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For the purposes of this response we are interpreting “publicly owned bodies” to mean devolved public bodies. The information requested is not held centrally by the Scottish Government.

There are no current plans to update the publication ‘Scotland’s Long COVID Service’.

The guideline ‘Managing the long-term effects of COVID-19' was first issued by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, the Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network (SIGN) and the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) in December 2020 and updated in November 2021. NICE continues to check for the publication of new evidence and consider whether it would change any recommendations in the guideline. No evidence to update the recommendations has been found since the last update in November 2021.

NHS Inform has a dedicated microsite (https://www.nhsinform.scot/long-covid) which provides information for people living with long COVID .This was reviewed and where necessary updated in 2023 following user research with people living with long COVID.

Matters of parliamentary reform, including changes in relation to the position on parliamentary privilege, are primarily for Parliament to develop and consider.

The Scottish Government would consider proposals put before Parliament.

The Scottish Government has not provided any funding to the Stroke Association in the last five years.

It is disappointing that the infant mortality rate rose last year. We are involved in a number of initiatives to help improve perinatal and infant outcomes.

The established Scottish Patient Safety Programme (SPSP) perinatal and paediatric improvement programmes are currently supporting NHS Boards to improve outcomes for families through two ongoing collaboratives. One of the key aims of the SPSP Perinatal collaborative is to reduce neonatal morbidity and mortality. The SPSP paediatric collaborative launched in September 2023 and aims to improve the recognition and response to clinical deterioration in babies, children and young people.

Additionally, since October 2021 a National Hub has been in place to review and learn from the deaths of babies, children, and young people in Scotland. Commissioned and funded by Scottish Government, the National Hub is jointly hosted by Healthcare Improvement Scotland and the Care Inspectorate. A principal aim of the National Hub is to channel the learning from child death reviews to inform change and improvement and ultimately help reduce future preventable child deaths.

The Scottish Government, in partnership with NHS Scotland, spent the following on national donor gamete campaigns:

(a) Launched in June 2021 the first donor gamete campaign cost £100,000

(b) Launched in October 2022 the second donor gamete campaign cost £35,999.24

(c) Launched in October 2023 the third donor gamete campaign cost £50,519.60

The Scottish Government recognises the positive contribution older people make to their communities and recognises the value in bringing generations together. We aim to enable better access to a range of services for older people as and when they need them. We want to ensure people are financially secure and supported as they age.

Through our Equalities and Human Rights Fund, we are investing over £2.2 million in support of older people’s organisations and age equality projects that deliver positive outcomes for older people. Generations Working Together (GWT) were offered £615,250 over three years through the Equality and Human Rights Fund. GWT is the nationally recognised centre of excellence supporting the development and integration of intergenerational work across Scotland. This funding aimed to tackle ageism through intergenerational activity across Scotland and to increase understanding and learning around the field of intergenerational practice.

Generations Working Together are key stakeholders in our Older people’s Strategic Action Forum (OPSAF) and the Social Isolation and Loneliness Advisory Group (SIALAG).

In addition, our Social Isolation and Loneliness Fund of £3.8m which was launched in 2023 over 3 years, supports intergenerational projects. Over the past year 2929 older people and 400 young people have benefitted from the services provided by the funded projects.

The implications of the use of counterfeit and unlicensed beauty products is one of a number of issues under consideration as we consider further regulation of non-surgical cosmetic procedures.

Scottish Government officials met with Police Scotland and Environmental Health Officers on 12 January 2023 regarding concerns related to the suspected involvement of organised crime groups in the beauty/cosmetics sector.

The Scottish Government and its partners on the Serious Organised Crime Taskforce are committed to working together to disrupt any serious organised crime and the harm it causes to individuals and communities.

The Scottish Government has allocated £20,000 per annum to support the Makar since 2021.

Service innovation and redesign are central to the future of NHS, and the CytoSCOT programme is an excellent example of how innovation in diagnostic services can support patients to access alternatives to traditional endoscopy closer to home, helping to reduce demand on health services.

NHS Scotland’s Centre for Sustainable Delivery (CfSD) continues to support island Health Boards to implement this service, with NHS Orkney and NHS Shetland expected to begin roll out later this year.