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Work is currently underway in the Scottish Public Health Workforce Development Group to assess needs and agree priority actions in relation to the public health workforce. Three additional Public Health training places for trainee doctors have been created in recent years following recommendations made by the Scottish Shape of Training Transition Group. While this may seem like a modest increase, it is relative to the specialty’s training establishment i.e. there were 35 established training places prior to the creation of those three extra posts. This will continue to be reviewed as part of public health workforce planning.

The Women’s Health Plan includes a variety of short, medium and long-term actions. Since the publication of the Plan in August 2021, we have prioritised actions that we know will have an immediate impact on health inequalities. Our first report on progress will be published in early 2023, and will set out the progress made since the publication of the plan.

I also refer the member to the answer to question on 16 January 2023 for an update on the development of a menopause and menstrual health workplace policy for NHS Scotland. 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 .

Work is currently underway in the Scottish Public Health Workforce Development Group to assess needs and agree priority actions in relation to the public health workforce, taking into account previous recommendations and learning from the pandemic. The Public Health Scotland (PHS) and Scottish Directors of Public Health Localised Working Programme is currently working with three pathfinder sites to improve local access to specialist public health advice and forms a collaboration between PHS, local health boards and joint partners, including COSLA. The programme aims to achieve better outcomes for communities through leading and supporting action on inequalities and the determinants of health.

A recent review of the Scottish Health Protection Network has also identified learning from the pandemic and considered how to ensure a strengthened health protection function for Scotland going forward.

The National Clinical Skills for pharmacists programme supports registered pharmacists take on new and extended clinical roles, however it is the Independent Prescriber course which allows community pharmacists to qualify as Independent Prescribers. In 2020-2021 NHS National Education for Scotland (NES) commissioned a total of 115 Independent Prescriber (IP) places for Community Pharmacists to undertake an IP qualification during 2021.

In 2021-2022 NES commissioned a total of 222 IP places for Community Pharmacists to undertake an IP qualification during 2022.

The Pharmacist Independent Prescribing qualification takes on average 12 months to complete and courses run 4 times a year, therefore to date 111 community pharmacists from these cohorts have qualified as an Independent Prescriber.

An expert Menopause and Menstrual Health Policy Working Group has been established to progress this action.

We understand the importance of appropriate staffing to provide high quality care for people with chronic pain. As set out in our published in March 2022, we are committed to supporting the delivery of new training pathways for pain management to enhance and expand our pain-skilled workforce.

In July 2022 we published our which sets out the actions we are taking to improve care and support for people with chronic pain, including through developing the pain management workforce. In support of this we have established a new national multi-disciplinary Chronic Pain Education Group which is focused on developing and promoting resources to enhance the knowledge and skills of healthcare professionals across Scotland.

In addition, we are working with the Faculty for Pain Medicine to support the development of new credentials to increase the availability of pain management specialists across our NHS. We are also supporting work to develop a credential for Advanced Care Practitioners in pain management which will support GPs, paramedics, Allied Healthcare Professionals and other key roles gain the knowledge and skills to provide holistic, effective support for people with chronic pain in their communities.

Work is currently underway in the Scottish Public Health Workforce Development Group to assess needs and agree priority actions in relation to the public health workforce. A programme of leadership development has already started with local Directors and Deputy Directors of Public Health, along with Public Health Scotland, working with Scottish Government. A further programme of succession planning will be developed this year.

Scottish Directors of Public Health have been prioritised within the Scottish Government Leading to Change Programme for bespoke and sustainable leadership development support. Their knowledge, expertise and leadership are recognised as central to Scotland’s success in the recovery and re-building of the health of the nation post COVID.

Within Leading to Change we are also developing a programme of NHS Board CEO, Executive and Director Succession Planning. The Succession Planning workstream aims to create a diverse, values driven senior health workforce, by supporting existing and aspiring CEOs, Executives and Directors, and developing and implementing a consistent national approach to NHS Board Succession Planning that ensures a pipeline of candidates for future senior leadership roles, who are equipped to realise our ambitions as set out in the Health and Social Care Delivery Plan. We have created a Leadership Success Profile (LSP) for NHS CEO roles and will be creating an LSP for Executive and Director level roles in early 2023.

Evidence from the evaluation of minimum unit pricing (MUP) has shown that consumers have responded to the introduction of MUP in a variety of ways including reduced purchasing of products whose price has increased, switching to smaller pack sizes, to more premium products and to lower strength products.

Public Health Scotland (PHS) are undertaking a comprehensive evaluation of MUP, which includes assessing the impact of MUP on health, crime, public safety and public nuisance in Scotland, and the impact on the alcohol industry. A final evaluation report will be published in 2023.

All published studies are available on the PHS website:

In conjunction with the Fair Work in Social Care group the Scottish Government has funded several uplifts to the minimum hourly rate for Adult Social Care staff, including the mid-year December 2021 uplift to £10.02. In April 2022, the Scottish Government delivered an additional uplift taking the Adult Social Care hourly rate to £10.50. This represents an increase of 10.5% for these workers with pay rising from at least £9.50 per hour in April 2021 to at least £10.50 per hour in April 2022.

From April 2023, adult social care workers delivering direct care in commissioned services will see their pay increase to a minimum of £10.90 per hour; in line with the Real Living Wage rate for the 2023-24 Financial Year.

Working collaboratively with the Fair Work in Social Care group will ensure we are committed to improving fair work practices across the social care sector.

Work through the Fair Work in Social Care Group has developed a set of minimum standards for terms and conditions reflecting Fair Work principles. Work to investigate how these standards can be implemented within devolved powers is being taken forward in collaboration with key stakeholders.