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The Scottish Government has regular contact and discussion with NHS Boards covering matters relating to finance and performance. Details of engagements undertaken by Ministers since 2008 is available on the Scottish Government's website at the following addresses:

Information on the median wait and maximum wait from the date of urgent referral with a suspicion of cancer to date of first treatment by board of receipt and calendar year is available from the Scottish Parliament Information Centre - Bib number 59336.

Data held centrally is only available in the requested format from 2010 onwards.

Information on whether every pupil is able to access water when at school is not held centrally. The Nutritional Requirements for Food and Drink in Schools (Scotland) Regulations 2008 require schools to provide access to fresh, plain drinking water at all times. It is for local authorities to ensure they are fulfilling their duties as set out in the Regulations.

The Scottish Government does not hold this data.

We are aware of a number of different approaches to supporting young carers in schools across Scotland. This includes dedicated young carer workers from the third sector working across a number of schools in an area.

The Scottish Government is working to support young carers to continue with their education in school, college or in university and not to lose out due to the demands of their caring role. Under the Carers (Scotland) Act 2016 every young carer will be offered or will be able to request a young carer statement from 1 April 2018. The young carer statement will set out each young carer’s personal outcomes so that their eligible needs are supported to enable them to continue to care, if they so wish, and have a life alongside caring.

The Carers (Scotland) Act 2016 is due to come into effect on 1 April 2018. There is currently no centrally held data for the number of people receiving respite breaks.

The Scottish Health Survey for 2012-2015 shows that around 2% of carers aged 16 and over said they received support through a short break or respite care service. This is equivalent to over 15,000 carers in Scotland.

I also refer the member to the answer to question S5W-11158 on 21 September 2017. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at

This information is not readily available from National Services Scotland prescription data systems.

The Scottish Government does not hold this information centrally as this is a matter for the Department of Work and Pensions. A DS1500 form is issued when there is a terminal illness and the prognosis is that the patient may live less than 6 months, it is provided by a GP to the patient, or patient's representative, and it is for them to forward to the Department of Work and Pensions to fast tracks claims when applying for certain benefits.

I wrote to the Health and Sport Committee on 16 November to provide an update on the Scottish Government’s progress on implementing the recommendations of the Montgomery Review of Access to New Medicines.

Since publication of the Montgomery Review in December 2016, we have been working closely with relevant partners, stakeholders, patient representatives, the third sector and the pharmaceutical industry to consider the most appropriate and effective way to take forward the recommendations.

Copies of the letter are available from the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 59333)

Scottish Government officials are working closely with Chief Officers and Chief Finance Officers of a number of Integration Joint Boards, along with COSLA to discuss the implementation of Free Personal Care for under 65's.

There has been a new webpage added to the Scottish Government website which will provide updates on the implementation of the extension to Free Personal Care to under 65's.

Immediately following the Programme for Government announcement on 5 September, we have said that the extension of free personal care will be in place by 1 April 2019.

Since 1999 the data on the community nursing staff categories, including district nurses, has been subject to a number of reviews.

The number of district nurses by NHS Board, from September 1996 to September 2005,

can be found on the workforce statistics web site:

.

In 2006, recording of NHS staff was moved from Whitley to Agenda for Change. As a result statistics presented from 2007 onwards are not directly comparable to information prior to 2006. Information for 2006 is not available as this was a transitional year.

The number of district nurses by NHS Board, from September 2007 to September 2014, can be

found on the workforce statistics web site:

.

A review of the data on community nursing staff categories, including district nurses, was undertaken in 2014 to ensure more accurate and consistent reporting for these staff groups. Data prior to the completion of the review is not comparable with data from 2015 onwards.

The number of district nurses by NHS Board, from March 2015 to June 2017, can be found on the workforce statistics web site:

.