The Connecting Scotland programme aims to ensure that people in Scotland have access to digital services by providing them with opportunities to access and utilise devices, connectivity, skills, and support effectively. To date, the programme has brought a total of 60,000 digitally excluded people online since programme launch.

A table containing the information specified in your question has been placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. Number 63974 ).

The Scottish Government remains committed to eliminating Hepatitis C as a major public health concern by 2024. We must nonetheless recognise the impact the pandemic has had across the whole health sector, including the detection and treatment of Hepatitis C. During the financial year 2021-22, 1,390 individuals across Scotland started direct-acting antiviral hepatitis C treatment. This is set out in a report on the PHS website: https://www.publichealthscotland.scot/publications/surveillance-of-hepatitis-c-in-scotland/surveillance-of-hepatitis-c-in-scotland-progress-on-elimination-of-hepatitis-c-as-a-major-public-health-concern-2022-update/

National target data for 2022-23 will be published as soon as the full data has been collected and subjected to the appropriate data quality checks.

Data on targets and treatment initiations at Health Board level cannot be provided centrally as it has not been subjected to the required data quality procedures. However, the Scottish Government can confirm national treatment targets are broken down to indicative levels by NHS Board area to assist with their planning.

Despite the challenges resulting from the pandemic, the PHS report linked above shows there is evidence to indicate that Scotland has already achieved the WHO target to treat 80% of those diagnosed with Hepatitis C.

The Scottish Public Health Workforce Development Group last met on 11 January 2023 and meets approximately every two months.

The Group members are representatives from the Scottish Directors of Public Health, NHS Education for Scotland, the Registrar Public Health Group, the Royal Environmental Health Institute of Scotland, Voluntary Health Scotland, Public Health Scotland, the Committee of the Faculty of Public Health in Scotland, Scottish Government (Health Workforce/Health Improvement/Health Protection), the Scottish Health Promotion Managers Group, COSLA and the Scottish Community Development Centre.

The use of digital continues to be a key priority to support better choice and access to health and care services. The Near Me video consultation service has now supported in excess of 1.8m people through appointments since early 2020 across Scotland, avoiding over 60 million miles of unnecessary travel with important benefit for those on Island’s and rural areas. Remote monitoring of conditions is also being prioritised with over 40,000 people now having monitored their blood pressure from home through our Connect Me service with further developments for other conditions underway. Digital for Mental Health has seen significant growth with a range of self-help guides, self-referral therapy and self-management options now available to the public. In addition, NHS Inform continues to be the key place for validated information and support and we continue to encourage people to go to NHS Inform as a first step to help identify the best route of support for that person and their circumstances. Further access to services digitally will be made through the Digital Front Door.

The “Health and Social Care Standards: my support, my life” set out a range of standards on what people should expect when using health, social care or social work services in Scotland. These include the use of technology to support independence and having more control over their own health and wellbeing, and for those in 24 hour care that they are connected to the internet. The Standards also set out an expectation that people can access the right information at the right time, and patients rights and responsibilities in relation to their information is further enhanced by the Charter of Patient Rights and Responsibilities which sets out expectations around confidentiality and handling of medical information.

Public Health Scotland have appointed three consultants in Public Health Medicine jointly with local health boards - those shared national and local posts are in NHS Tayside, NHS Highland and NHS Fife. They are currently interviewing for a further two joint consultant roles with NHS Lanarkshire and NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde.

The use of digital tools is a choice and the Scottish Government is very mindful that introducing more Digital into the Health & Care system will need to be proportionate to ensure that nobody is left behind. The Scottish Government’s Connecting Scotland Programme, which is looking to support households to get online, is a key part of supporting people to embrace technology, including to access health and care. In addition, individual programmes of work and individual services, such as those set out in the answer to question S6W-13989 on 31 January 2023, are responsible for ensuring patients and service users are sufficiently supported to meaningfully use technology.

All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answer

The Scottish Government does not hold this information centrally.

It is the intention of the Scottish Government to deliver this capability through the Digital Front Door, further details of which can be found in the answer to question S6W-13979 on 30 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.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers

The development of the pilot e-prep clinic is in the early stages and is likely to involve a staged approach.

As this is a complex project, involving significant IT and clinical expertise to deliver well, it is not yet possible to provide a definitive start date. The development work that’s currently underway will determine the scale, start date and duration of the initial pilot. While we expect significant progress to be made in the coming months, it is important that when we launch the pilot we ensure that it is fit for purpose and will meet the highest standards of patient safety.

As I committed to during the Parliamentary Debate on World Aids Day, the Scottish Parliament will be provided with an annual report regarding the progress made towards the goal of ending HIV transmission within Scotland by 2030.