- Asked by: Sandesh Gulhane, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
-
Date lodged: Monday, 08 November 2021
Submitting member has a registered interest.
-
Current Status:
Answered by Maree Todd on 15 November 2021
To ask the Scottish Government what the average waiting time for breastfeeding support services was in each month between March 2019 and September 2021.
Answer
The Scottish Government recognises the positive health benefits of breastfeeding for mothers and babies and expects breastfeeding support to be available to mothers whenever this is required, particularly in the early days and weeks of a baby’s life.
Information on local breastfeeding services is not held centrally. It is for each NHS Board to plan services to meet the needs of its population including how best to utilise funding, facilities and staff to deliver these services.
We provide £2.3m per year to support the 2011 Maternal and Infant Nutrition Framework Action Plan which includes breastfeeding support, and have provided more than £6m over the past four years to NHS Boards and third sector partners to improve the quality of breastfeeding support.
- Asked by: Sandesh Gulhane, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
-
Date lodged: Monday, 08 November 2021
Submitting member has a registered interest.
-
Current Status:
Answered by Maree Todd on 15 November 2021
To ask the Scottish Government whether face-to-face breastfeeding support services are available to all women who request them.
Answer
Scotland was the first country in the UK to achieve 100% Unicef UK Baby Friendly Initiative accreditation in Maternity and Community and Neonatal services. Scottish Government has invested in the Baby Friendly Initiative (BFI) across NHS Scotland to provide support planning for sustainability. This initiative includes best practice standards for health professionals and services to support women to successfully establish and continue breastfeeding.
We have also provided more than £800k funding to our Third Sector partners over the past three years. This investment is being used to develop their breastfeeding peer support programmes as part of a tiered service of support, including face-to-face contacts.
It is for each NHS Board to plan services to meet the needs of its population including how best to utilise funding, facilities and staff to deliver these services.
- Asked by: Sandesh Gulhane, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
-
Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 November 2021
Submitting member has a registered interest.
-
Current Status:
Taken in the Chamber on 17 November 2021
To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the reported findings in The Lancet that having two doses of a vaccine does not prevent the transmission of COVID-19, and how this may impact its COVID passport scheme.
Answer
Taken in the Chamber on 17 November 2021
- Asked by: Sandesh Gulhane, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
-
Date lodged: Wednesday, 06 October 2021
Submitting member has a registered interest.
-
Current Status:
Answered by Humza Yousaf on 8 November 2021
To ask the Scottish Government, in the light of the commitment in its Programme for Government to invest in genetic labs and frontline genetics services, what level of investment will be made, and over what time period.
Answer
The level of future funding associated with this Programme for Government commitment will not be confirmed until publication of the Scottish Government multi-year spending review, currently expected to be spring of 2022. The Scottish Budget for 2022/23 will be published on 9 December.
However, the Scottish Government has already committed £2.3 million of funding for genomic medicine for 2021–2022. The funding for 2021-2022 will support the extension of ‘The Bridge to a Scottish Strategy for Genomics Strategy’ which increases laboratory capacity and frontline genetic services for rare and inherited disease.
The Scottish Genomics Leadership Group, jointly chaired by Professor David Crossman, Chief Scientist for Health for the Scottish Government, and Susan Buchanan, Director for NHS National Services Division, are our expert group in genomic medicine and are providing advice to the Scottish Government to plan our long-term agenda for genomic medicine in Scotland.
- Asked by: Sandesh Gulhane, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
-
Date lodged: Wednesday, 13 October 2021
Submitting member has a registered interest.
-
Current Status:
Answered by Maree Todd on 29 October 2021
To ask the Scottish Government what action it will take, and within what timescale, to ensure that NICE guidelines for patients with cerebral palsy are fully implemented to ensure that everyone with the condition has access to a review by a cerebral palsy specialist once a year.
Answer
We are committed to ensuring that all people living in Scotland with Cerebral Palsy are able to access the best possible care and support, and benefit from services that are safe, effective and put the person at the centre of their care.
Over the next five years the Scottish Government will invest £4.5 million of funding to implement the aims and commitments of the Neurological Care and Support – a National Framework for Action . These aims include improving the provision of co-ordinated health and social care and support for people with neurological conditions to live on their own terms. Through the Framework, we have supported a number of projects that provide support to patients in order to improve access to services, including cerebral palsy.
NHS Boards are expected to ensure that patients, including those who require cerebral palsy services, have access to a range of professionals to provide the appropriate management of their condition. We would further expect clinicians to have good awareness of guidance relevant to their practice area and apply these taking account of individual circumstances and discussions with the patient, including considering regular reviews for people with cerebral palsy, tailored to their needs and preferences.
We will continue to work with NHS, third sector partners and people with Cerebral Palsy to drive up standards of care.
- Asked by: Sandesh Gulhane, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
-
Date lodged: Wednesday, 27 October 2021
Submitting member has a registered interest.
-
Current Status:
Taken in the Chamber on 3 November 2021
To ask the Scottish Government what measures it has put in place to ensure that COVID-19 vaccine trial volunteers have the same access to public events and travel as other people.
Answer
Taken in the Chamber on 3 November 2021
- Asked by: Sandesh Gulhane, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
-
Date lodged: Wednesday, 06 October 2021
Submitting member has a registered interest.
-
Current Status:
Answered by Humza Yousaf on 27 October 2021
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the comments in its Programme for Government regarding the increased demand for genetic and molecular diagnostic testing linked to new advanced medicines, what steps NHS Scotland is taking to identify as early as possible the required tests for any medicine being considered by the Scottish Medicines Consortium (SMC), in order to prevent any delay between the SMC accepting a medicine and it being available to patients.
Answer
The Scottish Medicines Consortium (SMC) liaises closely with colleagues from National Services Division (NSD) in NHS National Services Scotland (NSS) to share intelligence on emerging new medicines that may require a companion diagnostic test. NSD has commissioning responsibility for the Scottish Genetic Laboratories and is currently conducting a review of NHS Scotland genomics services which includes the Scottish genomic test directory and genomics infrastructure. The review is expected to be complete by the end of March 2022.
The SMC also provides early horizon scanning reports to the Molecular Pathology Evaluation Panel on medicines in clinical development and shares information on the anticipated timelines for these medicines to be granted a marketing authorisation and then be assessed by the SMC. The SMC horizon scanning reports are also supporting ongoing work with NSD, the Scottish Genomics Leadership Group and the Scottish Genetics Laboratory Consortium to understand the laboratory capacity requirements for current and future medicines requiring a companion diagnostic test.
- Asked by: Sandesh Gulhane, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
-
Date lodged: Wednesday, 06 October 2021
Submitting member has a registered interest.
-
Current Status:
Answered by Humza Yousaf on 27 October 2021
To ask the Scottish Government which genomic tests that are commissioned by the NHS in England and listed in the NHS England Genomic Test Directory are not currently available in NHS Scotland, and what the timeline is for these tests to be available to NHS Scotland patients.
Answer
The National Services Division (NSD) in NHS National Services Scotland (NSS) have commissioning responsibility for the Scottish Genetic Laboratories. NSD are currently conducting a review of NHS Scotland’s genomics services which includes reviewing the Scottish genomic test directory and genomics infrastructure. The review is expected to be completed by the end of the 2021-2022 financial year.
The outcomes from the review will be considered by the Scottish Genomics Leadership Group, chaired jointly by Professor David Crossman, Chief Scientist for Health for the Scottish Government, and Susan Buchanan, NSD Director. This Group are supporting the Scottish Government in ensuring appropriate planning and robust decision-making processes are in place for genetic testing availability in Scotland.
Should the review highlight an inequity of access for Scottish patients for specific genetic tests, NSD will work with the Scottish Genomics Leadership Group to resolve the matter as soon as possible.
- Asked by: Sandesh Gulhane, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
-
Date lodged: Wednesday, 06 October 2021
Submitting member has a registered interest.
-
Current Status:
Answered by Humza Yousaf on 27 October 2021
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the commitment in its Programme for Government to invest in genetic labs and frontline genetics services, what process it will undertake to establish what new tests should be made available in Scotland.
Answer
The National Services Division (NSD) in NHS National Services Scotland (NSS) have commissioning responsibility for the Scottish Genetic Laboratories. NSD are currently conducting a review of NHS Scotland’s genomics services which will include reviewing the Scottish genomic test directory and genomics infrastructure. The review is expected to be completed by the end of the 2021–2022 financial year.
The outcomes from the review will be considered by the Scottish Genomics Leadership Group, chaired jointly by Professor David Crossman, the Chief Scientist for Health for the Scottish Government, and Susan Buchanan, NSD Director, who are supporting the Scottish Government in ensuring appropriate planning and robust decision-making processes are in place for genetic testing availability in Scotland.
- Asked by: Sandesh Gulhane, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
-
Date lodged: Wednesday, 06 October 2021
Submitting member has a registered interest.
-
Current Status:
Answered by Humza Yousaf on 27 October 2021
To ask the Scottish Government which genomic tests that identify companion biomarkers for access to medicines accepted by the Scottish Medicines Consortium are not currently available in NHS Scotland, and what the timeline is for these tests to be available to NHS Scotland patients.
Answer
The National Services Division (NSD) in NHS National Services Scotland (NSS) have commissioning responsibility for the Scottish Genetic Laboratories. NSD are currently conducting a review of NHS Scotland’s genomic services which includes a review of the Scottish genomic test directory and genomics infrastructure. The review is expected to be completed by the end of the 2021-2022 financial year.
The outcomes from the review will be considered by the Scottish Genomics Leadership Group (SGLG), chaired jointly by Professor David Crossman, Chief Scientist for Health for the Scottish Government, and Susan Buchanan, NSD Director, who are supporting the Scottish Government in ensuring appropriate planning and robust decision-making processes are in place for genetic testing availability in Scotland.
In addition, the SGLG and NSD are working closely with the Scottish Genetics Laboratory Consortium and the Scottish Medicines Consortium to understand the laboratory capacity requirements for current and future medicines requiring a companion diagnostic test.
