Craig Hoy

21 Dec 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what work it has done with NHS Education for Scotland to improve mandatory equality, diversity and inclusion training for health and social care staff and ensure that this is up to date and relevant.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: NHS Education for Scotland (NES), in partnership with the Equality and Human Rights Commission, produced an e-learning module for Non-Executive Board members on the Public Sector Equality Duty and the Equality Act. This was promoted to NHS Board Chairs in Jul…

21 Dec 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether the health and social care workforce will grow by 1% over the next five years.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: We remain committed to the increasing in the Health and Social Care workforce by 1% over the next 5 years, as outlined within the National Workforce Strategy for Health and Social Care. NHS Scotland official workforce statistics published on 06 December 202…

21 Dec 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many people have joined the health and social care workforce through national schemes, such as modern apprenticeships, in each year since 2007, broken down by (a) scheme and (b) NHS board.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: This information is not held centrally. This is a matter for Skills Development Scotland and NHS Boards.  

21 Dec 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has established a public health workforce development programme.

Answer · Maree Todd: 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. The group has gathered information from all local public health teams about their curre…

21 Dec 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what it has done to build on the work outlined in its Tackling race inequality in employment: statement in order to ensure that NHS Scotland has equitable and inclusive recruitment, retention, representation and promotion practices.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: ‘A Fairer Scotland for All: An Anti-Racist Employment Strategy was published on 9 December 2022 and sets out the actions the Scottish Government will take and how it will work with employers to help make Scotland’s workplaces more diverse, fair and inclusive.…

21 Dec 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of its health and social care national workforce strategy, whether it has delivered up-to-date, relevant and impactful training for health and social care staff on equality, diversity and inclusion.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: I refer the member to the answers to question S6W-13542 on 20 January 2023 and S6W-13509 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 https://www.p…

21 Dec 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to ensure that it actively shares national workforce data and intelligence for use in planning across all aspects of health and social care in order to enable flexible service delivery and more agile ways of working.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: Scottish Ministers are already able to access advice and analysis which allows for the triangulation of workforce intelligence at national level. They are fully supported in this by other agencies and organisations, including NHS Scotland health boards and NH…

21 Dec 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has developed national workforce strategies for the Allied Health Professional (AHP) and Health Care Science (HCS) workforce.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: In March 2022 the Scottish Government published The National Workforce Strategy for Health and Social Care in Scotland. This Strategy sets out a framework to shape our health and social care which includes Allied Health Professionals and Healthcare Scientists…

21 Dec 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of its health and social care national workforce strategy, whether it has established a programme of work to review and support public health workforce recruitment that addresses some of the current challenges.

Answer · Maree Todd: 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…

21 Dec 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has published a national framework for acute oncology services.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: I refer the member to the Scottish Government’s publications webpage. You can find the framework here: Acute Oncology Service (AOS) in NHS Scotland: principles - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)  

21 Dec 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what it has done to improve the integration of health and social care workforce data with service delivery plans across multiple services and organisations.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: The Scottish Government has established a Workforce Data Information and Intelligence Improvement Programme to support the ambition of the National Workforce Strategy for Health and Social Care in Scotland in achieving its vision of a ‘sustainable skilled w…

21 Dec 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has fully implemented its existing commitments for Digital Skills and Leadership, as part of the Digital Health and Care Strategy, so that digital skills are seen as core skills for the workforce across the health and care sector.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: Our aims for Digital Skills & Leadership for all staff across Health & Care in Scotland are delivered by the cross-sector Building Digital Skills & Leadership Programme hosted by NHS Education for Scotland. This Programme that has funding in place until June…

21 Dec 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it still plans to establish a National Social Work Agency as part of the new National Care Service infrastructure.

Answer · Clare Haughey: The Independent Review of Adult Social Care (IRASC) recommended the establishment of a National Social Work Agency (NSWA) for oversight of professional development of social workers and it is our intention to establish a NSWA as part of the National Care Serv…

21 Dec 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what work it has undertaken to develop its Once for Scotland workforce policies programme, which promotes NHS Scotland as an employer.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: To date, the NHSScotland ‘Once for Scotland’ Workforce Policies Programme has refreshed the following PIN policies and process: Attendance Bullying and Harassment Capability Conduct Grievance Workforce Policies Investigation Process These were launched…

21 Dec 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has developed a remote and rural workforce recruitment strategy to ensure that the health and social care needs of people who live in remote and rural communities are met.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: I refer the member to the Scottish Governments National Workforce Strategy for Health and Social Care, where we committed to developing a Remote and Rural Workforce Recruitment Strategy for Health and Social Care by the end of 2024. An update on the National …

21 Dec 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government when, following the refresh and refocus of its Mental Health and Wellbeing Strategy in 2022, it will develop a mental health workforce plan for health and social care staff.

Answer · Kevin Stewart: The Mental Health Workforce Plan is scheduled to be published in spring 2023. A separate National Workforce Strategy for Health & Social Care was published on 11 March 2022, with a new Staff Wellbeing Strategy to be published in early 2023.

21 Dec 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many training places it has provided for adults interested in careers in the social care sector through the National Transition Training Fund.

Answer · Jamie Hepburn: The National Transition Training Fund was operational from October 2020 until August 2022. Within this period 885 training places were made available across a number of projects focused on social care. This number excludes college data from the 2021-22 academ…

21 Dec 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many pharmacist trainees have stayed in Scotland to complete their pre-registration training in each year since 2007.

Answer · Maree Todd: Data is only available from 2015-16. Since 2015-16 a total of 1,531 pharmacist trainees have stayed in Scotland to complete their pre-registration training year. The following table shows number of pharmacist trainees who have stayed in Scotland to complete …

21 Dec 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has increased the hourly rate of pay for social care staff in line with the discussions of the Fair Work in Social Care Group.

Answer · Kevin Stewart: 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 del…

21 Dec 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what consideration it has given to professional registration of any unregistered groups within the social care workforce.

Answer · Clare Haughey: The Scottish Social Services Council (SSSC) is the professional regulator for the social services workforce in Scotland. The SSSC will begin work this year to establish what further groups of social service workers should be considered for professional regul…

21 Dec 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what mechanisms are in place for maximising and developing existing workforce capacity to ensure consistent services for patients across Scotland within acute oncology.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: As outlined to the member in parliamentary question S6W-13453 on 26 January 2023, the national framework for acute oncology services has been published. The framework lays out the agreed key principles that underpin an effective Acute Oncology Service (AOS) i…

21 Dec 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has undertaken to identify the role that artificial intelligence can play in delivering health and social care services to address any demand and capacity issues.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: Extensive work has taken place to develop projections for the health and social care workforce, including engagement with stakeholders to understand different user needs, and actively including these in the specification for the workforce projections. This p…

21 Dec 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to upskill the cancer care workforce, including what guidance and support on developing leadership skills it has published.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: I refer the member to the Scottish Government’s publications webpage. You can find the clinical leadership guidance here: Cancer workforce: clinical leadership guidance - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) . This has been cascaded across all regional cancer networks a…

21 Dec 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what it has done to improve the parity of (a) data collection design and (b) data quality across the health and social care workforce.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: In March 2022 the Scottish Government published the National Workforce Strategy for Health and Social Care in partnership with the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities. Following publication of the strategy, the Scottish Government has established a Workf…

21 Dec 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many NHS boards used the supplied funding to host an international recruitment lead.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: All NHS boards have utilised the funding available to build the infrastructure in their recruitment teams and appoint an international recruitment lead.  

21 Dec 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) staff there have been in each year since 2007.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: The information on how many Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) staff there have been in each year since 2007 can be found: CAMHS | Turas Data Intelligence (nhs.scot) The staff in post tab provides quarterly data for CAMHS workforce.

21 Dec 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has launched a new National Leadership Development Programme for all different staff levels within health and social care organisations, and, if this is the case, how (a) much has been spent on the programme, (b) many staff have used it and (c) it will influence culture change…

Answer · Humza Yousaf: In my statement to parliament in November last year I stated I had recently launched Leading to Change, the Scottish Government’s national leadership development programme, for health, social work and social care. More information can be found on the website:…

21 Dec 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has set targets to recruit (a) nurses and (b) medics to meet its commitment to 1,500 new staff for National Treatment Centres (NTCs) in the period up to and including 2027, and, if so, what these targets are.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: The Scottish Government is providing a range of recruitment support, as well as training and development activity to assist Health Boards with securing the right mix of new and experienced staff for their NTCs. Detailed plans relating to the size and composi…

21 Dec 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what work it has undertaken with partners to (a) promote career opportunities, (b) deliver policies on upskilling and developing the workforce to attract new people and (c) address any retention issues in social care.

Answer · Kevin Stewart: A stakeholder group has been established to progress this work, including the Scottish Social Services Council (SSSC) and NHS Education for Scotland (NES) who each have a key role in social care workforce development. Last year, we worked collaboratively wi…

21 Dec 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what work it has undertaken with the NHS National Ethnic Minority Forum (EMF) to develop outcomes to support staff from minority ethnic backgrounds.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: The NHS National Ethnic Minority Forum (EMF) was established in April 2021 and aims amplify the voices of ethnic minority staff across the health service and tackle issues of systemic racism. EMF members also use their expertise to shape policy and practice i…