Chamber and committees

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: S6W-04965

Asked by: Tess White, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 December 2021
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 15 December 2021

To ask the Scottish Government (a) how many and (b) what percentage of children in the NHS Grampian area who were referred for mental health treatment in (a) 2020 and (b) 2021 started treatment within the 18-week target.

The following table provides statistics for Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS) in the NHS Grampian area. It is possible that children were seen within Psychological Therapy in addition to this however it is not possible at present to disaggregate child data from the wider adult PT data return.

2021 is not complete at present, therefore a partial 2021 has been presented including activity from Jan 2021 to Sep 2021, compared to the whole of 2020 (Jan – Dec).

Table 1 - NHS Grampian

Children and Young People (CYP)

Number of CYP starting Treatment in CAMHS within 18 weeks

Percentage of CYP starting treatment within 18 weeks

2021 YTD (Jan – Sep)

1,045

92.7%

2020 (Jan – Dec)

1,188

87.4%

Question reference: S6W-04966

Asked by: Tess White, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 December 2021
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 15 December 2021

To ask the Scottish Government (a) how many and (b) what percentage of children in the NHS Tayside area who were referred for mental health treatment in (a) 2020 and (b) 2021 started treatment within the 18-week target.

The following table provides statistics for Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS) in the NHS Tayside area. It is possible that children were seen within Psychological Therapy (PT) in addition to this however it is not possible at present to disaggregate child data from the wider adult PT data return.

2021 is not complete at present, therefore a partial 2021 has been presented including activity from Jan 2021 to Sep 2021, compared to the whole of 2020 (Jan – Dec).

Table 1 - NHS Tayside

Children and Young People (CYP)

Number of CYP starting Treatment in CAMHS within 18 weeks

Percentage of CYP starting treatment within 18 weeks

2021 YTD (Jan – Sep)

828

82.9%

2020 (Jan – Dec)

792

65.5%

Question reference: S6O-00546

Asked by: Tess White, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 December 2021
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 16 December 2021

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the investment it is making in Scotland’s cultural infrastructure.

Question reference: S6F-00538

Asked by: Tess White, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 29 November 2021
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 2 December 2021

To ask the First Minister what the Scottish Government’s response is to reports that the use of antidepressant medication among children has increased by more than 80% over the last 10 years.

Question reference: S6O-00445

Asked by: Tess White, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 17 November 2021
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 25 November 2021

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on progress in relation to A Culture Strategy for Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-03168

Asked by: Tess White, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 20 September 2021
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 15 November 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what action it takes to ensure that NHS boards properly maintain hospital estates, and what analysis it has carried out of whether each board employs a sufficient number of estate and facilities staff.

In 2020-21, the Scottish Government delegated £140 million of the Health and Social Care Portfolio’s capital budget to be used by Health Boards on priorities such as maintenance. Over the course of the next five years, the Scottish Government intends to double the annual amount spent on maintenance, investing a total of £1 billion over those five years in enhancing or refurbishing existing facilities . The condition of NHS properties are regularly assessed with the results added to the national Estates and Asset Management System. The Scottish Government does not audit the staffing levels of NHS estates and facilities department. The scale and nature of each Health Board’s estate varies significantly and therefore the number of staff and type of skills required for estates and facilities departments also vary. It is the responsibility of each Health Board to ensure that those departments are sufficiently resourced.

Question reference: S6O-00354

Asked by: Tess White, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 03 November 2021
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 11 November 2021

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the Discover Cyber Skills programme.

Question reference: S6W-02899

Asked by: Tess White, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 14 September 2021
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 18 October 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to fill the reported 406 nursing and midwifery posts that are vacant in NHS Grampian.

The number of staff working in NHS Grampian has increased by 20.7 per cent since Sept 2006, to over 13,520 Whole Time Equivalent (WTE). This includes a 6.9 per cent increase in numbers of Qualified Nurses and Midwives, which have risen to 4,099.1 WTE.

NHSScotland Boards are required to have the correct staff in place to meet the needs of the service and ensure high quality patient care. They have fully delegated powers in relation to employment issues. The Scottish Government works closely with Boards to support their efforts in staff recruitment. The creation of posts and filling of individual vacancies will depend on the service needs of each Board, taking account of national and local priorities.

We are investing £11 million in new recruitment activity and in the creation of a National Centre for Workforce Supply. The Centre will offer NHS Boards expert advice on labour market intelligence and coordinate recruitment campaigns, providing vital additional support to health board recruitment teams.

We are also taking forward a comprehensive programme to support recovery and build further capacity. The programme will include measures to increase international recruitment, retain staff and attract more returners to the service. The Scottish Government will continue to work with partners to explore options and opportunities that allow us to best support our registered staff.

Question reference: S6W-02898

Asked by: Tess White, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 14 September 2021
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 18 October 2021

To ask the Scottish Government whether NHS boards notify the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care of the Code Black status of hospitals and, if so, how (a) this is communicated and (b) many times this has happened in each of last three years, broken down by NHS board.

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.

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.

Question reference: S6W-02706

Asked by: Tess White, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 07 September 2021
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 18 October 2021

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has taken account of the COVID-19 vaccination programme, extended flu immunisations and COVID-19 booster vaccinations in the funding allocation for the delivery of the wider Vaccination Transformation Programme (VTP).

The Vaccination Transformation Programme (VTP) is funded via the Primary Care Improvement Fund, which began in 2018 and will have provided £250 million to health boards up to the end of financial year 2022. The extended flu programme and COVID-19 vaccination programme (including boosters) are outside the scope of this fund, however work to deliver these programmes has helped to build Health Board capacity to vaccinate and complete the VTP.