Seòmar agus comataidhean

I refer the member to the answer to questions S6W-13962 and S6W-13990 on 31 January 2023. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers

Scotland’s Digital Health and Care Strategy sets out a commitment to “work with partners to ensure patients and residents of health and care services have full access to free wi-fi, both bedside and in public areas within healthcare settings”.

The use of digital tools is a choice and the Scottish Government is very mindful that introducing more Digital into the Health & Care system will need to be proportionate to ensure that nobody is left behind. The Scottish Government’s Connecting Scotland Programme, which is looking to support households to get online, is a key part of supporting people to embrace technology, including to access health and care. In addition, individual programmes of work and individual services, such as those set out in the answer to question S6W-13989 on 31 January 2023, are responsible for ensuring patients and service users are sufficiently supported to meaningfully use technology.

All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answer

The “Health and Social Care Standards: my support, my life” set out a range of standards on what people should expect when using health, social care or social work services in Scotland. These include the use of technology to support independence and having more control over their own health and wellbeing, and for those in 24 hour care that they are connected to the internet. The Standards also set out an expectation that people can access the right information at the right time, and patients rights and responsibilities in relation to their information is further enhanced by the Charter of Patient Rights and Responsibilities which sets out expectations around confidentiality and handling of medical information.

The number of homes built through the Rural and Islands Housing Fund in each year since 2016-17, broken down by rural (mainland) and islands is provided in the following table. There are also a further 141 units through the fund that have been approved or are on-site. The Rural and Island Housing Fund plays an important role in offering support to community organisations and others to deliver affordable homes, while complementing the delivery through our mainstream programme by Councils and Registered Social Landlords. More than 6,000 homes have been delivered over the course of the previous Parliament in rural and island areas.

The Scottish Government has undertaken the following analysis on young people’s use of vapes:

• The Scottish Government is currently funding a longitudinal study carried out by ScotCen Social Research called Growing Up in Scotland (GUS). Two reports have been published that include vaping data on children aged 12 and 14 ( https://www.gov.scot/publications/life-age-12-initial-findings-growing-up-scotland-study/pages/6/ and 6. Risky behaviours - Life at age 14: initial findings from the Growing Up in Scotland study - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) )

• The Scottish Government also commissioned collection and analysis of vaping data via the Scottish Schools Adolescent Lifestyle and Substance Use Survey (SALSUS) which ran between 2002 and 2018 ( Scottish Schools Adolescent Lifestyle and Substance Use Survey (SALSUS) - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) ).

The rail peak-fares pilot will apply to the whole Scottish rail network for a six month period, during the next financial year.

Work on the precise methodology and design is underway with Transport Scotland officials working closely with Scottish Rail Holdings and ScotRail to derive maximum benefit for this scheme.

The Scottish Government continues to make progress on drafting the refreshed Tobacco Action Plan and this is due to published in Autumn 2023.

The following table details the number of meetings of the Tobacco Action Plan - Short Life Working Groups since their inception in 2022.

Winter service operations are delivered as a fixed monthly lump sum item from October to May which covers all the elements including depot facilities, operatives, fleet, fuel and salt procurement. Transport Scotland’s Operating Companies price the contract delivery over the entire period of the contract to include the element of risk in relation to salt usage and as such Transport Scotland do not directly procure salt for winter service operations on the trunk road network.

Contracts between the Operating Companies and the salt suppliers are subject to commercial sensitivity based on arrangements over the respective Scottish Ministers Contract Period and Transport Scotland is not subject to the value of any commercial agreements which are arrived at.

The annual sums which are paid for winter service by Scottish Ministers is as follows:

The Scottish Government remains committed to eliminating Hepatitis C as a major public health concern by 2024. We must nonetheless recognise the impact the pandemic has had across the whole health sector, including the detection and treatment of Hepatitis C. During the financial year 2021-22, 1,390 individuals across Scotland started direct-acting antiviral hepatitis C treatment. This is set out in a report on the PHS website: https://www.publichealthscotland.scot/publications/surveillance-of-hepatitis-c-in-scotland/surveillance-of-hepatitis-c-in-scotland-progress-on-elimination-of-hepatitis-c-as-a-major-public-health-concern-2022-update/

National target data for 2022-23 will be published as soon as the full data has been collected and subjected to the appropriate data quality checks.

Data on targets and treatment initiations at Health Board level cannot be provided centrally as it has not been subjected to the required data quality procedures. However, the Scottish Government can confirm national treatment targets are broken down to indicative levels by NHS Board area to assist with their planning.

Despite the challenges resulting from the pandemic, the PHS report linked above shows there is evidence to indicate that Scotland has already achieved the WHO target to treat 80% of those diagnosed with Hepatitis C.

We thank the Health Foundation for publishing the report detailing the findings of their independent review into health inequalities. Sadly, the report confirms what we already know: that excess mortality is significantly driven by deprivation, and this continues to have an impact on life expectancy.

Women in poverty will benefit from a range of actions we are taking. This includes delivery of our new Getting it Right Together approach across health and social care, improving access to mental health services, strengthening the Universal Health Visiting Pathway and expanding our Welfare Advice and Health Partnerships – placing money advisors in 180 GP practices in some of Scotland’s most deprived areas.

Women’s health is key priority for this government, which is why Scotland was the first country in the UK to publish an ambitious Women’s Health Plan in August 2021. The Plan sets out actions which aim to address women’s health inequalities by raising awareness around women’s health, improving access to health care for women across their lives, and reducing inequalities in health outcomes for women and girls, so that all women and girls enjoy the best possible health throughout their lives.