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: S4W-29991

Asked by: Dr Richard Simpson, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 18 February 2016
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 3 March 2016

To ask the Scottish Government over what maximum period a junior doctor's rota must be compliant with the European working time directive of 48 hours maximum working per week.

Question reference: S4W-29989

Asked by: Dr Richard Simpson, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 18 February 2016
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 3 March 2016

To ask the Scottish Government how it has monitored the implementation of the requirement that no junior doctor should work more than seven nights in a row, as announced by the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Wellbeing in the news release of 19 June 2014, Helping junior doctors.

All junior doctors rotas are approved and signed off by the Scottish Government before they can be implemented. This sign-off ensures that all working patterns meet the contractual, legal and Scottish Government requirements. NHS boards must monitor junior doctor working hours a minimum of twice per year. This monitoring should confirm compliance with the relevant standards. This monitoring is reported into the Scottish Government.

Question reference: S4W-29990

Asked by: Dr Richard Simpson, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 18 February 2016
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 3 March 2016

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will require all NHS board human resources departments to ascertain whether junior doctors are stressed by their rota requirements.

Processes already exist to support junior doctors and assess their stress levels. They have regular reviews with their educational and clinical supervisors. At these reviews, issues related to working hours or rota requirements can be discussed, and changes agreed and made. Junior doctors also have access to the Scottish Government workforce adviser who can work on their behalf to review and agree rota changes. Junior doctors participate in new deal monitoring a minimum of twice a year. This exercise gathers data from junior doctors to assess their compliance with the contractual limits, and through this process junior doctors can also raise concerns.

Like all other NHS staff, junior doctors can raise any concerns they have either informally or through appropriate local policies and procedures.

Question reference: S4O-05596

Asked by: Dr Richard Simpson, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 24 February 2016
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 2 March 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what average number and percentage of hospital beds was unavailable to new patients in 2015, and how this compared with the average number of bed-occupied days because of delayed discharges.

Question reference: S4T-01324

Asked by: Dr Richard Simpson, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 22 February 2016
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 23 February 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on reports that GP funding has been reduced by £1.6 billion over the last 10 years.

Question reference: S4W-29506

Asked by: Dr Richard Simpson, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 27 January 2016
Current Status: Answered by Maureen Watt on 9 February 2016

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason waiting lists for patients attending NHS chronic pain clinics, which were due to be published in November 2015, have not yet been published and when they will be published.

The Scottish Government have been working with NHS National Services Scotland’s Information Services Division (ISD) to ensure that these new data are sufficiently complete and robust.

While this work is still on-going, ISD plan to release waiting times figures available from the quarter ending 31 December 2015 as developmental data, which are expected to be published by ISD on 8 March 2016.

Question reference: S4W-29505

Asked by: Dr Richard Simpson, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 27 January 2016
Current Status: Answered by Maureen Watt on 8 February 2016

To ask the Scottish Government which NHS boards have engaged additional staff for chronic pain clinics since 2012, broken down by (a) number of staff, (b) profession and (c) whole-time equivalent.

Question reference: S4W-29541

Asked by: Dr Richard Simpson, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 28 January 2016
Current Status: Answered by Maureen Watt on 8 February 2016

To ask the Scottish Government when the chronic pain unit at Gartnaval Hospital will open.

Question reference: S4O-05486

Asked by: Dr Richard Simpson, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 20 January 2016
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 27 January 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what requirements must be met for home-schooled pupils to be eligible to sit SQA exams.

Question reference: S4T-01282

Asked by: Dr Richard Simpson, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 18 January 2016
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 19 January 2016

To ask the Scottish Government how it will increase protection for people subject to emergency detention under the Mental Health (Care and Treatment) (Scotland) Act 2003.