Questions and answers

Question reference: S6W-10049

Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 27 July 2022
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 24 August 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the reported increasing number of cases of COVID-19, what consideration it has given to making additional support available for people who are clinically vulnerable with neurological conditions.

Whilst prevalence of COVID remains high this is not translating into severe illness and deaths in the same way as earlier in the pandemic due largely to vaccination. So we would encourage everyone who is eligible to take up their boosters as soon as these are offered to ‘top up’ their immune response. The autumn booster vaccination will be offered to people aged over 50 and those at highest risk aged 5 and over – this will include people with a chronic neurological disease.

There are additional treatment options for selected groups of people with COVID-19 who are thought to be at greater risk; this includes, but is not limited to, individuals with rare neurological conditions such as multiple sclerosis, motor neurone disease and myasthenia gravis. More information, including background on the eligibility criteria and access arrangements, can be found on NHS Inform.

There are people who do still have a higher risk from Covid-19, such as those who are immunosuppressed. We are asking these people to act on the advice of their own GP or specialist clinician who knows their individual circumstances best. It’s important that everyone in society remembers there are people who are less able to mount a full immune response to the virus because of a heath condition or treatment they’re on. And there are measures we are still advising people to take to protect those people, and themselves. We have published guidance online to help people who are immunosuppressed to make decisions based on their own risk: Guidance for immunosuppressed people - Coronavirus (COVID-19): advice for people who were on the Highest Risk List - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

Many people in this group are eligible for booster vaccinations and antiviral or monoclonal antibody treatments if they fall ill with Covid-19.

We continue to monitor the outcome of research into new medicines and treatments which may be of future benefit to patients in Scotland. The UKHSA is also completing in testing against variants for a number of drugs, details of which can be found here: COVID-19 therapeutic agents: technical briefings - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) . These tests will give experts information about the likelihood of treatment effectiveness.

We continue to engage with a number of charities and organisations who work with, and provide support to, people with neurological conditions.

Question reference: S6W-10046

Asked by: Richard Leonard, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 27 July 2022
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 24 August 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how many people have been diagnosed with long COVID in each NHS board area.

This is a matter for the NHS Boards. The information requested is not held centrally.

The Scottish Government recognises that accurate data on the number of people diagnosed with long COVID is needed to forecast and plan for the need for healthcare services arising from long COVID. Public Health Scotland will lead on surveillance of long COVID. It is currently anticipated that this surveillance will be undertaken via the EAVE II study, in collaboration with the University of Edinburgh ( About EAVE II | The University of Edinburgh ). Funded by the Medical Research Council, the EAVE II study has used a pseudonymised patient dataset to track the COVID-19 pandemic across Scotland. In a separate project funded by the Chief Scientist Office, the EAVE II dataset will be used to create a tool to identify people at greatest risk of developing long COVID. The findings will in due course provide information about the number of people diagnosed with long COVID, including a breakdown by NHS Board.

Question reference: S6W-10050

Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 27 July 2022
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 24 August 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the number of people who are clinically vulnerable and are (a) continuing to shield and (b) restricting their activities due to COVID-19.

The Public Health Scotland COVID-19 Shielding Programme impact and experience survey which was published in March 2022 reported that 81% of respondents still make decisions that are mainly influenced by fear of COVID-19 infection, and 36% still try to minimise all physical contact with other households. While this data relates to a survey completed between 25 October 2021 and
‎ 7 November 2021, we know there are still people who continue to limit activities and contacts with other households.

The advice for people to shield was paused on the 1 August 2020. Since 19 July 2021 the Chief Medical Officer has advised people on the Highest Risk List to follow the same guidance and take the same precautionary measures as the rest of the population, unless advised otherwise by their GP or clinician who will understand their health condition and individual circumstances best.

The Highest Risk List (previously Shielding List) ended on 31 May 2022. The decision to end the list was based on evidence of the impact of vaccinations and treatments, which lowered the risk from COVID-19 for everyone in Scotland (including those who were on the Highest Risk List). The evidence to support the decision was published in our Evidence Review , which was also shared with GPs, clinicians and other healthcare partners in order to assist with discussions with patients about their risks.

We know there are a number of people who remain at higher risk of COVID-19, for example, people who are immunosuppressed because of a medical condition or treatment. We have published guidance for these people, giving information about access to support and steps they can take to safely participate in activities they enjoyed before the pandemic.

The Chief Medical Officer also wrote to everyone on the Highest Risk List to make them aware of their risks following vaccination. This included letting people know if they were no longer considered highest risk based on what we know now about COVID-19 as well as the treatments available.

People who remain at higher risk from COVID-19 may be eligible for new treatments such as antivirals or antibody treatments as well as additional booster doses of the COVID-19 vaccine.

Before we ended the Highest Risk List, we ensured we had a robust identification process in place in order to continue to quickly and accurately people who should be prioritised for vaccination, for treatments and, if the threat level increases, for additional protective advice. We are therefore able to respond very quickly if the situation around COVID-19 changes, in order to protect people who remain at highest risk.

Public Health Scotland will continue to identify people at highest risk with the help of the NHS. If needed, we could again write to people at highest risk and reopen the text messaging service used before.

In line with our Staying Safe and Protecting Others guidance , we continue to strongly encourage people and businesses to take sensible precautions to protect themselves and others. This includes choosing to wear face coverings where and when appropriate, alongside following advice on hand hygiene and ventilation. The Distance Aware scheme is also available to anyone who wants to signal to others they would like more space around them.

We continue to engage with a number of charities and organisations who work with, and provide support to, people who were on the Highest Risk List, and people who remain at higher risk from COVID-19.

We know many people need more time to consider their risk of COVID-19 in order to gradually resume the activities they enjoyed before the pandemic.

Question reference: S6W-10023

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 27 July 2022
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 24 August 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the May 2022 publication from Robert Gordon University, Making the Switch: The future shape of the offshore energy workforce in the North-East of Scotland.

The Scottish Government welcomed the findings in the Review which was funded through our £14.3m North East Economic Recovery and Skills Fund (NEERSF). The Review clearly demonstrates that, with the right investment, the North East of Scotland could support 9,000 more offshore energy jobs by 2030 than it currently does.

The just transition to a net zero economy is one of our greatest economic opportunities. Scotland has the potential to be a net zero global energy hub, that leaves no one behind by supporting existing oil & gas roles into the renewables and low carbon roles of the future.

Question reference: S6W-09961

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 25 July 2022
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 24 August 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether future cancer survival statistics will include an analysis of deprivation.

Question reference: S6W-09962

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 25 July 2022
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 24 August 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether an analysis of deprivation was carried out but not published for the cancer survival statistics published on 5 July 2022.

Question reference: S6W-09970

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 26 July 2022
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 24 August 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-07530 by Humza Yousaf on 11 April 2022, whether it will provide an update on what progress has been made on replacing the Princess Alexandra Eye Pavilion in Edinburgh.

NHS Boards are required to provide regular updates to the Scottish Government on the status and progress of National Treatment Centre projects. NHS Lothian is currently refreshing the Outline Business Case for the Edinburgh Eye Pavilion replacement project and will subsequently submit a Full Business Case to Scottish Government. Recent progress includes work to develop a Briefing Pack and Exemplar Design which will incorporate requirements to meet the NHS Assure process; Net Zero Carbon legislation; site location; learnings from the Covid-19 pandemic and impact on Clinical Pathways and outputs of the ‘NHS Lothian: Strategic Review of Ophthalmology Services’ completed in 2021. NHS Lothian has also appointed a Health Planner to further develop the Clinical Brief and associated Schedule of Accommodation, based on the outline clinical strategy produced in 2021.

Question reference: S6W-09978

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 26 July 2022
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 24 August 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will extend access to antiviral medication to treat COVID-19 to people with illnesses such as Parkinson’s disease.

The UK Department of Health and Social Care has recently established an expert panel to provide advice to the UK Chief Medical Officers (CMOs) on which patient cohorts should be eligible for access to COVID-19 treatments, including whether changes should be made to which patient cohorts are currently eligible for direct access to antivirals to reduce the risk of hospitalisation. More information about the Therapeutics Clinical Review Panel, including how to submit an enquiry to the panel can be found online at: https://www.gov.uk/government/groups/covid-19-therapeutics-clinical-review-panel .

The original eligibility criteria were developed - using an evidence-based approach - by an independent expert working group commissioned by the UK Department of Health and Social Care. The current criteria are set out in a UK-wide clinical commissioning policy . The policy targets those higher risk individuals who have the potential to both be least likely to generate a material immune response to vaccines and be at highest risk of disease progression, hospitalisation and death.

COVID-19 oral antiviral treatments are also being evaluated through a study called PANORAMIC, run by the University of Oxford. The study is testing whether these antiviral treatments may benefit a wider group of patients than the current eligibility criteria. The results from the first part of the study are due to be published later this year.

General information on the arrangements for direct access to COVID-19 treatments in Scotland can be found on NHS Inform .

Question reference: S6W-09991

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 26 July 2022
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 24 August 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-09460 by Humza Yousaf on 13 July 2022, by what date NHS boards had submitted applications to the Long COVID Support Fund, and whether any applications made by the 13 NHS boards ever had to be resubmitted due to rejection of proposals by the Strategic Network's Strategic Oversight Board, before approval given on 19 May 2022.

All territorial health boards were invited to submit a gap analysis providing an assessment of care and support available to people with long COVID and areas identified for future development.

Returns were discussed during a meeting of the Strategic Network’s Service Planning Group on 14 April 2022, to enable Health Board representatives to reflect on priorities identified by other Health Boards, identify any services that could be delivered collaboratively, and make best use of the £3million funding across Scotland. The meeting also enabled NHS Board representatives to hear priority issues put forward by organisations representing people living with long COVID.

Boards were requested to use the insight from this process to develop and submit an application for funding, outlining initiatives they planned to undertake over 2022-23 supported by their Resource Allocation formula (NRAC) share of the available long COVID Support funding.

Thirteen applications were received by Health Boards by the Strategic Network by 28 April 2022 and were discussed during a meeting of the Network’s Strategic Oversight Board on 3 May 2022.

No applications had to be resubmitted due to rejection by the Strategic Network’s Oversight Board before funding allocations were confirmed, on 19 May 2022.

Question reference: S6W-10167

Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 03 August 2022
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 24 August 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what support it can provide to the Clyde 2020 Research Advisory Group to facilitate the publication of an Ecosystem Enhancement Plan (EEP), to determine how any pressures on the Firth of Clyde may be managed to allow the natural recovery of fish stocks.

Scottish Government has continued to support the Clyde 2020 with funding to the Clyde Marine Planning Partnership (CMPP) to develop and deliver a regional marine plan which will support achieving good environmental status for the Clyde. In addition, Marine Scotland Directorate provides support to the Clyde 2020 initiative via participation in meetings and the sharing of relevant information, including, for example survey data. Marine Scotland Directorate has supported work relevant to Clyde 2020 Action Plan including the Clyde demersal fish survey (conducted annually 2016-2021) and a number of PhD studentships, also providing supervisory time and relevant fishery and survey data for the latter.

There are a range of publicly available grant programmes that the Clyde 2020 can apply for, depending on the type of research or piece of work for which they are seeking support and the relevant eligibility criteria for each fund. Examples of these programmes in the marine space are the Marine Fund Scotland, the Scottish Marine Environmental Enhancement Fund (SMEEF), the UK Seafood Fund and the Nature Restoration Fund.

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