Questions and answers

Question reference: S6O-03830

Asked by: Sandesh Gulhane, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 October 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 10 October 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how it plans to support the university sector during the current academic year.

Question reference: S6W-30001

Asked by: Sandesh Gulhane, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 September 2024
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 1 October 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of reported information from National Records of Scotland stating that, in the second quarter of 2024, Dumfries and Galloway had the highest stillbirth rate, perinatal death rate and extended perinatal death rate in Scotland, as well as one of the highest infant death rates and neonatal death rates in Scotland, whether it has any plans to launch an investigation into healthcare outcomes for expectant mothers and infants in Dumfries and Galloway.

The Scottish Government is committed to improving outcomes for babies and children and funds key initiatives, including the established Scottish Patient Safety Programme (SPSP) led by Healthcare Improvement Scotland. SPSP Perinatal currently supports NHS Boards to improve outcomes by reducing stillbirth, neonatal morbidity and mortality. The SPSP Paediatric Collaborative, launched in September 2023, aims to improve the recognition and response to clinical deterioration in children and young people.

The Scottish Government continue to fund and participate in UK-wide audits including Mothers and Babies: Reducing Risk through Audits and Confidential Enquiries – UK (MBRRACE-UK), which undertakes surveillance on Perinatal deaths and makes recommendations for improvement, and are considered carefully with an expectation NHS Boards will review their local data and act on emerging themes. We wrote to NHS Boards on 12 September 2024 to ensure they have taken account of the MBRRACE-UK reports and National Records of Scotland data, and to seek assurances from those with higher-than-average rates that work is underway to understand and learn from the possible factors which may have contributed to these deaths.

Since October 2021 a National Hub has been in place to review and learn from the deaths of all babies, children and young people in Scotland. Commissioned and funded by Scottish Government, the National Hub is jointly hosted by Healthcare Improvement Scotland and the Care Inspectorate. A principal aim of the National Hub is to channel the learning from child death reviews to inform change and improvement and ultimately help reduce future preventable child deaths.

NHS Dumfries and Galloway has confirmed that they are aware of the higher than usual rates within their NHS Board as published by National Records of Scotland, Births, Deaths and Other Vital Events - Quarterly Figures: Second Quarter, and have proactively been interrogating the findings to be assured that the numbers can be explained within the local context and not attributed to any shortcomings in care. It is important to note that quarterly National Records of Scotland publications data contains relatively small numbers, and the rates are subject to large percentage fluctuations.

Question reference: S6W-29972

Asked by: Sandesh Gulhane, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 17 September 2024
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 26 September 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how many people have been admitted to hospital for cold weather related illnesses in each year since 2010.

The Scottish Government does not hold information on the people admitted to hospital for cold weather related illnesses in each year since 2010.

Hospital admissions data record the diagnostic conditions patients were admitted for using the International Classification of Disease Codes version 10 (ICD-10). Cold weather related illnesses are not a defined list of conditions that can be identified through ICD-10 codes.

Some ICD-10 codes identify specific conditions which may be associated with cold weather, however these do not represent all conditions that could be considered cold weather related admissions.

Official statistics relating to emergency admissions to acute general hospitals in NHSScotland are published by Public Health Scotland annually: Acute hospital activity and NHS beds information (annual) - year ending 31 March 2024 - Acute hospital activity and NHS beds information (annual) - Publications - Public Health Scotland

These statistics will include detailed diagnosis specific information for emergency admissions, the data collection cannot attribute admissions due to prevailing cold weather per se.

Question reference: S6W-29973

Asked by: Sandesh Gulhane, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 17 September 2024
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 26 September 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how many people aged 65 and over have been admitted to hospital for cold weather related illnesses in each year since 2010.

The Scottish Government does not hold information on the people admitted to hospital for cold weather related illnesses in each year since 2010.

Hospital admissions data record the diagnostic conditions patients were admitted for using the International Classification of Disease Codes version 10 (ICD-10). Cold weather related illnesses are not a defined list of conditions that can be identified through ICD-10 codes.

Some ICD-10 codes identify specific conditions which may be associated with cold weather, however these do not represent all conditions that could be considered cold weather related admissions.

Official statistics relating to emergency admissions to acute general hospitals in NHSScotland are published by Public Health Scotland annually: Acute hospital activity and NHS beds information (annual) - year ending 31 March 2024 - Acute hospital activity and NHS beds information (annual) - Publications - Public Health Scotland

These statistics will include detailed diagnosis specific information for emergency admissions, the data collection cannot attribute admissions due to prevailing cold weather per se.

Question reference: S6W-29971

Asked by: Sandesh Gulhane, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 17 September 2024
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 26 September 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how many people aged 65 and over have been treated within the NHS for exposure to excessive natural cold in each year since 2010.

Public Health Scotland have provided some limited information regarding those who have had an inpatient hospital admission which includes a diagnosis of ‘exposure to excessive natural cold’.

Table 1 below provides information on the number of hospital admissions within NHS Scotland for people aged 65 and over treated for “natural exposure to cold weather” since 2010. The code ‘exposure to excessive natural cold’ is only captured where this has been clearly stated by a clinician and is likely an underestimation of the number of people admitted to hospital who had been exposed to excessive natural cold.

Table 1: Number of people aged 65 and over admitted to hospital and treated for natural exposure to cold weather since 2010

Calendar Year	No. of Patients 65+
2010	96
2011	49
2012	74
2013	73
2014	88
2015	79
2016	76
2017	97
2018	57
2019	56
2020	62
2021	73
2022	70
2023	65
2024*	28*

*Note that 2024 data includes the first 6 months of 2024 only.

Source: Public Health Scotland

Data completeness figures are 93% for April 2024 – June 2024, 98% for October 2023 - March 2024 and typically 99% otherwise.

Question reference: S6W-29270

Asked by: Sandesh Gulhane, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 26 August 2024
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 24 September 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-28109 by Jenni Minto on 25 June 2024, whether it has undertaken an analysis of what impact the publication of its Mental Health and Wellbeing Strategy has had on the psychological support offered to patients living with non-communicable diseases, including chronic kidney disease.

The Mental Health and Wellbeing Strategy was published in June 2023. To show how the Strategy is making a positive difference to people’s mental health, at all levels of need, it is structured around a Vision and a set of Outcomes so we can be held to account for our progress.

We published our Delivery Plan and Workforce Action Plan in November 2023. Both set out the actions we will take in order to make progress on these outcomes. This requires local and national leadership as we collectively work towards key national outcomes whilst maintaining local flexibility.

We are committed to robustly review, monitor and evaluate the Strategy, the accompanying Delivery Plan and the Workforce Action Plan to ensure we are committed to the right actions. We will shortly begin publication of regular reporting on progress towards our Strategy Delivery Plan.

Question reference: S6W-29269

Asked by: Sandesh Gulhane, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 26 August 2024
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 24 September 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-28109 by Jenni Minto on 25 June 2024, whether it plans to publish guidelines outlining best practice provision of psychological support services to patients living with non-communicable diseases, including chronic kidney disease.

The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring high-quality care for people with kidney disease, and other non-communicable diseases, expecting adherence to existing guidelines and best practice, such as the National Specification for Psychological Therapies and Interventions.

The Specification sets out how access to and the quality of psychological service delivery can be improved, and what the people of Scotland can expect.

To support the implementation of the Specification we are producing a number of ‘Once for Scotland’ guides, in collaboration with key partners. These national guides will support the delivery of psychology therapies in Scotland and promote best practice.

Question reference: S6W-29268

Asked by: Sandesh Gulhane, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 26 August 2024
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 24 September 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-28109 by Jenni Minto on 25 June 2024, what steps it has taken to assess the adherence of NHS boards to the standards outlined in the (a) National Specification for the Delivery of Psychological Therapies and Interventions and (b) Core Mental Health Quality Standards.

The Scottish Government published the National Specification for Psychological Therapies and Interventions and the Core Mental Health Standards in September 2023.

We have made a commitment to take a phased approach to implementation, to ensure the Standards and Specification would be implemented effectively in light of existing pressures across the health and social care system.

Assessment tools to assess and support adherence to the Specification and Standards were developed and piloted in spring 2024 and will be rolled out across all boards in 2024-25.

Additionally, Public Health Scotland have reviewed the publication of the Mental Health Quality Indicator Framework and will be publishing this in interactive dashboard format including new Board and HSCP level data from 26 November 2024. This will provide transparency of key access and quality indicators relevant to the Specification and Standards in one place, with the intention to expand this collection in due course.

Question reference: S6W-29696

Asked by: Sandesh Gulhane, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 09 September 2024
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 23 September 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the potential impact of introducing prescription charges for medicines on the NHS on people with (a) chronic kidney disease and (b) long-term conditions.

Question reference: S6W-29695

Asked by: Sandesh Gulhane, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 09 September 2024
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 23 September 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the article in The Times on 26 August 2024, whether it is considering introducing prescription charges for medicines on the NHS to balance its budget deficit.

There is no plan to re-introduce prescription charges in Scotland. Prescription charges were abolished in April 2011 because Scottish Ministers believed that they were a tax on ill health and a barrier to good health for many people. This was particularly so for those with long-term conditions and those on a low income who in the past faced choices about which medicines they could afford. The introduction of free prescriptions has been fully funded by the Scottish Government, at no cost to NHS budgets.

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