Around 200 workers at NHS Scotland are facing redundancy and watched a presentation on claiming benefits at the same time Nicola Sturgeon answered questions on health system pressures.

The move comes despite pledges by the Scottish Government to increase the number of staff working at NHS24.

Staff at the National Contact Centre were at the heart of Scotland’s emergency response to Covid-19 by tracing contacts and have been central to the vaccination programmes of the last couple of years.

However, as Nicola Sturgeon told journalists of her plans to increase the number of care home beds available to reduce delayed discharge and of an increased recruitment drive, call centre workers were being advised on how to claim benefits and use jobcentres.

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The town hall meeting had been scheduled for the first working Monday of the year and included a full presentation from the Department of Work and Pensions.

This included advice on what support is available to those soon to be unemployed and how to access it, it is understood.

In total, the equivalent of 178 full-time staff are set to lose their jobs with many undertaking compulsory redundancy.

Many of those working at the National Contact Centre are part-time so the number of individuals impacted is likely to be higher.

The job cuts come after the Scottish Government announced savings worth £116m from Covid-19-related spending as part of its emergency budget review.

This included £48.6m connected to Test and Protect, with freedom of information disclosures revealing it also included a reduction in the opening hours of the National Contact Centre.

A further £26.3m is being cut from the vaccinations budget due to the reduction in the cost of external venue hire and in the high-cost workforce required to administer vaccines.

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Martin Morrison, operations director of the NHS Scotland National Contact Centre, said a “number of fixed-term contracts” are set to end, with “many” moving to other roles within the NHS.

He said: “The NCC is now fully focused on supporting national vaccination programmes.

"The level of resource now required is significantly less than was needed to help the NCC successfully support the COVID-19 emergency response.

“As a result, a number of fixed-term contracts will end and redundancies will be necessary within the NCC workforce.

"This will reduce the core staff from 240 WTE to 62 WTE.

“NHS National Services Scotland (NSS) has worked extensively over the past eight months to support impacted colleagues.

"We have helped many move to other roles within NSS, across NHS Scotland and outwith the NHS.

"It is likely that supported NCC colleagues have found employment with NHS24 but we cannot confirm numbers.”