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-13979

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 16 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 30 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, regarding Scotland's Digital Health and Care Strategy, whether it has developed a fully interactive "Front Door", and how many people have accessed it, broken down by (a) whether the method of access was (i) online and (ii) via mobile and (b) NHS board.

The Digital Front Door is currently in the programme startup phase of its development and is not currently a live service. The commitment is to introduce an interactive ‘Front Door’ by the end of this Parliament in 2026, following public consultation and engagement.

This will be an irritative development and there will be a phased approach to implementation. As set out in our Delivery Plan we expect the first version of the Digital Front Door being available for release in autumn/winter 2023 and this will be accompanied by an implementation plan.

Question reference: S6W-13890

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 13 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 27 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government when the Armed Forces and Veterans Health Joint Group last met, and when it will next meet.

Question reference: S6W-13885

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 13 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 27 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to increase the number of Veterans Champions.

The work of Armed Forces and Veterans Champions throughout Scotland is crucial to ensuring veterans can access the right support, guidance and services. The Scottish Government supports fully the work of the Champions in public sector organisations including Police Scotland, Local Authorities, the NHS, Department for Work and Pensions and Higher and Further Education institutions. I am chairing a roundtable with Local Authority Champions in late January.

We would encourage any service delivery organisation providing support to veterans to consider developing a veterans champion role.

Question reference: S6W-13891

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 13 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 27 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether there is a National Managed Clinical Network on veterans’ health and, if so, what its membership is.

NHS National Services Division operated the Scottish Veterans Care Network between November 2020 and March 2022.

A range of stakeholders were involved in shaping the Network. The Network’s primary focus was on the Mental Health and Wellbeing Action Plan (MHWAP). The delivery of the MHWAP is now being taken forward by a veteran led Implementation Board, and as such the Network has been stood down.

Question reference: S6W-13895

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 13 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 27 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether the costs of specialist care for veterans who have suffered polytrauma will be funded through the National Services Division.

Scottish Government has established a working group to further progress our vision of developing a Scottish Veterans’ Treatment Pathway. The pathway will integrate physical, mental and wellbeing support and provide a route for treatment for veterans presenting with a service-related injury, which remains a cause for concern despite treatment, either previous or current.

The funding mechanism is still to be determined this may include a specialist services being commissioned by National Services Division through their standard process About specialist services | National Services Scotland (nhs.scot)

Question reference: S6W-13893

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 13 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 27 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what it has done to assess the scale and nature of drugs misuse in the veterans community in Scotland.

Last year we published ‘The Strategy For Our Veterans: Taking the Strategy Forward in Scotland – Our Refreshed Action Plan’ which sets out our commitment to obtaining data on veterans from the new Drug and Alcohol Information System (DAISy). DAISy includes a field identifier for veterans and will gather key demographic and outcome data on people who engage in drug and alcohol treatment services. This will provide useful data on the nature and scale of problem drug use among veterans across Scotland. We anticipate that Public Health Scotland will publish this data for the first time this year.

Question reference: S6W-13901

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 13 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 27 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether NHS Scotland and its partners identify veterans as a distinct group in their work in tackling health inequalities.

We recognise that veterans may have specific health needs as a result of their military service. Scottish Government works with key partners, including NHS Armed Forces and Veterans Champions to ensure that veterans are identified as a distinct group to ensure their needs are met within the healthcare system.

As a result of a project in NHS Fife, it was agreed at the UK wide MoD/ Department of Health and Social Care Partnership Board that a single code identifying veterans within primary care records be used.

In addition, as part of our commitment to establish a GP’s Armed Forces and Veterans Recognition Scheme, we have developed a training package for health and social care staff, working in general practices to help them understand the specific health needs that veterans can present with.

Question reference: S6W-13896

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 13 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 27 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether the work of the Scottish Trauma Network includes the specific needs of veterans who have suffered polytrauma.

Question reference: S6W-13888

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 13 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 27 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government when the membership of the Armed Forces and Veterans Health Joint Group was last refreshed.

Question reference: S6W-13894

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 13 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 27 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what measures it has introduced to tackle drugs misuse in the veterans community in Scotland.

The Scottish Government is investing £250 million in the National Drugs Mission over the life of the Parliament to save and improve lives of people who use drugs, including veterans. For the first time this year we will have data on the number of veterans accessing drug and alcohol treatment services, using the new Drug and Alcohol Information System (DAISy). We will use this data to inform our work to better meet the needs of veterans who use drugs to support them to achieve their recovery goals.