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Questions and answers

Parliamentary questions can be asked by any MSP to the Scottish Government or the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body. The questions provide a means for MSPs to get factual and statistical information.

Written questions must be answered within 10 working days (20 working days during recess)
Other questions such as Topical, Portfolio, General and First Minister's Question Times are taken in the Chamber

Urgent Questions aren't included in the Question and Answers search. There is a SPICe fact sheet listing Urgent and emergency questions.

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Question reference: S6W-25371

Asked by: Carol Mochan, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 08 February 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 26 February 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how many actions it set out in its Women's Health Plan 2021-24, and what its position is on how many of those actions it has achieved to date.

Question reference: S6W-25372

Asked by: Carol Mochan, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 08 February 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 26 February 2024

To ask the Scottish Government when the First Minister last met formally with the Women's Health Champion.

Question reference: S6W-25366

Asked by: Carol Mochan, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 08 February 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 26 February 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how much resource services related to abortion provision and care will receive in the 2024-25 Budget, and how this compares to the previous five financial years.

Question reference: S6W-25370

Asked by: Carol Mochan, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 08 February 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 26 February 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on what progress has been made towards the improvement of (a) abortion services in Scotland, in particular the provision of abortions after 20 weeks of gestation and (b) the training of abortion providers.

The Scottish Government is committed to improving access to abortion services, underpinned by aims outlined in the Women’s Health Plan. Progress has been made in particular by updating Scottish Abortion Care Providers guidance on early medical abortions in Scotland to take account of the recommendations of the March 2023 evaluation of early medical abortion at home .

One of the actions in the Women’s Health plan is working with NHS Boards to enable all women having later stage abortions to be treated in Scotland.

The Scottish Government commissioned National Services Scotland (NSS) to develop a specification to deliver abortions between 20-24 weeks gestation, for all indications, within Scotland. This options paper was discussed at the National Planning and Delivery Board.

To enable a decision on the most feasible way of delivering this, it was agreed that a short life working group should work with key groups of staff in Health Boards and bring back recommendations to the Planning and Delivery Board. Once proposals for a service model have been agreed by that Board any staff training requirements will be considered as part of that.

Question reference: S6W-25369

Asked by: Carol Mochan, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 08 February 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 26 February 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what resources have been allocated to its review of abortion law.

Question reference: S6W-25368

Asked by: Carol Mochan, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 08 February 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 26 February 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on what progress has been made towards fulfilling its Programme for Government 2023-24 commitment to undertake a review of abortion law to identify potential proposals for reforms.

The review on abortion law will begin once the Scottish Parliament has considered the Abortion Services (Safe Access Zones) (Scotland) Bill.

In the meantime, the Scottish Government is working towards convening an expert group, which the Women’s Health Champion, Professor Anna Glasier, has agreed to chair. The Scottish Government is also starting discussions with other stakeholders who are likely to advise the expert group on particular topics. The expert group will be asked to set out options and any recommendations for reforms. These recommendations, along with other stakeholder input, will be considered by Ministers before setting out any proposals for potential reform.

Question reference: S6O-03143

Asked by: Carol Mochan, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 21 February 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 29 February 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the potential impact that any mass delay of NHS capital projects would have on patient and staff safety.

Question reference: S6W-25192

Asked by: Carol Mochan, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 02 February 2024
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 20 February 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what changes are anticipated to the NHS Education for Scotland (NES) provision of training for healthcare professionals as a result of the Scottish Budget 2024-25.

The 2024-25 Scottish Budget will provide an uplift of over half a billion, bringing the budget for NHS Boards to over £14.2 billion, of which NES will receive £550.2 million. Health boards are responsible for ensuring best use of available resources to support delivery of services and strategic objectives.

NES plays a critical role in supporting the education, training and wider development of the NHS Scotland workforce, and in particular the medical workforce where target training numbers have already been confirmed for 2024-25. As part of this, the Board is actively contributing to a number of wider policy developments as set out in Programme for Government, the NHS Recovery Plan and the National workforce Strategy. The Scottish Government remains committed to delivering the National Workforce Strategy and achieving the overall vision for “A sustainable, skilled workforce with attractive career choices and fair work where all are respected and valued for the work they do”.

Question reference: S6W-25203

Asked by: Carol Mochan, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 02 February 2024
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 20 February 2024

To ask the Scottish Government when it last met any GP professional bodies to discuss the recruitment and retention of GPs in rural areas.

The Scottish Government has regular meetings on a wide range of issues related to General Practitioners (GPs) with the British Medical (BMA) Association and the Scottish Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP Scotland) as representative bodies of GPs.

In June 2023 the Scottish Government convened a working group of key stakeholders including the BMA, RCGP and the Rural General Practitioner Association of Scotland, to make recommendations to improve the retention of GPs in all regions of Scotland, including rural areas. An implementation plan based on these recommendations will be published in Spring this year.

The Scottish Government is also a standing member of the RCGP (Scotland) Recruitment and Retention Advisory Group which meets regularly. In addition, the National Centre for Remote and Rural Health and Care launched in October 2023 and is designed to improve primary care and community services and support the improvement and retention of a more highly skilled rural health workforce.

Question reference: S6W-25202

Asked by: Carol Mochan, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 02 February 2024
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 20 February 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether it is on track to meet its target of recruiting an additional 800 GPs by 2027.

The Scottish Government remains fully committed to increasing the number of GPs in Scotland. This includes ongoing work on the ambition of increasing GPs by 800, in headcount terms, by 2027 alongside looking at trends of Whole-Time Equivalent GP capacity in the service, which is also crucial. Despite the Covid-19 pandemic, progress is being made with GP headcount having increased by 271 since 2017 and 5,168 GPs now working in Scotland.

Training new GPs is key to our approach, and this takes time. We have expanded GP Specialty Training, adding 35 places this academic year and a further 35 places next year. As a result, there are currently, just over 1200 trainee GPs in Scotland. Recruitment into General Practice continues to perform well, with 100% of posts filled as of July 2023, with end-year results to be published shortly.

To help retain more GPs within the workforce, in June 2023 the Scottish Government convened a working group made up of key stakeholders including the BMA, RCGP and the Rural General Practitioner Association of Scotland, to make recommendations to improve the retention of GPs in all regions of Scotland. An implementation plan based on these recommendations will be published in Spring this year.