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-32715

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 23 December 2024
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 30 December 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-26709 by Neil Gray on 26 April 2024, in light of the cabinet secretary's comment that "we anticipate the publication of a report later in 2024", whether the Nursing and Midwifery Taskforce has published its report this and, if not, for what reason it was unable to do so.

Question reference: S6W-32399

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 16 December 2024
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 30 December 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether there has been any progress on the proposals to establish a Scottish Stock Exchange.

Question reference: S6W-32350

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 13 December 2024
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 24 December 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how many medical specialty training places, including core surgical training places, have been available across Scotland in each of the last five years.

We have recruited to the following number of training posts each year for the past 5 years.

	Core Surgical Training		All specialties
	Posts Advertised	Posts filled	Posts advertised	Posts filled
2019-20	46	45	1131	1042
2020-21	54	54	1088	1043
2021-22	45	43	1118	1049
2022-23	54	54	1155	1072
2023-24	41	41	1231	1156

These figures include the number of posts advertised for recruitment in Scotland in each specialty for each year (August and February start dates). The number of overall training posts is far higher as training programmes can last a minimum of 3 to 8 years depending on the specialty so not all posts are vacant every year. Figures reflect published recruitment data and do not include any data on recruitment to locum training posts. Data for the 2024/25 recruitment round is not included as the recruitment window has not fully closed, meaning final data is not yet available.

Question reference: S6W-32352

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 13 December 2024
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 24 December 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how it is encouraging Foundation Year 2 doctors to (a) apply for and (b) start specialty training.

Foundation Year 2 (FY2) doctors are encouraged to apply for and start specialty training through a range of initiatives that increase awareness and exposure to specific specialties, including educational and career events and targeted Foundation placements/programmes. Additionally, pay enhancements, including an 8.5% pay rise for doctors in training, help to improve the financial appeal of specialty training.

Question reference: S6W-32359

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 13 December 2024
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 24 December 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the recently declared critical incident at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary, and the chief executive of NHS Grampian's reported comment that the factors causing a trigger point to declare a critical incident are becoming more common, whether it plans to allocate additional resources to NHS Grampian.

We are working closely with NHS Grampian on the development of a sustainable plan to support improvements in capacity.

We know that system wide capacity challenges are driving pressure on our Emergency Departments. To address this we have a clear plan to reduce delayed discharges, release acute capacity and bring down A&E waiting times.

The plan will be supported by £200 million targeted investment through the 2025-26 Budget, if approved by parliament, with NHS Grampian receiving a share of this funding. We will focus on shifting the balance of care from acute, to community and will bring about this change by ensuring every A&E department has a frailty unit linked to community re-enablement.

Question reference: S6W-32357

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 13 December 2024
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 24 December 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what assistance it will provide to NHS Grampian during the review of the recently declared critical incident.

We continue to support and monitor all Health Boards to ensure all possible actions are being taken to support services and safeguard patient safety during the winter period. Planning for this winter builds on the effective measures which have supported our health and social care services in previous years.

My officials and I have been meeting regularly with the leadership of NHS Grampian to progress both immediate steps and a sustainable plan to ease capacity pressures with a focus on improving patient flow through the system, preventing SAS ambulance turnaround delays, and discharging as soon as patients are medically fit.

Question reference: S6W-32349

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 13 December 2024
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 24 December 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how many Foundation Year 2 doctors are currently working in each NHS board.

There are a total of 940 Foundation year 2 doctors working across all Health Boards as of 17 December 2024. This number will fluctuate daily due to trainees going out of programme or completing training. Please see the following table for further information.

NHS Board	Number of Foundation year 2 doctors
Ayrshire & Arran	56
Borders	11
Dumfries & Galloway	21
Fife	36
Forth Valley	35
Grampian	106
Greater Glasgow and Clyde	276
Highland	32
Lanarkshire	80
Lothian	177
National Facility	2
NULL	1
Shetland	2
Tayside	101
Western Isles	4
Grand Total	940

*’NULL’ is because the trainee is taking a career break, so they are in the programme but not currently working. This means that they aren’t attached to a placement board.

Question reference: S6W-32154

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 December 2024
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 24 December 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how many advanced nurse practitioners, specialising in primary care, have been trained in the last five years.

Question reference: S6W-32433

Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 December 2024
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 24 December 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-13815 by Humza Yousaf on 24 January 2023, whether Palforzia will be approved as a treatment for peanut allergies through the NHS.

Aimmune Therapeutics, the manufacturer of Palforzia®, had indicated an intention to make a resubmission to the Scottish Medicines Consortium (SMC), however to date this has not been received. The decision on whether to submit, and the timing of that submission, is entirely for the manufacturer of the medicine to make. If they do resubmit, information on the specific timelines for the reassessment will be available via the search facility available on the home page of the SMC’s website here. There is a fast-track resubmission option, which reduces the normal assessment timeline.

In the meantime, Health Boards have procedures in place using the Peer Approved Clinical System “PACS Tier Two” process, for clinicians to request the use of licensed medicines on a ‘case-by-case’ basis for individual patients, when the treating clinician considers that there would be significant clinical benefit for a patient.

Question reference: S6W-32425

Asked by: Martin Whitfield, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 December 2024
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 24 December 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to support the redesign of physiotherapy services in NHS Scotland, in light of reported current workforce constraints and financial pressures.

The Scottish Government provides the policies, frameworks and resources for high quality healthcare, and it is for each individual NHS Board to decide how best to utilise funding, to meet local health needs. There were 3,538.7 WTE working in physiotherapy in NHS Scotland at the end of September 2024. This represents an increase of 27.5% or 762.8 WTE over the last ten years. AHP numbers by NHS board are available at: NHS Scotland workforce | Turas Data Intelligence

Parliament dissolved ahead of election

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