Carol Mochan

19 Mar 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what recent review it has undertaken of the provision of sexual health and wellbeing services for young people.

Answer · Jenni Minto: There has been no formal review of the provision of sexual health and wellbeing services for young people, however the Scottish Government is committed to ensuring that young people across Scotland have access to these services. In 2023 we published our Sexua…

19 Mar 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what work it is undertaking to ensure that a more preventative approach to the health and wellbeing of young people is being adopted within communities across all government portfolio areas.

Answer · Jenni Minto: The Scottish Government wants to ensure that every child can attain the highest level of health and wellbeing possible. Between pre-birth and starting school, all children in Scotland are entitled to support from our universal Health Visiting service. In add…

19 Mar 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what targeted training is currently offered to teachers to help them to assess, monitor and improve the health and wellbeing of pupils.

Answer · Jenny Gilruth: In June 2021, the Scottish Government published a new professional learning resource for school staff aimed at providing essential learning required to support children and young people’s mental health and wellbeing https://www.cypmh.co.uk/ Education Scotl…

19 Mar 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what joint training is currently offered to teachers and youth workers across Scotland.

Answer · Jenny Gilruth: In Scotland, youth work is recognised as being part of the wider professional sector known as Community Learning and Development (CLD). Education Scotland offer professional learning which is open to all educators including CLD practitioners (Adult Learning,…

19 Mar 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the value of youth work within the school environment.

Answer · Graeme Dey: The Scottish Government considers youth work within the school environment to be incredibly valuable. An independent review of Community Learning and Development (CLD), was launched in December 2023 and is expected to conclude in June 2024. This review aims …

19 Mar 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many money advice workers have been employed in the most deprived communities in each of the last five years.

Answer · Paul McLennan: The primary funders of locally based advice services are local authorities and it is for them to decide how best to target resources to meet local needs. Scottish Government do not, therefore hold information on the number of money advisers employed within th…

19 Mar 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what measurements it is currently using to assess its Tackling Child Poverty Delivery Plan.

Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: The Scottish Government takes an evidence-based approach to tackling child poverty by ensuring that plans are underpinned by evidence and that we carefully monitor progress. The evaluation strategy summarises the approach which is split across three key areas…

19 Mar 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what work it is undertaking with local authorities to ensure that healthy foods are both (a) available and (b) affordable within the most deprived communities.

Answer · Jenni Minto: Scottish Government is undertaking a range of actions to ensure healthy foods are available to and affordable for individuals living in areas of socioeconomic deprivation. This includes steps towards ending the need for food banks through our £1.8 million Cas…

19 Mar 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how it measures any changes in (a) physical activity and (b) sports participation levels of young women and girls, across all ages and socioeconomic groups, and what measures it has introduced to improve participation.

Answer · Maree Todd: a) The annual Scottish Health Survey (SHeS) measures physical activity of children from the ages 2 to 15, young people from the age of 16 are captured in adult data. Questions are asked on the subject of walking, frequency of physical activity, physical activ…

19 Mar 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how it measures any changes in (a) physical activity and (b) sports participation levels in young people from deprived communities, and what measures it has introduced to improve participation.

Answer · Maree Todd: a) The annual Scottish Health Survey (SHeS) measures physical activity in children from the ages 2 to 15, young people from the age of 16 are captured in adult data. Questions are asked on the subjects of walking, frequency of physical activity, physical acti…

19 Mar 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what training has been offered to primary care staff on the history of transvaginal mesh complications and support for patients who require surgery for pre or post operative vaginal mesh removal.

Answer · Jenni Minto: A Transvaginal Mesh Implants Learning Package is available on Turas Learn for all primary care staff. This was issued to all Primary Care Leads and NHS Board leads for Mesh by the Chief Medical Officer in October 2023 along with information and resources inc…

17 Mar 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the recommendation in the Health, Social Care and Sport Committee's 1st Report, 2022 (Session 6), Inquiry into perinatal mental health, which was published on 8 February 2022, whether it has established a comprehensive strategy to improve communication, collaboration, co-ope…

Answer · Maree Todd: The Perinatal and Infant Mental Health Managed Clinical Network Scotland (PIMHNS) has developed a workstream ‘Parents as Patients’ to develop guidance around joined-up working (i) between perinatal/infant mental health services and other mental health service…

17 Mar 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what work it has undertaken to ensure that primary care staff have appropriate training so that they are able to adequately signpost mothers and families towards appropriate third sector provision of perinatal mental health services.

Answer · Maree Todd: The resource for Mental Health and Wellbeing in Primary Care Services was published in June 2022. The resource was developed to support staff working as part of a multi disciplinary team within GP settings. The resource provides a directory of additional sour…

17 Mar 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what progress NHS Education for Scotland has made on its commissioned piece of work to develop a national midwifery career framework.

Answer · Jenni Minto: In conjunction with Scottish Government and wider stakeholders, NHS Education for Scotland (NES) are leading the development of a national midwifery career framework, although this is not a formal commissioned piece. The work is being overseen by a steering g…

17 Mar 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what advances in training on perinatal mental health have been made following the recommendations made in the Health, Social Care and Sport Committee's 1st Report, 2022 (Session 6), Inquiry into perinatal mental health (SP Paper 104), which was published on 8 February 2022.

Answer · Maree Todd: The Scottish Government has worked with NHS Education for Scotland (NES) to develop ‘Perinatal mental health curricular framework : a framework for maternal and infant mental health’. This framework sets out the different levels of knowledge and skills requir…

16 Mar 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many NHS care navigators currently work in the NHS, broken down by NHS board.

Answer · Neil Gray: The information requested on how many NHS care navigators currently work in the NHS, broken down by NHS board is not centrally available. Information on the NHS Scotland Workforce, broken down by NHS Board, can be found on the TURAS NHS Education for Scotlan…

16 Mar 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what information it holds on how many primary care appointments were cancelled in the last two years, broken down by NHS board.

Answer · Neil Gray: The Scottish Government does not hold information on how many primary care appointments were cancelled in the last two years, broken down by NHS board.

16 Mar 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the development and use of single patient records within NHS Scotland.

Answer · Neil Gray: The Scottish Government have recently corresponded with the Scottish Parliament’s Health, Social Care and Sport Committee on this question. See Electronic patient record | Scottish Parliament Website . To support our ambitions set out in the 2021 Strategy…

16 Mar 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many patients self-referred to NHS Pharmacy First Scotland, broken down by NHS board, in each full year since the service was launched.

Answer · Jenni Minto: All patients who access NHS Pharmacy First Scotland do so by self-referral. In some cases though they will have been advised to attend a community pharmacy by NHS24 or another healthcare service. Public Health Scotland has published data on the number of pat…

16 Mar 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what work it has undertaken in the last 12 months to increase patient awareness of alternative pathways to primary care.

Answer · Neil Gray: The Scottish Government has delivered the Right Care Right Place campaign during October to November 2023 which outlined the options for those seeking urgent medical care across A&E/999, General Practice and NHS 24 111. The campaign also promoted the self-hel…

16 Mar 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government when it last met with representatives from the care home sector; what matters were discussed, and what actions it has agreed to undertake in supporting this sector.

Answer · Maree Todd: The Scottish Government have regular and consistent engagement with representatives of the care sector. Recent engagement has explored resilience, viability, surge pressures, fair work, Healthcare Framework for Adults Living in Care Homes, workforce challeng…

16 Mar 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on what action it has taken to develop the role of social prescribing, and whether it has given any consideration to appointing a national lead for this.

Answer · Maree Todd: The Scottish Government recognises that social prescribing can be an effective method of improving an individual’s physical, mental and social health. It plays an important role in helping us achieve our commitment to prevention, holistic care and Realistic M…

12 Mar 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, regarding its policies on animal welfare in Scotland, whether it plans to engage with the Competition and Markets Authority's review of vet charges across the UK, and, if so, how.

Answer · Jim Fairlie: Scottish Government officials engaged with the Competition and Markets Authority as part of its initial review. Once more details are known regarding the Authority’s formal investigation we will consider what level of engagement will be appropriate.

12 Mar 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, regarding its policies on animal welfare, whether it has undertaken any recent analysis of vet charges in Scotland.

Answer · Jim Fairlie: The Scottish Government has not undertaken its own analysis of veterinary charges in Scotland.

12 Mar 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, regarding its policies on animal welfare, what assistance it provides to support pet owners who are struggling to meet any costs related to vet charges.

Answer · Jim Fairlie: The Scottish Government recognises the issues raised by pet owners concerning the cost of veterinary care for their animals, but does not provide financial support for veterinary charges. Regulation of the veterinary profession is a matter reserved to the UK …

12 Mar 2024 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government what measures it is taking to address any barriers to women’s participation in the creative workforce.

11 Mar 2024 · SPCB Oral Question

To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body what steps it is taking to address any ethnicity-related pay gap amongst SPCB staff.

7 Mar 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether domestic services across the NHS work closely with infection control teams within hospital settings.

Answer · Neil Gray: Domestic Services staff are an essential part of the multi-disciplinary Healthcare team in improving patient, staff and public safety and should work closely with infection control teams within hospital settings as set out in the NHSScotland national cleaning…

7 Mar 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to encourage allied health professionals to take up roles within Public Health Scotland.

Answer · Neil Gray: Whilst the Scottish Government sets the strategic direction for workforce development across NHS Scotland, it is important to note that each Health Board is an employer and is responsible for the recruitment of staff.

7 Mar 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many full-time equivalent allied health professional (AHP) practice educators currently work within NHS Scotland, broken down by (a) profession and (b) NHS board.

Answer · Neil Gray: This is a matter for NHS Boards. The information requested is not held centrally by the Scottish Government.