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-20488

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 10 December 2018
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 7 January 2019

To ask the Scottish Government at what stage each NHS board is at on the Board Performance Escalation Framework.

Question reference: S5W-20519

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 11 December 2018
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 7 January 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the reported decision to not inform patients who have been operated on using instruments from the Cowlairs decontamination unit, in light of it failing a safety inspection.

Question reference: S5W-20539

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 11 December 2018
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 21 December 2018

To ask the Scottish Government how inspections carried out by local NHS boards on dental practices differ from those carried out by Healthcare Improvement Scotland on independent dental practices.

The combined practice inspection (CPI) process was implemented in all NHS general dental practices in Scotland on 1 January 2014. The CPI Checklist combines Health Board and Vocational Training inspection items and includes items from the National Standards for Dental Service. Healthcare Improvement Scotland (HIS) dental practice inspections will use the Combined Practice Inspection (CPI) checklist and the HIS Quality Framework which looks at evaluating the appropriateness of governance structures, systems and procedures to support staff to consistently deliver safe, effective, compassionate and person-centred care.

Question reference: S5W-20371

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 04 December 2018
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 21 December 2018

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the NHS treatment time guarantee not being met for a number of treatments, what support is available to patients who face long waiting times for surgery.

NHS staff are expected to support patients who are waiting for treatment by involving them in all decisions being taken about their healthcare. This includes clear and open communication with patients over when their appointment will be, whether their appointment will be over the 12 weeks Treatment Time Guarantee standard and the reasons for this, and any pre-appointment information and details that will assist the patient prepare for their treatment or surgery. In addition, patients who may be suffering discomfort as a result of a long wait should contact their GP or other NHS staff to ensure they access the full range of medical support available to them.

Performance across many parts of the NHS is below the standards expected which is why I launched the Waiting Times Improvement Plan in October. The Plan will ensure that patients have swift and safe access to the full range of services from NHSScotland and will direct investment of more than £850 million to substantially and sustainably improve waiting times in the face of rising demand for services by spring 2021. The Plan sets out a range of actions and milestones to be met to ensure that long waits for NHS treatment are eradicated and that the targets and standards set for treatment times are consistently met. Successful delivery of the Plan will ensure that patients receive safe, effective and person-centred healthcare.

Scottish Government Officials are working with all territorial Health Boards to ensure that they develop appropriate plans to ensure the successful delivery of the Improvement Plan.

Question reference: S5W-20538

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 11 December 2018
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 21 December 2018

To ask the Scottish Government how many independent dental practices have been subject to inspection by Healthcare Improvement Scotland since 2016, and how much these cost.

No practices have been inspected yet. The first inspections of dental practices will commence in March 2019. To date Healthcare Improvement Scotland (HIS) has carried out pre-registration visits to dental practices only. It is estimated that Dental practice inspections will cost in the region of £1800 to £2000 per inspection. Fees are charged for initial registration and annual continuation fees which include the regulation and inspection process in its entirety. There are 24 currently practices registered and another 7 in progress.

Question reference: S5W-20540

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 11 December 2018
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 21 December 2018

To ask the Scottish Government how patients can access the results of Health Improvement Scotland inspections carried out at dental practices.

Question reference: S5W-20416

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 06 December 2018
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 18 December 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to BMA Scotland's comment that ISD statistics underestimate the consultant vacancy rate by excluding posts that have yet to be cleared to be advertised and do not take account of the reliance on locum doctors and “that by not including certain categories of vacancy, the official statistics simply don’t provide the full picture of the scale of consultant vacancies in our NHS”.

The number of consultants in post in NHS Scotland has increased by 50.8% under this Government, from 3,636.6 WTE in Sep 2006 to 5,484.8 in September 2018.

Vacancy statistics are a key part of quarterly official workforce statistics published by ISD Scotland and follow agreed measures of the size and composition of the NHS Scotland workforce.

Clear, agreed definitions are necessary to allow consistent comparison over time, and between individual NHS Boards. Every effort is made to ensure that in responding to ISD Scotland, Boards comply with data collection guidelines carefully, accurately and consistently.

We expect NHS Boards to always prioritise the recruitment of permanent staff to vacant posts. While this is taking place, the use of temporary staff allows essential services to patients to continue.

Question reference: S5T-01396

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 17 December 2018
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 18 December 2018

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason ministers will no longer hold a public session or Q&A as part of the annual review of NHS boards.

Question reference: S5W-20429

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 06 December 2018
Current Status: Answered by Joe FitzPatrick on 13 December 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what support it provides to help women who are survivors of sexual violence to access cervical screening.

From 2018-19 we are providing funding to the Sandyford Clinic for women who have experienced rape or sexual violence and are due (or overdue) for their cervical screening test. The ‘My Body Back’ project runs clinics where women and transgender men who have experienced sexual assault are able to access cervical screening, STI checks, and coil fittings and removals. The clinics were started in response to requests from survivors, giving them a safe space in which they feel in control and have their needs met, regardless of when they were sexually assaulted.

We are also investing up to £5 million from the Cancer Strategy to tackle inequalities in access to screening, including cervical screening. A recent initiative we have funded includes the development and delivery of an education programme for smear takers in partnership with NHS Borders Joint Health Improvement Team and Scottish Borders Rape Crisis to raise awareness of cervical screening in vulnerable groups, with a focus on lesbian, bisexual women, the transgender community; female genital mutilation; childhood sexual abuse; rape & sexual assault and domestic abuse.

Question reference: S5W-20430

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 06 December 2018
Current Status: Answered by Joe FitzPatrick on 13 December 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to make it easier for women with learning disabilities to access cervical screening.

We are investing up to £5 million from the Cancer Strategy to tackle inequalities in access to screening, including cervical screening. This funding is supporting new activities, sharing of learning from local practice and innovation, to improve uptake of screening programmes, particularly amongst those least likely to participate.

A number of these projects focus specifically on women with learning disabilities and recent examples include:

The recruitment and training of Learning Disability Health Champions to raise awareness and understanding of the cancer screening programmes, including cervical.
Initiatives to help people with learning disabilities engage with the cervical screening programme through creative learning sessions such as using theatre, focus groups and champions.
Working with the Learning Disabilities Service to promote health literacy and to encourage a culture of “Normalisation and Talkability” around cervical screening to ensure that people with learning disabilities have additional support and increased engagement with services.

Officials continue to work closely with Cervical Screening Coordinators from all NHS Boards to develop local level initiatives to improve uptake for all women and to promote cervical screening services by communicating effectively with a range of audiences.