 The next item of business is topical questions. In order to get in as many people as possible, I would prefer short and succinct questions and answers to match. Question number one, I call Stephen Kerr. Thank you, Presiding Officer. To ask the Scottish Government what support it is giving to NHS boards that are under pressure. Cabinet Secretary, Humza Yousaf. As members will be aware, the health and care system is under extreme pressure due to the pandemic, and all health boards are experiencing significant issues, including workforce challenges and high levels of delayed discharge. As members will know, we've invested an additional £300 million, a package of measures to support health and social care services over the course of the winter period. Over and above that, and to maximise capacity during winter, we've invested £10 million in two new specialist programmes that aim to provide alternative submission, and that process is a right to ensure a timely discharge. I begin by paying tribute to everyone who is working on the front line in our NHS, but I was really hoping that we might get more about the measures that the Government is taking to give immediate practical support to the health boards and our front line NHS staff and our care staff indeed. The winter plan should be about practical support, not press releases. How many people are waiting for a care package to be discharged from hospital, and what is the longest time that people have been waiting to be discharged? I'll get him the exact figures for giving me, I don't have them to the top of my hand, but he's right to focus on the issue of delayed discharge. That is where that £300 million of investment is, and it isn't just press releases, and I think that he would know that. It is, of course, practical action, and what we're looking to do through that practical action is, for example, recruit a thousand band two to fours. Those individuals will help us for those who are waiting for care at home. What we're also looking to do is fund care home placements—internum care home placements—so, again, where those individuals who are clinically safe to discharge will be discharged. I meet health boards on a very regular basis. They've got a range of meetings this afternoon, tomorrow afternoon, with those health boards that have the highest numbers of delayed discharges. I can promise him that that practical action is what I hope is making a difference, and it's maybe why, although figures are nowhere near where we would like them to be, it's maybe why, for the last three weeks, we've seen an improvement in any performance. With the grace of respect to the cabinet secretary, those numbers should be at the front of his mind, because he's absolutely right to identify that as a critical challenge facing our NHS. The fact that he doesn't know those numbers is deeply disappointing. The Government has been talking for weeks about the approaching crisis, and what we are listening to now, Presiding Officer, is simply the product of an SNP neglect of our NHS and care system. It seems that the cabinet secretary is asleep at the wheel and he needs to get a grip. If I may ask him yesterday, the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow offered the cabinet secretary realistic solutions to workforce planning. Professor Jackie Taylor said that it's no secret that Covid-19 has placed unrelenting pressures on an already fractured healthcare system. However, those challenges existed long before the pandemic. Staff shortages and excessive workloads are nothing new. The workforce is in crisis and the urgency in the need to address this cannot be overstated. Does the cabinet secretary disagree with Professor Taylor? I have a good relationship with Professor Taylor, and I look forward to meeting her again. Of course, I will continue to engage with Royal Colleges. I don't disagree that there was challenges pre-pandemic. It would be absurd or foolish for anybody to suggest, and I certainly have never suggested, First Minister, or indeed this Government has never suggested that there haven't been issues pre-pandemic. It would also be equally absurd, I suspect, for anybody to suggest that the biggest shock that our NHS has ever faced in its 73-year history is that it does not have a bearing on the outcome as we see today. He asked me for a very specific figure. Of course, I know the number of standard delays, there are 1,500 standard delays. He asked me for a very specific figure of those who are waiting—I think—a care home package or waiting to be assessed, so I will give him that exact figure. If he wants it broken down by health board, I will do my best to give him that figure in detail, too. However, I do not accept his characterisation in relation to this Government's action on the NHS. We have the highest staffing numbers ever in the history of the NHS under this Government, nine years of consecutive growth, record investment and the highest single pay deal ever for NHS staff. They are the best-paid staff in any part of the UK. Although I want the statistics to be higher—that is what we are working hard on—we still have the best-performing NHS—and that has been the case for six years in a row. I understand that various schemes have been put in place to provide support to NHS staff who are working incredibly hard in the face of the pressure caused by the pandemic. Does the cabinet secretary agree with NHS Lanarkshire staff that Covid is still with us and that the best thing that we all can do to support our healthcare workers and protect the NHS is to get vaccinated? To staff across the NHS and across the country for their incredible efforts during the pandemic, they have been nothing short of herculean. However, Collette Stevenson is absolutely right that the best thing that we can do in order to help our NHS and protect our NHS is to get vaccinated. We know the protection that the vaccine offers. We should make sure that we rigorously follow those baseline mitigation measures, such as wearing face coverings in appropriate settings unless you are exempt. We should test ourselves regularly, practice good hygiene, and all those measures can help us to get Covid more under control, as we know that the numbers that we are dealing with at the moment are far too high. If we do all that, that can help to alleviate the pressure on our NHS and help those who are working so courageously and tirelessly in our NHS. I asked the cabinet secretary last week about the cancellation of surgeries, particularly cancer surgeries, as NHS boards struggle under immense pressure. The cabinet secretary pointed to the challenges of the pandemic, but we know that waiting lists have been growing for years. Indeed, elective surgery is also a concern, and people are struggling in pain for long periods of time. What is the cabinet secretary doing to support NHS boards to enable surgery to recommence and that we want practical measures such as increasing bed capacity and the listening to the recommendations of the royal colleges? Of course, we will listen to the royal colleges. Just on cancer performance, it is worth saying that, for the quarter ending June 2021, 97.9 per cent of cancer patients start a treatment within 31 days of decision to treat that 31-day target. We know that it is more challenging for that 60-day target. That is why a lot of our investment goes into the diagnostic piece. That is why I was pleased that the Government has invested in three early cancer diagnostic centres in various different health boards across the country. We will evaluate them if they are going well, giving us the results that we expect to see. We will consider rolling them out further. On more practical support, I have already referenced the fact that we are recruiting more staff to the NHS, and we will continue to do that. We have immediate pressures, but I think that Paul O'Kane is right to mention the fact that there are also long-term pressures in terms of recovery, and that is why we have a recovery plan backed by a billion pounds of investment. I have concerns about the booster roll-out in NHS Lanarkshire. There are reportedly nearly 5,000 housebound people in the health board area who are waiting for their boosters. I have also been contacted by constituents who are housebound but have not been registered as such, so I have been given appointments at vaccination centres, which they cannot possibly attend. Will the cabinet secretary look into the matter, and if there is any further support that can be provided to NHS Lanarkshire to help to work through the backlog? Yes, I will look at any information and details that Gilliam Mackay provides of particular constituents, but in the general point, I will raise that. I spoke to NHS Lanarkshire, both the chief executive and the chair, yesterday. We touched on quite a bit of detail on the autumn-winter vaccination programme, and they referenced the fact that they were looking to increase the number of doses administered over the festive period. However, if there are very specific individual constituency cases that she wishes me to look at, of course I will do that. To ask the Scottish Government how many schools are currently shut due to staff shortages resulting from Covid-19 cases. We receive daily management information from local authorities that provides their intelligence of which schools in their area are closed due to Covid reasons or are at the risk of closure. For example, last week local authorities informed us of a total of four schools across Scotland who were closed at some stage. As of yesterday, that reporting indicated that one school was closed. That management information does not, however, include a detailed breakdown of the reasons for a school closure, and the responsibility for such decisions sits with local authorities. We know that all parts of the system have been stretched as they have responded to the pressures of the pandemic. For that reason, we have already committed £240 million to supporting local authorities to recruit additional teachers and staff to deploy more support to their schools, children and families. The investment has supported the appointment of an additional 2,200 teachers and more than 500 support staff in schools across Scotland. I thank the cabinet secretary for that. Indeed, the cabinet secretary has confirmed just now that 2,200 new teachers have been recruited, but we are also in a period of teacher shortage with cases rising and normal winter illness rates just about to hit. That is causing schools having to close to year groups and worse. How will the Scottish Government mitigate the number of teachers who are absent? We appreciate that there are operational challenges for many schools as they continue to deal with the challenges that Covid does prevent them. Those are discussed at the educational recovery group every time that meets them. We take that as a Government. We take that very seriously. Schools can take decisions to close a year group, for example, if that is the right response in their eyes to the operational challenges that they have. I should point out that, when we are looking at the number of new positive cases when it comes to pupils, we are seeing, for example, just under 50 per cent of schools not having any cases being reported when we look at what is happening between P1, P7, S1 and S4. For example, 17 per cent have only one case. There are very few that have a multitude of cases or what might be classed as an outbreak. We absolutely look very seriously at what needs to be done to support teachers. I have discussed some of the national issues in my original answer, and we keep very closely up-to-date with local authorities and trade unions to ensure that there is anything more that can be done. We are happy to do so. Martin Whitfield I am very grateful. Scottish Labour and those benches have been highlighting about the need for proper ventilation in schools for over a year now. Yet the Scottish Government still does not know how many classrooms failed at the inspection. Children are again this winter being advised to wear coats and gloves while windows are open. What is the Scottish Government going to do to improve the environment in pupils' classrooms and teachers' and classroom assistants and others' place of work? The member will be aware that the Scottish Government has provided £90 million in the early days of the pandemic to support schools in a variety of issues, and that included support for ventilation. That was followed by another £10 million to support schools to ensure that all local authorities undertook monitoring of the teaching areas within their schools. That is being completed, and local authorities are responsible for dealing with maintenance issues that have come to light from that. I stress that what has come to light in those has been minor issues in the main, but we keep very close contact with local authorities to ensure that work is being undertaken and continues to be undertaken where necessary. Natural ventilation will play an important part of that. That is not the Scottish Government deciding that, but it is very much looking at the expert advice that is coming in specifically to deal with ventilation. However, we will continue to ensure that we keep a close eye on that to support schools with the on-going monitoring that we will need over the winter months. I share Martin Whitfield's concerns about the impact, albeit temporary, of recent classroom closures and note the return of home-based learning at Ross High in Trinent and for nine classes at Preston Tower primary school in East Lothian. Pupils in S4, S5 and S6 are set to sit crucial exams next year, and despite the heroic efforts of teachers, Scotland young people have already seen their learning negatively affected by lockdowns. Will the minister commit to tackling on-going teacher shortages? What will the Government do to support councils to assist schools such as Ross High, which might be subject to disruption or class closure due to Covid and the SNP's teacher shortages? I referred to my original answer to the additional 2,200 teachers and 500 support staff that the Scottish Government is already providing the financial support to local authorities for and that will be paying dividends across the country. We absolutely do recognise that there will still be challenges in terms of either pupil or teacher absences, and that is exactly why the SQA announced before the summer modifications to the national qualifications for 2022 and is continuing to investigate the modifications that may have to be put in place if there was significantly more disruption than we saw last year. We are not at that stage. Clearly, those discussions do not just happen within the SQA or within Government, but with our stakeholders to ensure that stakeholders, particularly including young people, but parents and teachers are part of the process of ensuring that young people can be reassured that they will have a credible qualifications process next year and that the Government and the SQA will support them through that.