Carol Mochan

29 Jan 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has conducted an analysis of the potential impact that introducing regulations on food and drink high in fat, sugar and salt will have on children’s diets.

Answer · Jenni Minto: The Scottish Government has undertaken a range of analysis and assessment as part of developing proposals on potential regulation of the promotion of food and drink high in salt, sugar and fat. This analysis will be set out in a suite of impact assessments in…

29 Jan 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has had any recent discussions with the UK Government regarding A77 upgrades.

Answer · Fiona Hyslop: There have been no recent discussions with the UK Government regarding upgrades to the A77 trunk road.

29 Jan 2025 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government what it will do to address any difficulties with recruitment and retention in local government due to the reported declining value of pay.

24 Jan 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to support alcohol-related brain damage services, in light of Public Heath Scotland data reportedly stating that there were over 1,000 more alcohol-related hospital admissions in 2024, compared with 2023.

Answer · Jenni Minto: The Scottish Government provides local services with support through funding to ensure care is available for alcohol-related brain damage though a range of social care, healthcare community and residential services. The Scottish Government remains committed t…

24 Jan 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government when it plans to review the current legal framework for abortion law.

Answer · Jenni Minto: The Scottish Government believes that all women in Scotland should have access to abortion services, available free from stigma.In the 2023 Programme for Government, the Scottish Government committed to undertake a review of the law on abortion to ensure that…

24 Jan 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether there has been any assessment of any impact of bed shortages on women awaiting admission for surgical abortions.

Answer · Jenni Minto: The Scottish Government believes that all women in Scotland should have access to abortion services as part of routine healthcare, and understands that the choice to have a surgical abortion is important. The 2021 Women’s Health Plan sought to achieve t…

24 Jan 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how it is raising awareness and understanding of uterine cancer as the most common gynaecological cancer.

Answer · Jenni Minto: Our most recent Detect Cancer Earlier campaign – Be The Early Bird – first launched on March 2023, aiming to reduce fear of cancer and empower those with possible symptoms to act early. Following successful independent evaluation, the campaign re-…

24 Jan 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to (a) raise awareness of and (b) address alcohol-specific illnesses, in light of reports that there was a higher number of alcohol-related deaths compared with drug-related deaths in 2023-24.

Answer · Jenni Minto: The Scottish Government fully recognises the role that alcohol plays as a cause or risk factor for a number of illnesses and health conditions.The Scottish Government has taken action to reduce the harms caused by alcohol including the recent increase to the …

24 Jan 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what work it has done to remove any stigma or fears to encourage cervical screening self-sampling among the (a) under- and (b) never-screened population.

Answer · Jenni Minto: Cervical self-sampling is not yet recommended by the UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC), the independent expert advisory group which advises all four UK nations on screening policy, and therefore is not currently offered within the cervical screening pr…

24 Jan 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how it plans to tackle the reported low uptake by males of the HPV immunisation in schools, in order to achieve the same uptake as females.

Answer · Jenni Minto: Addressing inequalities in HPV vaccine uptake and optimising opportunities for young people to receive the vaccine is a priority for the Scottish Government.Human papillomaviruses (HPV) not only cause cervical cancer but can also cause other diseases includin…

24 Jan 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what impact the spontaneous coronary artery dissection (SCAD) clinic pilot project has had, and how many people it has supported through its services to date.

Answer · Jenni Minto: The SCAD pilot clinic has received 82 referrals with 57 patients seen to date. The remainder of patients currently referred will be seen by the end of July 2025.An evaluation report will be requested by end of May 2025 to assess impact. The project team have …

24 Jan 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what it plans to do to tackle the reported rising number of uterine cancer diagnoses.

Answer · Jenni Minto: The rise in reported number of uterine cancer diagnoses can largely be attributed to an increasing ageing population and is in-line with a long-term trend of increasing number of uterine cancer diagnoses over time. It is encouraging to see that the majority o…

24 Jan 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has allocated any funding for a national campaign to promote taking a vitamin D supplement during winter months.

Answer · Jenni Minto: The Scottish Government supports and works closely with Food Standards Scotland, who have previously run national campaigns over winter months to raise awareness of vitamin D and encourage people to take a daily vitamin D supplement to maintain bone and muscl…

24 Jan 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government when it last met with Food Standards Scotland, and whether it discussed any action to promote taking a vitamin D supplement during winter months.

Answer · Jenni Minto: Scottish Government and Food Standards Scotland officials met in January 2025 to discuss possible further action to promote vitamin D supplements during winter months. This included consideration of current ongoing activity, such as the previous FSS winter ca…

24 Jan 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-32799 by Neil Gray on 14 January 2025, whether it will consider commissioning a formal evaluation of the Softer Landing, Safe Care initiative by the end of 2025, in order to improve data on international medical graduates across NHS Scotland.

Answer · Neil Gray: The Softer Landing, Safe Care initiative was introduced in 2021. The programme is part of a coordinated offer that sits alongside the training pathway and is devolved for implementation at local board level. International Medical Graduates (IMGs), like other …

24 Jan 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government when it last discussed staffing levels at Troon railway station with ScotRail, and whether it assessed the staffing required to support passengers who require assistance, such as some older people and disabled people.

Answer · Fiona Hyslop: Staffing at railway stations is an operational matter for ScotRail. I have been informed that Troon Station ticket office has recently closed on a number of occasions due to staff shortages. The vacancies have now been filled and it is expected that the new s…

24 Jan 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reports of the Troon railway station ticket office and facilities being closed for parts of the day when the ScotRail website states that it is to be open.

Answer · Fiona Hyslop: Although this is an operational issue, ScotRail confirmed that there was a recent challenge in recruiting new permanent staff, which led to the closure of the ticket office on a number of occasions. The vacancies have now been filled and it is expected that t…

24 Jan 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to promote taking a vitamin D supplement during winter months.

Answer · Jenni Minto: The Scottish Government supports and works closely with Food Standards Scotland, who have previously run national campaigns over winter months to raise awareness of vitamin D and encourage people to take a daily vitamin D supplement to maintain bone and muscl…

21 Jan 2025 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Government when it last discussed plans to reduce corridor care and the use of temporary escalation spaces with NHS boards.

16 Jan 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has (a) the capacity and (b) any plans to regulate the release of non-native gamebirds in situations where they might impact native wildlife through disease transmission, habitat degradation or predation.

Answer · Jim Fairlie: The release of common pheasant and red-legged partridge is permitted under sub-section 14 (2A) of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 in Scotland. Currently the Scottish Government and NatureScot have no evidence that the release of non-native gamebirds are…

16 Jan 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the reported poultry and wild bird avian influenza cases in Scotland and England, whether an assessment has been made of any risk posed by continuing to allow gatherings of poultry and other species of bird, including fairs, shows, markets, sales and other gatherings.

Answer · Jim Fairlie: The Scottish Government gathers evidence regularly from a range of sources including experts and through surveillance such as the avian influenza dead wild bird surveillance scheme to continually monitor the risks presented by bird gatherings. Any changes in …

16 Jan 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has considered introducing an avian influenza prevention zone, in light of the reported outbreak of avian influenza in Kingoldrum.

Answer · Jim Fairlie: A Scotland wide Avian Influenza Prevention Zone was introduced covering the whole of Scotland at 12:00 hrs on 25 January 2025. The Scottish Government takes account of information provided though surveillance and the latest advice from a broad range of releva…

16 Jan 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what progress the Scottish Ambulance Service has made on commissioning a new pre-hospital service to cover the east and south east of Scotland, to replace Medic One.

Answer · Neil Gray: Following the withdrawal of medic 1 by NHS Lothian the Scottish Ambulance Service, working with other Health Boards, has put in place contingency arrangements to provide a prehospital Emergency Critical Care response across the east of Scotland.Working throug…

13 Jan 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-30182 by Jenni Minto on 8 October 2024, whether its draft Budget 2025-26 will impact on the National Thrombectomy Planning Board's plans for a phased approach to expanding thrombectomy services.

Answer · Jenni Minto: The Scottish Government remains committed to expanding the national thrombectomy service, and ensuring access to this treatment is as equitable as possible.Through the National Thrombectomy Programme Board, and Thrombectomy Advisory Group, work is being under…

13 Jan 2025 · Topical Question

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to prevent the spread of avian influenza, following the outbreak in Kirriemuir.

8 Jan 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what information it has regarding the number of homeless people who are hospitalised each year and who are subsequently discharged, including their average length of stay, and what support is provided to them on discharge, including with (a) improving their welfare, (b) finding accommoda…

Answer · Neil Gray: The number of discharges from Scottish acute inpatient hospitals is presented in the following table. These figures do not include mental health facilities. These discharge figures have been produced using the Public Health Scotland SMR01 dataset which does n…

8 Jan 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to reduce NHS waiting times for adults with autism.

Answer · Maree Todd: The Scottish Government is working with NHS Boards, community partners, and the National Autism Implementation Team (NAIT) to improve access to diagnosis, by supporting local health partners to develop, enhance and redesign existing local neurodevelopmental s…

8 Jan 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what strategies are in place to increase publicawareness of the issues that people with autism might face.

Answer · Maree Todd: The Scottish Government has produced several resources to increase public awareness of the issues that autistic people might face.We launched the Different Minds website in 2020 to provide clearer information and a better understanding of autism, as well debu…

8 Jan 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to introduce a strategy for dealing with poverty among older people.

Answer · Kaukab Stewart: The Scottish Government’s ‘A Fairer Scotland for Older People: framework for action’ contains a dedicated strand focused on activity we are undertaking to ensure people are financially secure and supported as they age.In addition, we provide…

8 Jan 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what information it has regarding the number of homeless people who are hospitalised each year who (a) die while receiving treatment and (b) are unable to be discharged due to concerns regarding their welfare.

Answer · Neil Gray: The number of discharges from Scottish acute inpatient hospitals is presented in the following table. These figures do not include mental health facilities. These discharge figures have been produced using the Public Health Scotland SMR01 dataset which does n…