Seòmar agus comataidhean

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-18800 on 20 June 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 initial discovery work identified that in addition to a new national approach to Radiology Information Systems being required, there was a range of additional improvements that could be made to diagnostic services across Scotland if a more strategically consistent approach to the provision of digital technology was taken. As such, work on a standalone approach to RIS has been paused and a new Digital Diagnostics Steering Group established to explore options for future investment in national digital infrastructure to support diagnostic services within the current fiscal framework.

Official launch of the Cyber Centre of Excellence (CCoE) physical location was on 15th December 2022. The CCoE is based in Abertay University cyberQuarter.

We are further modernising and expanding our Connect Me service to all primary care settings for management of hypertension. Over 70,000 people have now been supported through Connect Me to manage their blood pressure from home in Scotland with improved outcomes. It is estimated to have prevented more than 170,000 unnecessary appointments. We expect Connect Me for hypertension management to be operational in every Health Board in Scotland by the Autumn.

Transport Scotland are undertaking an evaluation of the Young Persons’ Free Bus Travel Scheme to assess whether the scheme is working as expected in achieving its objectives and benefits, and to assess any potential impacts of the scheme on other policy aims and other modes of transport.

The Baseline Study was completed prior to the launch of the scheme and the Baseline Study report was published on Transport Scotland’s website in 2022.

Fieldwork for the 1 Year After Evaluation is currently underway. This includes an online survey for children, their families and young people. Over 7000 responses to the survey were received within the first two weeks. The final evaluation report is expected to be completed by end of summer 2023.

Bute House has an EPC rating of D.

The EPC is listed on the Scottish EPC register under 6 Charlotte Square, Edinburgh EH2 4DR. Reference Number 6810-1931-5439-2403-6002.

The Security of Network and Information Systems Regulations audit lifecycle continues to assess health boards on a yearly basis against the Public Sector Cyber Resilience framework

Working with the NHS Scotland Cyber Centre of Excellence, the Scottish Health Competent Authority are continuing to support boards in addressing any findings and gaps in their application of the NIS Regulations to mitigate the cyber threat.

This includes improvements around centralised security, monitoring, threat hunting, incident response and training & awareness. We are therefore better enabled in the achievement of security compliance across NHS Scotland, protecting people’s data and improving the resilience of critical services for patient care.

We have implemented the ability to share the Scottish Ambulance Service (SAS) electronic patient record (ePR) with General Practice. All Health Boards (with the exception of NHS Shetland) now have this in place.

Ongoing monitoring of implementation and engagement with NHS Shetland is underway to identify actions required to progress. This work is now being incorporated into the Urgent and Unscheduled Care collaborative programme.

Phase 1 of Mind to Mind is complete and offers people short videos on how people living with mental health conditions manage them and signposts to support services. We are currently scoping a second phase which is anticipated to include more diversity of lived experiences and a focus on self-help and self-care.

The Scottish Government actively promotes cyber security to reduce the risk of cyber-attacks and protect against the unauthorised exploitation of systems, networks, and technologies. This has included the creation of NHS Scotland’s Cyber Centre of Excellence (CCoE), which opened in December 2022 in Abertay Universities cyberQuarter.

Working with the CCoE, we continue to prioritise the use security capabilities of existing technologies and deployment of new security tools. This approach allows real time discovery of vulnerabilities and potential issues across a national view.

The Cyber Centre of Excellence is complimented by the Scottish Cyber Coordination Centre (SC3) which will be a key partner, enhancing our national incident response capacity and capabilities.

This is in addition to the annual NIS audit of NHS boards to ensure their current practices are up to date and that their responses reflect current best practice.