- 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 Humza Yousaf on 14 December 2021
To ask the Scottish Government how much it has spent on the (a) assessment and (b) treatment of deep vein thrombosis in each year since 2007, broken down by NHS board.
Answer
The Scottish Government provides baseline funding to NHS Boards and it is for Boards to determine how to use this funding to meet the healthcare needs of their resident population.
In 2021-22, Health funding exceeds £16 billion with £11.6 billion allocated to our frontline Health Boards, and a further £1.9 billion to address pressures relating to Covid-19 across health and social care.
Detail on how funding has been used specifically for the assessment and treatment of deep vein thrombosis would require to be requested from NHS Boards.
- Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Monday, 29 November 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Humza Yousaf on 14 December 2021
To ask the Scottish Government by what date it will add the COVID-19 booster vaccination to (a) the NHS Scotland Covid Status app and (b) vaccination certificates.
Answer
We will include record of booster vaccination in the NHS Scotland Covid Status app from 9 December and on paper certificates from 15 December.
- Asked by: Sandesh Gulhane, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 08 November 2021
Submitting member has a registered interest.
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Current Status:
Answered by Humza Yousaf on 14 December 2021
To ask the Scottish Government how many taxi drivers (a) applied for and (b) received a Disclosure Scotland certificate before starting work with the Scottish Ambulance Service.
Answer
The Scottish Ambulance Service do not directly employ taxi drivers. The Service have accessed taxis through established contracts with territorial Health Boards. These taxis firms are regularly used by Health Boards for transporting patients and staff and have longstanding contracts with the NHS. Drivers who work under the contract have live PVG (Protection on Vulnerable Groups) registration via Disclosure Scotland.
- Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 30 November 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 14 December 2021
To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to increase the amount of affordable housing in rural communities, in light of reports that the projects that it is funding have only been able to build 131 homes up to November 2021.
Answer
Over 6,000 affordable homes were delivered in rural and island areas across Scotland during the last parliamentary term. Our Programme for Government commits to delivering 110,000 affordable homes by 2032 of which at least 70% will be available for social rent and 10% will be in our remote, rural and island communities.
As part of our Affordable Housing Supply Programme, communities will also be supported by the continuation of the demand led Rural and Islands Housing Fund backed by up to £30 million of investment in this parliamentary period. The fund has been described in a Scottish Land Commission report as ‘game changers’ for community-led housing development and were developed in collaboration with community housing trusts.
We have also committed to developing a Remote, Rural and Island Housing Action Plan and will engage with a wide range of stakeholders on its development to ensure it delivers for remote, rural and island communities.
- Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Friday, 19 November 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Humza Yousaf on 14 December 2021
To ask the Scottish Government how many staff there are in its (a) COVID-19 and (b) flu vaccination centres, broken down by category.
Answer
The flu vaccination and covid vaccination is a joint programme in Scotland, eligible citizens are offered both vaccinations at a single appointment. Staff can therefore not be delineated by vaccination type. Management information indicates that during the period 17 – 23 Nov c. 1,470 whole time equivalent (WTE) vaccinators were deployed by Health Boards (1 x WTE = 37.5 hours per week); staffing deployment on the programme is kept under active review Head count will be significantly higher as vaccinations staff work a variety of different working patterns, in line with local needs and clinic opening hours. This figure does not include administration and support staff which varies by both Health Board setting and clinic type.
- Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 09 December 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 14 December 2021
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-03688 by Mairi Gougeon on 29 October 2021, how many of the Fixed Penalty Notices issued since 25 January 2019 remain unpaid, and, of those, how many have been (a) referred to the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service and (b) proceeded in the courts, and, of any that resulted in convictions, what the (i) nature of the offence, (ii) value of the original Fixed Penalty Notice and (iii) court disposal was.
Answer
Since 25 January 2019 until 13 October 2021, the period covered by S6W-03688, there have been 19 fixed penalty notices unpaid, compared to 93 paid.
This makes a payment rate over the period of 83%.
The breakdown is as follows:
(a) 7 of the 19 cases were referred to the COPFS for consideration of prosecution; and
(b) 3 of these cases resulted in convictions and fines with the breakdown as follows:
| | Offence | FPN offered (£) | Court disposal (£) |
(1) | Breach of hobby fishermen regulations | 2,000 | 500 |
(2) | Non submission of statutory returns | 2,000 | 3,000 |
(3) | Marine Protected Area incursion | 4,000 | 2,000 |
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 06 December 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Angus Robertson on 14 December 2021
To ask the Scottish Government for what reason the Scottish Census is reportedly over budget by £21.6 million.
Answer
As a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, Ministers agreed to move the date of Scotland’s Census from March 2021 to March 2022. This decision was taken to address significant pandemic risks to the successful completion of the census and to the delivery of the benefits required by the people of Scotland.
The impact of an extra year adds to the programme lifecycle cost, with the major financial implications of the move to 2022 being:
- The cost of extending suppliers contracts; and
- The programme’s headcount being maintained for an extra year.
National Records of Scotland (NRS) undertook significant engagement with the multiple census suppliers, with initial and final repricing exercises, interrogation of costs and an extensive resource planning exercise. This work assessed estimated additional costs of up to £21.6m for the delivery of Scotland’s Census in 2022 across the remaining lifecycle of the programme.
NRS continues to deliver against the revised plan with arrangements for Scotland’s Census 2022 well advanced.
- Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 30 November 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Angela Constance on 14 December 2021
To ask the Scottish Government how much additional funding it will allocate to NHS Ayrshire and Arran to manage drug-related hospital stays, in response to recent Public Health Scotland statistics, which state that the NHS board had the highest rate of drug-related hospital stays in 2020-21.
Answer
Integrated Joint Bodies are best placed to decide how funding can be used to best respond to local needs in their own communities. To allow them to do so, Scottish Government funding to support Alcohol and Drug Partnership projects is transferred to the NHS Boards via their baseline allocations for onward delegation to Integration Authorities. This year NHS Ayrshire and Arran received £6,779,624.
That funding has increased dramatically as part of the national mission to tackle the drug deaths emergency in Scotland: we are allocating an additional £250 million over the next five years to improve and increase access to services for people affected by drug addiction.
We are clear that any opportunities to engage with people in crisis, including those who have experienced near-fatal overdose, should be explored in order to encourage access to appropriate treatment. The implementation of the new Medication-Assisted Treatment (MAT) standards will ensure that anyone identified through hospital admission as being at risk of drug-related harms or near-fatal overdose will be identified, prioritised and supported into the treatment that is right for them.
- Asked by: Oliver Mundell, MSP for Dumfriesshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 25 November 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Humza Yousaf on 14 December 2021
To ask the Scottish Government what steps are being taken to reduce the waiting times for orthopaedic surgery in NHS Dumfries and Galloway.
Answer
The Scottish Government is continuing to work with the operational and clinical teams in NHS Dumfries and Galloway to support the remobilisation of all services, including surgery for orthopaedic patients.
Whilst local capacity for surgery has been reduced, due to ongoing pressures, the Board have utilised orthopaedic capacity at Golden Jubilee National Hospital for a mix of routine long waiting patients and urgent patients.
To support the system as a whole we published our NHS Recovery Plan, which is backed by more than £1 billion of investment, sets out how we will take forward our aim of increasing NHS capacity by at least 10% in order to address the backlog of care and meet the ongoing healthcare needs of the country.
- Asked by: Fiona Hyslop, MSP for Linlithgow, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 13 December 2021
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Current Status:
Taken in the Chamber on 14 December 2021
To ask the Scottish Government what action it will take in response to the British Academy of Audiology report on NHS Lothian's Paediatric Audiology Services, which was requested by NHS Lothian following a review by the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman.
Answer
Taken in the Chamber on 14 December 2021
