- Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Monday, 15 November 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Humza Yousaf on 6 December 2021
To ask the Scottish Government for what reason the average number of Test and Protect primary contacts per case has reduced from six in May 2021 to 1.8 in October 2021, while restrictions have eased and socialising has increased.
Answer
Test and Protect’s contact tracing service can only identify close contacts based on the information provided by people who have tested positive, and we are grateful to everyone that reports all their contacts when engaging with the contact tracing system. We continue to ask people to engage with the service by phone or by completing the online tracing form, to provide as much information as possible about their close contacts during the infectious period. This ensures that the right public health advice can be offered to close contacts to cut off chains of virus transmission in the community.
We have introduced a range of measures, including increased use of digital and SMS communications and shortened call scripts for index case interviews, to ensure the contact tracing system continues to trace the contacts of people with Coronavirus and ensure they are given the right public health advice as quickly as possible, even when case numbers rise substantially. All decisions in relation to operational delivery of the contact tracing system have made in line with public health advice, including the continued prioritisation of higher risk cases. A combination of these changes is likely to have affected the average number of close contacts reported per case.
- Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Monday, 29 November 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Kevin Stewart on 3 December 2021
To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to introduce Down syndrome legislation, similar to that introduced in the UK Parliament.
Answer
The Scottish Government wants to improve opportunities, outcomes and support for people with learning disabilities including Down’s Syndrome. To this end, we have committed to introducing a Learning Disability, Autism and Neurodiversity Bill as part of the Programme for Government. This Bill will ensure that the rights of people with Down’s Syndrome, among others, are respected and protected.
To help make sure that the new legislation is championed when it is implemented, we will create a Learning Disabilities, Autism and Neurodiversity Commissioner through the new law.
- Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Monday, 29 November 2021
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Current Status:
Taken in the Chamber on 2 December 2021
To ask the First Minister when the Cabinet will next meet.
Answer
Taken in the Chamber on 2 December 2021
- Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Friday, 12 November 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Ash Regan on 29 November 2021
To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to increase either free or affordable access to sign language interpreters for people with hearing loss in order to access legal representation.
Answer
Under current legal aid provision, BSL interpreting costs can be paid as an outlay where legal aid or advice and assistance is in place. When a person requires such support to access legal services, the Legal Aid Fund will meet these costs. The Scottish Legal Aid Board is currently undertaking a consultation on its approach to accounts assessment, within which it has proposed to continue to assess BSL interpreting as part of its general outlays policy.
The Scottish Legal Aid Board has also promoted the availability of ContactScotland BSL service to solicitors. This Scottish Government funded service, has expanded to allow BSL signers across the country to make phone calls in their first or preferred language. It is a VRS (virtual relay service) for making phone calls, or conversation where both parties are not in the same place. It is available 24 hours a day throughout the year.
The Scottish Government has established a British Sign Language Justice Advisory Group, as part of its BSL National Plan 2017-2023. The role of this BSL-led justice advisory group is to provide expertise and guidance to justice agencies. The Group is to play a key role in developing and delivering a programme of improvements to help the justice agencies better meet the needs of BSL users.
- Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 09 November 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Humza Yousaf on 25 November 2021
To ask the Scottish Government whether the NHS Scotland COVID Status App shares information with (a) NetCompany, (b) Service Now, (c) Jumio, (d) iProov, (e) Albasoft, (f) Amazon Web Services, (g) CFH Docmail, (h) Microsoft Azure, (i) Gov.uk Notify Service and (j) Royal Mail, and, if so, for what reason.
Answer
The list of companies set out in the privacy notice relate to the Vaccine Programme and the Covid Certification service as a whole, and not just the Covid Status App. So for example, Royal Mail are involved in posting printed certificates to individuals – they have no connection to the Covid Status App.
The Scottish Government and NHS Scotland take privacy and data security seriously. Robust measures have been put in place to ensure all systems and processes within the Coronavirus (COVID-19) Vaccination Programme have been designed with these in mind.
As with most technology of this nature, it is necessary to share some very limited data to ensure services operate effectively. However, NHS Scotland and the Scottish Government have control of this data at all times, and service providers do not have access to the data they process.
The published privacy notice explains:
- the key organisations responsible for the data;
- how those organisations process personal information in relation to coronavirus vaccinations, exemptions and certificates;
- the rights in relation to privacy and personal data; and
- what data is shared with our trusted parties and the reason as per their role in the vaccination programme.
We will only share personal information when the law allows us to do so and to the minimum extent possible.
- Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 09 November 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Humza Yousaf on 25 November 2021
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an option for users of the NHS Scotland COVID Status App to opt out of sharing information with NetCompany, Service Now, Jumio, iProov, Albasoft, Amazon Web Services, CFH Docmail, Microsoft Azure, Gov.uk Notify Service and Royal Mail.
Answer
There is a range of digital and non-digital routes available to access COVID-19 Status Certificates, and currently the choice to obtain a certificate is voluntary.
The data processing complies with data protection principles of lawfulness, fairness and transparency, purpose limitation, data minimisation, accuracy, storage limitation, security and accountability as per the Data Protection Act 2018. As the processing of data is necessary for the purposes indicated in the privacy notice , an opt out is not applicable.
- Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 09 November 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Humza Yousaf on 25 November 2021
To ask the Scottish Government whether the privacy information on the NHS Scotland COVID Status App, which states that personal data of users will be shared with NetCompany, Service Now, Jumio, iProov, Albasoft, Amazon Web Services, CFH Docmail, Microsoft Azure, Gov.uk Notify Service and Royal Mail, relates to as yet inactive app functionalities, and for what purpose these permissions were sought.
Answer
No. If, and when, any additional functions are added to the NHS Scotland Covid Status App then the privacy information will be updated accordingly. For more detail on the current privacy information, I refer the member to the answer to questions S6W-04212 and S6W-04213 on 25 November 2021. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers
- Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Monday, 15 November 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Kevin Stewart on 24 November 2021
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide details of its commitment to provide 1,000 additional staff members in primary care mental health services, including (a) which roles it expects to provide, (b) by what date recruitment for the roles is expected to begin and (c) by what date all 1,000 additional staff are expected to be in place.
Answer
The Scottish Government will hold a debate in the Scottish Parliament before the end of the year to set out its plan to deliver this commitment.
The plan will detail how every General Practice across Scotland will have access to a Mental Health and Wellbeing Service by April 2026, creating 1,000 additional dedicated staff who can help grow community mental health resilience and help direct social prescribing.
- Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Monday, 15 November 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Kevin Stewart on 22 November 2021
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide details of its plans to recruit 320 additional staff in Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) over the next five years, and how many additional staff members it expects to have recruited in (a) 2021-22, (b) 2022-23, (c) 2023-24, (d) 2024-25 and (e) 2025-26.
Answer
In our NHS Recovery Plan we have committed to provide sufficient funding for around 320 additional staff in Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) over the next 5 years.
Since May 2021, we have allocated approximately £40m to NHS Boards to support CAMHS and the implementation of the National CAMHS Service Specification. Through this funding, NHS Boards have started to recruit additional staff to implement the Specification and to build professional capacity to support children and young people with neurodevelopmental support needs. NHS Boards will recruit a variety of staff in different roles, based on individual service needs.
The breakdown of CAMHS workforce is published on a quarterly basis through the NHS Education for Scotland (NES) CAMHS Workforce publication. This data can be found on the NES Turas Data Intelligence platform and provides a breakdown of staffing per NHS Board in CAMHS, including breakdown of professional role.
The Scottish Government is not responsible for the recruitment of NHS staff. It is NHS Boards’ responsibility to recruit workforce. The Scottish Government has provided guidance to NHS Boards, through the National CAMHS Service and Neurodevelopmental Specifications, on the appropriate roles and professionals expected to be employed within Boards.
- Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Friday, 15 October 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Humza Yousaf on 20 November 2021
To ask the Scottish Government what training is given to COVID-19 vaccinators on aspirating (drawing back) before injection to check that the needle has not gone into a vein.
Answer
Aspiration is not recommended in Scotland and the rest of the UK for the administration of intramuscular COVID-19 vaccines. The clinical recommendation that trained COVID-19 vaccinators work to in Scotland and the UK is to administer the vaccine to the deltoid muscle and not drawing back before injection.
As outlined in the Green Book, Chapter 4, the Chief Nursing Officer recommends the deltoid muscle for COVID-19 vaccine administration and, as there are no large blood vessels in this area, it is not recommend to draw back.
The Green Book, Chapter 4 contains further information on this and is published here: Immunisation procedures: the green book, chapter 4 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) .
