- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 21 October 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Humza Yousaf on 12 November 2021
To ask the Scottish Government what public information action it has in place to encourage the uptake of the COVID-19 booster vaccine.
Answer
On the week commencing 25 October we launched booster campaign activity to support those aged between 60 and 69 and those 16+ with an ongoing health condition who have started to receive their COVID-19 Vaccine Booster appointments.
The main element of the media campaign which includes TV, Radio, Press, Digital and PR activity started 1 November with a generic call to action.
From 15 November, all media activity will direct target audiences to the appointment booking portal. This campaign is covering 91% of the adult population with an average opportunity to see/hear of 21.
The campaign was supported by a wide range of other communications and engagement activity to raise awareness and encourage uptake in the general population as well as specific groups.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 21 October 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Humza Yousaf on 12 November 2021
To ask the Scottish Government what the cost is of training a medical student.
Answer
The cost of funding a Scottish domiciled student from entry to university through to graduation is set out in the first table. The cost of funding a student from the Rest of the UK (RUK) from entry to university through to graduation is set out in the second table.
ScotsDom | SFC | ACT* | SAAS | Total |
Year 1 | £6,936 | £19,500 | £1,820 | £28,256 |
Year 2 | £6,936 | £19,500 | £1,820 | £28,256 |
Year 3 | £15,592 | £19,500 | £1,820 | £36,912 |
Year 4 | £15,592 | £19,500 | £1,820 | £36,912 |
Year 5 | £15,592 | £19,500 | £1,820 | £36,912 |
Total | £60,648 | £97,500 | £9,100 | £167,248 |
| | | | | |
RUK | SFC | ACT* | Total |
Year 1 | 0 | £19,500 | £19,500 |
Year 2 | 0 | £19,500 | £19,500 |
Year 3 | £8,162 | £19,500 | £27,662 |
Year 4 | £8,162 | £19,500 | £27,662 |
Year 5 | £8,162 | £19,500 | £27,662 |
Total | £24,486 | £97,500 | £121,986 |
*ACT – Additional Costs of Teaching (distributed to NHS Scotland Health Boards)
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 21 October 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Humza Yousaf on 12 November 2021
To ask the Scottish Government how many additional medical students it believes will be needed to resolve the reported staffing issues, and how much it believes it will cost to fill these places.
Answer
The Scottish Government is fully committed to ensuring a sustainable medical supply pipeline into the NHS. In response to overall UK undersupply of medical graduates, the Scottish Government has been expanding university medical school places since 2016 and has created 269 additional medical undergraduate places (a 32% increase over 2016 levels).
The recent Programme for Government also sets out a further commitment to increase medical school places by 100 per annum over the course of the Parliamentary term and to double the number of widening access places.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 21 October 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Humza Yousaf on 12 November 2021
To ask the Scottish Government what analysis it has done of the cost of administering the COVID-19 booster vaccine by GP practices compared with health boards, and what the estimated costs were of both approaches.
Answer
The COVID-19 booster will be administered by both Health Boards and GP practices. Health Boards will seek to make best use of their locally available resources when planning delivery whilst being mindful of the need to protect core GP services.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 11 November 2021
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Current Status:
Taken in the Chamber on 18 November 2021
To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body when it will make a decision regarding the level of MSP allowances for staff for 2022-23.
Answer
Taken in the Chamber on 18 November 2021
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 25 October 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Humza Yousaf on 11 November 2021
To ask the Scottish Government when the winter flu period is anticipated to commence in 2021.
Answer
Most influenza infections typically occur in the winter months with a peak between December and March. Public Health Scotland produce a weekly report monitoring the surveillance of influenza infection which currently sits at baseline activity (week 42). The latest weekly report can be found here: Weekly national seasonal respiratory report - Week 42 2021 - Weekly national seasonal respiratory report - Publications - Public Health Scotland .
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 22 October 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Humza Yousaf on 11 November 2021
To ask the Scottish Government whether district nurses are being used to administer COVID-19 booster vaccines and winter flu vaccines to individuals at home, and, if so, under what circumstances.
Answer
Due to the importance of the autumn/winter vaccines, some health boards are utilising Community Nursing Teams.
This will particularly be for those patients who are on their current caseloads and are housebound. Community Nurses are also supporting vaccinations in care homes, not only to those on caseload but to help support delivery to this priority group. Community Nurses are also undertaking additional shifts in vaccination clinic settings.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 08 October 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Humza Yousaf on 11 November 2021
To ask the Scottish Government whether the additional funding of £62 million for unmet need in social care is recurring funding.
Answer
As set out in the announcement, £62 million for 2021-22 has been allocated for building capacity in care at home community-based services. This is recurring funding intended help to fulfil unmet need, and deal with the current surge in demand and complexity of individual needs, also helping to ease pressures on unpaid carers.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 21 October 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Humza Yousaf on 11 November 2021
To ask the Scottish Government, in relation to applications to study nursing, how many (a) were received and (b) were successful, broken down by each year since 2007.
Answer
Table 1 highlights data from UCAS showing both the number of applications and number of accepted applicants to pre-registration nursing programmes from 2007 to 2020. Figures for 2021 have not yet been published yet.
Table 1
Applications and acceptances to nursing at Scottish providers by year
Source: UCAS
Year | Applications | Acceptances |
2007* | 2,715 | 285 |
2008* | 2,540 | 330 |
2009* | 2,515 | 325 |
2010 | 17,125 | 3,530 |
2011 | 19,230 | 3,265 |
2012 | 18,440 | 2,940 |
2013 | 18,800 | 3,040 |
2014 | 21,260 | 3,370 |
2015 | 21,105 | 3,355 |
2016 | 20,725 | 3,350 |
2017 | 20,900 | 3,615 |
2018 | 20,435 | 3,725 |
2019 | 21,710 | 4,040 |
2020 | 23,640 | 4,785 |
*Prior to 2010, the Centralised Applications to Nursing and Midwifery Training Clearing House (CATCH) was not incorporated into the UCAS undergraduate admissions scheme. This means that UCAS data is not comparable over the longer term due to changes in the courses included within the UCAS application process. For time comparisons, therefore, data prior to 2015 is used not included.
In 2015, around 120 courses at providers in Scotland that were previously part of the UCAS Teacher Training scheme moved into the UCAS undergraduate scheme. The numbers for providers in Scotland in 2015 and later recorded through the UCAS Undergraduate scheme will include those which were previously part of UCAS Teacher Training – estimated to be around 2,000 acceptances per year, mostly aged 21 or over.
For the 2010 cycle, the Centralised Applications to Nursing and Midwifery Training Clearing House (CATCH) was incorporated into the UCAS Undergraduate admissions scheme. Data from 2010 onwards includes nursing and midwifery diploma courses in Scotland.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 25 October 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Humza Yousaf on 11 November 2021
To ask the Scottish Government how many NHS staff are administering COVID-19 booster jabs, and how this compares with the initial vaccination programme.
Answer
We issued standing instructions to health boards as part of the delivery of phase 1 of the Covid-19 vaccinations programme (broadly December 2020 – August 2021), requiring health boards to build a capacity to deploy up to 1,400 Whole Time Equivalent (WTE) vaccinators in any given week, subject to scheduling of appointments and supply. We maintain this standing instruction for the current winter seasonal Flu and Covid-19 booster programme which requires up to 1,400 WTE vaccinators to be in place for deployment. Deployment in any given week is determined in coordination with the scheduling of appointments and clinics. The substantive difference between phase 1 and the winter programme is that we co-administer flu and Covid-19 boosters, which allows Boards to administer vaccinations at significantly higher rates. We continue to monitor workforce deployment capacity on a weekly basis through the collation of management information.
