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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.

Find out more about parliamentary questions

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Question reference: S6W-15451

Asked by: Sue Webber, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 15 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to support NHS Scotland to train new lung cancer nurse specialists to support the reported increasing number of lung cancer patients living five years or more following diagnosis.

The Scottish Government is committed to training Clinical Nurse Specialists. The Specialist Nursing and Care Report details how health boards have used the £2.5 million recurring funding announced in 2015 to enhance clinical nurse specialist in NHS Scotland.

We set out in Transforming Nursing, Midwifery And Health Profession (NMaHP) roles: review of Clinical Nurse Specialist and Nurse Practitioner roles within Scotland , published in August 2021, how health boards can use a flexible approach to the education and training of Clinical Nurse Specialists. Education programmes can be provided through higher education institutions as well as modules provided by health boards; work based learning for training posts that have a specific specialisms with appropriate supervision; and digital learning to maximise access and flexibility to training.

Question reference: S6W-15446

Asked by: Sue Webber, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 15 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to increase the number of lung cancer nurse specialists.

The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring that all people living in Scotland with lung cancer are able to access the best possible care and support, and benefit from healthcare services that are safe, effective and put people at the centre of their care.

Clinical nurse specialists make a valued contribution to delivering services and supporting patients and families who require specialist care. The Scottish Government has invested over £2.4 million annually in the Specialist Nursing and Care Fund since 2015.

The Scottish Government has overall responsibility for health and social care policy in Scotland; however, the statutory responsibility for delivering or commissioning services at a local level lies with local authorities, NHS Boards and integrated health and social care partnerships. Operational decisions, including whether there is a need for lung cancer specialist nurses, are therefore matters for those bodies.

Question reference: S6W-15449

Asked by: Sue Webber, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 15 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the number of lung cancer nurse specialists who will retire in the next five years in (a) the West of Scotland Cancer Network, (b) the North Cancer Alliance, (c) the South East Scotland Cancer Network and (d) Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-15447

Asked by: Sue Webber, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 15 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the adequacy of current staffing levels for lung cancer nurse specialists within the (a) West of Scotland Cancer Network, (b) North Cancer Alliance and (c) South East Scotland Cancer Network.

The Scottish Government has overall responsibility for health and social care policy in Scotland, however the statutory responsibility for delivering or commissioning services lies with health boards. Operational decisions, including whether there is a need for lung cancer specialist nurses, is therefore, a matter for them.

Scottish Government officials have weekly cancer calls with health boards where issues with staffing can be addressed and supported.

Question reference: S6W-15450

Asked by: Sue Webber, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 15 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of how many new lung cancer patients per whole-time equivalent lung cancer nurse specialist there were in September (a) 2020, (b) 2021 and (c) 2022.

Question reference: S6W-15448

Asked by: Sue Webber, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 15 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what the current vacancy rate is for lung cancer nurse specialists within the (a) West of Scotland Cancer Network, (b) North Cancer Alliance and (c) South East Scotland Cancer Network.

Question reference: S6O-01908

Asked by: Sue Webber, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 February 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 22 February 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to increase the number of student nurses.

Question reference: S6F-01727

Asked by: Sue Webber, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 16 January 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 19 January 2023

To ask the First Minister what progress the Scottish Government has made in clearing the reported backlog of people waiting for key diagnostic tests.

Question reference: S6W-12891

Asked by: Sue Webber, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 06 December 2022
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 16 December 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how many delayed breast reconstruction operations have been carried out in 2022, broken down by (a) month and (b) NHS board.

Question reference: S6W-12818

Asked by: Sue Webber, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 05 December 2022
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 13 December 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, for its (a) Alcohol Harm Prevention Policy Team, (b) Alcohol Treatment Policy Team and (c) Drugs Policy Unit, how many posts there are in each team, and of these, how many are currently filled.