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The Scottish Government recognises the value of social care support to all who require additional support in living independently at home or in the community and appreciate the concerns that may arise following changes to this support.

Under the Social Work (Scotland) Act 1968, local authorities and Health and Social Care Partnerships have a duty to assess the social care support needs of people both in hospital and the community, and decide in light of that assessment, to arrange or re-instate suitable services, if required.

While the Scottish Government has overall responsibility for health and social care support policy in Scotland, it is Local Government who have the statutory responsibility to record and share decisions affecting a person’s choices and support, and to ensure that any decisions are made in line with the Self-directed Support (SDS) principles and duties set out in the statutory guidance.

Local Government will operate local eligibility criteria to prioritise responses to changes in care packages and reassessments based on risk and complexity of need. The eligibility criteria will usually prescribe standard waiting times for assessments, reassessment and reviews, including for exceptional and urgent circumstances, such as hospital admissions, individuals at risk and additional support for unpaid carers.

NHS 24 have robust practices in place to ensure patient safety is paramount and that the appropriate procedures are in place for assessing risk.

Scottish Government monitor the performance of NHS 24 and regularly engage with the service to discuss performance related issues. NHS 24 is required to escalate any concerns about patient safety to the Scottish Government immediately, in line with agreed protocols.

The Scottish Government does not hold this information centrally.

The Scottish Government does not hold this information.

Information on the cancellation of adult social care packages is not held centrally.

The Scottish Government does not hold this information.

Improving access to primary care is a key priority for this Government. We recognise the vital role that GPs, community nurses, pharmacists, dentists and other members of the primary care team play as the foundation of healthcare in our communities.

We are committed to strengthening the whole primary care system, building on our ongoing commitment through the Service Renewal Framework to shift more care into community settings and make services more accessible for patients.

As part of this, we will develop options for new and innovative ways to improve access to primary care, including local walk-in models which will provide more flexibility for patients. It is our intention to develop proposals for a model would see these services open Monday-Sunday. We will develop these proposals first as a pilot model which will complement current core general practice and provide a range of same-day assessment and small-scale diagnostics. To do this we will work in collaboration with NHS Boards and primary care delivery partners to ensure they strengthen, rather than duplicate, existing primary care services.

The Scottish Government will set out further details as these plans develop.

The Scottish Government is confident that NHS 24 operates a robust triage system that prioritises patient safety.

NHS 24 will always refer patients on to other areas of the healthcare system when appropriate to do so and in the best interests of the patients care.

NHS 24 performance is subject to regular monitoring, and NHS 24 continues to meet statutory and clinical obligations.

The Scottish Government does not collect or hold data on the number of patients who make multiple calls to the NHS 24 111 service. The service operates as a clinical triage and advice service, and repeat contacts can occur for a range of legitimate reasons. These may include changes in a patient’s symptoms, clarification of previous advice, or the need for further support following an initial call. As such, without specific data collection, it is not possible to determine whether the number of repeat calls has increased since 2020.

The Scottish Government does not hold this information.