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-33564

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 20 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 27 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what measures are in place to make emergency surgery accessible to patients in rural areas.

Throughout NHS Scotland, patients who require urgent or emergency surgery will always be given clinical priority as determined by the clinicians involved in their treatment and care.

In the event that a patient requires transport to an appropriate facility for treatment, there are several resources available including the Scottish Ambulance Service’s patient transport service for scheduled care, or emergency ambulance for life threatening incidents. Scotland’s rural communities are also supported by air assets from the Scottish Ambulance Service (helicopters in Inverness and Glasgow), Scottish Charity Air Ambulance (helicopters in Aberdeen and Perth) and HM Coastguard helicopters based at Prestwick, Inverness, Stornoway and Sumburgh in Shetland.

Question reference: S6W-33693

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 27 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how it monitors the effectiveness of community optometry services in detecting and managing preventable blindness.

As well as a sight test, a routine NHS eye examination in Scotland provides a comprehensive eye health assessment, tailored to meet the needs of the patient. This helps with early detection of a range of sight-threatening conditions and some general medical conditions.

Where the optometrist suspects the patient has a sight-threatening condition, where clinically appropriate they will refer the patient to the hospital eye services. Data on such referrals can be found in the Public Health Scotland report referred to in answer to question S6W-33638 on 27 January 2025.

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

Question reference: S6W-33668

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 27 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how it is supporting multi-disciplinary training programmes to address any skills shortages in the rural healthcare workforce.

Through the National Centre for Remote and Rural Health and Care, housed within NHS Education for Scotland, the Scottish Government are supporting the health workforce in rural and island areas.

A detailed programme of monthly rural specific training sessions are being delivered for multi-disciplinary rural practitioners online to ensure access for the widest group of rural practitioners across Scotland.

New rural specific training programmes are being developed and delivered to support the specific needs of the remote and rural Primary Care and community services workforce. Current programmes of work include focused support and training for remote and rural dispensing practices, new resources being developed to support Primary Care professionals to become trainers within the community and Primary Care Practice settings for Advanced Nurse, Pharmacy, and Practice Nurse Practitioners.

Question reference: S6W-33537

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 17 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 27 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what role telemedicine plays in rural healthcare, and how its use has changed in the last five years.

Telemedicine is essential to supporting care across Scotland. Access to services has shifted significantly over the past 5 years and we expect this to continue as we roll out improved ways to engage with health and social care services. Digital services are supporting people across Scotland to reduce unnecessary travel whilst also saving time, cost and uncomfortable journeys.

A range of different services have been scaled up including over 2 million NHS Near Me video appointments, over 100,000 people using Connect Me for remote health monitoring at home and exponential increase in access to Digital Mental Health Therapies across Scotland all supporting rural access. The NHS Near Me closure report highlights that the highest uptake of Near Me usage is seen predominantly in rural Health Boards.

Question reference: S6W-33535

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 17 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 27 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many emergency air ambulance call-outs have been made to rural areas in each of the last five years.

Question reference: S6W-33071

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 14 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 27 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason it spent money creating an outline business case for a Scottish public energy company, in light of the comments made by the Acting Cabinet Secretary for Net Zero and Energy at the meeting of the Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee on 7 January 2025, that setting up a public energy company is "not something that we are able to do under the current devolution settlement".

Question reference: S6W-33779

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 27 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many arrests in relation to protests about their operation in each of the last five years have been made in the vicinity of defence-related companies operating in Scotland, and how many subsequent (a) prosecutions and (b) convictions there were.

Question reference: S6W-33782

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 27 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how it monitors and evaluates incidents near defence-related companies that result in arrests in relation to protests about their operation, and what measures are taken to address any identified security risks.

Question reference: S6W-33556

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 20 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 27 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what initiatives are in place to support rural healthcare professionals in accessing training and professional development opportunities.

Healthcare support workers in Scotland, by agreement from their employers, can enrol on the HNC in Healthcare Practice at their local college and can then progress to the nursing degree programme currently provided by the Open University, enabling them to remain in the workforce in their local Board area whilst studying. The Scottish Government provides a salary backfill payment to employers to compensate for time away from the workplace for both the Open University and HNC programmes.

NHS Education for Scotland (NES) are also delivering training opportunities for healthcare professionals in rural and island areas. This includes the NES Rural GP Fellowship, which not only supports GPs to develop the skills required to work in rural areas but provides them with direct experience of working in rural and island areas across rural and island Health Boards.

Through the Scottish Government funded National Centre for Remote and Rural Health and Care, 30 practitioners have undertaken the MSc in Rural Advanced Practice in 2023 and 2024, supporting career development, increasing equity in education and supporting the sustainability of primary healthcare services. The Centre will continue to develop new rural specific recognised qualifications to address skills gaps and drive innovation.

Furthermore, tailored to meet the current and future needs of NHS Scotland with a focus on rural medicine, healthcare improvement and developing interest in General Practice, ScotGEM offers a unique four-year programme where students are eligible to apply for a Scottish Government funded ‘Return of Service’ bursary of £4,000 per annum which commits them to working for NHS Scotland for the corresponding number of years following graduation. The Scottish Government also pays the tuition fees for eligible students, offering an attractive package for potential applicants.

Question reference: S6W-33565

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 20 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 27 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how it plans to improve cancer care services in rural areas to ensure equitable access.

The Scottish Government published our Cancer Strategy for Scotland 2023-2033 along with an initial three year Cancer Action Plan for Scotland 2023 – 2026 in June 2023. Over a 10-year period, our strategic aim is to improve cancer survival and provide excellent, equitably accessible care.

The strategy and plan have a focus on reducing inequities in access to cancer care and cancer outcomes. This means treatment and care will be equally good wherever anyone lives and whoever they are. Actions to tackle inequalities are incorporated into other ambitions in the action plan.

The Scottish Government is looking to improve our understanding of the experience of people with cancer living in rural and island communities. Examples include an independent evaluation of their access to cancer care services, and a research programme on rural healthcare funded by the Chief Scientist Office.