Following a successful three year pilot, in 2013 the four nations agreed to a 10 year grant to support those affected by the thalidomide drug. Over the last nine years the Scottish Government has issued a total of £11.512 million to the Thalidomide Trust, for distribution to Scottish survivors. A further £1.636 Million is projected for the final year (2022-23), bringing total funding to £13.15 million.

The Scottish Government receives annual funding from the UK Government as part of the Barnett consequentials, however no funding is specifically ‘ring fenced’ for Thalidomide.

Breakdown of Funding:

The Scottish Government continues to work with Health Boards, Community Pharmacy Scotland and other stakeholders across the sector to address any challenges faced by temporary closures of community pharmacies.

The Chief Pharmaceutical Officer has committed to putting together a workforce forum which will meet in early 2022. The forum will look at the workforce challenges and bring together stakeholders from pharmacy education and pharmacy service provision to set a strategic workforce plan for the profession.

The Scottish Government has invested in the Detect Cancer Early programme in this area, has committed to investing in an AI Hub, and has prioritised the 25 by 25 programme for innovation investment in 2022.

This will enable AI innovation in the form of AI enabled triage, diagnostics, and treatment decision making support for Clinicians.

The Scottish Government has embraced artificial intelligence (AI) as a transformational technology for public good. We were the first UK country to establish an AI Strategy which set out our ambition for Scotland to become a global exemplar in the ethical and innovative deployment of AI.

As part of the Recovery Plans for the NHS, social care and the economy, the Government will support innovation in health care delivery and the adoption of AI solutions into use. Accelerating the adoption of new technologies that support improved access to healthcare, such as the use of artificial intelligence, will be integral to the recovery of NHS services, and there are a range of partner organisations that are central to this work, including the new national Centre for Sustainable Delivery.

The Scottish Government does not provide direct funding for the NHS Centre for Integrative Care (CIC). The CIC is a facility owned, operated and funded by NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde (NHS GGC).

The Scottish Government is not considering the introduction of sanctions for any contractor which breaches its NHS contract at present. The National Health Service (Pharmaceutical Services) (Scotland) Regulations 2009, set out the provision of NHS pharmaceutical services and requirements for those entered on the Boards Pharmaceutical List.

The Achieving Excellence in Pharmaceutical Care strategy, published in 2017, commits the Scottish Government to review contractual arrangements and as such may consider the introduction of sanctions as part of any future strategy framework.

It is for individual NHS Boards to decide which services they make available based on national and local priorities and the needs of their resident populations.

A clinical refresh of the Scottish Referral Guidelines for Suspected Cancer has been completed with revised guidance published in January 2019. The Guidelines support primary care clinicians in ensuring those with symptoms suspicious of cancer are put on the right pathway at the right time, including possible skin cancers.

In December 2021, the Scottish Government published a refreshed Framework for Effective Cancer Management. This Framework provides NHS Cancer Teams with the tools to effectively manage USC patients from the point of referral to first treatment to improve patient experience and cancer waiting times. Tailored support will be provided to all NHS Boards to ensure the eight key elements are embedded, where relevant, across cancer pathways and specialties, including dermatology.

The Centre for Sustainable Delivery (CfSD) is working with a number of Health Boards to implement the Digital Dermatology app, which allows patients to interact with a clinician at a time convenient to them, without having to attend hospital. This will support dermatology teams in conducting more virtual appointments. CfSD also supports a Dermatology Pathways app and website which provides clinically validated pathway information to GPs and other health professionals for many of the most common skin conditions, with the aim of supporting access for patients who most need treatment in the most appropriate care setting. As part of this, CfSD is working with the British Association of Dermatologists to increase the number of pathways covered by this approach.

The community pharmacy network is a vital part of the primary care team. The Scottish Government continues to work with Community Pharmacy Scotland and other partners to ensure not only the stability of the network but also that a balance is maintained across the whole pharmacy workforce in the hospital, community, and GP practice sectors.

The Chief Pharmaceutical Officer has committed to putting together a workforce forum which will meet in early 2022. The forum will look at the workforce challenges and bring together stakeholders from pharmacy education and pharmacy service provision to set a strategic workforce plan for the profession.

The Centre for Sustainable Delivery (CfSD) (and prior to this the Modernising Patient Pathways Programme within Scottish Government), have supported the rollout of the Digital Dermatology Appointment (DDA) system. This platform allows patients to interact with dermatologists by answering a series of questions and uploading images of their skin condition for the clinician to review. This system is used for both new and return patients. The system was offered for rollout to all Health Boards during COVID and to date is live in five Health Boards, with over 4000 patients having appointments this way.

In addition, the CfSD is actively promoting Active Clinical Referral Triage in Dermatology and encouraging the use of images to support this where this can be done safely. We are currently engaged in a piece of work to understand the use of images in referral pathways across all Scottish Health Boards and the output of this will support key work in 2022 to increase the use of images to support timely access to Dermatology care.