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There are no plans to introduce protected learning time at present. It is a decision for employers to allow staff time to study for additional qualifications.

To support delivery of the Community Pharmacy First Plus service, Community Pharmacist contractors receive backfill (up to £5750) to release community pharmacists to undertake their IP qualification (5 days face to face teaching + 12 days Period of Learning in Practice), clinical skills training (4 days) and also access to a maximum of 3 sessions at a CCC Teach and Treat Training Hub (backfill up to £750).

The pharmacy profession and provision of pharmaceutical care is regulated by the General Pharmaceutical Council, who assure and improve standards of care for people using pharmacy services. The Achieving Excellence in Pharmaceutical Care strategy, published in 2017, setting out the priorities, commitments, and actions for improving and integrating NHS pharmaceutical care in Scotland up to 2022. The strategy sets the direction for how pharmaceutical care would be delivered in Scotland and the crucial contribution of pharmacists and pharmacy technicians, working together with other health and social care practitioners, to improve the health of the population and impact on health outcomes.

All NHS Boards across Scotland have the option of referring patients to the NHS Centre for Integrative Care (CIC) for services not available locally.

It is for individual NHS Boards to decide what complementary and alternative medicines/therapies they make available based on the needs of their resident populations and in line with national guidance.

The CIC is a facility owned and operated by NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde (NHS GGC), offering people with long term conditions a range of services, including complementary, holistic and homeopathic treatments. It is the responsibility of NHS GGC to manage access to their services.

The Scottish Government recognises that Complementary and Alternative Medicines Services (CAMS), may offer relief to some people suffering from a wide variety of conditions.

It is for individual NHS Boards to decide what complementary and alternative medicines/therapies they make available based on the needs of their resident populations and in line with national guidance.

The NHS Centre for Integrative Care (CIC) is a facility owned, operated and funded by NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde (NHS GGC). It offers people with long term conditions a range of services, including complementary, holistic and homeopathic treatments. Most patients referred to the centre are experiencing chronic pain, chronic low energy, and/or chronic low mood or anxiety.

For information on Scottish Government action to address nursing vacancies I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-05019 on 5 January 2022.

NHS Lanarkshire is receiving a proportional share of funding allocations for the recruitment of qualified nurses and the enhancement of Health Board recruitment capacity.

NHS Lanarkshire's qualified nursing and midwifery workforce has increased by 28.5% since 2006, exceeding the 12.1% growth across NHS Scotland.

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

The NHS Centre for Integrative Care (CIC) is a facility that all NHS Boards across Scotland have the option of referring patients to for services not available locally.

The Scottish Government is providing £12.4 billion for frontline NHS boards, which is a £327 million (3.2%) increase. This is the first step to ensuring that frontline funding - which directly supports patient services - increases by at least £2.5 billion by 2026-27.

Over 50% of frontline spend will go towards community health services, delivering on our commitment to increase primary care funding by 25% over this Parliament, providing more care for people in a place and way that meets their needs.

We are pressing ahead to put in place arrangements to mobilise a wholly owned company of the Scottish Government to provide ScotRail services within the public sector under Scottish Government control. The revised arrangements will start when the current franchise expires as expected on 31 March 2022.

For bus services, the Transport (Scotland) Act 2019 provides viable options for partnership working, franchising and wider powers for local transport authorities to run their own buses (and which sit alongside their existing ability to subsidise services). We have allocated £1 million in the draft Scottish Budget for development of the Community Bus Fund in 2022-23. This will support local transport authorities to improve local bus services and to explore the full range of options set out in the 2019 Act. In administering the fund, we and local transport authorities will need to observe competition, procurement and subsidy control rules.

The development of an integrated transport network is being guided by our National Transport Strategy, and the Strategic Transport Projects Review process is identifying investment priorities which will support this and help to deliver our commitment to create an inclusive and net zero emissions economy.

As the amount of renewable energy being produced in Scotland increases, so does the amount available to the public transport system. Already 75% of rail journeys are being undertaken via electrical traction, and we have given significant funding to zero emission buses, introducing diesel-electric hybrid vehicle carrying ferries, and promoting electric vehicles. We believe Scotland’s approach to transport decarbonisation – which focuses not only the transition to clean technology but also on reducing demand and encouraging behaviour shift – is an example of world-leading best practice and is central to our green recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.

he A92 A96 Haudagain Improvement project, which was anticipated to be complete in winter 2021, has faced a number of challenges including the impact of the pandemic continuing to disrupt progress. The contractor has indicated a revised date for completing the works, with the Improvement now due to open to traffic by the end of March 2022 as detailed in the recent press release available on the Transport Scotland website at https://www.transport.gov.scot/news/a92a96-haudagain-improvement-update-to-expected-completion-date/ . I also refer the member to the answer to question S6W-05362 on 21 December 2021 available on the Parliament's website at the following link: https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers/question?ref=S6W-05362

I can confirm that the project remains on budget. There is no change to the estimated total project cost of £49.5m at Q4 2018 prices, of which the construction contract value is £18m, as reported in the Infrastructure Investment Plan updates.

The Scottish Government continues to work with Health Boards, Community Pharmacy Scotland and other stakeholders across the sector to address any challenges faced by temporary closures of community pharmacies.

The Chief Pharmaceutical Officer has committed to putting together a workforce forum which will meet in early 2022. The forum will look at the workforce challenges and bring together stakeholders from pharmacy education and pharmacy service provision to set a strategic workforce plan for the profession.

Because of the unpredictable lifecycle of this particular organism, it is not possible to routinely test buildings for an Aspergillus infection. Where water ingress creates the conditions for mould, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde’s staff work to remedy faults as soon as they are found and remove any mould with oversight from Infection Prevention and Control (IPC). Patients with Aspergillus are visited by an infection prevention and control nurse. Advice on the correct antibiotics to administer to patients is given by a Microbiology/ICD/antimicrobial pharmacist on request of the clinical teams.