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Scottish Government is working in partnership with ADPs and local Health Boards to develop a nationwide model for the early detection of alcohol-related liver disease.

This work will build on learning taken from the innovative intelligent Liver Function Testing (iLFT) pilot pioneered by NHS Tayside and Scottish Government through its national Centre for Sustainable Delivery (CfSD) has formed a Specialty Delivery Group for Liver Disease.

The first meeting was held on 6 November 2024 and Early Detection is one of the pathways being prioritised.

The Scottish Government has commissioned Public Health Scotland to carry out an evaluation of the residential rehabilitation programme. On 13 February 2024 PHS published their baseline report, covering the first two years of the National Mission and a final evaluation report will be published after the National Mission ends in 2026.

Post offices are a lifeline to local communities throughout Scotland.

The Scottish Government is therefore disappointed that Post Office Ltd is considering closing its directly funded branches as part of a strategic review. We understand there are a range of options being considered to reduce central costs and that no final decision has yet been made.

The Scottish Government has engaged with Post Office Ltd and makes regular representations on behalf of the people of Scotland in relation to the importance of the post office network, particularly for those in our rural and island communities.

While the Scottish Government has no functions on postal policy, there are already regular discussions with UK Government on post and postal issues, and we will continue to press the UK Government to make decisions which benefit consumers in Scotland.

The Scottish Government has no plans to introduce temporary additional capacity on the west coast ferry network in light of the decommissioning of the MV Hebridean Isles. The planned removal of the vessel from service was factored in to the winter deployment plans.

The Scottish Government has no involvement in the decision making on length of residential rehabilitation programmes, it is the responsibility of professionals and clinicians to ensure appropriate guidelines are followed and appropriate training is provided to ensure consistency with these decisions.

The Scottish Government is aware of the report.

The Scottish Government already has in place service level agreements with the Animal and Plant Health Agency and local authorities to ensure farm animal welfare legislation is complied with. In addition, Scottish Government Inspectors from our Rural Payment and Inspections Directorate conduct a number of on farm inspections annually which include the consideration of any livestock present.

The Scottish Government also recognises the challenges faced by local authorities in the current fiscal climate and in line with the Verity House Agreement, we continue to engage with COSLA on resourcing matters.

Glasgow City Alcohol and Drug Partnership (ADP) has hosted 12 local community drop in engagement sessions within the Calton and surrounding area focused on allowing local residents the opportunity to raise concerns, ask questions and engage with the project leads. Local residents who use drugs and family members were also included. The drop in sessions were advertised locally via posters, via leaflet drop and via social media. Questions from the sessions informed a Frequently Asked Questions document (available here - SDCF - Frequently asked questions) and Glasgow ADP also created a ‘You Said We did’ document to demonstrate the actions taken following feedback which is shared at all in-person sessions.

These sessions were in addition to several attendances by the ADP at Community Council meetings, local Area Partnership meetings, and Local Engagement Forum meetings.

To allow ongoing community engagement, the ADP have also established the Thistle Community Forum, including local residents, local business, Police Scotland, the Recovery Community and other key stakeholders which will support people to raise concerns and facilitate a coordinated response.

In addition, Glasgow City Council organised 2 additional deep cleans of the surrounding area in response to local residents complaints about the poor state of the streets. The independent evaluation researchers were invited to attend in response to questions about how the impact of the service on the local community would be measured.

Glasgow City ADP will continue to engage with local residents, businesses and their staff in the run up to the opening of the facility and once it is established.

The NRAC formula is an objective measure of the need for health care services across Scotland.

Under the existing formula the additional cost of providing health services in remote and rural areas is factored within one of the key components in determining funding allocations, with the formula giving greater weights to areas where there is evidence of unavoidable excess costs of supplying healthcare services.

The Scottish Government have committed to continually review the funding formula. This process is managed by the Technical Advisory Group for Resource Allocation (TAGRA) and supports vital work to reduce health inequalities; ensuring that we continue to allocate funding according to the relative need for healthcare in each Board area. Work is underway to review this, however, funding formulas are inherently complex and the review will take time.

Delivering sustainable, resilient, accessible and efficient services for the population, as highlighted by myself during the debate on NHS reform, can only be achieved by a significant change in the way we plan, organise, deliver and fund services. In response, we have begun over the past few months to reset and reform our ways of working to ensure coherence across our various levels, nationally and regionally. As a component of reform, this includes development of a new construct for our clinical networks, aligned to portfolios of care.

Our clinically led national and regional networks are an important vehicle in how we meet the challenges of implementing the National Clinical Framework and the wider reform agenda across NHS Scotland. The aims of the refreshed approach to the National Networks in NSD (and other areas which host networks) is to provide a clear and collaborative mechanism for planning and delivery of our services across Scotland and to ensure this valuable resource is supporting delivery of the National Clinical Framework and our wider programme of reform.

The Scottish Government recognises that career pathways such as earn-as-you-learn can widen access to health and social care careers, including those who are settled and rooted in our rural and island communities.

That is why, we are funding a dedicated resource within NHS Education for Scotland (NES) to scope the current skills landscape and identify where earn as you learn programmes could be expanded and where further development work is required with the aim of widening the pathways into health and social care careers.

The Rural and Island Workforce Recruitment Strategy will focus on a sustained model of direct support and will take cognisance of broader cross-government work such as the exploration of earn as you learn models to provide a long-term, dynamic and connective approach to support employers to recruit successfully.