Chamber and committees

We introduced the scheme on 1 October 2021, at which point all people aged 18 or over had had the opportunity to be fully vaccinated. In addition we gave a month’s notice of the intention to bring the scheme into place. We recognise there may be a small number of people who caught Covid during this period and whose second vaccination has therefore had to be delayed. Those people will be able to obtain a vaccine certificate once they have been fully vaccinated.

While elective surgery has not halted in NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, there have been reductions in the number of elective surgeries being carried out in order to focus on cancer and other urgent cases.

The scale-down of elective routine surgery is under weekly review, and an increase in sessions is planned from week beginning 18 October; however, this will be dependent on staffing levels and COVID patient numbers.

The Scottish Government advises anyone who has experienced domestic abuse to report crimes committed against them. Domestic abuse is a heinous crime and we remain absolutely committed to working with justice partners to ensure that they have the most effective tools at their disposal to ensure that perpetrators receive a robust response and are held to account for their actions.

The Domestic Abuse (Scotland) Act 2018 (the ‘Act’) came into effect in April 2019 and provides the police with additional powers to take action against those who abuse their partner or ex-partner. As highlighted in the publication, in 2020-21, 1,581 charges were reported under the Act, with 95 percent resulting in court proceedings being raised.

Lastly, as part of the Programme for Government, we will invest £100 million over the next three years to support frontline services so that women and children can safely access the support they need and to focus on prevention of violence against women and girls from school onwards.

The requested information is not centrally held. NHS Education for Scotland publish annual data on joiners/leavers, but this information is not available by reason or destination.

Information on joiners/leavers by staff group for each financial year can be found on the following link:

https://turasdata.nes.nhs.scot/media/tnvdmmwd/turnover_m2021_updated.xlsx

Officials meet with NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde’s (NHS GG&C) Cancer Team on a weekly basis to ensure every urgent suspicion of cancer (USC) patient is moving timeously through their pathway. These discussions are based on management information, not in the public domain.

The majority of cancer treatments have continued throughout the pandemic. Where changes have been made to a patient’s treatment plan, due to COVID, the decision is made jointly with the clinical team and patient.

NHS GG&C treated 97.1% of cancer patients within 31 days of a decision to treat being made in Q2 2021. Latest statistics are available via:

https://publichealthscotland.scot/publications/cancer-waiting-times/cancer-waiting-times-1-april-to-30-june-2021/

Table 1, a copy of which has been placed in SPICE (bib 62727), highlights data from NHS Education Scotland and Scottish Funding Council showing both the recommended and actual intakes to pre-registration nursing and midwifery programmes, broken down by institution from 2007 to 2020. Figures for 2021 have not been published yet.

We have worked closely with a range of delivery and partner organisations to prepare, plan and respond to a range of issues and risks which may impact on NHS services. Planners and officials are using a range of modelling and intelligence to minimise potential impact of COP26 and to help protect NHS services across our communities.

Our planning has also used the experience and learning from previous large-scale events in Scotland, the UK and internationally including previous UN COP summits .

The Scottish Government publishes a weekly Research Findings which models the COVID-19 epidemic in Scotland. The Research Findings includes a section which estimates infections, as well as hospital and ICU bed demand from COVID-19. This gives an assessment of the impact of COVID-19 on the NHS in the next few weeks. This will provide information in the run up to COP26 and after the event has taken place.

The publications can be found on the Scottish Government website at the following link:

https://www.gov.scot/collections/coronavirus-covid-19-modelling-the-epidemic/

NHS National Procurement has confirmed that arrangements have been made to make Ronapreve available in Scottish Hospitals.

Commissioning guidance was issued to Health Boards on 17 September, and work is ongoing to ensure that Ronapreve can be administered as quickly as possible where clinically appropriate.

The Scottish Government recognises vaccines approved for use in the UK regardless of where they were administered to determine whether a person has completed their primary dose or whether they require additional doses to be fully vaccinated.

Those who have been vaccinated out-with the Common Travel Area (CTA) should obtain proof of their vaccination status from the country they received their vaccination. For domestic certification purposes, we will accept proof of vaccination from across the UK and Crown Dependencies as well as from members of the EU Digital Covid Certificate Scheme.

For those who have proof of vaccination status from out with the CTA and the EU, domestic certification rules for international visitors will align with current border rules. Visitors from international countries out-with the CTA and EU scheme will require to provide the same proof of vaccination status that is accepted for entry to the UK.

Those who have received a final dose of a UK approved vaccine in Canada at least 14 days before travel are currently recognised as fully vaccinated and can use their proof of vaccination for domestic certification purposes. More information on this can be found at: Coronavirus (COVID-19): international travel and managed isolation (quarantine) - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) .

We are working with NHS Scotland Health Boards to put in place delivery models for the 2021-22 seasonal flu vaccination programme to suit local circumstances, whilst maintaining a COVID-19 safe environment and maximising efficiency.

If someone is unable to attend for their flu vaccination, they can rearrange their appointment to a more convenient time or location on line at Rearrange your flu vaccine appointment | The flu vaccine (nhsinform.scot). If invited by their GP practice or local Health Board, they should rearrange their appointment with them directly. If cancelling the appointment, the Flu Vaccination Helpline on 0800 030 8013 can assist with this.