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-39212

Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 07 July 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 4 August 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on developing a clear, consistent set of national standards and care pathway guarantees that set out the level and standard of care that everyone with a diagnosis of dementia should expect throughout each stage of their condition.

Question reference: S6W-39213

Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 07 July 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 4 August 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment has been undertaken to understand the potential impact of increasing eligibility criteria to access local social care services on people living with dementia.

Question reference: S6W-39209

Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 07 July 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 4 August 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to address the reported variability of access across Scotland to the 12-month minimum guaranteed post-diagnostic support for people living with dementia.

Question reference: S6W-39211

Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 07 July 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 4 August 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how the planned long-term conditions framework will be (a) prioritised and (b) resourced to address the (i) current and (ii) future projected burden of disease for such conditions.

Question reference: S6W-39080

Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 30 June 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 28 July 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, as part of the initiative to provide more specialist clinical care in the community, as detailed in the Health and Social Care Renewal Framework, whether increased specialist support in local settings will be available for people with inflammatory bowel disease in order to allow those with Crohn’s disease or colitis to manage their condition closer to home.

Question reference: S6W-39079

Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 30 June 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 28 July 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the potential of embedding specialist support practitioners, such as specialist nurses, dieticians, and psychologists, within local settings, in order to (a) improve (i) access to holistic care and (ii) the management of long-term conditions, such as Crohn’s disease and colitis, closer to home and (b) prevent avoidable hospital admissions.

Question reference: S6W-38145

Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 02 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 11 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what patient-facing features will be available to people piloting the national Digital Front Door app within NHS Lanarkshire later in 2025.

The initial users in NHS Lanarkshire will be patients accessing dermatology outpatient services. They will have the following features:

Secure login using a unique ID through Scot Account.
Receive digital letters from the dermatology team
View dermatology appointments
Access personal health information, including demographics, medications and allergies.
Use a national service finder to locate health and care services.

These details have been published in our Operational Improvement Plan which you can access here; https://www.gov.scot/publications/nhs-scotland-operational-improvement-plan/pages/5/.

To ensure good practice in our approach, we intend for the initial version to be tested thoroughly in Lanarkshire before we seek to spread and scale it across Scotland.

Question reference: S6O-04775

Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 June 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 11 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of any economic implications of the Scottish Fiscal Commission’s latest forecasts and the potential impact of rising public health costs on businesses across Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-37823

Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 22 May 2025
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 30 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether legislation will be required to deliver an integrated social care and health record, as referenced in its Care in the Digital Age: Delivery Plan 2024-25.

The Scottish Government are committed to delivering a digital health and care record and can confirm that legislation is not required to create such a record. However, Part 2 of the Care Reform (Scotland) Bill, if passed, will create the enabling conditions for success of a digital health and care record by improving information sharing and usage between individuals and organisations within the health and social care system. The Scottish Government is listening to the views of MSPs presented at Stage 2 of the parliamentary process and considering what amendments may be useful in delivering a record that improves outcomes for people in Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-37646

Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 15 May 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 27 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether investment for Crohn’s disease and colitis is included as a "similar condition" in the £4.5 million of funding announced in the Programme for Government 2025-26 for new specialist support for long COVID, myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME), chronic fatigue and other similar conditions.

Long COVID and Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME)/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) are examples of post-acute infection syndromes. Work is ongoing to determine how the additional £4.5 million announced in the 2025-26 budget to deliver new specialist support will be allocated to NHS boards. It is expected that NHS boards will develop support based on their understanding of local population need and synergies with existing local service provision.