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 2473 questions Show Answers

Order by |

Question reference: S6W-39791

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 05 August 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 2 September 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to discourage NHS dental practices from moving wholly to private practice.

Question reference: S6W-39650

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 30 July 2025
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 5 August 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has received reports of extended delays on NHS Scotland's 111 telephone service.

The Scottish Government have not received reports of any extended delays for patients contacting NHS 24. We monitor NHS 24’s performance closely and remain satisfied that it continues to meet its statutory and clinical obligations.

NHS 24 has taken significant steps to improve performance, including increasing staffing levels to 1,556.9 WTE (2,199 headcount) as of March 2025 – an increase of 48.3% over the past decade. The service has also revised its key performance indicators to better capture unmet demand and identify risks where callers may have made multiple unsuccessful attempts to access 111.

The Scottish Government remains committed to supporting NHS 24’s efforts to improve service delivery and ensure that the 111 service continues to meet the needs of the public.

Question reference: S6W-39649

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 30 July 2025
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 5 August 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to review the efficacy of NHS Scotland's 111 telephone service.

The Scottish Government continues to work closely with NHS 24 as it trials and implements new approaches to service delivery.

NHS 24 is also collaborating with key partners, including the Scottish Ambulance Service, to explore improved models of joint working. These efforts aim to enhance efficiency and ensure the 111 service remains responsive, effective, and aligned with the needs of patients across Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-39445

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 22 July 2025
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 5 August 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many facilities in Scotland can perform cataract surgery.

The exact number of facilities in Scotland that can perform cataract surgery is not centrally held. Table 1 lists NHS hospitals in Scotland where cataract procedures were performed in 2024, as recorded in either the inpatient or outpatient datasets.

Please note that this is not an exhaustive list of all locations in Scotland where cataract procedures are performed. Only locations where procedures were both carried out and recorded are included. Some National Treatment Centres may not appear in the table if they do not have a unique location code or if they operate as extensions of existing locations.

Information on procedures paid for privately, either by the patient or a private insurer, with no NHS involvement, is not available to Public Health Scotland.

Table 1: NHS hospitals where cataract procedures were performed in 2024.

NHS Board	NHS hospital
Golden Jubilee Hospital	Golden Jubilee University National Hospital
NHS Ayrshire and Arran	University Hospital Ayr
NHS Ayrshire and Arran	University Hospital Crosshouse
NHS Borders	Borders General Hospital
NHS Dumfries and Galloway	Dumfries & Galloway Royal Infirmary
	Galloway Community Hospital
	Mountainhall Treatment Centre
NHS Fife	Queen Margaret Hospital
NHS Forth Valley	Falkirk Community Hospital
NHS Forth Valley	Forth Valley Royal Hospital
NHS Grampian	Aberdeen Royal Infirmary
	Dr Gray's Hospital
	Royal Aberdeen Children's Hospital
NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde	New Victoria Hospital
	West Glasgow
	Stobhill Hospital
	Vale of Leven General Hospital
	Inverclyde Royal Hospital
	Royal Hospital for Children
	Glasgow Royal Infirmary
	Queen Elizabeth University Hospital
	Royal Alexandra Hospital
NHS Highland	National Treatment Centre - Highland
	Caithness General Hospital
	Raigmore Hospital
NHS Lanarkshire	University Hospital Hairmyres
NHS Lothian	Princess Alexandra Eye Pavilion
	Royal Hospital for Children and Young People
	St John's Hospital
	Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh at Little France
	Western General Hospital
	Lauriston Buildings
NHS Orkney	The Balfour
NHS Shetland	Gilbert Bain Hospital
NHS Tayside	Ninewells Hospital
NHS Tayside	Perth Royal Infirmary
NHS Western Isles	Western Isles Hospital
Non-NHS Provider/Location	Nuffield Edinburgh Hospital
	Ross Hall Hospital
	Shawfair Park Hospital
	Optical Express
	Murrayfield Hospital

Source: SMR01 and SMR00, Public Health Scotland, extract: July 2025.

Locations labelled as Non-NHS provider refer to cases where the treatment was funded by the NHS but carried out in an independent facility, such as a private hospital.

Question reference: S6W-39440

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 22 July 2025
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 5 August 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how long patients should expect to wait for cataract surgery.

Under the Patient Rights (Scotland) Act 2011 (legislation.gov.uk), an eligible patient is to start to receive agreed treatment within the 12-week Treatment Time Guarantee (TTG). Health Boards must take all reasonable steps to ensure they comply with this legislative guarantee.

However, the pandemic has seen the NHS under the most severe pressure in its 77-year existence. Pausing of non-urgent activity has inevitably led to a build-up of both the number of patients waiting for treatment as well as increasing the length of wait for patients.

We know many people are still waiting too long and this is not good enough. We are determined do more and our Budget which will provide a record £21.7 billion for health and social care, with more than £110 million allocated to health boards to help tackle the longest waits for procedures and operations. This includes more than £12 million for ophthalmology.

This funding means 213,000 more appointments will be delivered this year than in 2024-25, exceeding our Programme for Government target of delivering 150,000 extra appointments by more than 60,000. By March 2026, we expect no-one to wait longer than 12 months for a new outpatient appointment, inpatient treatment or day case treatment.

Question reference: S6W-39453

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 22 July 2025
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 5 August 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what percentage of cataract surgeries was delivered within the Treatment Time Guarantee in each of the last five years.

The Scottish Government does not hold this information.

Public Health Scotland (PHS) uses the national waiting times data mart to collect electronic patient records covering the waits that patients experience waiting for treatment as an inpatient or day case under the Treatment Time Guarantee. This data source can be used routinely to identify the specialty of treatment. However, although the records are designed to collect coded information on the procedure that is planned for the patient, this information is often either incomplete, lacking in essential detail and/or its accuracy cannot be assured. In addition, for patients who have completed their wait the procedures that was planned may not always reflect the procedure actually performed after they were admitted for treatment. The latter is not captured through the national data mart. Consequently, PHS is not currently able to report accurately on waiting times to this level of detail.

More detailed information on the procedures that is planned or undertaken for a patient will be held locally by NHS boards.

Question reference: S6W-39450

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 22 July 2025
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 5 August 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what targets it has set for reducing cataract surgery waiting times.

Under the Patient Rights (Scotland) Act 2011, an eligible patient is to start to receive agreed treatment within the 12-week Treatment Time Guarantee (TTG). Health Boards must take all reasonable steps to ensure they comply with this legislative guarantee.

However, the long-term impacts of the pandemic, as well as acute seasonal pressures and unprecedented levels of inflation across the public sector, has seen the NHS under the most severe pressure in its 77-year existence. This has affected almost all aspects of NHS care, including the number of planned care appointments and procedures the health service has been able to provide.

Our Budget will provide more than £110 million to health boards to increase capacity and address backlogs of treatment as we work towards achieving the 12 week TTG.

We have also committed to clearing all waits in all specialities over 52 weeks by March 2026.

Question reference: S6W-39446

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 22 July 2025
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 5 August 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many complaints have been made about long waits for cataract surgery.

Question reference: S6W-39451

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 22 July 2025
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 5 August 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what information it has regarding how many people have sought private cataract surgery due to reported long NHS waiting times in each year since 2019.

Question reference: S6W-39441

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 22 July 2025
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 5 August 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many patients have lost their sight while waiting for cataract surgery in each year since 2019.