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-01049

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 25 June 2021
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 27 July 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what support it provides to people who have (a) swallowing and (b) communication problems due to long-term illness.

The provision of speech and language therapy services is the responsibility of NHS Boards for children and adults with communication and swallowing difficulties and also Education Departments in Local Authorities for Children and Young people.

The Allied Health Professional (AHP) National Lead for Children and Young People at Scottish Government is working with NHS Boards across Scotland and speech and language therapy leads to support a joined up approach to service design and delivery.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Speech and Language Therapists (SLT) have continued to offer digital support, advice and interventions for adults, young people and children, their families and carers where possible through the use of NHS Near Me. SLTs have also prioritised promotion of resources and tools to support wellness and self-management where appropriate.

Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) and SLT services have adapted their service delivery methods to ensure compliance with local and national restrictions while continuing to establish and maintain contact with those who need support, including children and adults. Digital services have been key to enabling person centred care and continuity of care in current circumstances. Where it has been safe to do so, face to face contact has remained in place guided by stringent risk assessment.

Question reference: S6W-01048

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 25 June 2021
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 23 July 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to close the reported gap in the take-up of cervical cancer screening between women in the most and least affluent areas, as reported by Public Health Scotland.

The latest annual statistics from Public Health Scotland show that uptake of cervical screening is still lower in the most deprived areas of Scotland, compared to the least deprived areas. We recognise that there is further work required to tackle this issue, and that the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic have increased the importance of this work. We have therefore committed £2 million over the next two years to build a programme of evidence-based, sustainable and scalable projects that tackle inequalities in a systemic way.

The Scottish Government is also supporting work to explore the potential introduction of self-sampling into the screening programme, which could be an important tool to widen access to the programme and tackle inequalities. Allowing people to take the test in their own home could overcome some of the barriers that prevent people taking up screening, such as accessibility issues, embarrassment or previous trauma. The UK National Screening Committee is evaluating research ahead of making a recommendation on its use, and we have established a working group to contribute evidence and plan for implementation so that we can act quickly following any recommendation.

Question reference: S6W-00493

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 04 June 2021
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 22 June 2021

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason the speed for offering invites for initial and second COVID-19 vaccinations in the NHS Lothian area is reportedly slower than in other NHS board areas.

NHS Lothian is performing in-line with the rest of Scotland and within national timeframes. All NHS Boards have the same timeframe in which to complete each JCVI cohort. There will be slight local variations in time taken to reach targets dependant on population demographics within each NHS Board i.e Lothian has proportionally the highest constituency population of younger adults. NHS Lothian have reached these targets for each cohort, with the percentage coverage for over 50s in line with the Scottish average.

The vaccination data are updated daily and can be found here: COVID-19 Daily Dashboard | Tableau Public

Question reference: S6W-00373

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 June 2021
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 16 June 2021

To ask the Scottish Government whether it recognises dental care as part of preventative healthcare, and, if so, how it will ensure that cost is not a barrier to receiving adequate healthcare.

Question reference: S6W-00374

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 June 2021
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 16 June 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to ensure that people in every community can access NHS dentistry.

Question reference: S6F-00091

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 07 June 2021
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 10 June 2021

To ask the First Minister what action the Scottish Government is taking to address the reported backlog of NHS dental appointments for children and young people.

Question reference: S6W-00376

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 June 2021
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 7 June 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what analysis it has carried out of the scale of delays in waiting times for NHS dental check-ups.

The Scottish Government does not analyse statistics on waiting times for NHS dental examinations within General Dental Services (GDS) as this service is delivered across around 1100 dental practices, each with local differences in patterns of prescribing and service delivery.

Infection control requirements have meant that practices are still working at considerably reduced capacity, necessitating the triage of patients according to clinical need to some extent, including the availability to dental check-ups for individuals with historically poor oral health.

Question reference: S6W-00375

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 June 2021
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 7 June 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what analysis it has carried out on the impact on public health, and children's health in particular, of the reduction in the number of dental checks carried out.

The Scottish Government does not carry out its own analysis on dental treatment patterns and the associated impact on oral health. Evidence to inform policy is derived from a range of sources with specific sectoral interest, including Scottish Dental Clinical Effectiveness Programme (SDCEP), as commissioned by the Chief Dental Officer on behalf of The Scottish Government.

Similarly, for children’s oral health findings from primary research, including the National Dental Inspection Programme (NDIP) will be used along with evidence from recently published studies and systematic reviews from a range of sources to inform policy decisions as we move forward through remobilisation and system reform. Whilst infection control requirements have meant that practices are still working at considerably reduced capacity, oral health considerations for children are prioritised as part of the clinical triage process.

Question reference: S5W-35294

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 17 February 2021
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 24 March 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what percentage of clinically extremely vulnerable people have received a COVID-19 vaccination.

Question reference: S5W-35632

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 03 March 2021
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 12 March 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what costs and savings might arise from the cancellation of the relocation of Princess Alexandra Eye Pavilion to the BioQuarter site in Edinburgh.