Questions and answers

Question reference: S5W-00378

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 June 2016
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 14 June 2016

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has any concerns about NHS Lothian's workforce planning policies, in light of the report by Healthcare Improvement Scotland on elderly care wards in Astley Ainslie Hospital, Ferryfield House, Findlay House and Ellens Glen, which suggest that care was under pressure due to staff shortages, and what support it can provide to NHS Lothian to address this issue.

While it is the statutory responsibility of each NHS Scotland health board to have in place workforce plans, the Scottish Government works closely with boards to develop better workforce intelligence through robust supply and demand profiles, capacity trends, patient acuity and other factors. We expect boards – including NHS Lothian – to include this intelligence to help project their needs forward, inform and develop their workforce plans, and combine it as appropriate with the workload and workforce planning tools we have mandated them to use.

NHS Lothian has accepted all the findings and recommendations made in the NHS Lothian hospital-based complex clinical care review.

The use of this guidance, along with the recommendations from the NHS Lothian review will be monitored by the Scottish Government officials who meet regularly with the board to discuss performance related issues.

Question reference: S5W-00376

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 June 2016
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 14 June 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the report by Healthcare Improvement Scotland on elderly care wards in Astley Ainslie Hospital, Ferryfield House, Findlay House and Ellens Glen, which suggest that care was under pressure due to staff shortages and that inspectors themselves had to intervene to help patients, and what discussions it has had with NHS Lothian in this regard.

Question reference: S5W-00380

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 June 2016
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 13 June 2016

To ask the Scottish Government how it will ensure that NHS Lothian acts to remedy issues of concern that were identified in the report by Healthcare Improvement Scotland on elderly care wards in Astley Ainslie Hospital, Ferryfield House, Findlay House and Ellens Glen.

NHS Lothian has accepted all the findings and recommendations made in the NHS Lothian hospital-based complex clinical care review.

The Scottish Government introduced new guidance (DL (2015) 11) for all health boards on 28 May 2015 with objectives including:

Promoting a consistent basis for the provision of Hospital Based Complex Clinical Care.

Providing simplification and transparency;

Maintaining clinical decision making as part of a multi-disciplinary process;

Ensuring entitlement is based on the main eligibility question ‘can this individual’s care needs be properly met in any setting other than a hospital?’

Ensuring a formal record is kept of each step of the decision process.

Ensuring that patients, their families and their carers have access to relevant and understandable information (particularly if the individual does not need to be in hospital but rather an alternative setting in the community).

The use of this guidance, along with the recommendations from the NHS Lothian review will be monitored by the Scottish Government officials who meet regularly with the board to discuss performance related issues.

Question reference: S5W-00218

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 25 May 2016
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 9 June 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to ensure that each GP surgery has access to an adequate (i) mobile phone signal and (ii) broadband service.

I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-00215 on 8 June 2016. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at: http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx

All GP surgeries in Scotland are now transitioned to the Scottish Wide Area Network which provides high quality broadband connectivity based around their needs.

Question reference: S5W-00215

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 25 May 2016
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 9 June 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what work it is carrying out with the UK Government to ensure that all (a) remote and (b) rural communities in Scotland have access to an adequate (i) mobile phone signal and (ii) broadband service.

The Scottish Government is committed to delivering superfast broadband to 100% premises in Scotland by 2021 and we will work with the UK Government as we develop our proposals. Our £410 million Digital Scotland Superfast Broadband Programme is extending fibre broadband coverage to at least 95% of premises by the end of 2017 and the UK Government is contributing to that.

We are working with the UK Government on a number of aspects of the Digital Economy Bill, including discussing with them how the forthcoming universal service obligation for broadband can work effectively for Scotland. We have proposed that the UK Government set up a working group, involving the devolved administrations, to ensure shared strategic oversight as the scoping work develops.

Furthermore, we are working with the Home Office on the new mobile infrastructure that will be delivered as part of the GB-wide Emergency Services Mobile Communications Programme, to explore potential wider coverage benefits for the general public. The total cost of this GB-wide infrastructure is £4.9 billion over the next 16 years, for which Scottish Ministers have committed to providing a funding contribution of approximately £475 million over the period.

Question reference: S5W-00216

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 25 May 2016
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 9 June 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the report in the Scottish Daily Mail on 25 May 2016 regarding concerns among GPs in rural and remote areas that not being able to access adequate mobile phone signals or broadband services could put at risk the lives of people who need an ambulance, and what discussions it has had with health professionals and their representatives regarding this.

Telecommunications, including mobile telephony, is a reserved matter for which the UK Government has responsibility to ensure adequate coverage and to fund improvements and developments. Given the vital importance of mobile phone coverage to the health and well-being of people who live in Scotland’s remote communities, as well as the impact on the rural economy, the Scottish Government works closely with the UK Government on relevant issues. One key area is the new mobile infrastructure that will be delivered as part of the GB-wide Emergency Services Mobile Communications Programme. The total cost of this GB-wide infrastructure is £4.9 billion over the next 16 years, for which Scottish Ministers have committed to providing a funding contribution of approximately £475 million over the period.

A mobile roaming service also exists for 999 calls to ensure that people who need an ambulance can access other mobile networks even if their own network provider has no coverage.

Question reference: S5F-00063

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 06 June 2016
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 9 June 2016

To ask the First Minister what action the Scottish Government is taking to ensure that the Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service is adequately funded.

Question reference: S5W-00275

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 26 May 2016
Current Status: Answered by Alasdair Allan on 6 June 2016

To ask the Scottish Government how its international development programme and other work can raise awareness of menstrual hygiene and health in developing countries, including Menstrual Hygiene Day on 28 May 2016.

Question reference: S5W-00273

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 26 May 2016
Current Status: Answered by Alasdair Allan on 6 June 2016

To ask the Scottish Government how it can support and promote the not-for-profit website, firstperiod.org.

The Scottish Government is supportive of efforts by organisations in Scotland to educate and promote women and girls' health, including menstrual health both domestically and internationally. The Scottish Government makes available funding opportunities to organisations, in a range of themes including health, through its International Development Fund.

Key to promoting health in developing countries will be the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which will tackle poverty and inequality between now and 2030. Specifically for menstrual health, SDG 3 ‘Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages’ and SDG 5 ‘Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls’ will be important. In committing to the Global Goals in July 2015, the First Minister declared that they offered a vision of the world that she believes Scotland shares: ending poverty and hunger; securing education and health services; and combatting inequality and achieving gender equality.

Question reference: S5W-00276

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 26 May 2016
Current Status: Answered by Alasdair Allan on 6 June 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with stakeholders in Scotland and in developing countries regarding issues related to menstrual hygiene and health.

The Scottish Government meets regularly with the organisations we fund to deliver international development projects, many of which are health based. In Scotland, health and wellbeing, including menstrual health, is one of the eight curricular areas in the curriculum for excellence helping to ensure young women and girls develop mental, emotional, social and physical wellbeing now and in the future.

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