- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 29 November 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Maree Todd on 8 December 2021
To ask the Scottish Government for what reason chronic pain patients are reportedly having to wait longer than recommended to receive pain relief injections.
Answer
I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-04313 on 3 December 2021. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers.
Further to this answer, I can update that the public consultation on the draft Framework for Pain Management Service Delivery is now available at https://www.gov.scot/publications/draft-framework-chronic-pain-service-delivery.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 24 November 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Maree Todd on 8 December 2021
To ask the Scottish Government what support is available to people with an addiction to painkillers in each NHS board area.
Answer
Substance misuse services (often catering for drugs and alcohol misuse) are accessible either by open access or through GP referral to these services for review and support. These vary across Health boards with regards to support and resource available and mode of initial access.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 24 November 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Maree Todd on 8 December 2021
To ask the Scottish Government how many people have been recorded as having an addiction to painkillers in each year since 2016.
Answer
This information is not held centrally.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 24 November 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Maree Todd on 8 December 2021
To ask the Scottish Government what monitoring is carried out by (a) GP practices and (b) pharmacists regarding cases of suspected addiction to painkillers.
Answer
GP practice records show lists of acute and repeat prescribed medication lists during consultations with quantities of medication prescribed. Over ordering of repeat medication (or repeated consultations for acute prescriptions) are therefore visible on the acute and repeat prescribing sections of the medical records. It is therefore possible to add minimum days before reordering of monthly repeat medications to help prevent medication being ordered early or alert future prescribers to the potential for suspected addiction. ‘Special notes’ can be added or alerts to the patient record in daytime practice to inform prescribers of previous medication seeking behaviour or suspected addiction to pain medication. This information can be added to the patients ‘Special notes’ to be visible to Out of Hours services. Scottish Government is developing tools to accurately display prescribing habits to clinicians during consultations in order to help identify medication (including analgesic) over/under use.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 12 November 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Humza Yousaf on 7 December 2021
To ask the Scottish Government how many pharmacy closures there have been in each of the last 12 months, and what information it has on the reason for each closure.
Answer
The Scottish Government does not hold information on the number of pharmacies that have closed over the past 12 months nor reasons for closures. The provision of community pharmacy pharmaceutical care services are the responsibility of territorial Health Boards as set out in the National Health Service (Pharmaceutical Services) (Scotland) Regulations 2009, including pharmacy closures. Each Health Board holds separate data on those community pharmacies that have been unable to deliver pharmaceutical care services due to closures.
Any challenges faced by community pharmacies in ensuring the safe and effective dispensing of treatments should be discussed with the local Health Board.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 18 November 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Mairi McAllan on 7 December 2021
To ask the Scottish Government what flood defence projects have been approved, and what the value is of each project.
Answer
There were 42 proposed flood protection schemes set out in the Flood Risk Management Strategies published by SEPA in December 2015.
Of the 42 projects 8 have been completed.
Scheme | Estimated Final Cost (£ million) |
Huntly | 3.8 |
Newmill | 1.8 |
Dundee | 6.9 |
Kirkwall | 1.8 |
White Cart Water Phase 3 | 7.2 |
Camlachie Burn | 1.7 |
Smithton and Culloden | 13 |
Bouvrie Burn | 0.4 |
A further 18 are partially completed, under construction or have been formally confirmed under the requirements of the Flood Risk Management (Scotland) Act 2009.
Flood Protection Scheme | Stage | Estimated Cost (£ million) |
Broughty Ferry | Under construction | 16 |
Kilmacolm – Glenmosston Burn | Confirmed | 0.5 |
Millport Coastal | Confirmed | 27.5 |
Upper Garnock | Under construction | 18.5 |
Park Burn | Under construction | 0.4 |
Campbeltown | Confirmed | 11 |
New Cumnock | Phase 1 complete, Phase 2 under construction | 8.3 |
Comrie | Confirmed | 28 |
Hawick | Under construction | 78 |
Park Burn | Under construction | 0.4 |
Arbroath | Confirmed | 13 |
Dumfries – Whitesands | Confirmed | 31 |
Caol and Lochyside | Confirmed | 16 |
Mill Burn Millport | Confirmed | 1 |
Drumnadroicht | Under construction | 6 |
Stonehaven | Under construction | 27.5 |
Quarriers Village | Confirmed | 0.2 |
Broxburn (Lyggat Syke) | Phase 1 complete | * |
* Information not held by Scottish Government
The remaining projects have not yet been formally approved and are at various stages of development.
SEPA are currently reviewing and updating the Flood Risk Management Strategies with a new set of actions based on information submitted by local authorities. These are due to be published in December 2021 and will set out the objectives and priorities for the period 2022-2027.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 11 November 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Humza Yousaf on 7 December 2021
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-03377 by Humza Yousaf on 18 October 2021, (a) how many and (b) which elective surgeries have (i) been cancelled and (ii) taken place in NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde in each month since January 2021.
Answer
Having spoken to Public Health Scotland, I can confirm that only limited information is published in the Stage of Treatment publication on cancelled planned operations. You will find this information at: Cancelled planned operations - Month ending 30 September 2021 - Cancelled planned operations - Publications - Public Health Scotland
If you would like more detailed information, I would suggest contacting NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde directly.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 22 November 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Humza Yousaf on 6 December 2021
To ask the Scottish Government whether people will be allowed to receive their COVID-19 booster shortly before six months since their second vaccine, if they require this for the purpose of travel.
Answer
The primary objective of the booster programme is to maintain protection against severe COVID-19 disease, specifically hospitalisation and deaths over winter 2021-22, and is aimed at maintaining protection in those most vulnerable, and to protect the NHS.
The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) reviewed all the currently available evidence and data in respect of the newly emerging Omicron variant of COVID and has concluded that a COVID-19 booster vaccination should not be given within three months of completion of the primary course. They have advised that the booster vaccination should now be offered in order of descending age groups, with priority given to the vaccination of older adults and those in a COVID-19 at-risk group.
We will continue to work at pace to deliver booster doses in line with this new JCVI advice.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 22 November 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Maree Todd on 6 December 2021
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the Scottish National Party manifesto commitment to "ensure maternity units have dedicated facilities for women who are experiencing unexpected pregnancy complications", whether it will confirm (a) what action it is taking to achieve this and (b) whether these units will be in place by the end of 2022, and, if not, by what date they will be introduced.
Answer
As set out in the Programme for Government 2021 - 22, published on 7 September 2021, the Scottish Government is committed to establishing a dignified and compassionate miscarriage service by the end of 2023. This commitment includes ensuring women’s services have dedicated facilities for women experiencing unexpected pregnancy complications.
As part of delivering on this commitment, we will carry out a scoping exercise to establish current service provision across all 14 Health Boards and host a series of roundtables to discuss with stakeholders what more can be done to improve miscarriage care and support for women who experience complications during pregnancy. The first roundtable will take place in early 2022.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 25 October 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Humza Yousaf on 6 December 2021
To ask the Scottish Government which NHS boards have (a) declared themselves to be Code Black and (b) triggered escalation procedures for Code Black since 1 September 2021.
Answer
Each Health Board operates their own escalation policy for the management of inpatient capacity that includes well established processes with locally agreed trigger points for maintaining a safe service and ensuring patient safety. At present, we are only aware of NHS Lanarkshire operating at the highest level of their local escalation - “Black”.
Health Boards across the country are operating under significant pressure due to the direct and indirect consequences of the pandemic, which has been the biggest challenge the NHS has faced in its 73 year existence.
The Scottish Government is in daily contact with all Health Boards to monitor the pressures in the system and continues to support improvement work to minimise delays for patients no matter where they are in the system.