- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Thursday, 06 January 2022
-
Current Status:
Answered by Kate Forbes on 4 February 2022
To ask the Scottish Government whether it has reallocated £45 million from the health budget to the Business Support Fund, and, if so, from which part of the health budget this contribution was taken.
Answer
The Scottish Government had expected to receive £120 million of additional Health consequential funding in respect of additional allocations to the UK Department of Health and Social Care for testing and vaccination costs.
Whilst we have yet to see the final consequential breakdown for UK Supplementary Estimates, indications were in December that this figure was revised down to £75m.
Rather than a reallocation of £45 million within Scottish Budgets to support business, this figure actually represents the shortfall in Health funding against previous expectations – a reduction of £45 million.
However the financial position has moved considerably since then and full details of all budget transfers supporting the recently announced measures will be set out in the forthcoming Spring Budget Revision.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Friday, 07 January 2022
-
Current Status:
Answered by John Swinney on 3 February 2022
To ask the Scottish Government who attended each COBR meeting on its behalf during 2021.
Answer
COBR is shorthand for the UK Government Civil Contingencies Committee that is convened to handle matters of UK national emergency or major disruption. COBR ministerial meetings are described as COBR (M).
The Scottish Government can only report on COBR meetings we are invited to attend by the UK Government. The following table sets out the COBR meetings that the Scottish Government was invited to and which Scottish Ministers attended during 2021.
Meeting | Subject | Date | SG representative(s) |
COBR (M) | Winter resilience | 01-01-2021 | Deputy First Minister |
COBR (M) | Storm Christoph | 19-01-2021 | Cabinet Secretary for Environment, Climate Change, and Land Reform |
COBR (M) | Storm Christoph | 20-01-2021 | First Minister |
COBR (M) | Storm Christoph | 21-01-2021 | Cabinet Secretary for Environment, Climate Change, and Land Reform |
COBR (M) | Covid-19 | 10-12-2021 | First Minister Chief Medical Officer Director General, Constitution and External Affairs |
COBR (M) | Covid-19 | 15-12-2021 | First Minister Chief Medical Officer Director of COVID Coordination |
COBR (M) | Covid-19 | 19-12-2021 | First Minister Chief Medical Officer Director General, Constitution and External Affairs |
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 February 2022
-
Current Status:
Taken in the Chamber on 9 February 2022
To ask the Scottish Government whether it anticipates that the lifting of the eviction ban, in place during the COVID-19 pandemic, will result in increased homelessness.
Answer
Taken in the Chamber on 9 February 2022
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Monday, 17 January 2022
-
Current Status:
Answered by Humza Yousaf on 1 February 2022
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the appointment from within the Chief Nursing Officer's Directorate of a lead for Scottish stoma clinical nurse specialists.
Answer
The Chief Nursing Officer (CNO) has a range of clinical nurse advisors who offer advice and support to both the CNO and Scottish Ministers on a range of issues, including the care of individuals with a stoma. As part of the CNO’s Transforming Nursing, Midwifery and Health Professionals programme, a review of the role definition and education of clinical nurse specialists was taken forward. The review didn’t look at (and has no plans to consider) specific specialties such as stoma nursing and we have no plans to appoint a lead for stoma clinical nurse specialists.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Monday, 17 January 2022
-
Current Status:
Answered by Humza Yousaf on 1 February 2022
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on implementation of the recommendation made in the National Stoma Quality Improvement Group Short Life Working Group's final report, published in November 2019, that NHS boards should review future stoma nurse workforce requirements, in line with the Chief Nursing Officer Directorate's Transforming Roles Programme and the findings of the Short Life Working Group, and whether an implementation lead has been appointed.
Answer
The National Stoma Quality Improvement Group’s Short Life Working Group’s final report of November 2019 recommended that NHS Boards review their future Stoma Nurse workforce. I expect NHS Boards to plan their workforce, including stoma clinical nurse specialists, to meet the needs of their population. At this present time, the recommendations from the National Stoma Quality Improvement Group Short Life Working Group and the Scottish Government are not considering the appointment of an implementation lead.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Monday, 17 January 2022
-
Current Status:
Answered by Humza Yousaf on 1 February 2022
To ask the Scottish Government what progress is being made in the development of the NHS Recovery and Rehabilitation Framework, and when the National Advisory Board for Rehabilitation last met.
Answer
The Framework for supporting people through Recovery and Rehabilitation during and after the COVID-19 was published in August 2020. We then undertook a significant scoping exercise to understand the current status of rehabilitation services in Scotland, from the perspective of the staff working in them. This was done using a self-assessment tool and the report on the findings ( Rehabilitation Framework Self-Assessment Tool: Analysis of Survey Responses ) was published on 9th December 2021.
The findings from the self-assessment tool, along with demand and capacity data, will inform the development of a national programme of improvement work which we will work with NHS Boards, Health and Social Care Partnerships and the third sector to implement. This will deliver a ‘Once for Scotland’ rehabilitation pathway that will ensure everyone who requires rehabilitation will be able to access it.
The National Advisory Board for Rehabilitation last met in October 2021, and it is expected it will meet again in early 2022 now that the report on the self-assessment tool had been published.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Thursday, 06 January 2022
-
Current Status:
Answered by Humza Yousaf on 31 January 2022
To ask the Scottish Government whether all over-65-year-olds routinely have their heart checked with a stethoscope.
Answer
Where it is clinically appropriate to do so, patients of all ages will be examined with a stethoscope to listen for breathing and heart sounds. They may also have ECG electrical recordings of their heart rate, blood tests and have access to other investigations such as Echocardiograms, rhythm monitors and blood pressure recordings, should these be required.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Thursday, 06 January 2022
-
Current Status:
Answered by Humza Yousaf on 31 January 2022
To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to reduce the waiting time for an echocardiogram to six weeks, in light of European standards reportedly stating that asymptomatic patients must be referred for an echocardiogram within this timescale.
Answer
The Heart Disease Action Plan recognises the need to ensure timely and equitable access to diagnostics, including echocardiography.
As set out within the plan, we are working to address key workforce issues relating to cardiac physiology. Cardiac Physiologists are healthcare professionals who are vital to the delivery of many aspects of cardiac care, including the provision of echocardiography.
Furthermore, we have also recently provided funding for the delivery of a pilot project to improve access to echocardiography. The learning from this will support us in understanding how best to further support improvement across Scotland.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Thursday, 06 January 2022
-
Current Status:
Answered by Humza Yousaf on 31 January 2022
To ask the Scottish Government whether employers using agency staff are responsible for providing COVID-19 tests for such staff, or whether this is the responsibility of the agency staff themselves.
Answer
Employers with ten or more staff are eligible to participate in the workplace asymptomatic testing programme. The programme allows participating organisations to offer COVID-19 testing to any individuals who work at the location, including employees, volunteers, contractors and agency staff. Agencies which meet the criteria can also enrol in the programme to provide their staff with tests. This includes agencies providing staff to the health and social care sectors.
If an employer or agency does not provide workplace testing, lateral flow device test kits are widely available to individuals through the universally accessible testing offer. Kits can be collected from test sites, pharmacies and local authority collection points, or ordered online for home delivery.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Friday, 07 January 2022
-
Current Status:
Answered by Humza Yousaf on 31 January 2022
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-04701 by Humza Yousaf on 23 December 2021, what specialities are covered by the seven clinicians undertaking the review.
Answer
Further to the answer given to question S6W-04701 I can confirm that the team of reviewers in NHS Lothian were made up of clinical staff at consultant and senior nurse level who are all suitably qualified in their fields and span across various disciplines including Haematology, Microbiology, Infection Prevention and Control and Critical Care.
