Questions and answers

Question reference: S6W-33670

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 what measures are being implemented to reduce waiting times for older people's healthcare in rural and remote areas.

The original basis for our National Treatment Centres (NTC) programme was to provide additional protected elective capacity and infrastructure to meet the needs of the elderly population. We opened two new NTCs in Fife and Highland in Spring 2023, while the NTC-Golden Jubilee Surgical Centre opened in August 2024 and the phased opening of NTC Forth Valley began in October 2024.

Since opening, NTC-Highland has provided hip and knee replacement surgery and cataract surgery for patients throughout NHS Highland, NHS Grampian and NHS Tayside. In 2025-26, capacity will also be provided to patients in NHS Shetland.

The NHS Golden Jubilee also continues to provide some key elective services to all Health Boards, including those with patients who live in remote and rural areas. This includes capacity for endoscopy, radiology, ophthalmology, general surgery, colorectal surgery and orthopaedic surgery.

In parallel with this, a number of ophthalmic surgeons are now undertaking sequential bilateral cataract surgery, particularly in remote and rural areas, to prevent patients having to travel twice for surgical intervention. This enables both cataract surgeries to be performed on the same day, one after the other, and ensures patient focussed holistic care is delivered. This also contributes to the net zero ambition of Scottish Government.

Finally, the Budget we set out on 4 December 2024 will deliver almost £200 million to reduce waiting lists and help support reduction of delayed discharge. By March 2026, we expect no one to be waiting longer than 12 months for a new outpatient, inpatient treatment or day case treatment. We want to make progress on improving our NHS, but to do that, Parliament must approve our Budget Bill which will drive the long-term and lasting improvements that we all want to see.

Question reference: S6W-33698

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 is supporting research and innovation in optometry to improve the early detection of eye conditions.

Under General Ophthalmic Services arrangements in Scotland, all community optometry practices are required to have a range of equipment (including a digital retinal imaging equipment) to support the early detection of eye disease.

The SCONe project (https://clinical-sciences.ed.ac.uk/ophthalmology/scone) is a collaboration between the University of Edinburgh, Glasgow Caledonian University and the Royal College of Surgeons, Edinburgh. It brings together the retinal images taken during an NHS eye examination with other routinely-collected healthcare data within Scotland’s NHS National Safe Haven. The first aim of SCONe is to analyse these images in order to evaluate changes in the macula and age-related macula degeneration.

Question reference: S6W-33684

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 what assessment it has made of any impact of community optometry services on reducing hospital referrals for eye-related conditions.

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-33663

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 what steps it is taking to attract healthcare professionals to remote and rural areas, including Aberdeenshire.

The Scottish Government have a number of initiatives already in place to attract healthcare professionals to rural areas, including Aberdeenshire.

These include the Scottish Government funded “Golden Hello” scheme, administered by NHS Scotland Boards, which provides up to £10,000 to every GP taking up an eligible post in a rural area.

Furthermore, to support GPs to develop the skills required to work in rural areas, NHS Education for Scotland (NES) offers the Rural GP Fellowship. The fellowship provides qualified GPs with direct experience of working in rural and island areas across rural and island Health Boards, with the fellowship lasting a full year.

The Scottish Government funds ScotGEM, a unique four-year programme 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 students are eligible to apply for and receive a ‘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.

To attract dentists to rural areas we have made available a range of grants and allowances including the recruitment and retention allowance, which allows new trainee dentists practicing in eligible areas, to qualify for a ‘Golden Hello’ payment of up to £37,500 in the first three years of practice.

In collaboration with NES’ Centre for Workforce Supply and National Centre for Remote and Rural Health and Care, we are developing a sustained model of direct support that will provide the long-term whole-system approach which is necessary to provide rural and island employers the help they need to recruit successfully. To improve attraction, this includes supporting employers to design roles that fit their organisations’ needs, ensure that job adverts speak to the right audience and helping employers in welcoming new recruits and providing effective pastoral support.

Question reference: S6W-33662

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 what innovations it is pursuing to improve patient transportation in remote areas, including any initiatives piloted in Aberdeenshire.

On 30 October, the Scottish Government published the Transport to Health delivery plan which sets out commitments against transport and healthcare across the work of Health and Social Care and Transport Scotland. The plan was informed by the 2019 Transport to health and social care report prepared by the Mobility and Access Committee for Scotland (MACS) on behalf of Ministers.

As set out in the plan, we will support Regional Transport Partnerships to develop their own plans around Transport to Health. An example of this will be continuing to support the work of the Health and Transport Action Plan led by NESTRANS and partners in Aberdeenshire.

Transport Scotland have included Transport to Health as one of seven thematic workstreams in their approach for delivery of the Accessible Travel Framework.

Question reference: S6W-33661

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 what assessment it has made of the impact of poor transport links on access to healthcare in rural areas, and what steps it is taking to address this.

The Scottish Government’s role is to set the strategic policy for the NHS in Scotland, NHS Boards are responsible for service delivery. All Health Boards should consider patient transport needs when they plan and deliver services.

On 30 October, the Scottish Government published the Transport to Health delivery plan which sets out commitments against transport and healthcare across the work of Health and Social Care and Transport Scotland. The plan was informed by the 2019 Transport to health and social care report prepared by the Mobility and Access Committee for Scotland (MACS) on behalf of Ministers.

As set out in the plan, we will continue to use the NHS annual delivery plans to re-emphasise the need for Health Boards to consider patient access as part of the care pathway and reflecting the opportunity that is emerging for reducing the number of patient journeys through alternative options.

Question reference: S6W-33973

Current Status: Withdrawn

Question reference: S6W-33405

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 17 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 24 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many journeys have been undertaken by the cars in its fleet in each of the last five years, broken down by fuel type.

Chamber and committees