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In June 2017, Healthcare Improvement Scotland published their report on the Review of Ayrshire Maternity Unit, University Hospital Crosshouse, NHS Ayrshire & Arran (Adverse Events).

Recommendation seven said that NHS Scotland should develop and agree a list of mandatory skills and competencies for maternity services to support ongoing training programmes in NHS boards . NHS Education for Scotland facilitated a short life working group which identified a package of core mandatory update training for midwives and obstetricians. In December 2018 Scottish Government requested all NHS Boards ensure that midwives and obstetricians undertake the core mandatory update training required.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic it has not been possible for staff to undertake face to face training, including elements of the package of core mandatory training, and staff time to undertake training has been significantly curtailed. Boards are actively looking at ways to take forward training in a COVID safe way, and many of the training packages have moved to virtual platforms to mitigate restrictions as a result of COVID.

As routine business is remobilised we expect Boards to move forward with completion of the package of Core Mandatory Training.

The Scottish Government has engaged with a range of sectors, including catering and hospitality representatives, promoting the benefits of effective ventilation to reduce the risk of transmission within enclosed spaces. I would encourage all sectors to review the guidance we produced on ventilation, as this contains useful information and assets which could easily be incorporated within training courses.

The guidance can be found at:

We continue to engage with sectors and review this guidance as new evidence emerges regarding how these systems can prevent the spread of COVID-19 and other airborne viruses.

The Scottish Government welcome the Audit Scotland report, and we are pleased that it recognised the swift actions of Scotland’s public sector partners to respond to the significant and unprecedented challenges presented by Covid-19. The Scottish Government agrees with Audit Scotland that we need to learn from this pandemic and bring that learning both into planning for future pandemics, and into our long term procurement strategy. This work is already underway. Officials are working across the public sector including with the NHS to learn the lessons and take them into future PPE procurement.

To address environmental concerns surrounding PPE, the Scottish Government has funded a Small Business Research Initiative £310,000, with Transport Scotland providing additional funding, to assess and evaluate prospective reusable PPE solutions and technologies to assist in decontaminating PPE. This initiative, led by NHS Tayside on behalf of the Scottish Government, supports companies to develop more environmentally-friendly PPE by providing funding to enable them to undertake vital research and development of their prospective solutions.

The Scottish Government has also established a PPE Innovation Working Group with partners across Scotland. The purpose of this Group is to oversee the implementation of positive changes to the provision of clinical PPE in Scotland. As part of this work, the Group will consider potential work streams and opportunities which surround the environmental impact of PPE and how manufacturers with innovative PPE solutions can better collaborate with NHS Scotland in the future.

The information requested can be found here: . Please note the figures provided for each local authority area do not differentiate between the different types of empty property.

Travellers returning to Scotland from green and amber list countries must use the NHS tests, which can be booked through the UK Government’s booking portal for international travel. These kits are home test PCR kits provided by NHS Test & Trace.

NHS Scotland has no role in setting the price of the kits. The cost of the kits is set by the UK Government and the process managed through its contract with the travel management company, so our ability to reduce costs unilaterally is limited.

The online vaccine booking portal closed on 11 June.

The online portal was part of the Scottish Government’s measures to widen the accessibility of vaccine appointments, and was extended for another week, on top of the original three week window. 40% of the young people aged 18-29 who were still to be vaccinated, self-registered on our online portal.

Those who did not register online, are being scheduled for an appointment on the system, and letters are coming out over this week and next. However, to give advanced sight of appointments online, we are launching an appointment checker on NHS Inform to help people view their pending appointments. This will help those people, like students, who may have moved away from their registered GP term time address. This will also help them view their offered appointment earlier and chose to reschedule to fit with their work and life.

The National Vaccination Scheduling System (NVSS) has successfully appointed millions of Scottish citizens while achieving exceptionally high uptake rates this demonstrates a massive success for a system built from scratch in the space of 8 weeks.

Our intention has always been to evolve and continually enhance the NVSS. As the programme has engaged with younger cohorts it has become evident a digital first online booking approach would be beneficial. The programme team are in the process of designing an online booking system for the autumn/winter Flu vaccinations.

We have no plans to bring forward secondary legislation to introduce a no-fault compensation scheme at this time.

Despite carrying out considerable research and a number of consultations since no-fault compensation proposals were first introduced in 2007, forming expert groups and looking to other countries, including Sweden, there has never been consensus on the most appropriate compensation or redress model for Scotland, or how such a scheme would meet its objectives within our health and social care framework. The member herself has previously questioned whether a no-fault compensation scheme might introduce an additional administrative burden, a culture of compensation, more litigation and a charter for lawyers.

Working with Healthcare Improvement Scotland and other health and care partners we are creating a health and social care environment that uses knowledge from adverse events to inform continuous improvement to health and care services in a culture that embraces openness and learning, without fear of censure when things go wrong. The Duty of Candour Procedure (Scotland) Regulations, which we introduced in April 2018, places this approach on a legal footing.

We will continue to focus our energies and use all the mechanisms at our disposal in driving forward preventative measures in the delivery of person-centred treatment and care that is safe and of a high quality.

Everyone attending the Glasgow Fan Zone is encouraged to take a lateral flow test prior to the event. From Monday 14 June, rapid lateral flow test kits were mailed to 17,000 ticket holders due to attend the Glasgow Fan Zone, as part of a series of measures to help reduce the risk of transmission before and after the event.

A mobile testing bus has also been based at Glasgow Green to provide on-site lateral flow testing as an additional option for attendees. A selection of attendees have been asked by COVID marshals on site whether they have taken a test as part of ongoing reporting on the site.

These testing measures are in place in addition to other robust public health interventions, such as physical distancing, contact tracing, hand sanitiser stations, frequent cleaning, table-service, PPE for staff, and clear and informative signage.

A web-based app has been developed as a means to collect data from those who agree to participate in the COVID in Scotland Study to understand the long-term health of people who have had COVID-19. This research study, led by the University of Glasgow in collaboration with Public Health Scotland and funded by the Scottish Government’s Chief Scientist Office, is Scotland-wide. Invitations to take part in the study are sent via SMS to all adults in Scotland who have had a positive COVID-19 test with the app available to those that agree to participate to submit data on their symptoms. This approach using an app to collect data from study participants will be described and evaluated as part of the reporting of this study once completed.

If an individual has specific concerns arising from the results of a test they have taken, including related to their immunological response following vaccination, they should consult their primary clinician, who can determine whether further investigation is necessary.

The results of serology (antibody) tests, while indicative, may not be definitive. The value of antibody tests is currently limited to answering the question of whether someone has had COVID-19 before and providing data and a greater understanding on the spread of the virus. An antibody test cannot tell you if you’re immune to COVID-19 or whether you can or cannot spread the virus to other people.

Some individuals may not develop a serologically detectable antibody response to vaccination. Additionally, vaccination does not have an immediate protective effect, but takes up to 3 weeks to produce an antibody response. This is particularly true for elderly, immunocompromised, or infirm people.

In addition to the individual level of protection against severe disease or hospitalisation afforded by vaccination, an additional benefit of the vaccination programme is to assist in developing widespread community immunity and thereby reduce the force of transmission and viral reproduction rate, controlling the prevalence of COVID-19. The inoculation of a large proportion of the population will help to provide a degree of passive protection in the community for those who may develop a weaker immune response, although further research into the impact on transmission is underway. The majority of those inoculated with two doses of vaccine develop a high level of protection.

Further research is being conducted on the effect of the vaccination programme on transmission both in relation to current and new variants of concern. Until we know more, it is essential that everyone continues to follow public health guidance and the COVID-19 protection level rules which apply in their Local Authority area.