health and social care services in Scotland.

Prior to the formal launch of the Test and Protect system, we asked all NHS Scotland boards to make available up to 2,000 staff to participate in contact tracing activity. As acknowledged at the time, the resource was provided substantially from existing workforce was an estimate of need and it was recognised that not all would be required at any one time. We keep contact tracing capacity under active review, in line with modelling undertaken by Public Health Scotland, with all boards required to maintain a total national capacity commensurate with demand. In commencing 03 August for instance, approximately 836 staff were available within boards to undertake contact tracing activity. The recruitment position within boards is subject to change in line with the national modelling picture, and where local service composition changes as a result of the mobilisation of other NHS services. In line with their service provision responsibilities, the recruitment of staff is devolved to NHS Scotland boards.

Recruitment to the National Contact Tracing Centre (NCTC) is on-going, as week commencing 03 August 2020, the centre had recruited 63 staff, and has a further pool of 66 staff it can readily deploy. Additionally, we continue to make use of the pipeline of candidates identified through national recruitment, with 300 shortlisted applicants currently concluding the interview process. The NCTC is in the process of finalising bank arrangements with NHS Forth Valley to be able to flex the resource into the NCTC; some 200-400 staff will be available through the bank arrangement; this will grow and be kept under review, in line with the modelling, to provide additional resilience.

Unlike the 111 service, NHS 24's 0800 Helpline doesn’t capture caller demographics and therefore the breakdown of information by Health Board/Local Authority area isn’t available. Please see detailed information below on the total number of calls to the Helpline per week as well as the total number to date.

Funerals are highly emotional and incredibly difficult events in our lifetimes. They are unique and intimate. Unlike most other gatherings, those in attendance are likely to know or be close to many others in attendance. Because of this, it is much more likely that vital public health measures to help mitigate or break chains of transmission of COVID-19, such as observing strict 2 metre physical distancing between households, will be forgotten. This is completely understandable at a time of grief, when people need the support of their close family and friends more than ever.

This has been the basis for us taking a much more cautious and careful approach when it comes to funeral services when compared to other gatherings, as we continue to seek to suppress the virus.

The Mobilisation Recovery Group, which I chair, is an advisory group established under Re-mobilise, Recover, Re-design: the Framework for NHS Scotland ( https://www.gov.scot/publications/re-mobilise-recover-re-design-framework-nhs-scotland/ ) to generate key expert, stakeholder and system-wide input into decisions on resuming and supporting service provision, in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. The full remit and membership of the Group is available alongside the minutes of each meeting at:

https://www.gov.scot/groups/mobilisation-recovery-group/

The membership of the Group, which includes Health and Social Care Alliance Scotland, will be kept under review to ensure that it continues to bring together stakeholders and decision makers; guaranteeing that that the delivery of health and social care services maintains a strong focus on quality, equity and person-centred care, within the necessary constraints of the COVID-19 response.

During the pandemic, emergency and urgent care has been provided, including treatment for pain as a result of emergency, acute presentations, infusion pumps for palliative care services and treatment for complex regional pain syndrome. We remain committed to resuming the full range of pain services as quickly as it is safe to do so, and we will shortly publish a COVID-19 Recovery Framework for NHS Pain Management Services to continue to inform this activity.