Questions and answers

Question reference: S6W-27559

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 May 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 30 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has plans to change current guidance in relation to HEPA filters in classrooms to allow parents to donate filters to schools, in light of recent reported research on the health benefits of clean air in preventing COVID-19.

Although the “Reducing the risks of COVID-19 in schools” guidance has been stood down and there are no current plans to revise it, we recognise the benefits of clean air in preventing COVID-19.

It is the statutory duty of Local Authorities to manage their school estate and it would, therefore, be for them to consider local circumstances and determine if it would be appropriate to allow parents to donate HEPA filters to their schools.

Question reference: S6W-27485

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 13 May 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 29 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the recently published SIGN guidance on Optimising glycaemic control in people with type 1 diabetes, what actions it will take to ensure similar access is made available for patients with type 2 diabetes.

The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring that people with diabetes to receive the best care, treatment and support. Clinical indications for technology required to optimise diabetes control are very different for people with type 2 diabetes compared to those with type 1 diabetes.

At present, clinical guidelines indicate that technology is required in only a select cohort of individuals with type 2 diabetes and we are monitoring provision of this via prescribing data.

Question reference: S6W-27484

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 13 May 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 29 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on what it is doing to encourage widening access to diabetes technology for people living with (a) type 1 and (b) type 2 diabetes.

I refer member to answer to question S6W-27483 on 29 May 2024 . The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring that people with diabetes to receive the best care, treatment and support. This year, we are investing £8.8 million of additional funding to support increased provision of Hybrid Closed Loop Systems (CLS) to those living with Type 1 diabetes in Scotland. The focus will primarily be on providing access to all children with Type 1 diabetes who want a CLS but will also allow us to continue increasing access to adults.

For people living with Type 2 diabetes, there is clear evidence on when real-time continuous glucose monitors should be offered. Guidelines for Type 2 diabetes ensure that people are able to access a variety of treatments and where appropriate, this is primarily focused on lifestyle support. We understand that demand for technologies is increasing and we will continue to assess where need is unmet.

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 .

Question reference: S6W-27483

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 13 May 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 29 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on its plans to improve access to real-time continuous glucose monitoring (rt-CGM) systems for people living with (a) type 1 and (b) type 2 diabetes.

The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring that people with diabetes to receive the best care, treatment and support. This year, we are investing £8.8 million of additional funding to support increased provision of Hybrid Closed Loop Systems (CLS) to those living with Type 1 diabetes in Scotland. The focus will primarily be on providing access to all children with Type 1 diabetes who want a CLS but will also allow us to continue increasing access to adults.

For people living with Type 2 diabetes, there is clear evidence on when real-time continuous glucose monitors should be offered. Guidelines for Type 2 diabetes ensure that people are able to access a variety of treatments and where appropriate, this is primarily focused on lifestyle support. We understand that demand for technologies is increasing and we will continue to assess where need is unmet.

Question reference: S6W-27561

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 May 2024
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 28 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has plans to provide funding for the installation of HEPA filters in (a) schools, (b) hospitals and (c) public buildings to tackle the effects of COVID-19.

We now live with COVID-19 as one of many respiratory infections. Good ventilation is beneficial to air quality and good hygiene. It is the statutory responsibility of Local Authorities to manage their school estate, and it would therefore be for them to determine if it would be appropriate to install HEPA filters, as a relatively costly technology, in their schools, based on local circumstances. However, in August 2021, funding of £10m was made available to local authorities in relation to improving ventilation in schools. Moreover, further funding of £4.8m was made available to local authorities in January 2022.

The Scottish Government will provide Health Boards with £149 million of capital funding in 2024-25 for investing in their estate and equipment. The installation of HEPA filters, or any other means of improving air quality is a matter for local decision making. Health Boards make decisions on what to invest in based on the risk profile of their buildings. Health Boards will consider what level of ventilation is needed across the different areas in their facilities and will invest accordingly.

Funding allocations for ventilation upgrades and maintenance for public buildings is at the discretion of each individual local authority or public body, on the basis of local needs and priorities whilst also fulfilling any statutory obligations where applicable.

Question reference: S6O-03495

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 May 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 29 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on what action it is taking to reduce NHS waiting times.

Question reference: S6W-27146

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 May 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 16 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how it will ensure that funding is provided to hospices to allow consistency with the NHS Agenda for Change pay awards.

A real terms uplift to health funding has been prioritised in the opening Budget position for 2024-25. We have invested £2 billion in the 2024-25 budget for social care and integration, which is an increase of over £1 billion compared to 2021-22. This delivers on our Programme for Government commitment to increase social care spending by 25% (£840 million) over this Parliament, two years ahead of our original target.

Despite this significant investment the financial climate remains extremely challenging, and we are working with partners to understand and address the challenges, within the context of a finite budget.

Question reference: S6W-27147

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 May 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 16 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will address the reported £16 million funding deficit facing the hospice sector, in light of the recent funding announcement for hospices in Wales to help maintain services and meet staffing costs.

Question reference: S6W-27145

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 May 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 16 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on what progress has been made towards the new national funding framework for hospice funding.

Question reference: S6W-27144

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 May 2024
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 13 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made regarding any reasons for the reported failure of NHS Scotland's usual cyber security defences, which allowed medical information about patients to be accessed.

The criminal investigation by Police Scotland, supported by other agencies, into this attack is still going on. As such there is a limited amount that I can share at this moment in time. As the investigation progresses the Scottish Government and partners will undertake a lessons identified exercise and share its findings with public bodies so they are able to take preventative steps to defend against similar attacks.

Chamber and committees