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Scottish Water does not maintain this information by parliamentary region and is only able to provide information for the closest equivalent operational area (South Region Water Operational Area). The following figures include both leaks reported by customers as well as those identified separately by Scottish Water as part of their active leakage management. This data is only readily available from 2016-17 financial year.

Scottish Water does not maintain information by parliamentary region and is only able to provide information for the closest equivalent operational area (South Region Water Operational Area). There were 488 reports in December 2022 in this large geographical region compared to 256 reports in December 2021. This would include both leaks reported by customers as well as those identified separately by Scottish Water as part of their active leakage management.

In December 2022, Scottish Water experienced a significant increase in the number of burst water pipes as a result of a freeze and rapid thaw, and Scottish Water operatives worked tirelessly in freezing conditions during this time to respond to the issues which occurred on the water network. During this period Scottish Water also saw an increase in bursts on customer private supply pipes and internal plumbing, which had a significant impact.

Scottish Water has an annual campaign to raise awareness about how important it is for customers to protect their pipes by taking appropriate measures. More information about this is available on their website at and .

South Region Water Operational Area includes: Dumfries & Galloway, Scottish Borders, East Lothian, Midlothian, City of Edinburgh, West Lothian, South Lanarkshire and North Lanarkshire.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-13692 on 23 January 2023. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at /chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers .

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-13720 on 24 January 2023. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at /chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers

Our National Workforce Strategy for Health and Social Care supports the remobilisation and recovery of health and social care services and sets out priorities for recruitment, training and retention. We anticipate that the Strategy will be used by workforce, service and financial planners from across Health and Social Care at all levels.

Through this Workforce Strategy, and the NHS Recovery Plan, we are investing in staff so that they have the right skill mix and career progression opportunities.

Actions have been set out as part of the Workforce Strategy to develop, improve and transform workforce data, information and intelligence and to commit to publishing workforce projections. These actions will be delivered through the Workforce Data and Intelligence Programme, including a Data Links and Gaps Project with key workstreams of NHS Workforce Data Quality Improvement (WDQI), Adult Social Care WDQI and Primary Care WDQI.

A baseline review of Healthcare Science Education and Training Provision was carried out in 2022 and published on 20 October. Emerging themes for further investigation were identified from survey feedback, and this has helped ascertain the work required to increase the visibility of the Healthcare Science workforce to improve the pipeline of a future workforce. Examples of specialist training currently available were highlighted, including Neurophysiology at Glasgow Caledonian University.

Work has been done in consultation with NHS Education for Scotland (NES) to investigate and suggest improvements for low uptake in Neurology expansion posts. Discussions are underway with the NES lead Dean for Medicine to consider how to make improvements in the coming year when these posts are re-advertised. Many of these vacancies are in the North and East of Scotland, reflecting the difficulty in recruiting to posts in these areas. NES has been promoting awareness of Neurology training opportunities in these regions, and hope to make progress in 2023 and 2024 recruitment.

Through our National Advisory Committee for Neurological Conditions, we are identifying priorities to strengthen the neurological workforce alongside the National Workforce Strategy, Remobilisation Plans and Rehabilitation Framework. We have scoped neurological workforce priorities and work has commenced to address these with a focus on nursing, allied health professionals (AHPs), neuropsychology and neurophysiology.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-13687 on 23 January 2023. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at /chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers .

The Scottish Government has engaged directly with representatives from NHS Boards and Health and Social Care Partnerships (HSCPs) to consider workforce planning capacity and capability across services. We remain committed to building a culture of continuous learning and improvement in workforce planning, including through the guidance we developed to support the development of health board and HSCP three-year workforce plans. We have been exploring, with stakeholders, formal qualification and accreditation opportunities, we continue to take forward these discussions with partners in further and higher education, alongside the provision of in-house training.

As part of Leading to Change, the National Leadership Development Programme, we have been running a series of engagement events for the health, social work and social care sectors to promote compassionate and inclusive leadership at all levels and create an open and welcoming culture that will enable people to thrive.

Details of the events can be found here:

An update on the National Workforce Strategy for Health and Social Care will be published later this year.

We recognise the impact that chronic pain can have on people’s quality of life, including those with health problems arising as a result of their service to their country. The Scottish Veterans Commissioner (SVC) report ‘Veterans’ Health and Wellbeing ( ) contained a recommendation that the National Advisory Committee for Chronic Pain (NACCP) consider support for Veterans as part of their work.

As detailed in the published in November 2020, in line with this recommendation, the Scottish Government provided funding for the Pain Association Scotland to deliver a project to develop bespoke chronic pain self-management support for Veterans which received excellent feedback from participants. Outputs from this work included the development of a standardised Veterans referral form for healthcare practitioners seeking to support these patients.

The Scottish Government set out a refreshed approach to improving care and support for people with chronic pain in , published in July 2022. The Plan sets out a number of specific actions that are intended to improve care and support for people with chronic pain across Scotland, irrespective of underlying clinical cause or background. As we deliver the Plan we will identify opportunities to improve pain management support for groups facing inequalities, including Veterans, to ensure they can access the right care, at the right time, in the right place.

Our , published on 30 November 2021, is backed by £70m investment and focuses on recovery of services, including Workforce Training and Development.

The National Endoscopy Training Programme (NETP) was established in September 2021 and has recruited staff to deliver endoscopy training to a wide range of learners from different professional backgrounds. This supports the upskilling of practitioners from across Health Boards through a range of courses, including immersion training.

We have also established training programmes for Nurse Endoscopists, Advanced Urology Practitioners and Healthcare Support worker.