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.

Find out more about parliamentary questions

Filter your results Hide all filters

Displaying 987 questions Show Answers

Order by |

Question reference: S7W-01388

Asked by: Finlay Carson, MSP for Galloway and West Dumfries, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 26 June 2026
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 23 July 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what support is being provided to GP practices that are experiencing operational difficulties following the transition to the Vision 3 system.

Question reference: S7W-01377

Asked by: Finlay Carson, MSP for Galloway and West Dumfries, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 26 June 2026
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 23 July 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether it considers the current Vision 3 system to be meeting the operational needs of GP practices, and what evidence it has used to reach that view.

Question reference: S7W-01379

Asked by: Finlay Carson, MSP for Galloway and West Dumfries, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 26 June 2026
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 23 July 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the impact of the Vision 3 system on GP and practice staff workload, wellbeing, morale and retention.

Public Services Delivery Scotland, on behalf of the Scottish Government, is working with health boards to ensure that training is delivered at the right stages of the migration process, reinforced following go-live, and supported through practical, hands-on learning opportunities.

Health boards have been asked to ensure that practices receive appropriate support before, during and after migration, including sufficient protected time for training and familiarisation with the system. Where necessary, health boards may consider temporary adjustments to clinical activity to support a safe transition and staff wellbeing.

PSDS is also working closely with One Advanced and health boards to address issues identified by practices and to improve the overall user experience as the rollout progresses.

Question reference: S7W-01389

Asked by: Finlay Carson, MSP for Galloway and West Dumfries, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 26 June 2026
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 23 July 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what escalation process is in place for GP practices that consider that the Vision 3 system is unworkable or having an adverse impact on patient care.

GP practices can escalate issues with the Vision system via their health board representatives, who in turn can raise these with the programme team. GP practice scan log any issues with the One Advanced(Vision) Service Desk.

The GP IT Re-provisioning Programme has a robust governance framework, governed by the GP IT Service Management Board, which meets regularly and features representation from Scottish Government, RCGP, SGPC and NHS Scotland stakeholders, including health board representation. Programme progress and status are assessed as part of each meeting.

Question reference: S7W-01383

Asked by: Finlay Carson, MSP for Galloway and West Dumfries, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 26 June 2026
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 23 July 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what consideration was given to EMIS or EMIS Web as an alternative to the Vision 3 system during the procurement process for a GP clinical IT system.

Question reference: S7W-01385

Asked by: Finlay Carson, MSP for Galloway and West Dumfries, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 26 June 2026
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 23 July 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has received representations from GP practices, NHS boards, primary care staff or professional bodies regarding the implementation or functionality of the Vision 3 system, and, if so, what action it has taken in response.

Question reference: S7W-01378

Asked by: Finlay Carson, MSP for Galloway and West Dumfries, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 26 June 2026
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 23 July 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the impact of the rollout of the Vision 3 system on GP practices, including on appointment capacity, consultation times, administrative workload and the ability of practices to deliver safe and effective patient care.

The Scottish Government continues to monitor the impact of the Vision hosted system rollout through Public Service Delivery Scotland (PSDS)’engagement with health boards, GP practices and the supplier OneAdvanced.

While some practices have experienced performance issues following migration, particularly where users are adapting from EMIS to Vision, additional training and post-migration support have been put in place.

OneAdvanced is implementing system improvements to address issues affecting appointments, prescribing and task management, and recent infrastructure changes have improved system stability. PSDS continues to work with Boards and the supplier to minimise and mitigate any impacts reported as a result of the system changes.

Question reference: S7W-01393

Asked by: Finlay Carson, MSP for Galloway and West Dumfries, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 26 June 2026
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 23 July 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what consideration it has given to the approach taken by other UK administrations in relation to GP clinical IT systems, including any decisions to move away from Vision-based systems.

The GPIT procurement was undertaken through a formal, competitive procurement process led by National Services Scotland (now Public Services Delivery Scotland), in line with European Single Procurement Document (ESPD) requirements.

Three suppliers met the criteria for inclusion on the Scottish GP IT framework :Cegedim/INPS (Vision), Optum (EMIS) and Microtest/EVA Technologies. However, Microtest withdrew from the framework in 2021 and EMIS withdrew in 2022. As a result, Vision became the only remaining supplier on the framework and is currently the only GP clinical system available through that national procurement arrangement.

Question reference: S7W-01392

Asked by: Finlay Carson, MSP for Galloway and West Dumfries, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 26 June 2026
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 23 July 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will consider allowing GP practices to return to, or adopt, alternative clinical IT systems, including EMIS or EMIS Web, where practices consider that the Vision 3 system is adversely affecting their ability to provide safe and efficient care.

Question reference: S7W-01381

Asked by: Finlay Carson, MSP for Galloway and West Dumfries, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 26 June 2026
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 14 July 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what consultation it undertook with GPs, practice managers, reception staff and other primary care professionals prior to the procurement and rollout of the Vision 3 system.

Between 2017 and 2018, a multidisciplinary group of subject matter experts (SMEs) worked to define the requirements for a future GP clinical system. This group included GPs, nurses, pharmacists, practice managers, health board facilitators, and specialists in IT and information governance.

By February 2019, following structured evaluation and scoring involving the SME group, Vision was one of three suppliers appointed to a Scottish framework agreement.

SMEs remain members of governance groups supporting the implementation of the migration programme.