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: S6O-01193

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 June 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 8 June 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to ensure that the marine environment is protected.

Question reference: S6T-00750

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 30 May 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 31 May 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to protect communities from off-market land sales by so-called green lairds.

Question reference: S6W-08468

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 10 May 2022
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 26 May 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how it is ensuring that (a) the required specialist and condition-specific support is delivered and (b) clinical standards are met for MS patients throughout the Western Isles, and whether it will outline its plans to support healthcare workers to cope with their caseload of MS patients in the Western Isles.

Whilst Scottish Ministers set the strategic policy for the NHS in Scotland, responsibility for service delivery rests locally with Health Boards. Scottish Ministers expect satisfactory specialist and condition-specific support and care to be delivered for the benefit of all patients.

The requisite education and training to support people with neurological conditions, including MS, is provided to NHS Western Isles specialist nursing staff, in collaboration with NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde Neurology Service.

The Board's Lead Nurse for Specialist Nursing provides leadership and management to its neurology service, to ensure that clinical standards are met and the caseload is effectively managed.

To support the delivery of the Neurological Framework, the Scottish Government has commissioned Healthcare Improvement Scotland (HIS) to support quality assurance of the implementation of the HIS General Standards for neurological care. Condition-specific third sector organisations will be an integral part of this evaluation and will help us understand how these standards are being implemented for people across Scotland.

Question reference: S6O-01156

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 25 May 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 1 June 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to end sexual exploitation in Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-08453

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 12 May 2022
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 25 May 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-07780 by Kate Forbes on 4 May 2022, whether it (a) believes, (b) knows or (c) suspects that a cabinet secretary, minister or civil servant destroyed the relevant documentation.

Question reference: S6W-08466

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 10 May 2022
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 23 May 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what training and support has been given to (a) clinicians, (b) nurses and (c) healthcare support workers, under the neurological care and support strategy, to increase and broaden knowledge and specialisms to ensure that adequate treatment and care is provided.

We recognise the importance of increasing knowledge to ensure that adequate treatment and care is provided for people with neurological conditions.

Over 5 years of implementing the Neurological Care and Support – National Framework for Action 2020-25 we will allocate £4.5 million in total to improve the care of people with neurological conditions. To date, £2.2 million funding has been awarded to 37 innovative projects across the statutory and third sectors, which seek to improve neurological care and support services. A significant number of these have involved providing support and training to healthcare professionals.

Activity delivered directly by Scottish Government includes a jointly-organised Anticipatory Care Planning (ACP) webinar with Healthcare Improvement Scotland in August 2021 on how the principles of good ACP can be adapted for neurological conditions. The webinar was attended by over 250 individuals, the majority clinical staff, including nurses, allied healthcare professionals and healthcare support workers.

We established a Redesign Project Group in January 2021, as a subgroup of the Scottish Government’s National Advisory Committee for Neurological Conditions. The group developed and published guidance for healthcare professionals working in neurology on the appropriate use of video, telephone and face to face outpatient appointments. This was accompanied by a webinar for healthcare professionals.

Question reference: S6W-08464

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 10 May 2022
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 23 May 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how many new nursing roles have been created through the neurological care and support strategy.

Question reference: S6W-08462

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 10 May 2022
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 23 May 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how many nursing roles have been affected by the Scottish Government’s neurological care and support strategy.

Question reference: S6W-08465

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 10 May 2022
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 23 May 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how many nursing roles have been amalgamated under the neurological care and support strategy.

Question reference: S6W-08467

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 10 May 2022
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 17 May 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how it is ensuring that the pyramid of support, as outlined in its neurological care and support framework, is effectively implemented for MS patients throughout the Western Isles, in light of reports that such patients often require complex tailored packages of care and support, which may rely on treatment that is unavailable in that area.

The Board is ensuring the pyramid of support for patients with MS by working in partnership with NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde’s Neurology Service who provide a specialist neurology service through a Service Level Agreement. The NHS Western Isles Neurology Team has weekly discussions with their NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde colleagues to discuss the Team’s caseload.

NHS Western Isles is also working to meet Commitment 9 in the Neurological care and support: framework for action 2020-2025, namely testing innovative ways of delivering health and social care, including new roles and new arrangements for co-ordinating care and support for people with neurological conditions such as MS.

The Board also aims to recruit to an Advanced Clinical Nurse Specialist – Neurology role who will work with the current Parkinson’s specialist nurse to support people with neurological conditions including MS that require specialist support, ensuring equity of care.