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: S5W-24558

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 01 August 2019
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 16 August 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what support is being provided to help identify and support school pupils with ADHD.

We want all children and young people, including those with ADHD, to receive the support needed to reach their full learning potential.

Education authorities and other agencies have duties under the Education (Additional Support for Learning) Act 2004 (as amended) to identify, provide for and review the additional support needs of their pupils, which includes those with ADHD. Education authorities can ask other agencies (including social work services, health boards and skills development Scotland) for help in carrying out their duties under the Act.

Question reference: S5W-24386

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 17 July 2019
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 14 August 2019

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-23952 by Jeane Freeman on 15 July 2019, whether any (a) patient and (b) third sector representatives (i) were previously and (ii) are currently directly appointed to the Access Support Team for chronic pain.

Question reference: S5W-24384

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 17 July 2019
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 14 August 2019

To ask the Scottish Government who the Access Support Team consulted before agreeing that NHS boards should decide on Waiting Times Initiative second round funding, without recommendations and involvement from the Scottish Access Collaborative.

Question reference: S5W-24382

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 17 July 2019
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 14 August 2019

To ask the Scottish Government whether there are minutes of meetings of the Access Support Team that supports the Scottish Access Collaborative in relation to any conditions, and whether it will provide the minutes of meetings since 2015.

The Scottish Access Collaborative was launched in October 2017 therefore there are no minutes going back to 2015.

Both the Scottish Access Collaborative and Access Support Team sit within the same Directorate within Scottish Government which consists of performance and improvement staff who work closely with NHS Boards to ensure best practice is instilled across all hospital sites, and to share good practice and innovation across NHSScotland.

A key function of the Collaborative is the creation of national effective and clinically led specialty groups. A series of design workshops have been held for speciality groups to give their specialty area the opportunity to review their service against the Access Collaborative principles. Updates from these meetings are provided on the NES Turas Learn website. https://learn.nes.nhs.scot/

Question reference: S5W-24385

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 17 July 2019
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 14 August 2019

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of some new chronic pain patients waiting over 40 weeks for their first appointment, what its position is on whether allocating £372,810 for chronic pain services from the £101.6 million of Waiting Times Initiative funding since 2017 has been adequate.

Question reference: S5W-24383

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 17 July 2019
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 14 August 2019

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-23952 by Jeane Freeman on 15 July 2019, for what reason the Access Support Team agreed that the second phase funding of the Waiting Times Initiative would not "be aligned to the recommendations which emerged from the Scottish Access Collaborative" and cover chronic pain improvements, and that these decisions would be made by NHS boards.

The Waiting Times Improvement Plan clearly sets out a range of actions, both short term and longer term in order to deliver improvements this year as well as sustainable solutions for the future.

It is the role of the Scottish Government to provide policies, frameworks and resources to NHS Boards. In this context, it is a matter for NHS Boards to plan, budget for, and deliver the services required to meet the assessed needs of their resident populations - within the allocations provided.

The second phase of funding under the Waiting Times Improvement Plan was announced in July 2019. A total amount of £102 million will be invested in 2019-20, which will help to reduce waiting times across Scotland in line with the activity agreed in Health Boards Annual Operational Plans, these will be published on Health Boards websites in due course.

In terms of future sustainability we are developing a quality improvement approach which will focus on the specific actions Health Boards should be taking to improve Chronic Pain services. A recent report Chronic Pain Specialty Group shows the area’s most likely to make a difference to people presenting with Chronic Pain including workforce resourcing, exploring more sustainable service funding models, making effective information on self-management more widely available, strengthening the links between primary and secondary care, better use data to drive improvements and agreeing and sharing a common language around chronic pain that supports the principles of Realistic Medicine.

Additionally, since 2012 we have provided over £400,000 to third sector organisations to enable them to deliver services and develop resources to support people living with chronic pain in Scotland. This has resulted in improved outcomes such as the expansion of a network of Pain Association self-management groups across the country and the Navigator tool produced by Pain Concern to assist people to have open and focused conversations with healthcare professionals about what matters to them, including discussions about their prescriptions.

Question reference: S5W-24102

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 01 July 2019
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 14 August 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what action NHS Scotland is taking to increase recycling, and what percentage of NHS waste has been recycled in each year since 2007.

Scottish Government do not hold information on the increase in waste that has been recycled going back to 2007. In 2017 and 2018, roughly 20.5% and 23.7%, respectively, of NHSScotland domestic waste was either recycled, reclaimed or reused.

Scottish Government only have figures for 11 Boards held at a national level, as the current waste data tool is a pilot and linked to the 2016 national contract for domestic waste. Other NHS Boards have individual contracts for their domestic waste and these contractors do not use the waste data tool.

NHS NSS are procuring a new waste data tool that will include the provision for all NHS Boards to upload their waste data, so we should have a complete national record of all waste within the next year.

The NHSScotland Waste Management Action Plan 2016 – 2020 sets out how NHSScotland Boards will meet the legislative targets set out in ‘Making Things Last – A Circular Economy Strategy for Scotland’ and the Waste (Scotland) Regulations 2012. The Plan includes the following actions:

All NHS Boards will review all waste-related procedures and create a single overarching Waste Recycling and Recovery Plan for domestic waste.
The Waste Recycling and Recovery Plans detail the specific opportunities that the NHS Boards will take forward in order to achieve recycling and recovery targets, and are focused on food waste, recyclables, and residual waste.
The Waste Recycling and Recovery Plans include implementation timetables to ensure sufficient resource and support is provided for waste segregation, education and awareness, and procurement.

In addition, the ‘Sustainability Action’ branding is being used to encourage recycling activities amongst NHS staff, patients, and visitors.

Question reference: S5W-24340

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 15 July 2019
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 6 August 2019

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the Planning (Scotland) Bill legislating to merge Scottish Planning Policy (SPP) into the National Planning Framework 4, when the next SPP review will commence, and what the timescale will be for consultation, consideration and implementation.

Question reference: S5W-24093

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 01 July 2019
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 5 August 2019

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-23649 by Jeane Freeman on 19 June 2019, how many NHS staff have been employed on (a) full- and (b) part-time contracts in each year since 1999.

Question reference: S5W-24565

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 01 August 2019
Current Status: Answer expected on 29 August 2019

To ask the Scottish Government how many temporary ward closures there have been due to staff shortages in each year since 1999, broken down by NHS board.