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There are currently 170 Civil Servants working within the National Care Service Programme. Due to the matrix style approach to delivery of the Social Care business area, staff may not be working on the National Care Service Programme objectives 100 percent of their time.

The number of Civil servants working within the Programme can be broken down into:

• Full time: 154
• Part time: 16

Scottish Government Ministers and officials meet regularly with a wide range of stakeholders, including the Royal College of Psychiatrists, to discuss areas of mutual interest.

Scottish Government Ministers and officials meet regularly with a wide range of stakeholders, including the Royal College of Ophthalmologists, to discuss areas of mutual interest.

Scottish Government Ministers and officials meet regularly with a wide range of stakeholders, including the Royal College of Radiologists, to discuss areas of mutual interest.

Scottish Government Ministers and officials meet regularly with a wide range of stakeholders, including the Royal College of Emergency Medicine, to discuss areas of mutual interest.

NHS Scotland Assure and partners are actively assessing NHS Scotland properties suspected to contain reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC).

A scope of works has been developed with a RAAC specialist and a survey partner has completed a desktop review of all properties. This review is being used to prioritise and inform the approach to discovery surveys.

Completion of the discovery surveys will provide information on any remedial works required and estimated costs.

Scottish Government is funding the programme of work to assess and identify properties affected. However, the costs of remedial works is the responsibility of Health Boards to take forward.

Scottish Government Ministers and officials meet regularly with a wide range of stakeholders, including the Royal College of Anaesthetists, to discuss areas of mutual interest.

The Scottish Government last met the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) on 18 May 2023.

The meeting covered:

• The Mental Health and Wellbeing Strategy;
• General Practice Protected Learning Time;
• The General Practice Access Group;
• The NHS National Conversation; and
• The RCGP Conference 2023

The options appraisal on the possible inclusion of justice social work services within a future National Care Service is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2023. The completion date may change should Parliament approve the Scottish Government’s request to extend Stage 1 of the National Care (Scotland) Bill beyond June of this year.

The Scottish Government remains committed to delivering Anne’s Law and the National Care Service (Scotland) Bill will further support the rights of people living in adult care homes to connect with their loved ones.

The National care service will have a responsibility for planning services and setting standards, with Scottish Ministers being responsible for social care and support. The design and delivery of the National Care Service will have human rights embedded throughout, that everyone should have access to consistently high-quality care and support and it’s right that Anne’s Law is a part of that. We are not considering decoupling the Anne’s Law provisions.

However, we are also committed to doing what we can now to implement the aims of Anne’s law using existing powers. For example the Health and Social Care standards were updated in April 2022 along with the associated inspection framework for care homes. Public Health Scotland’s visiting guidance has also been updated to broaden the scope for visits even during an outbreak situation. Taken together, these measures have resulted in 99% of care homes in Scotland reporting that they are supporting indoor visiting. The Scottish Government, in anticipation of the Scottish Parliament passing the National Care Service (Scotland) Bill, will work with all interested parties to maintain this figure and will also work to address any isolated issues should they emerge.