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The Scottish Government is currently in the process of establishing a Short Life Working Group to be tasked with refreshing the Personal Footcare Guidance for publication in early 2023.

Work is underway on a new approach to pandemic PPE through a joined-up public sector procurement arrangement, led by NHS National Services Scotland. We anticipate that we will transition to these new arrangements over the course of the next financial year.

As independent Scheme Administrator established by businesses, Circularity Scotland Ltd (CSL) is responsible for setting the fees for businesses who wish CSL to administer their DRS obligations on their behalf.

The rationale behind a higher fee for producers who use UK-wide labels instead of Scotland-specific ones is to compensate for any drinks containers purchased elsewhere in the UK where a deposit is not paid, but then returned in Scotland for a deposit.

CSL will actively monitor such returns and adjust the higher fee per individual product to reflect the number of such containers processed through its network that were purchased out with Scotland.

NRS will publish the first census outputs approximately one year after conclusion of the census data collection phases.

NRS will consult with data users over the coming months to ensure that census outputs are accessible and provided in a format which meets the needs of census data users.

To provide patients with some reassurance around the possible length of their wait, the Scottish Government have launched a new online platform, which is available at https://www.nhsinform.scot/waiting-times . Developed in conjunction with NHS 24 and PHS, the platform provides patients with information on planned care waiting times by giving an indication of how long patients typically waited over the last quarter. This includes information on the number of patients admitted for treatment as well as the typical wait experienced by people during this time period.

We recognise the impact that long waiting times can have on a patient’s mental health, so the platform also includes information for patients to keep as fit and healthy as possible while waiting for treatment. In addition, the Healthy living | NHS inform page provides advice and tools which includes information on mental wellbeing.

In an effort to reduce the waiting time for patients awaiting cataract surgery, Health Boards across NHSScotland are undertaking additional cataract surgical sessions and independent sector contractors are providing additional support, within NHS facilities, to increase the number of cataract procedures delivered. This will reduce the overall number of patients waiting for surgery as well as their length of wait.

In tandem with this – and in line with guidance from the Royal College of Ophthalmologists - Scottish Government clinically led peer reviews are taking place across all Health Boards. Supporting teams to adopt more efficient ways of working in order to increase the number of patients that can be treated within each cataract only surgical session forms part of these reviews.

Sequential bilateral cataract surgery is also undertaken by some surgeons, particularly in remote and rural areas and where patients’ ability to work has been affected. This prevents duplication of effort across the patient’s journey, as well as reducing the carbon footprint.

The Scottish Government has also commissioned the Centre for Sustainable Delivery (CfSD) to support an increase in theatre productivity, including the development of a national Blueprint which will outline how Health Boards can increase efficiency across the cataract surgical journey. This will be disseminated to all Health Boards in the coming weeks.

The Scottish Government assesses the need for public health awareness campaigns regularly. Scottish Government officials will work closely with the Stroke Improvement Team, which provides support and guidance to Managed Clinical Networks and the National Advisory Committee for Stroke, and other stakeholders to better understand what resources may be required for 2023, including the need for funding for a FAST campaign. Information regarding the symptoms of stroke, including the FAST test, is available on NHS Inform .

I understand that the delivery of Harland and Wolff's contract with the developers of the Neart na Gaoithe offshore wind farm for eight turbine jackets has now been reduced to four turbine jackets due to supply issues. I believe the balance of the contract will be installed next year.

Evaluation of Scotland’s Census 2022 is an essential component of the overall programme. NRS will ensure that the evaluation of the census covers the full lifecycle of the programme. An over-arching General Report will be laid before Parliament in 2024.

The Scottish Stroke Improvement Programme reports on NHS Board performance against the standards outlined in the Scottish Stroke Care Audit and the Stroke Improvement Plan. It is not within their remit to make recommendations about national campaigns.

Yes. As previously stated during the long COVID debate on 19 th May 2022 we committed to allocate “ funding of £3 million to health boards across 2022-23 to bolster the support that they are already providing to people with long COVID ”. This was confirmed in the Programme for Government 2022-23, published in September 2022, which stated that “ we will invest £3 million this year through the long COVID Support Fund to assist those living with long-term effects of infection .”