Questions and answers

Question reference: S6W-03113

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 20 September 2021
Current Status: Answered by Clare Haughey on 4 October 2021

To ask the Scottish Government how it anticipates its proposals for Community Health and Social Care Boards as part of a National Care Service will impact on the delivery of the Whole Family Wellbeing Fund.

The National Care Service proposals are at an early stage and will be subject to consultation until the beginning of November. Following the consultation Ministers will take a view on the scope of the National Care Service and further work will be required to develop legislation for consideration by Parliament.

The Whole Family Wellbeing Fund is an essential component of the delivery of the recommendations of the Independent Care Review for children now known as #keepthepromise. We are committed to delivering this change in the immediate future and will work with key partners to ensure this happens. Any proposed change to the way services are delivered to children and their families will take into account the need to ensure the effective delivery of #keepthepromise for Scotland’s children across all relevant universal and targeted services.

Question reference: S6W-03066

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 20 September 2021
Current Status: Answered by Patrick Harvie on 4 October 2021

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has begun the analysis to identify strategic areas likely to have access to low carbon or green hydrogen, which was referred to in the Draft Heat in Buildings Strategy in February 2021, and when it anticipates this analysis will be published.

Work is under development that will help identify strategic areas most likely to have access to hydrogen in the future. We plan to publish further evidence in spring 2022. We are also working with stakeholders including from industry, network companies, local authorities and delivery partners to better understand the potential role for hydrogen in decarbonisation of heat.

In addition, we are working in partnership with SGN to explore options for the future of Scotland's gas network.

Question reference: S6W-03054

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 20 September 2021
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 4 October 2021

To ask the Scottish Government whether a review was carried out of post-diagnosis dementia services in the first four months of 2021, as mentioned in the Dementia and COVID-19 national action plan.

The Scottish Government has been working with partners including Integration Joint Boards, COSLA and Alzheimer Scotland through the first four months of 2021 and subsequently to review the provision of dementia post-diagnostic services.

This year’s Programme for Government confirmed that we would provide extra resources to help ensure that everyone who is entitled to the service has the option for referral. We will be allocating the annual equivalent of £3.5m for this purpose on a recurring basis.

Question reference: S6W-03165

Asked by: Tess White, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 20 September 2021
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 4 October 2021

To ask the Scottish Government how much sportscotland has invested in each local authority area (a) in each year since 2012-13 and (b) since April 2021.

As the national agency for sport, sport scotland invests Scottish Government and National Lottery resources to help the people of Scotland get the most from the sporting system. sport scotland works in partnerships with Scottish Governing Bodies of sport (SGBs), local authorities, leisure trusts, sports clubs and community organisations, schools, colleges, and universities to provide greater opportunities for all to participate in sport.

sport scotland’s investment in each local authority area, in each year, since 2012-13 can be found from the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 62729)

This data covers investment by sport scotland, in both the local authority and other organisations in the local authority area, including investment for Active Schools, Community Sport Hubs, Sport Facilities Fund, National and Regional Facilities, Transforming Scottish Indoor Tennis Fund, Cycling Facilities Fund, Cashback for Communities, Active Places Fund, National Lottery Awards for All, Direct Club Investment, COVID-19 Ice Rink Funding, COVID Loss of spectator funding, and Get Into Summer.

Question reference: S6W-03055

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 20 September 2021
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 4 October 2021

To ask the Scottish Government how many people (a) have and (b) have not received post-dementia diagnostic support from a named link worker in each year since 2019.

The following table shows the number of people diagnosed with dementia and referred for post-diagnostic support from a named Link Worker in financial years 2018/19 and 2019/2020. Information on people diagnosed with dementia who are not referred for PDS is not available centrally.

For 2018/19, 8,021 people equates to approximately 43.4 % of those estimated to have been diagnosed with dementia in that year. Of those referred in 2018/19 for post-diagnostic support, 75.1% received a minimum of one year’s support. Full 2019/2020 figures will be published next year.

Table 1: Number of people diagnosed with dementia and referred for post-diagnostic support by financial year of diagnosis: Scotland: 2018/19 to 2019/20

Year of diagnosis	Number referred for dementia post-diagnostic support
2018-19 p	8,021
2019-20 p	7,734

Source: Public Health Scotland dementia post-diagnostic support dataset

P figures for 2018/19 and 2019/20 are provisional

Question reference: S6W-03150

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 20 September 2021
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 4 October 2021

To ask the Scottish Government how it will update its strategy, Housing to 2040, in light of the commitments in its shared policy programme with the Scottish Green Party, and how it plans to review progress against the strategy.

Housing to 2040 is Scotland’s first long-term housing strategy. It sets out the Scottish Government’s vision for housing by 2040, that everyone has access to a safe, warm, affordable and energy efficient home that meets their needs, located in the place they want to be. The strategy needs to be agile and able to respond to future changes, and is in alignment with the Shared Policy Programme agreed with the Scottish Green Party. The updated commitments will be reflected in the governance process and monitoring framework plan for Housing to 2040 that will be established later this year.

Question reference: S6W-03014

Asked by: Oliver Mundell, MSP for Dumfriesshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 16 September 2021
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 4 October 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what consideration it has given to setting a target to increase Scotland’s hedgerow network as part of its Forestry Grant Scheme.

Hedgerows can support ecological connectivity by joining up nature rich areas across Scotland, contributing to wider nature networks and helping to address habitat fragmentation, which is one of the most significant drivers of biodiversity loss.

The Scottish Government recognises the value of hedges and their creation and supports the this through the Agri-Environment Climate Scheme which has committed £11.6 million since 2015.

Question reference: S6W-02293

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 16 August 2021
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 4 October 2021

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-00855 by Humza Yousaf on 19 July 2021, whether it will provide equivalent information on (a)(i) amber- and (ii) yellow-coded calls and (b) the total number of calls responded to over the same period.

Please find the requested information set out in the following table.

Purple/Red/Amber/Yellow Incidents Attended, 01-01-2017 - 31/05/2021

		2017	2018	2019	2020	2021
Purple	Incidents Attended	8,677	9,591	13,547	15,091	6,987
	>8 Minutes	2,544	2,874	4,463	6,278	2,978
	>8 Minutes %	29.3%	30.0%	32.9%	41.6%	42.6%
	>10 Minutes	1,623	1,826	2,903	4,243	1,992
	>10 Minutes %	18.7%	19.0%	21.4%	28.1%	28.5%
	>15 Minutes	542	604	1,028	1,518	790
	>15 Minutes %	6.2%	6.3%	7.6%	10.1%	11.3%
	>20 Minutes	206	230	376	608	314
	>20 Minutes %	2.4%	2.4%	2.8%	4.0%	4.5%
Red	Incidents Attended	55,549	67,535	80,867	70,105	32,923
	>8 Minutes	21,214	28,568	37,101	36,495	17,529
	>8 Minutes %	38.2%	42.3%	45.9%	52.1%	53.2%
	>10 Minutes	13,933	19,238	25,877	26,043	13,042
	>10 Minutes %	25.1%	28.5%	32.0%	37.1%	39.6%
	>15 Minutes	5,293	7,632	10,610	10,989	6,006
	>15 Minutes %	9.5%	11.3%	13.1%	15.7%	18.2%
	>20 Minutes	2,339	3,381	4,783	4,931	2,804
	>20 Minutes %	4.2%	5.0%	5.9%	7.0%	8.5%
Amber	Incidents Attended	105,429	119,018	152,784	176,805	82,021
	>8 Minutes	70,466	87,016	118,086	145,243	69,955
	>8 Minutes %	66.8%	73.1%	77.3%	82.1%	85.3%
	>10 Minutes	57,333	72,152	101,481	128,125	63,024
	>10 Minutes %	54.4%	60.6%	66.4%	72.5%	76.8%
	>15 Minutes	30,226	41,185	64,791	87,859	46,120
	>15 Minutes %	28.7%	34.6%	42.4%	49.7%	56.2%
	>20 Minutes	14,096	21,252	38,611	57,032	31,801
	>20 Minutes %	13.4%	17.9%	25.3%	32.3%	38.8%
Yellow	Incidents Attended	326,824	318,361	295,428	238,862	87,232
	>8 Minutes	237,968	256,714	245,468	205,797	79,726
	>8 Minutes %	72.8%	80.6%	83.1%	86.2%	91.4%
	>10 Minutes	208,160	230,742	225,055	190,443	75,636
	>10 Minutes %	63.7%	72.5%	76.2%	79.7%	86.7%
	>15 Minutes	147,207	175,591	180,932	156,806	66,670
	>15 Minutes %	45.0%	55.2%	61.2%	65.6%	76.4%
	>20 Minutes	103,170	131,965	144,713	129,370	59,113
	>20 Minutes %	31.6%	41.5%	49.0%	54.2%	67.8%

SAS launched its New Clinical Response Model (NCRM) in November 2016, based on a detailed clinical analysis of around half a million 999 calls. Since then, following triage, 999 calls are coded to one of five categories based on the likelihood of serious outcomes or the requirement for specific interventions:

Purple: where a patient is identified as having a 10% or more chance of cardiac arrest.

Red: where a patient is identified as having a likelihood of cardiac arrest between 1% and 9.9%,or having a need for resuscitation interventions such as airway management above 2%.

Amber: where a patient is likely to need diagnosis and conveyance to definitive care.

Yellow: a patient who has a need for emergency care but has a very low likelihood of requiring life-saving interventions. For example, patients who have tripped or fallen but not sustained any serious injury.

Green: a patient does not fit the above categories and there is potential for an alternative care pathway.

Question reference: S6W-02304

Asked by: Alexander Stewart, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 17 August 2021
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 4 October 2021

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the Scottish Stroke Improvement Programme 2021 national report, what it considers the impact on stroke (a) mortality and (b) recovery would be if all NHS boards achieved their targets for stroke bundle provision, and what its position is on whether achieving these bundle provision targets represents an acceptable level of stroke care.

There is evidence that achieving the stroke bundle reduces mortality and increases the chance of patients returning to their usual place of residence after stroke.

There are a number of other factors in achieving an acceptable level of care for people with stroke. However, the stroke bundle is a simple metric which has been shown to be associated with improved outcomes. The Scottish Stroke Improvement Programme Team will continue to support NHS Boards to achieve the Stroke Bundle as well as supporting improvements across the stroke pathway.

Question reference: S6W-02310

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 17 August 2021
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 4 October 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what work it is doing to increase public awareness of (a) melanoma and (b) other skin cancers (i) among people under 35 and (ii) in general.

Our Detect Cancer Early (DCE) Programme is aimed at increasing early diagnosis rates of Scotland’s most common cancers while reducing health inequalities. Following an options appraisal exercise, melanoma was selected as the next tumour type for inclusion in the DCE Programme in 2016.

DCE’s website (getcheckedearly.org) and digital channels help to increase awareness of symptoms of a number of tumour groups, including melanoma, on an ongoing basis. The Programme also works closely with third sector to share patient experience stories, to prompt others to take action.

DCE launched a new overarching campaign – Survivors - in September 2018 to reduce fear of cancer and empower people to act early, if they noticed any possible signs of cancer. The NHS Recovery Plan, published 25 August 2021, commits a further £20 million investment to the DCE Programme which will include additional public awareness campaigns.

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