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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-08397

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 06 May 2022
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 17 May 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how many volunteer first responders have been available to support the Scottish Ambulance Service in each of the last five years.

Question reference: S6W-08392

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 05 May 2022
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 17 May 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how much was spent on the campaign to raise awareness of deep vein thrombosis in 2011, and what this was spent on.

Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network (SIGN) Guideline 122 on the prevention and management of venous thromboembolism (VTE) was first published in December 2010. Healthcare Improvement Scotland (HIS), of which SIGN is a part, carried out awareness raising activity following publication which included the following:

As an aid to standardising the information provided to patients on VTE across Scotland, the text of the model patient advice leaflets on DVT, which the Chief Medical Officer sent to all NHS Boards in January 2008, was included in appendices to the guideline.
In April 2011 an information leaflet on deep vein thrombosis (DVT) for the general public was made available for download from the SIGN website. Distribution of paper copies was led by the SIGN Patient Involvement Officer.
Work with its partners to embed the Guideline’s recommendations into general practice decision-making software.

Subsequently, Healthcare Improvement Scotland took forward work on VTE as part of the Scottish Patient Safety Programme.

The Scottish Government does not hold information on spend relating to the above work.

Question reference: S6F-01125

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 16 May 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 19 May 2022

To ask the First Minister what her response is to recent reports estimating that around 10,000 people with advanced dementia are paying over £50 million a year to cover their residential social care costs.

Question reference: S6W-08405

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 06 May 2022
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 16 May 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what additional funding it is providing for mental health services to help people impacted by the cost-of-living crisis.

Poverty is the single biggest driver of poor mental health and there is a structural relationship between wider socio-economic inequality and mental health. The Scottish Government is aware that many people across Scotland will experience financial hardship as a result of the economic downturn and we know that heightened stress can be a risk factor in relation to suicide.

This is why in our mental health Transition & Recovery Plan we have committed to strengthening alignment of mental health policy with work to tackle poverty and reduce inequality and we have committed to further develop a response to those whose mental health has been affected by issues relating to debt, working closely with a range of advice organisations including Citizen’s Advice Scotland to better understand and tackle these issues.

Our Transition & Recovery Plan, is backed by our £120m Recovery and Renewal Fund, is transforming mental health services, with a renewed focus on prevention and early intervention and funding allocated since it was introduced in 2021-22 includes:

? £9m to enhance Psychological Therapies, including £5m to address waiting times.

? £15m to improve the mental health estate and physical environment for both service users and staff.

? Nearly £5m to support the NHS 24 Mental Health Hub, ensuring a 24/7 response.

? Almost £2m to roll out digital innovations, including online access to Cognitive Behavioural Therapy.

? Funding to improve mental health care for children and young people, including £40m for Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services.

The Scottish budget confirmed the direct programme budget for mental health in 2022-23 at over £290m – a 6% increase on the current year, and 139% more than in 2020-21.

Question reference: S6W-07916

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 07 April 2022
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 16 May 2022

To ask the Scottish Government which NHS boards pay district nurses at band 6.

Question reference: S6W-08181

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 27 April 2022
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 12 May 2022

Question reference: S6W-08333

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 03 May 2022
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 12 May 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the actions of Well Pharmacy, in light of reports that the company is insisting that staff who test positive for COVID-19 continue to work when they are in patient-facing roles and dealing with clinically vulnerable people.

We expect health and social care employers, including community pharmacies, to follow the guidance on managing staff with symptoms of a respiratory infection, or a positive COVID-19 test.

This specifies that if staff test positive for COVID/19, regardless of whether they have symptoms, they should not attend work for a minimum of 5 full days. If they work with patients or service users in face-to-face settings, they can return to work if they have had 2 consecutive negative LFD test results (taken at least 24 hours apart).’

Question reference: S6W-08183

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 28 April 2022
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 12 May 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide free N95 face masks to severely immunosuppressed people to help to protect them from catching COVID-19.

N95 face masks are not used in the UK. The Scottish Government has considered the use of Respiratory Protective Equipment (FFP3) for those on the Highest risk list in community settings, including those who are immunosuppressed and there isn’t sufficient evidence to confirm the benefits as well as possible disadvantages. Care is needed to ensure that people don’t use wrongly or misunderstand the protection they provide in different settings.

Question reference: S6W-08178

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 27 April 2022
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 12 May 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how many undergraduate medical students it anticipates will be admitted to Scottish universities in (a) 2022, (b) 2023, (c) 2024 and (d) 2025, and, of these, how many it anticipates will be designated as Scottish funded entrants.

The Programme for Government (PfG) 2021 commits to expanding medical school places by at least 100 per annum over this lifetime of this Parliament and doubling the number of widening access places. The medical undergraduate intake for 2022-23 has been set at 1317, of which it is anticipated that 1,239 students will be Scots/UK/ROI or Gibraltar and 78 will be international including EU. This intake represents an increase of 200 places above the 2021/22 intake target of 1,117 thereby delivering the first two tranches of the PfG commitment.

The Scottish Government is committed to growing the number of Scottish domiciled students studying medicine at Scottish universities as a policy priority through widening access and other targeted interventions. Places reserved for widening access students are being increased by 30 (bringing the total to 90) and pre-medical entry places are being increased by 20 (bringing the total to 70 places) in 2022-23.

Intake targets for 2023-24 and 2024-25 have not yet been set but will be considered in light of the PfG commitment.

Question reference: S6W-08179

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 27 April 2022
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 12 May 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how many postgraduate medical students it anticipates will be admitted to Scottish universities in (a) 2022, (b) 2023, (c) 2024 and (d) 2025, broken down by medical school, and, of these, how many it anticipates will be Scottish-domiciled residents.