That's the end of the committee coverage. Join us again for general questions and then extensive coverage of first minister's questions.

Labour MSP Monica Lennon says the auditor general's recent report said Scotland's health is not improving and significant inequalities remain.

Read more about the watchdog's annual report here.

Ms Lennon asks how the gap can be closed.

NHS Scotland chief executive Paul Gray says he wants to stop people thinking in terms of "hard to reach", saying it is the responsibility of the NHS to reach people.

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Dr Calderwood says one of the successes in deep end practices embedded in the community.

The chief medical officer says some of the NHS messages are not getting to people.

She says: "I talk about the worried well, but more importantly the unworried unwell."

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Labour MSP Monica Lennon asks how MSPs can reassure constituents that there is a coherent plan for NHS workforce planning.

NHS Scotland chief executive Paul Gray: "We take very seriously the matter of workforce planning."

Mr Gray says: "There are cases I accept where we don't treat people as quickly as we should."

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Scotland's chief medical officer Dr Catherine Calderwood says there is a recognition of the austerity and "we have to get through the day job".

Dr Calderwood says: "We know we can prevent many of the ill health we treat."

She says: "We have more evidence about what we can do now to salvage, if you like, better health care."

"Some of this will need investment now to prevent problems in the future."

Labour MSP Monica Lennon asks Paul Gray about comments that "the outlook is really bleak".

Mr Gray says: "I recognise that there are pressures on public services, the financial pressure is high.

"The pressure is growing because of an aging population. But we are responding to that.

"I am convinced that we can continue to deliver excellent services in the NHS in Scotland, and I am equally convinced transformation is essential."

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Former health secretary Alex Neil talks about the issue of GPs emigrating to Australia a "major leakage of GPs from Scotland".

Mr Neil says: "We should be doing something to try to keep these GPs in Scotland."

Shirley Rogers from the Scottish government says: " We need to recognise the NHS operates in an international marketplace."

She says :"We need to improve the attractiveness of the workplace for everybody in the NHS, not least doctors."

Ms Rogers says NHS Grampian are actively recruiting for doctors in Australia.

SNP MSP Alex Neil says: "There are examples of excellent practice throughout the NHS.

"But, there is a real problem in getting good practice spread across the system.

"It's not that it's not happening, it's the pace."

Paul Gray replies: "It's likely down to workload. If you don't have time to do anything other than see patients than you don't have time to change anything."

In June we reported more than one in four GP practices in Scotland has a vacancy for a doctor, according to new figures obtained by the BBC.

The latest survey from the British Medical Association shows little change in the number of unfilled posts, despite a Scottish government recruitment drive launched last summer.

The crisis in GP recruitment is a problem across the UK.

With increasing workloads, fewer young doctors are choosing general practice.

SNP MSP Alex Neil asks about Harry Burns's report on waiting times.

NHS Scotland chief executive Paul Gray says he expects it to be published next week.

Mr Gray also says he expects the GP contract to be published for consultation next week.

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Sir Harry Burns has consulted NHS staff and patients to ensure targets and performance indicators are producing the best results for patients.

An initial report and recommendations was expected in spring 2017 but it sounds like next week it will be published.

Mr Burns, who stepped down as chief medical officer in 2014, said it was vital that staff felt "empowered".

The review of targets was announced by Health Secretary Shona Robison in June.

Scotland's health secretary has said she wants things to be better for nurses "as soon as possible".

Shona Robison was responding, in September, to a UK-wide survey by the Royal College of Nursing which found widespread concern over staffing levels.

More than half of the nurses questioned said they did not have enough time to give the level of care they would like.

The RCN wants a review of whether there is enough nursing staff to provide safe care to patients.

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Ms Robison said work was already under way in Scotland to address the issues raised by the survey.

The online survey included 3,000 nurses and midwives in Scotland who were asked a series of questions about their last shift at work.

Preliminary findings released in July revealed that half of respondents reported patient care was compromised on their shift due to staffing shortages.

The full survey results, external also show that 54% of nurses did not have enough time to provide the level of care they would like, while 38% did not feel satisfied with the quality of care.