- Asked by: Paul O'Kane, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 11 February 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Humza Yousaf on 1 March 2022
To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to support patients to access GP services in Inverclyde.
Answer
The Scottish Government is providing funding of £30 million to support GP practices in Inverclyde and the rest of Scotland to continue providing a high level of care to patients through this winter and into the next financial year.
The funding will help with the provision of existing GP services, including:
- supporting more face-to-face appointments
- extra GP sessions, practice nurse time and non-core hours covering all appointments
- more administrative time and practice manager time
- organised cover for reflection, learning and innovation
- external GP locum sessions
The Scottish Government has also allocated £155 million this year to health boards to expand teams within GP practices including increased:
- pharmacy support for repeat prescriptions and medication reviews
- nursing support for routine tests and wound treatment
- access to physiotherapy services
£2.5 million has been allocated to Inverclyde Health and Social Care Partnership from this fund. These measures will ensure patients can see the right healthcare expert at the right time while giving GPs more time with patients most in need of their skills and allowing doctors to focus on complex diagnosis, such as suspected cancer cases.
- Asked by: Paul O'Kane, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 28 February 2022
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Current Status:
Taken in the Chamber on 3 March 2022
To ask the First Minister what urgent steps will be taken to address lung disease in Scotland, in light of the reported comments of Asthma + Lung UK Scotland that “the state of lung health in Scotland is shameful, with over 7,000 people dying a year".
Answer
Taken in the Chamber on 3 March 2022
- Asked by: Paul O'Kane, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 11 February 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Humza Yousaf on 28 February 2022
To ask the Scottish Government what capital investment plans are in place for the delivery of new health and social care centres in Gourock and Port Glasgow.
Answer
The Scottish Government does not create investment plans for specific healthcare facilities in particular health board areas. The creation and implementation of such plans is properly the role of the local health board, in this case NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde. The Scottish Government's NHS Capital Investment Group meets on a monthly basis to consider investment proposals submitted by health boards. The Scottish Government understands that Port Glasgow Health Centre is one of NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde's priorities for investment in community infrastructure. However, no proposals have been submitted to the Scottish Government to date. We will review any proposals which are submitted in due course. The member may wish to seek further information directly from NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde as regards its plans for the delivery of healthcare facilities in Gourock and Port Glasgow.
- Asked by: Paul O'Kane, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 08 February 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Maree Todd on 28 February 2022
To ask the Scottish Government what consideration it has given to installing defibrillators in all schools.
Answer
Decisions on whether to install defibrillators in schools are a matter for Local Authorities to consider at the local level.
Scottish Government recognises the important role of defibrillators in the chain of survival from Out of Hospital Cardiac Arrest (OHCA). We are a key partner in the Save a Life for Scotland (SALFS) partnership, which published an updated strategy in March 2021: Out of hospital cardiac arrest: strategy 2021 to 2026 - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) . This includes the aim of increasing the percentage of OHCAs which have a defibrillator applied before the arrival of ambulance service from 8% to 20%.
To achieve this, the strategy’s focus is to ensure that defibrillators are publicly accessible, are registered with the Scottish Ambulance Service (SAS) so they can be directed to in instances of OHCA, and that people feel empowered to use them. The strategy identifies a number of actions to take in order to achieve these goals.
It is important to support evidence based placement of defibrillators in areas where OHCAs are most likely to occur. To support the OHCA strategy, the Resuscitation Research Group at Edinburgh University are working to develop a tool to show where defibrillators are most likely to be required in order to support organisations and communities with optimal placement.
- Asked by: Paul O'Kane, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 10 February 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Maree Todd on 28 February 2022
To ask the Scottish Government when the (a) Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care and (b) Minister for Public Health, Women’s Health and Sport last met the (i) Chair and (ii) Lead Clinician of the National Advisory Committee responsible for overseeing the implementation of the Respiratory Care Action Plan.
Answer
The Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care has not met with the Chair or Lead Clinician of the Scottish Respiratory Advisory Committee.
Respiratory policy falls under the portfolio remit of Ms Maree Todd MSP, Minister for Public Health, Women's Health & Sport. The Minister has not met with the Chair or Lead Clinician of the Scottish Respiratory Advisory Committee.
However, officials meet regularly with the Lead Clinician of the Scottish Respiratory Advisory Committee to discuss the implementation of the Respiratory Care Action Plan for Scotland.
- Asked by: Paul O'Kane, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 08 February 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Maree Todd on 28 February 2022
To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to increase CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation) training in schools.
Answer
Scottish Government is a key partner in the Save a Life for Scotland (SALFS) partnership. Since 2015, the SALFS has equipped more than 640,000 people in Scotland with CPR skills. Over the same time period the rate of people surviving an Out of Hospital Cardiac Arrest in Scotland has increased from one in 20 to one in 10.
In March 2021, the partnership published an updated strategy, which can be found at: Out of hospital cardiac arrest: strategy 2021 to 2026 - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) .
Within this, there is a clear commitment to working closely with Local Authorities to ensure that all school aged children have the opportunity to learn CPR. SALFS partners continue to work collaboratively to implement the strategy.
- Asked by: Paul O'Kane, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 07 February 2022
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Current Status:
Taken in the Chamber on 8 February 2022
To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the recent National Records of Scotland report, Healthy Life Expectancy in Scotland, showing that healthy life expectancy has decreased in each of the last four years for females, and in each of the last three years for males.
Answer
Taken in the Chamber on 8 February 2022
- Asked by: Paul O'Kane, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 January 2022
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Current Status:
Taken in the Chamber on 3 February 2022
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will consider a complete ban on fox hunting.
Answer
Taken in the Chamber on 3 February 2022
- Asked by: Paul O'Kane, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 December 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Humza Yousaf on 23 December 2021
To ask the Scottish Government whether NHS boards require pregnant medical staff to work in settings where there are patients with COVID-19.
Answer
The Department for Health and Social Care guidance for pregnant women in the workplace, covers NHS staff in all settings in Scotland and we have taken steps to ensure it is applied. The guidance clearly states that all pregnant staff must have a workplace risk assessment and can only continue working if the risk assessment says, it is safe for them to do so.
If a risk is identified employers must adjust their working conditions to remove the risk or offer alternative work on the same terms and conditions. If this is not possible then the member of staff will be asked not to attend work, but will continue to be paid as if at work. This ensures there is no detriment to NHS staff.
We continue to promote the use of risk assessments across Health and Social Care and on an individual, case by case basis.
- Asked by: Paul O'Kane, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 06 December 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Kevin Stewart on 20 December 2021
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will develop a stand-alone and cross-cutting strategy for unpaid carers that will incorporate COVID-19 recovery and social care winter planning.
Answer
We recognise the incredible contribution that Scotland’s unpaid carers make to our communities and know that the pandemic has added significant additional pressures. We are committed to giving a strong voice to unpaid carers, listening to their needs and acting on what they tell us.
We will develop and publish a stand-alone Carers Strategy with a focus on COVID-19 recovery and improving carer support in a meaningful and sustainable way. The strategy will focus on carers and their needs, setting out how policies across the Scottish Government can work together with other public bodies to support carers as we recover from the pandemic and beyond.
We will engage with unpaid carers about the strategy’s scope and purpose in the coming months, and this will inform its development. Our approach to the development of the strategy will be both a collaborative and an iterative one which will draw on the knowledge and lived experience of unpaid carers so that the strategy is shaped by those who best understand the many challenges faced. We will seek to publish the strategy as soon as possible to provide a clear vision for how we will respond to the challenges faced by so many carers.
