The provision of free NHS dental treatment for children and young people under 18 years of age; people under 19 years of age and in qualifying full-time education; and expectant mothers or people who have borne a child in the previous 12 months is fixed by primary legislation as set out in the National Health Services (Scotland) Act 1978.

People with urgent dental problems have been able to receive care and treatment throughout the COVID-19 pandemic and as we have suppressed the virus we have been able to reintroduce more services. From 1 November dentists will be able to provide the full range of NHS care and treatment to patients.

The following guidance has been issued to workplaces for them to share with their employees. Guidance on how to use the app is accessible via the app on the Protect Scotland website.

All app users should therefore keep their phone on and with them whenever possible, with the app active on their phone at all times except in a small number of circumstances:

• If the user is a health or social care worker in a clinical setting, wearing medical grade PPE. This includes ambulance personnel
• If the user is protected by a fixed physical barrier from customers and colleagues such as a Perspex screen for most of the working day. This doesn’t apply for those who constantly move around (e.g. café workers behind tills with a screen who also move around the café)
• If the user keeps their phone in a locker or equivalent facility at work and not on their person

In these circumstances, ideally individuals should turn off their phone as that means the app will automatically continue to work when the phone is turned back on again. Alternatively users can pause the app for a nominal period of time after which the app will turn back on.

The app should NOT be switched off in the following scenarios:

• Where PPE, including visors and face coverings, is used in non-clinical settings (e.g. building sites, café’s, transport, by fire and police personnel etc.)
• In the home or vehicles (signals from adjoining properties or vehicles are unlikely to result in a contact alert)

Further supporting material for employers can be found at https://protect.scot/stakeholder-and-partners .

The Scottish Government is fully committed to a sustainable NHS which continues to deliver a consistently high quality healthcare service to the people of Scotland. NHS Scotland's staffing levels are at a record high, with 15,400 more whole time equivalent staff members working in our NHS under this Government.

We recognise the importance of continuing to work towards delivery of the principal workforce commitments set out in the Integrated Workforce Plan, though we are actively reviewing our overall approach, in light of the ongoing effects of the Covid-19 pandemic on service delivery and capacity for training and workforce development. We have committed funding allocation for 2020-21 and an indicative funding allocation for 2021-22 to increase the number of places in (i) clinical psychology, (ii) the four-year clinical physiology BSc course, (iii) pharmacy pre-registration and (iv) reporting radiology. This is detailed in the following table:

The three hubs will be based in NHS Grampian, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde and NHS Lothian with sites at Gartnavel Hospital in Glasgow, Lauriston Place in Edinburgh, and Foresterhill in Aberdeen. The Health Boards in which each hub is located will be funded to meet the costs involved.

The associated costs are indicative at this stage and will be finalised as preparations for go-live are complete. They include the cost of equipment, robotics, construction and fit-out, with ongoing running costs to be confirmed when the laboratories are operational. The indicative costs are:

Glasgow: £9.5 million

Lothian: £4.1 million

Grampian: £3.1 million

The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring information on the Covid-19 epidemic in Scotland is available to the public. On this occasion, The Scottish Government does not hold the information requested, officials continue to work with Public Health Scotland to understand what information could be made available.

To date, the Scottish Government has provided over £245 million of additional funding to support Health & Social Care Partnerships (HSCPs) in responding to additional COVID pressures in 2020-21. Details of the allocation by expenditure categories are set out in the following table:

The Scottish Government recognises the additional pressure that the pandemic and the resultant restrictions place upon individuals and families and is committed to providing clear, comprehensive and accessible support for mental health. We have invested significantly in support. This includes the provision of support to mitigate risks to health and wellbeing from the impact of isolation and loneliness.

The Scottish Government launched its Clear Your Head campaign in April 2020, alongside the NHS Inform website’s page on fostering positive wellbeing and reducing stress during the pandemic. These resources include signposting to support services and advice for individuals to maintain contact with family and friends while practising social distancing as appropriate. In addition, advice and support services were highlighted in a door drop leaflet issued to every household in Scotland.

Since the outbreak, the Scottish Government has invested over £6million in financial support to a range of mental health responses. These include:

• expanding NHS24’s Mental Health Hub to a 24/7 service;
• enhancing the Breathing Space helpline and developing and extending on-line and digital support services;
• rolling out the Distress Brief Intervention nation-wide; and
• extending digital therapies through computerised and internet-enabled Cognitive Behavioural Therapy.

On the 8th of October we published Scotland’s Mental Health Transition and Recovery Plan which outlines the Scottish Government’s full response to the mental health effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. We are now working with key stakeholders to focus on the Plan’s implementation, and will put in place comprehensive governance.

In our initial response to the pandemic, our £350 million Supporting Communities Fund directly assisted organisations providing immediate support to people and communities. This funding supported many organisations to increase the capacity of helplines, many of which offer friendship as well as advice. This includes over £870,000 invested in Age Scotland, as well as support for Hourglass and Befriending Networks Scotland.

(a) UK Governments Department of Health and Social Care are responsible for the delivery of the UK Covid 19 testing programme, and as part of this, the Glasgow Lighthouse Lab.

(b) These three large NHS labs will, go live over November and December, and provide at least 22,000 tests per day for the NHS and will be under our direct control. Initially, the regional hubs will focus on processing care home staff tests and will offer vital resilience to health boards as we head into winter. The labs will be located in space previously occupied by Scottish Blood Transfusion Service. This includes sites at Gartnavel Hospital in Glasgow, Lauriston Place in Edinburgh, and Foresterhill in Aberdeen.

While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, the Scottish Government does not maintain and hold this information in the required format and therefore does not currently have plans to publish these details. This information is individually held by Boards and may be available upon direct request.

The total cost in 2020-21 of the pay uplift is estimated to be in the region of £36 million.

I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-32584 on 9 November 2020. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx .