Sandesh Gulhane

25 Apr 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, regarding defibrillators in schools, what action it has taken to encourage the installation of defibrillators in publicly accessible positions for use by the wider community, rather than in locked rooms within the schools.

Answer · Jenni Minto: I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-27095 on 7 May 2024. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/w…

25 Apr 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it has taken to ensure that custodians of defibrillators are periodically trained in the (a) use of the defibrillator and (b) maintenance of the equipment.

Answer · Jenni Minto: The Save a Life for Scotland (SALFS) Partnership support defibrillator awareness inclusion in CPR training sessions. More information on CPR training provided in Scotland can be found here: Learn CPR - Save a Life for Scotland . The Scottish Government pub…

25 Apr 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it has taken to tackle any inequalities that affect outcomes after an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest, specifically to (a) overcome the reportedly low intervention rate where a woman is having a cardiac arrest and (b) improve outcomes for those from (i) deprived and (ii) ethnic…

Answer · Jenni Minto: The Scottish Government is a member of the Save a Life for Scotland (SALFS) Partnership. The partnership’s actions to tackle inequalities that affect outcomes after an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest are laid out in the Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest Strategy…

25 Apr 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what consideration it has given to reports that defibrillators held in locked cabinets or requiring the use of an access code can slow down the response to an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest and may affect the chance of survival, and what steps it has taken to encourage defibrillators to …

Answer · Jenni Minto: In order to maximise defibrillator availability, they are usually best mounted on the outside of buildings and placed in unlocked cabinets. We accept that it is likely that locking defibrillator cabinets introduces an additional delay for bystanders attempti…

17 Apr 2024 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason it has reportedly spent nearly £400,000 of public money to promote Scotland’s new hate crime laws.

16 Apr 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government at what stages of the process there are the longest delays in cancer (a) diagnosis and (b) treatment, and what steps it is taking to tackle any such delays.

Answer · Neil Gray: The Scottish Government does not hold information on waiting times for each step of a patient’s cancer pathway. The most recently published Cancer Waiting Times data can be found here: Cancer waiting times - 1 October to 31 December 2023 - Cancer waiting tim…

16 Apr 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the reported long-term downward trend in adherence to the 62-day cancer treatment standard, whether it plans to make any significant changes to its approach to tackling cancer waiting times.

Answer · Neil Gray: he Framework for Effective Cancer Management provides NHS Cancer Teams with the tools to effectively manage people with a suspicion of cancer, from the point of referral to first treatment. A refresh of the Framework will take place in 2024 to ensure each key…

16 Apr 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what information it holds on how many people are currently waiting for (a) cancer treatment and (b) diagnostic tests with suspicion of cancer.

Answer · Neil Gray: The Scottish Government does not hold the information requested. Public Health Scotland publish official statistics on how long patients waited for their first cancer treatment at Cancer waiting times - 1 October to 31 December 2023 - Cancer waiting times -…

16 Apr 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has regarding setting timelines for achieving the 62-day cancer treatment standard.

Answer · Neil Gray: Cancer remains a national priority, within the Scottish Government and across NHS Scotland, with urgent suspicion of cancer referrals continuing to be prioritised, this is reflected in the fact that more people with cancer have been treated on both the 62 and…

16 Apr 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason adherence to the 62-day referral-to-treatment standard for cancer is reportedly worse than adherence to the 31-day decision-to-treatment standard.

Answer · Neil Gray: It is reassuring to note that once a decision to treat has been made people wait on average 5 days to receive treatment. However we continue to see an increasing number of eligible cancer referrals and our priority is to ensure these people receive cancer dia…

23 Mar 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what the purpose is of its policy to make music tuition free in schools, and what its response is to reports that the policy could lead to a ban on private tuition during school hours and require paid lessons to be arranged outwith the school day. 

Answer · Jenny Gilruth: The purpose of the Scottish Government’s policy on free instrumental music tuition is ensure that fees and charges are not a barrier to learning an instrument at school. The policy has transformed instrumental music tuition in Scotland’s schools by funding a…

28 Feb 2024 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has intervened to direct NHS Fife and the relevant education authorities to permit schools to issue basic medication, such as paracetamol and ibuprofen, without the need for a GP prescription, in light of reports that primary care is struggling in NHS Fife.

21 Feb 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to end all non-residential social care charges in the current parliamentary session.

Answer · Maree Todd: The Scottish Government has committed to explore and agree an approach to end charges for non-residential social care support within the lifetime of the Parliament.

21 Feb 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what methodology it uses to evaluate the sufficiency of current primary care provision.

Answer · Neil Gray: Health Boards and Health and Social Care Partnerships are responsible for the delivery of primary medical services in their areas and for any evaluation of the sufficiency of those services.

21 Feb 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what consideration it has given to implementing fully digitalised booking for primary care appointments.

Answer · Neil Gray: With the ever-growing pressures on General Practice, practices are continually looking for ways to improve access to meet demand and allocate correctly the type of service or advice to meet the needs of each patient. Digitalised appointment booking and triag…

21 Feb 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much it has invested in the NHS estate in each year of the current parliamentary session.

Answer · Neil Gray: The Scottish Government Consolidated Accounts confirms the investment in the NHS estate in each parliamentary session as: 2022-23 = £516m 2021-22 = £536m A link to the Consolidated Accounts for each year is provided: Scottish Government Consolidated Accou…

21 Feb 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to deliver a new Monklands Hospital.

Answer · Maree Todd: The UK Government did not inflation-proof its capital budget which has resulted in nearly a 10% real-terms cut in the Scottish Government’s capital funding over the medium-term between 2023-24 and 2027-28. The result of this cut is that new health capital pr…

15 Feb 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what cost (a) savings and (b) avoidance it has identified since the implementation of Scan4Safety in Scotland.

Answer · Neil Gray: The NHSScotland Scan For Safety Programme was established to provide rapid electronic traceability for high-risk implantable medical devices; linking patients to the medical devices used in their care, thus improving patient safety and fulfilling a key theme …

15 Feb 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to (a) build on the progress from the Scan4Safety programme and (b) implement a single national transferable patient record.

Answer · Neil Gray: The NHS Scotland Scan for Safety Programme is focused on improving traceability and patient outcomes for high risk implantable medical devices. The Programme has established pilot sites in NHS Lothian and NHS Golden Jubilee with both sites implementing Point …

15 Feb 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide details of its funding plans to complete the roll-out of the Scan4Safety programme in Scotland.

Answer · Neil Gray: The Scottish Budget: 2024 to 2025 allocated £2.2 million to the Scan for Safety programme. Funds available will meet initial costs of new systems and necessary licences; provide boards with advisors on implementation; meet the costs of scanning handsets; an…

15 Feb 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to collaborate with other UK nations on the adoption of national standards for healthcare interoperability, including Scan4Saftey and sharing patient records where appropriate.

Answer · Neil Gray: The Scottish Government is collaborating with four nations partners on the adoption of data standards and has representation on various UK-level groups. Through our Data Strategy for Health and Social Care we have committed to setting out the preferred standa…

13 Feb 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether (a) it and (b) public sector pension agencies, including the Scottish Public Pensions Agency, (i) have taken or (ii) will take steps to ensure that companies or agencies that conduct medical assessments of public sector workers with long COVID are made aware that long COVID clini…

Answer · Tom Arthur: Care and support for people with long COVID is being provided across the full range of services delivered by NHS Scotland. This includes assessment and investigation in a setting close to home by local primary care teams, and referral to community-based rehab…

13 Feb 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reports that long COVID patients in Scotland have been refused ill health retirement pensions because they have not attended a long COVID clinic.

Answer · Tom Arthur: We are not aware of reports that any long COVID patients have been refused ill health retirement from a public service pension scheme in Scotland solely because they have not attended a long COVID clinic. Each ill health retirement application should be asses…

13 Feb 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government which agencies or companies are being used by public sector pension scheme agencies, including the Scottish Public Pensions Agency, to conduct medical assessments such as assessments for ill health retirement pension applications, also broken down by the geographical area in which these …

Answer · Tom Arthur: SPPA’s appointed medical advisers are Health Partners (OH) Ltd who operate nationally and also provide services to the police and fire services. Full information on local government pensions administration is not held centrally but a range of providers are us…

13 Feb 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether existing criteria for conducting medical assessments of public sector workers with long COVID, in relation to ill health retirement pension applications, reflect that long COVID clinics do not exist in some areas of Scotland, and, if not, what action it can take to ensure that th…

Answer · Tom Arthur: Existing procedures for medical assessments reflect that a scheme member should not be refused ill health retirement solely because they had not attended a long COVID clinic.

7 Feb 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to address cardiology waiting lists, in light of reported statistics showing that waiting lists for outpatient cardiology appointments are the longest on record.

Answer · Neil Gray: We recognise the scale and impact of heart disease across Scotland and have set out our strategic direction to address this in our 2021 Heart Disease Action Plan. This includes actions to ensure that people with suspected heart disease have timely and equitab…

7 Feb 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to address waiting lists for echocardiograms, in light of reported statistics showing that fewer than three in 10 people are being seen within six weeks.

Answer · Neil Gray: The Heart Disease Action Plan recognises the need to ensure timely and equitable access to diagnostics, including echocardiography. We remain committed to supporting Boards to target resources to reduce waiting times through service innovation and redesign. …

7 Feb 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what the current vacancy rate is for cardiac physiologists in NHS Scotland.

Answer · Neil Gray: The information requested on what the current vacancy rate is for cardiac physiologists in NHS Scotland is not centrally available. Information on Healthcare Science staff in post and cardiology consultants, can be found on the TURAS NHS Education for Scotla…

6 Feb 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the new payments system that has been introduced in Scottish pharmacy services.

Answer · Jenni Minto: The Scottish Government is aware that following the introduction of the new Data Capture and Validation Pricing (nDCVP) system by NHS National Services Scotland (NSS), there have been some issues regarding payments being made to community pharmacy contractors…

31 Jan 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how its reported two-year freeze in capital expenditure for the NHS will impact on its NHS Recovery Plan target of achieving 40,000 additional inpatient and day cases seen in National Treatment Centres by 2025-26.

Answer · Neil Gray: The National Treatment Centres (NTCs) Programme is the single biggest increase in planned care capacity ever created in NHS Scotland. Five new National Treatment Centres (NTCs) will be opened by 2024 at Golden Jubilee (Phase 1 and 2), NTC Fife, NTC Highland a…