Parliamentary questions
Douglas Lumsden
1,891 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.
16 Jan 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how it is improving access to health education programmes in schools and community centres, and what specific efforts have been made in rural communities.
Answer · Jenny Gilruth: The Schools (Health Promotion and Nutrition( (Scotland) Act 2007 makes health promotion a central purpose of schooling and places duties on all education authority and grant aided schools including those in rural communities. A school is health promoting if i…
16 Jan 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what public awareness campaigns have been conducted to address chronic diseases, such as diabetes and heart disease, over the last five years, and how these campaigns have been tailored for rural populations.
Answer · Neil Gray: The following provides details of marketing activity that has run over the preceding five years, to address chronic diseases. Chronic disease is defined in the Scottish Health Survey as any physical illness or mental illness expected to last a year or more. M…
16 Jan 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what support is being provided to deal with alcohol and drug dependency in rural areas, and what funding has been allocated for recovery services in Aberdeenshire in each of the last five years.
Answer · Neil Gray: The Alcohol and Drug Partnerships in Aberdeenshire and other rural areas were asked to submit structured assessments of how they are trying to overcome the challenges of rurality to the PHS MAT Implementation Support (MIST) team.The assessment demonstrated th…
16 Jan 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to attract healthcare professionals to remote and rural areas, including Aberdeenshire.
Answer · Neil Gray: 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 Boar…
16 Jan 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to reduce carbon emissions in NHS facilities, and how this is being implemented in rural NHS boards.
Answer · Neil Gray: The NHS Scotland Climate Emergency and Sustainability Strategy 2022-26 sets out the approach and actions to be taken by NHS Scotland, with support from the Scottish Government and working in partnership with others, to respond to the climate emergency and to …
16 Jan 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to expand the use of artificial intelligence and digital tools in healthcare delivery, and how these can be applied to address challenges in rural healthcare.
Answer · Neil Gray: Artificial intelligence is already proving itself to be a force for good in our health and social care service, providing a range of healthcare solutions that are transforming services for the better and in a number of cases, saving lives. An example where AI…
16 Jan 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how it is working with NHS boards to enhance access to mobile diagnostic units in rural areas, and what progress has been made in the last five years.
Answer · Neil Gray: Neil Gray: Since 2021, we have provided three permanent CT scanners to support core diagnostic imaging capacity within Boards, including a mobile CT pod which is deployed flexibly to Boards that require additional capacity. In addition, one further mobile CT …
16 Jan 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how it is addressing the potential impact of climate change on healthcare delivery in rural communities.
Answer · Neil Gray: The NHS Scotland Climate Emergency and Sustainability Strategy 2022-26 sets out the approach and actions which will be taken by NHS Scotland, with support from the Scottish Government and working in partnership with others, to respond to the climate emergency…
16 Jan 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what measures it is taking to empower rural communities to lead health programmes and address community health needs.
Answer · Jenni Minto: Community organisations in rural areas and elsewhere are uniquely placed to identify and address the issues that keep individuals in their local communities healthy.A place-based approach is the foundation of Community-Led Local Development (CLLD). Communitie…
16 Jan 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what training programmes are in place to support healthcare professionals in delivering culturally-sensitive palliative care.
Answer · Jenni Minto: There is a wide range of education and training programmes for those delivering palliative care suitable to their role. These training programmes encourage those delivering palliative care to be aware of cultural factors and how these can impact on individual…
16 Jan 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what progress it has made in implementing telemedicine solutions in rural healthcare settings, and what impact this has had on patient outcomes over the last five years.
Answer · Neil Gray: See answer to question S6W-33537 on 27 January 2025 regarding progress. Telemedicine related developments focus on ensuring people get choice in how they access care services, support independent living and reduce unnecessary appointments, regardless of where…
16 Jan 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what progress it has made in implementing workplace mental health support programmes across public sector organisations.
Answer · Maree Todd: We are continuing to work across the Scottish Government and with delivery partners, including Public Health Scotland and See Me, to ensure that employers across all sectors are equipped with the knowledge, skills and resources they need to promote and suppor…
16 Jan 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how it is supporting the development of healthcare facilities in rural and remote areas, including any planned expansions in Aberdeenshire.
Answer · Neil Gray: I refer the member to the answer to the question S6W-33527 on 27 January 2025. 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-an…
16 Jan 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to address any workforce shortages and training gaps in rural healthcare, particularly in areas such as Aberdeenshire.
Answer · Neil Gray: The Scottish Government commissioned NHS Education for Scotland (NES) to establish the Centre for Workforce Supply (CWS) in November 2021 to support workforce capacity across NHS Scotland and to ensure it has the right people, in the right place at the right …
16 Jan 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what additional resources are being allocated to improve the availability of gynaecological services in rural health boards, including NHS Grampian.
Answer · Jenni Minto: Women’s Health is key priority for this government which is why Scotland was the first country in the UK to publish an ambitious Women’s Health Plan in August 2021. Timely access to gynaecology services will remain a priority as we continue to dev…
16 Jan 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how it is supporting (a) small- and (b) medium-sized enterprises in rural areas to implement healthy workplace initiatives.
Answer · Neil Gray: Through our vision for ‘a Scotland where people live longer, healthy and fulfilling lives we are focused on improving the health of the population. Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are the lifeblood of the Scottish economy and so we want to create an…
16 Jan 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what progress it has made in increasing the availability of home-based palliative care services in rural areas.
Answer · Jenni Minto: It is for Integration Joint Boards (IJBs) to govern, plan and resource adult palliative care in their areas, using the delegated budgets under their control, to meet the needs of their local populations.Evidence gathered to support the development of the draf…
16 Jan 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what steps it has taken to improve access to assistive technologies for people with visual impairments in each of the last five years.
Answer · Jenni Minto: It remains the ambition of the Scottish Government to deliver a National Low Vision Service. This would deliver a range of services to people with visual impairment including both the provision of assistive technology and support for the use of technology alr…
16 Jan 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what regional variations in satisfaction with end-of-life care services have been identified in the last five years, and what action it has taken to address these.
Answer · Jenni Minto: The Scottish Government does not hold data on satisfaction rates on the provision of palliative care services across Scotland.However, to inform the development of the draft strategy on palliative care, we carried out surveys mapping palliative care delivery …
16 Jan 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how it is addressing barriers to accessing hearing aid repairs and replacements in remote and rural areas.
Answer · Jenni Minto: Since October 2022, Scottish Government has funded the third sector organisation RNID to deliver its ‘Near You’ scheme in partnership with the NHS. The service provides hearing aid maintenance and support, access to information and advice as well …
16 Jan 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to expand the range of conditions covered by the Pharmacy First service, and what analysis has been conducted to identify additional areas of need in rural regions.
Answer · Jenni Minto: We will continue to expand NHS Pharmacy First Scotland so that a wider range of health conditions are covered. This will further transfer the care of common clinical conditions to community pharmacy, removing the need for visits to GPs, Out of Hours services …
16 Jan 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what measures it is taking to ensure a resilient supply chain for essential medicines, particularly in remote and rural areas.
Answer · Jenni Minto: Medicines reach community pharmacies, hospitals, GP practices through a supply chain that is privately operated on a UK-wide basis, from manufacturers in the UK and overseas to wholesale warehouses and distributors. The NHS itself does not have a significant …
16 Jan 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the NHS Pharmacy First Scotland service in reducing GP workloads, and how this service has been rolled out in rural areas like Aberdeenshire.
Answer · Jenni Minto: The NHS Pharmacy First Scotland service is helping people to access the Right Care at the Right Place. It removes the need for unnecessary visits to GPs, Out of Hour services or Emergency Department for everyday self-limiting conditions.Public Health Scotland…
16 Jan 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how it is working with local authorities in Aberdeenshire to improve access to active travel infrastructure as part of its strategy to address obesity.
Answer · Fiona Hyslop: The Scottish Government works with local authorities in several ways to improve access to active travel, primarily through our ‘Active Travel Infrastructure Fund’ (ATIF) that supports infrastructure building, and our ‘People and Place Progra…
16 Jan 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what the average waiting time for endometriosis (a) diagnosis and (b) treatment has been across NHS boards in each of the last five years.
Answer · Jenni Minto: Routinely collected data on the waiting time for a diagnosis of endometriosis are not available.However, in 2024 Endometriosis UK published a report based on a survey of 4,371 people who received a diagnosis of endometriosis from a medical practitioner or fol…
16 Jan 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how it is progressing with its plans to establish a national pharmaceutical agency, and what impact it anticipates the agency would have on rural healthcare delivery.
Answer · Jenni Minto: We have committed to the development of a new National Pharmaceutical Agency (NPhA), to improve links between the life sciences industry and the NHS, and ultimately improve patient care.Initial scoping work has taken place, with further scoping work required …
16 Jan 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to expand palliative care outreach programmes for remote and rural communities.
Answer · Jenni Minto: It is for Integration Joint Boards (IJBs) to govern, plan and resource adult palliative care in their areas, using the delegated budgets under their control, to meet the needs of their local populations.Evidence gathered to support the development of the draf…
16 Jan 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how it is supporting rural NHS boards to adopt innovative approaches, such as telemedicine, to reduce waiting times for diagnostic services.
Answer · Neil Gray: Diagnostics are central to many clinical pathways, and we are working to define the transformation necessary to deliver sustainable and equitable diagnostic services. Service innovation and redesign, creating additional capacity, and digital technology will b…
16 Jan 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how it evaluates the effectiveness of public health campaigns in reducing alcohol consumption, and what specific efforts have been made to reach rural populations.
Answer · Jenni Minto: The Scottish Government recognises that whilst public health awareness campaigns in relation to alcohol can be helpful to provide additional information to the public, evidence is clear that the most effective method of reducing alcohol consumption is tacklin…
16 Jan 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what progress it has made in ensuring equitable access to palliative care services across NHS boards, and how it is addressing any gaps identified in rural areas such as Aberdeenshire.
Answer · Jenni Minto: The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring that everyone who needs it can access well-coordinated, timely and high-quality palliative care, care around dying and bereavement support regardless of geographical location.As part of the development of the S…