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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: S5O-02690

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 05 December 2018
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 13 December 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on a feasibility study being carried out to address congestion on the Edinburgh city bypass.

Question reference: S5W-20051

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 20 November 2018
Current Status: Answered by Clare Haughey on 3 December 2018

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-12931 by Maureen Watt on 5 December 2017, whether it will provide the same information for 2017-18.

Information on NHS expenditure, mental health expenditure and percentage of expenditure that have been spent on children and adolescent mental health services in the hospital and community sectors in year 2017-18 is shown in the following table.

Child and Adolescent mental health expenditure 1 , Total NHS expenditure 2 and Mental Health expenditure 3

Scotland 2017-18

NHS Board	Child and Adolescent mental health expenditure 1 (£000)	Total NHS expenditure 2 (£000)	Percentage of Total NHS expenditure %	Mental Health expenditure 3 (£000)	Percentage of (Child and Adolescent) on Mental Health expenditure
NHS Ayrshire & Arran	3,957	£800,789	0.49	67,241	5.89%
NHS Borders	994	£215,890	0.46	18,545	5.36%
NHS Fife	2,917	£676,779	0.43	54,527	5.35%
NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde	18,131	£3,048,544	0.59	286,150	6.34%
NHS Highland	2,620	£661,923	0.40	50,451	5.19%
NHS Lanarkshire	5,939	£1,147,804	0.52	74,984	7.92%
NHS Grampian 5	293	£1,099,506	0.03	73,442	0.40%
NHS Orkney	79	£49,874	0.16	1,425	5.56%
NHS Lothian	13,761	£1,779,314	0.77	136,449	10.08%
NHS Tayside	7,166	£932,863	0.77	94,292	7.60%
NHS Forth Valley	3,053	£560,084	0.55	48,344	6.32%
NHS Western Isles	270	£70,746	0.38	1,990	13.58%
NHS Dumfries & Galloway	1,580	£315,599	0.50	22,555	7.00%
NHS Shetland	314	£50,413	0.62	1,719	18.28%
State Hospital	-	£34,923	-	34,923	-
Golden Jubilee	-	£123,566	-	-	-
Scotland	£61,074	£11,568,618	0.53	£967,038	6.32%

Source: Scottish Health Service Costs, Report R300, R340, R04LSX and SFR8.3, ISD Scotland

1. Child and Adolescent mental health expenditure as recorded in the Costs Book (Report R04LSX and SFR 8.3). Data covers expenditure identified by NHS Boards as relating to NHS Mental Health services delivered in the hospital or the community that are specifically aimed at children and adolescents. Other expenditure relating to Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services may be recorded, by different NHS Boards, through different SFRs and reports.

2. Total NHS expenditure as recorded in the Costs Book (Report R300).

3. Mental health expenditure as recorded in the Costs Book (Report R340).

4. Data covers expenditure identified by NHS Boards as relating to NHS Mental Health services delivered in the hospital or the community that are specifically aimed at children and adolescents. Figures shown in ‘cash terms’ (not adjusting for inflation).

5. Community Mental Health teams data is missing from NHS Grampian therefore the expenditure on CAMHS for this board is incomplete. This will also result in the Scotland total being incomplete.

6. The Scotland figures excludes the costs for the State Hospital special board.

Question reference: S5W-20022

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 19 November 2018
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 3 December 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what funding is available to (a) local authorities and (b) integration joint boards to encourage housing associations to adapt homes to make them accessible for tenants with an assessed need.

Since the integration of health and social care, Integration Joint Boards are responsible for the planning and delivery of adaptations largely using budgets created by delegation from local authorities. Local authority budgets for adaptations are agreed locally from within the local government settlement and where appropriate Housing Revenue Account budgets.

We have also provided £10 million directly to Registered Social Landlords this year, to assist them in providing adaptations for their tenants.

Question reference: S5W-20021

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 19 November 2018
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 3 December 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what responsibilities local authorities have to support housing associations to adapt homes to make them accessible for tenants with an assessed need.

Since the integration of health and social care in 2015, local authorities' responsibilities in relation to adaptations (including for housing association tenants) have been legally delegated to Integration Joint Boards (IJBs). IJBs now are responsible for the planning and delivery of adaptations using budget created by delegation and for reviewing and developing services to improve outcomes for people who require adaptations.

Question reference: S5W-20158

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 23 November 2018
Current Status: Answered by Joe FitzPatrick on 3 December 2018

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-19790 by Joe FitzPatrick on 6 November 2018, what the flu vaccine uptake rate has been among (a) nursing and (b) midwifery students in each of the last 10 years, broken down by place of study.

Question reference: S5W-20138

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 22 November 2018
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 3 December 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the use of single-sex wards in hospitals, and what guidance it issues regarding this.

All patients should routinely be cared for in wards or bays which are for single sex occupancy. The Scottish Government provided guidelines and recommendations on the elimination of mixed sex accommodation in 1999 and 2000. Further guidance and direction regarding the provision of clinically appropriate single room accommodation in all planned new buildings and major refurbishments is provided in CEL 48 (2008) and CEL 27 (2010).

There are some exceptions such as high dependency areas and intensive care units where single sex accommodation may not be practicable. There may also be times where hospitals experience extreme situations or pressure on beds that may necessitate patients being admitted to an area occupied by patients of the opposite sex. If this occurs they should be transferred to single-sex accommodation as soon as possible.

Question reference: S5W-20105

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 22 November 2018
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 3 December 2018

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-09015 by Shona Robison on 10 May 2017, whether it will provide an update regarding how many GPs (a) use and (b) do not use Vision Online Services.

There are two suppliers for GP IT services in Scotland – INPS Vision and EMIS.

There are currently 944 GP Practices in Scotland, split 431 using INPS Vision and 513 using EMIS.

Vision Online is an add on to Vision which offers patients the ability to book appointments and/or order repeat prescriptions online.

As well as the 362 Practices currently using Vision Online, a further 31 Practices have requested and are currently awaiting installation of Vision Online.

94% of GP practices in Scotland offer an online means of accessing either repeat prescriptions or appointments via GP IT system functions or practice websites.

Question reference: S5W-20106

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 22 November 2018
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 29 November 2018

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-06786 by Shona Robison on 2 March 2017, whether it will provide an update regarding how many integrated care homes there are.

The Care Home Census for Adults in Scotland confirms there were 1,142 adult care homes operating in Scotland as at 31 March 2017, but none of these are registered as "integrated care homes".

Short stay residents in care homes are regarded as residents whose intention,when admitted to an adult care home was to stay for fewer than six weeks, and the reason for the short stay is not respite relief. If a resident stays longer than 6 weeks they are counted as a long stay resident instead.

As at 31 March 2017, the number of short stay/respite residents in care homes for older people had increased by 96% in comparision with March 2007 (1,468 compared to 750). A significant number of short stay residents will be receiving intermediate care.

We still estimate there are around 700 intermediate care beds across Scotland, and these can be found in a variety of settings including community hospitals and care homes. Many more care home places are commissioned by health and social care partnerships to support people with a range of needs.

Health and Social Care Partnerships are responsible for developing a strategic commissioning plan which sets out plans to shape and deliver local health and social care services that meet the needs of their local population. Care homes play an important role in supporting the delivery of this plan and enabling people to keep well in a homely setting.

Question reference: S5W-19778

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 06 November 2018
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 28 November 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what the average waiting time is for a new outpatient urology appointment at NHS Tayside; what action is being taken to reduce this, and how many people are waiting for an appointment.

NHS Tayside have indicated that the median waiting time for a new outpatient urology appointment within NHS Tayside based on completed waits in September 2018, was 20 weeks. The Board currently have 2,077 new outpatients waiting for a Urology appointment with 671 of these having received appointment dates.

NHS Tayside are developing plans to deliver improved and sustainable access and performance. As part of their Integrated Clinical Strategy, a review of how Urology Services across the region should be provided has commenced. NHS Tayside are working with clinical teams to develop a long term sustainable plan which will deliver the capacity required to meet demand for urological services going forward. The Scottish Government has also made an additional £50 million available this year to NHS Boards with NHS Tayside receiving £3.9 million to reduce the number of patients experiencing exceptionally long waits.

Question reference: S5W-20020

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 19 November 2018
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 28 November 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what financial incentives are available to support housing associations adapt homes to make them accessible for tenants with an assessed need.