- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Friday, 17 January 2025
-
Current Status:
Answered by Jenni Minto on 30 January 2025
To ask the Scottish Government whether it anticipates that any of the £4.5 million budget for the actions in the Neurological Care and Support in Scotland: A Framework for Action 2020 – 2025 will not have been spent by March 2025; if so, how much of the budget it anticipates will have been spent by this date, and for what reason the full £4.5 million will not have been distributed within this timescale, in light of its commitment to do so.
Answer
It is forecast that £3.185m will have been spent by the end of March 2025 for activity related to the aims in the Neurological Care and Support in Scotland: A Framework for Action 2020 – 2025.
The Framework was published in 2019 and despite the extensive disruption to health and social care services during the pandemic, and accompanying pressure on Scottish Government and health board priorities, we sustained our focus and efforts to deliver the commitments of the Framework.
Actions will continue in the financial year 2025-26 for which the budget is still to be passed. We are asking Parliament to unite behind the Budget to ensure this funding reaches the people who need it.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Thursday, 16 January 2025
-
Current Status:
Answered by Jenni Minto on 29 January 2025
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a breakdown of the £16 million allocated to stroke thrombectomy services in the draft Budget 2025-26.
Answer
Work is ongoing to establish how the £16 million funding announced in the draft Scottish budget will be best used to maximise the number of patients able to benefit from thrombectomy.
The new Scottish Budget was presented to Parliament on 4 December 2024 with £16 million allocated to the further development of the thrombectomy service and stroke policy. This details Scottish Ministers spend proposals for the year ahead and the Scottish Parliament will then scrutinise this information through the Scottish Budget Bill. Further details on the Scottish Budget and the Health and Social Care portfolio budget Finance can be found at; Scottish Budget 2025 to 2026.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 January 2025
-
Current Status:
Answered by Jenni Minto on 29 January 2025
To ask the Scottish Government what consultation it has had with stroke clinicians and third sector organisations in relation to thrombectomy funding in its draft Budget 2025-26.
Answer
The Scottish Government draft budget 2025-26 has been informed by planning forecasts provided by the Thrombectomy Advisory Group (TAG). Clinicians and third sector organisations, as well as NHS planning colleagues, are represented on the TAG and the information provided by them helps to inform decisions taken by the National Thrombectomy Programme Board.
Work is ongoing to establish how the £16 million funding announced in the Scottish budget, subject to parliamentary scrutiny, will be best used to maximise the number of patients able to benefit from thrombectomy.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 January 2025
-
Current Status:
Answered by Jenni Minto on 29 January 2025
To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) neuropsychologists and (b) trainee neuropsychologists there are, broken down by NHS board.
Answer
The latest data received by the Scottish Government from NHS Education for Scotland (NES) is as follows:
a) WTE Applied Psychologists working in Neuropsychology in NHS Scotland as of 30 September 2024:
NHS Board | WTE Applied Psychologists working in Neuropsychology |
NHS Scotland | 53.1 |
NHS Ayrshire & Arran | 5.9 |
NHS Borders | 0.0 |
NHS Dumfries & Galloway | 0.8 |
NHS Fife | 2.3 |
NHS Forth Valley | 2.4 |
NHS Grampian | 8.6 |
NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde | 14.8 |
NHS Highland | 3.1 |
NHS Lanarkshire | 3.6 |
NHS Lothian | 8.3 |
NHS Orkney | 0.0 |
NHS Shetland | 0.0 |
NHS Tayside | 3.4 |
NHS Western Isles | 0.0 |
State Hospital | 0.0 |
Golden Jubilee National Hospital | 0.0 |
NHS Education for Scotland | 0.0 |
b) NHS Education for Scotland (NES) does not hold this information centrally.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 January 2025
-
Current Status:
Answered by Jenni Minto on 29 January 2025
To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to advance professional expertise in the training of neurologists in (a) immunology and (b) virology, and what action it is taking to improve the integration of neurological practice with these specialities.
Answer
Neurology trainees are provided with training in immunology and virology. The curriculum for neurology training, published by the Joint Royal Colleges of Physicians Training Board, includes Capabilities in Practice (CiPs) on managing inflammatory and infectious disorders.
These CiPs make clear expectations upon neurology trainees regarding:
- understanding of the underlying anatomy and pathophysiology of inflammatory and infectious diseases of the nervous system, including the treatments and their side effects
- ability to select, request and interpret relevant investigations including serology, genetic testing, imaging of the brain and spine, neurophysiology, tissue culture and histology in order to diagnose and manage such disorders
- ability to work with other relevant clinicians both in treating and monitoring patients and in referring them to other disciplines as appropriate.
There is robust educational Governance through NHS Education Scotland (NES) for neurology training in Scotland. NES does not consider it necessary to require neurologists to be experts in either immunology or virology, but to be able to clinically assess, investigate and manage people with neuroimmunological conditions and neuroinfectious disease using an evidence-based approach.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Tuesday, 14 January 2025
-
Current Status:
Answered by Jenni Minto on 28 January 2025
To ask the Scottish Government when the Scottish Screening Committee will next meet, and whether lung cancer screening will be an item on the agenda.
Answer
As set out in the answer to question S6W-33241 on 24 January 2025, Screening Oversight and Assurance Scotland are developing a business case for the implementation of a targeted lung screening programme, which is expected by the end of February 2025.
Following receipt, the Scottish Screening Committee will be convened to discuss its findings and consider next steps.
All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Tuesday, 14 January 2025
-
Current Status:
Answered by Jenni Minto on 24 January 2025
To ask the Scottish Government, further to a recent article published on Healthandcare.scot, which claimed that “Ministers say they will introduce a lung cancer screening programme in adults aged 55-74 with a history of smoking, in line with a recent recommendation from the UK National Screening Committee”, by what date the programme will commence, and whether it will include an incidental findings pathway for people diagnosed as having chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) during their CT scan.
Answer
Screening Oversight and Assurance Scotland, supported by the work of an expert advisory group and led by the Director of Screening, is currently developing a business case for implementation of targeted lung screening. This is expected by the end of this winter, and will consider the matter of incidental findings. Following receipt of the business case, the Scottish Government and delivery partners across the NHS will have greater scope to make an evidenced-based assessment of implementation timescales.
The roll-out of any screening programme is a complex undertaking, and the UK National Screening Committee acknowledged in its recommendation that there remain a number of significant issues that must be worked through before a full programme of lung screening can be implemented. This means a national screening programme is likely to take years rather than months to implement.
In the meantime, lung cancer remains a national priority. The Scottish Government has a dedicated chapter in our £114.5 million National Cancer Plan, and in December 2023 we redesigned lung cancer diagnostic services to help ensure patients receive faster access to treatment.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Friday, 17 January 2025
-
Current Status:
Answered by Jenni Minto on 24 January 2025
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the commitment in its Stroke Improvement Plan 2023 to deliver a detailed plan for further development of the national thrombectomy service before the end of 2023, whether it remains committed to publishing such a plan, and, if so, when it plans to do so, and whether it will commit to publishing this in 2025.
Answer
The commitment in the Stroke Improvement Plan to publish a plan for further development of the national thrombectomy service in the second half of 2023 was published in December 2023, available at: Thrombectomy Service Update and Expansion Outline
It should be noted that, since publication, the National Thrombectomy Programme Board has, on the advice of NHS National Services Division, moved away from an options appraisal approach in favour of maximising access to thrombectomy and a stepwise approach to service expansion.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Thursday, 16 January 2025
-
Current Status:
Answered by Jenni Minto on 24 January 2025
To ask the Scottish Government for what reason it has proposed reducing the Young Patients Family Fund by £700,000 in its draft Budget 2025-26, and what its response is to reported concerns that this sets a precedent for further reductions to the support that children and young people with cancer, and their families, may need.
Answer
The Young Patients Family Fund (YPFF) is designed to support the families of all babies, children and young people from birth to age 18 who require inpatient care in Scotland, regardless of diagnosis.
The YPFF is a demand-led fund and the Scottish Government has ensured full funding against demand in each year since its launch on 26 July 2021. The 2025-26 budget has been set based on expected demand levels and the Scottish Government remains committed to provide full funding for the YPFF in 2025-26.
Other financial support is available to children and young people with a cancer diagnosis and their families for travel to hospital via the patient travel expenses reimbursement schemes. Under those schemes, patients and authorised escorts can reclaim reasonable costs of travel associated with attending a hospital appointment, in line with eligibility criteria and medical requirements.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Thursday, 16 January 2025
-
Current Status:
Answered by Jenni Minto on 24 January 2025
To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to have a national AI system in place to support delivery of mechanical thrombectomy, and, if so, when.
Answer
To date, significant work has been undertaken to develop robust criteria for a national AI solution to assist with identifying patients who may benefit from a thrombectomy.
A tendering process has commenced and the suitability and affordability of AI solutions will determine whether Scottish Government proceeds with procurement.