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Contract tracers working as part of NHS Scotland’s Test and Protect service are employed by the NHS, either within local Health Boards or by NHS National Services Scotland, they are not employed by an agency or agencies. These workers are paid on NHS terms and conditions.

The Scottish Government does not hold this information. Public Health Scotland publishes weekly statistical information on the Test and Protect system every Wednesday. The most recent publication is available at:

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The phased resumption of visiting and communal activity in care homes was referred to in ‘Scotland’s route map through and out of the crisis’. On the 25 th June, the Scottish Government published the Coronavirus (COVID-19): adult care home visiting guidance. This guidance sets out a new 4 stage pathway on how care home visiting restrictions are to be gradually lifted.

Effective on the 3 rd July, care homes which have been COVID free for 28 days will, subject to the agreement of the local Health Protection and Care Home Clinical and Care Professional Oversight teams, be able to move to stage 2 of the pathway which allows for outdoor visits to care home residents by a designated visitor of their choice.

Stages 3 will subsequently allow indoor visits by the designated visitor and greater freedom for outdoor visits and communal activity, whilst stage 4 will see the introduction of indoor visits by visitors Progression along the pathway to stages 3 and 4 will be dependent on whether the scientific evidence indicates that is it safe to do so.

The phased resumption of visiting and communal activity in care homes was referred to in ‘Scotland’s route map through and out of the crisis’.On the 25 th June, the Scottish Government published the Coronavirus (COVID-19): adult care home visiting guidance. This guidance sets out a new 4 stage pathway on how care home visiting restrictions are to be gradually lifted.

The Covid-19 Clinical Guidance Cell, which was established by the Chief Medical Officer to rapidly develop and revise guidance on clinical management of COVID-19 for the NHS, has produced guidance on prevention of venous thromboembolism in hospitalised patients with COVID-19-related disease.

This guidance has been developed in partnership with Health Improvement Scotland and SIGN, based on review of available evidence. It is currently at the peer review stage and is going to be published on the SIGN website soon.

As part of the response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Chief Scientist Office (CSO) launched the Rapid Research in COVID-19 programme on March 25th 2020. Following independent expert review, the list of funded applications was published on April 28th 2020. No applications specifically addressing links between COVID-19 and DVT were received. A number of projects were funded on COVID-19 related inflammation, hypertension and cardiovascular injury with potential pathophysiological relevance to DVT. Links to the lay summaries of these studies on the CSO website are provided below.

The full list of funded projects is available from the CSO website

A public health surveillance system for ongoing analysis and interpretation of alcohol and drug health-related data is being developed. Understanding the scope, scale and impact of the problem will inform action to reduce harm and prevent premature death. The work is defined in our drug and alcohol strategy, Rights, Respect and Recovery, and is being led by Public Health Scotland (PHS). PHS are placing a particular focus on the surveillance drug harms and deaths and this is being developed on behalf of the Drug Death Task Force.

PHS are working to provide a statement with more information on how this system will operate and the partners involved. This will be available in September.

We have committed to revising and improving substance use education, both in and out of school settings, to ensure it is good quality, impactful and in line with best practice and we are currently working with PHS to deliver this. We are also taking forward substance use education work in our schools through Curriculum for Excellence, to inform young people and help them make healthy choices.

The investigation into the safety and operation of the A702/A703/Old Pentland Road junction has identified a number of options to reduce vehicular conflict at this location. As the A703 and Old Pentland Road are the responsibility of Midlothian Council, Transport Scotland is collaborating with them to ensure effects on the trunk and local road networks from potential interventions are fully considered.

The site constraints at this location are extremely challenging, with topography and the presence of adjacent housing making it difficult to develop a solution that would meet current design standards. Improvements are therefore likely to be complex and further investigation will be required to understand their feasibility and buildability. Improvements may also require public consultation, with any objections to proposals having potential to delay or curtail alterations to the junctions.

Once a preferred option has been confirmed by Transport Scotland, following engagement with Midlothian Council, delivery will then be subject to prioritisation with other road safety schemes in the South East trunk road area, and the availability of sufficient funding for a scheme of this scale.

The information that is available is given in the following table, which was supplied by National Records of Scotland (NRS). The figures were produced from NRS’s records of the deaths that were registered in Scotland in each year. The latest year for which NRS’s statistical data on causes of death have been finalised, and a definitive breakdown of the numbers of deaths by cause can be provided, is 2018.

In this answer, deep vein thrombosis (DVT) has been taken to refer to thrombosis of the deep veins of the leg. Deaths from DVT frequently occur from complications of the DVT, principally pulmonary embolism, so deaths from pulmonary embolism have been included in these figures.

The International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems, Tenth Revision (ICD-10) system, which is used in the UK to classify deaths, does not allow deep venous thrombosis to be separated from phlebitis (inflammation of a vein), so these figures may include a small number of deaths due to phlebitis.

Deaths attributed to deep vein thrombosis (DVT)* registered in Scotland, 2014 to 2018

The Scottish Arthroplasty Project will publish their annual report providing information on the numbers of hip and knee replacement surgeries taking place during 2019 in September 2020. As there is less than 12 weeks before publication data release of this information is currently embargoed.

I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-29356 on 10 July 2020. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at  .

Public Health Scotland issues letters removing individuals from the shielding list on behalf of the NHS Boards. As at 2nd July 2020, 9,221 removal letters have been issued.

The following table details instances where a removal letter has been sent. For generic removals it is not possible to identify the reason for the removal.

Number of individuals sent Shielding Removal letters by Letter Type (as at 2nd July 2020)