Digital stethoscopes can be purchased by any clinician.

The Heart Disease Action Plan recognises the need to ensure timely and equitable access to diagnostics, including echocardiography.

As set out within the plan, we are working to address key workforce issues relating to cardiac physiology. Cardiac Physiologists are healthcare professionals who are vital to the delivery of many aspects of cardiac care, including the provision of echocardiography.

Furthermore, we have also recently provided funding for the delivery of a pilot project to improve access to echocardiography. The learning from this will support us in understanding how best to further support improvement across Scotland.

Employers with ten or more staff are eligible to participate in the workplace asymptomatic testing programme. The programme allows participating organisations to offer COVID-19 testing to any individuals who work at the location, including employees, volunteers, contractors and agency staff. Agencies which meet the criteria can also enrol in the programme to provide their staff with tests. This includes agencies providing staff to the health and social care sectors.

If an employer or agency does not provide workplace testing, lateral flow device test kits are widely available to individuals through the universally accessible testing offer. Kits can be collected from test sites, pharmacies and local authority collection points, or ordered online for home delivery.

Further to the answer given to question S6W-04701 on 23 December 2021, I can confirm that the case note review for Mr Slorance, undertaken by NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, was completed in November 2021.

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

Information on hospital admissions for all causes for this date range is not held by the Scottish Government. Information on hospital admissions is published daily by Public Health Scotland (PHS), however, this is only available on a quarterly basis.

Between 23 December 2021 and 16 January 2022 there were 3,360 COVID-19 related hospital admissions.

A breakdown of this figure by primary condition is not available.

However, a recent clinical audit performed by Public Health Scotland has shown that as of 4 January 2022 in NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, 9 January 2022 in NHS Dumfries and Galloway and 11 January 2022 in NHS Grampian, 63% of acute hospital admissions were determined to be ‘because of’ COVID-19 (assuming either a definite or probable attribution) as opposed to coincidental ‘with’ COVID-19. These findings relate to analyses by PHS in their COVID-19 and Winter Statistical Report published on 19 January 2022.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-05521 on 24 January 2022. 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

Information on TAVI procedures in Scotland for 2018-19 and 2019-20 was submitted by sites to the UK National Cardiac Audit Programme. Published data is available from the British Cardiovascular Interventional Society (BCIS) - Audit Results - British Cardiovascular Intervention Society (bcis.org.uk) .

The published reports indicate that in 2018-19 there were 310 TAVI procedures, and in 2019-20 there were 400 TAVI procedures carried out in Scotland. The reports do not break down the number of cases per Scottish site.

The Scottish Cardiac Audit Programme is currently working with TAVI sites across Scotland to collate data for 2020-21 onwards.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-05521 on 24 January 2022. 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

Scottish participation in the UK National Cardiac Audit Programme (NCAP), managed by the National Institute for Cardiovascular Outcomes Research (NICOR), was previously enabled through the Healthcare Quality Improvement Partnership (HQIP).

The Scottish Government had been working with HQIP since November 2018 to identify a mutually agreeable legal basis that would support Scotland’s continued participation in a number of UK wide audits, including the NCAP programme. It was not possible to identify one and as a result, throughout 2020/21 there was a phased withdrawal of Scottish Government participation in HQIP associated audits as an appropriate point was reached in each.

As replacement for the NCAP, in April 2021 we commissioned Public Health Scotland (PHS) to develop the Scottish Cardiac Audit Programme. PHS have been actively seeking data submissions from all sites across Scotland which previously contributed to the NCAP.

PHS are currently working with clinicians and patients across Scotland to undertake further development of the audit programme.

Further to the answer given to question S6W-04701 I can confirm that the Case Note review carried out by NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde along with the report of the peer review undertaken by NHS Lothian have both now been shared with Mrs Slorance.