- Asked by: Kevin Stewart, MSP for Aberdeen Central, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 May 2024
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Current Status:
Taken in the Chamber on 23 May 2024
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on what action it is taking to tackle child poverty.
Answer
Taken in the Chamber on 23 May 2024
- Asked by: Kevin Stewart, MSP for Aberdeen Central, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 18 April 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Natalie Don on 1 May 2024
To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to ensure that all healthcare assistants employed by the NHS are required to be registered with the Scottish Social Services Council.
Answer
The Scottish Social Services Council (SSSC) are the independent regulator of the social service workforce in Scotland. SSSC protects the public by registering the workforce, setting standards for their practice, conduct, training and education and by supporting their professional development. Groups of workers subject to registration with the SSSC are set by Scottish Ministers within the Regulation of Care Act (Scotland) 2001.
The role of ‘healthcare assistant’ does not have a standard definition and the term is used for different roles within the health and social care workforce. Due to the varying definition of this role, it is currently unclear which roles would and would not be appropriate for SSSC registration. While some healthcare assistants job roles may meet the requirement for SSSC registration, many will not. As such, there are no current plans to consider registration with the SSSC for healthcare assistants employed by the NHS.
- Asked by: Kevin Stewart, MSP for Aberdeen Central, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 18 April 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Natalie Don on 1 May 2024
To ask the Scottish Government what measures are in place to prevent healthcare workers with either disciplinary proceedings outstanding with the Scottish Social Services Council or who have been found unfit to practise by the Scottish Social Services Council from being employed by the NHS.
Answer
The role of ‘healthcare worker’ does not have a standard definition and the term is used for different roles within the health and social care workforce. An individual may work under the title of ‘healthcare worker’, but hold registration with the Scottish Social Services Council (SSSC) as, for example, a Practitioner in a Care at Home Service for Adults.
There is nothing in current legislation that would prevent an individual in this circumstance working under the title of ‘healthcare worker’ with either disciplinary proceedings outstanding with the SSSC or who have been found unfit to practise by the SSSC from being employed by the NHS. Healthcare Assistants employed by the NHS do not come within the remit of SSSC registration. While pre-employment checks of NHS staff are a matter for NHS Boards to decide, it is possible to check the SSSC register when employing a healthcare worker as a matter of good practice. If Heath Boards were to do so they would see from the register if there was a suspension order or removal order in place due to a fitness to practise issue.
- Asked by: Kevin Stewart, MSP for Aberdeen Central, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 18 April 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Natalie Don on 1 May 2024
To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to ensure that all healthcare assistants employed by public bodies who deliver care within a home setting are required to be registered with the Scottish Social Services Council.
Answer
The Scottish Social Services Council (SSSC) are the independent regulator of the social service workforce in Scotland. SSSC protects the public by registering the workforce, setting standards for their practice, conduct, training and education and by supporting their professional development. Groups of workers subject to registration with the SSSC are set by Scottish Ministers within the Regulation of Care Act (Scotland) 2001.
The role of ‘healthcare assistant’ does not have a standard definition and the term is used for different roles within the health and social care workforce. Due to the varying definition of this role, it is currently unclear which roles would and would not be appropriate for SSSC registration. While some healthcare assistants job roles may meet the requirement for SSSC registration, many will not. Accordingly, while there are no current plans to commence SSSC registration for all individuals named as healthcare assistants, many will already retain registration with SSSC due to the specific nature of their role (i.e. as a practitioner in a care at home service).
- Asked by: Kevin Stewart, MSP for Aberdeen Central, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 18 April 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Neil Gray on 30 April 2024
To ask the Scottish Government whether the registration record of all NHS staff, irrespective of job title, is checked at employment in regard to (a) Health and Care Professionals Council, (b) Social Work England, (c) Social Care Wales, (d) Northern Ireland Social Care Council, (e) General Teaching Council for Scotland, (f) General Teaching Council for Northern Ireland, (g) Education Workforce Council, (h) General Chiropractic Council, (i) General Dental Council, (j) General Medical Council, (k) General Optical Council, (l) General Osteopathic Council, (m) Nursing and Midwifery Council, (n) General Pharmaceutical Council and (o) Scottish Social Services Council.
Answer
Within NHSScotland, professional registration ensures that health practitioners are practising safely. Evidence of registration with a statutory regulatory body must be verified before placement, including confirmation of a medical licence. Health Boards must directly contact regulatory bodies to ensure ongoing registration and inquire about any restrictions or ongoing investigations related to fitness to practise.
- Asked by: Kevin Stewart, MSP for Aberdeen Central, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 18 April 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Neil Gray on 30 April 2024
To ask the Scottish Government whether the registration record of all NHS staff, irrespective of job title, is checked on an ongoing basis in regard to (a) Health and Care Professionals Council, (b) Social Work England, (c) Social Care Wales, (d) Northern Ireland Social Care Council, (e) General Teaching Council for Scotland, (f) General Teaching Council for Northern Ireland, (g) Education Workforce Council, (h) General Chiropractic Council, (i) General Dental Council, (j) General Medical Council, (k) General Optical Council, (l) General Osteopathic Council, (m) Nursing and Midwifery Council, (n) General Pharmaceutical Council and (o) Scottish Social Services Council.
Answer
Within NHSScotland, the duty to maintain registration rests with the healthcare professional. Health Boards must ensure that mechanisms are in place to check the ongoing registration of staff and thereby prevent the risk of staff whose registration has lapsed, been lost or suspended continuing to practise in a role which requires such professional registration.
- Asked by: Kevin Stewart, MSP for Aberdeen Central, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 22 April 2024
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Current Status:
Taken in the Chamber on 25 April 2024
To ask the First Minister whether he will provide an update on NHS Scotland's ability to treat patients, in light of the reported scarcity of life-saving medicines in the UK due to Brexit.
Answer
Taken in the Chamber on 25 April 2024
- Asked by: Kevin Stewart, MSP for Aberdeen Central, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 13 March 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Jenni Minto on 26 March 2024
To ask the Scottish Government what action it will take to encourage people who have been diagnosed with HIV but who are no longer considered as attending specialist care to re-engage with these services, in light of reports that there are an estimated 961 such people in Scotland.
Answer
he importance of retaining individuals living with HIV in treatment and care is recognised in the UNAIDS/WHO targets and the Scottish HIV Transmission Elimination Proposal as one of the five pillars of interventions (entry into and retention in specialist HIV care). Specialist HIV services and HIV third sector organisations will work together to optimise the updating of information with regards to the movement or transfer of individuals to facilitate engagement with services.
This work will be supported by Public Health Scotland through the provision of NHS board level data on people diagnosed with HIV but not attending specialist treatment and care services for whom, through linkage of data to migration, death, hospitalisation, prescription and vaccination datasets, there is evidence that they remain resident in Scotland.
- Asked by: Kevin Stewart, MSP for Aberdeen Central, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 13 March 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Jenni Minto on 26 March 2024
To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to introduce a national HIV testing week.
Answer
Following careful consideration by the HIV Transmission Elimination Scoping Group, and the advice of clinical and public health experts, the Scottish Government is not planning to introduce a national HIV testing week at this time. Given Scotland’s relatively low HIV prevalence, the potential benefits of a national testing week would primarily be in addressing stigma and promoting testing rather than finding and supporting individuals with undiagnosed infections. Our HIV Transmission Elimination Delivery Plan sets out our approach to addressing stigma and promoting testing on a consistent, year-round basis.
We will review the potential costs and benefits of a national testing week once priority actions to expand capacity and improve access to testing have been progressed.
- Asked by: Kevin Stewart, MSP for Aberdeen Central, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 13 March 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Jenni Minto on 26 March 2024
To ask the Scottish Government whether it is on track to achieve its aim of ending new cases of HIV by 2030.
Answer
As outlined in the Scottish HIV Transmission Elimination Proposal, published on 1 December 2022, our aim is to achieve ‘zero people contracting HIV within Scotland by 2030’. To do so, one of the key interim targets is to achieve 100 or fewer first ever diagnoses per year by the end of 2025.
The most recently published HIV data for Scotland (to 31 December 2022), released by Public Health Scotland on 26 September 2023, indicate that, since 2017, the annual number of first ever diagnoses recorded in Scotland has more than halved, decreasing from 226 in 2017 to 108 in 2022. Of note, 55 of 108 (51%) first ever diagnoses recorded in 2022 were thought likely to have been acquired within Scotland.
In addition, the data indicate a small proportion (11%) of first ever HIV diagnoses were recently acquired (i.e. within the previous three to four months). This is the lowest number and proportion for over five years and is, in part, the result of the Scottish Government’s world-leading approach to making HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis available on the NHS in 2017.
