Parliamentary questions
Carol Mochan
846 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.
6 Feb 2024 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how much resource services related to abortion provision and care will receive in the 2024-25 Budget, and how this compares to the previous five financial years.
Answer · Jenni Minto: Health Boards are responsible for delivering abortion services as part of their overall budgets, in a similar way to most other health services. Therefore the Scottish Government does not determine how much is allocated to the provision of abortion services. …
1 Feb 2024 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reports that NHS Ayrshire and Arran will remove ICU beds from University Hospital Ayr and relocate them to Crosshouse Hospital, Kilmarnock, citing significant workforce gaps.
Answer · Michael Matheson: Patient safety is of paramount concern and the Health Board has been clear that the interim ICU plans, first announced in February 2023, are to ensure adequate consultant medical cover; thereby maintaining the safety and sustainability of local critical care …
1 Feb 2024 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of reports that NHS Ayrshire and Arran will remove ICU beds from University Hospital Ayr and relocate them to Crosshouse Hospital, Kilmarnock, citing significant workforce gaps, whether this issue was raised during the (a) biannual performance reviews in September 2023 and (b) …
Answer · Neil Gray: Reports that NHS Ayrshire and Arran will remove ICU beds from University Hospital Ayr and relocate them to Crosshouse Hospital, Kilmarnock, citing significant workforce gaps was not raised during either the biannual performance review in September 2023 or the…
1 Feb 2024 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government when it last met any GP professional bodies to discuss the recruitment and retention of GPs in rural areas.
Answer · Neil Gray: The Scottish Government has regular meetings on a wide range of issues related to General Practitioners (GPs) with the British Medical (BMA) Association and the Scottish Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP Scotland) as representative bodies of GPs. …
1 Feb 2024 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether it is on track to meet its target of recruiting an additional 800 GPs by 2027.
Answer · Neil Gray: The Scottish Government remains fully committed to increasing the number of GPs in Scotland. This includes ongoing work on the ambition of increasing GPs by 800, in headcount terms, by 2027 alongside looking at trends of Whole-Time Equivalent GP capacity in t…
1 Feb 2024 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what changes are anticipated to the NHS Education for Scotland (NES) provision of training for healthcare professionals as a result of the Scottish Budget 2024-25.
Answer · Neil Gray: The 2024-25 Scottish Budget will provide an uplift of over half a billion, bringing the budget for NHS Boards to over £14.2 billion, of which NES will receive £550.2 million. Health boards are responsible for ensuring best use of available resources to suppor…
25 Jan 2024 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government when the NHS Scotland Scottish Workforce and Staff Governance Group last met, and what was discussed.
Answer · Michael Matheson: The Scottish Workforce and Staff Governance Committee last met on 24 January 2024. Meeting minutes will be published once agreed. These will be available to view at Scottish Workforce & Staff Governance (SWAG) Committee Agenda and Minutes — NHS Scotland Sta…
25 Jan 2024 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government when the Health and Social Care Assurance Board, one of the groups designing the National Care Service, last met, and what was discussed.
Answer · Maree Todd: Health and Social Care Assurance Board (HSCAB) last met on? 8 November 2023. At this meeting, the Co-Director of Social Care and NCS Development, provided an update on the progress of the National Care Service.
25 Jan 2024 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government when the Health and Social Care Management Board, one of the groups designing the National Care Service, last met, and what was discussed.
Answer · Maree Todd: Health and Social Care Management Board (HSCMB) last met on? 24 January 2024, and it discussed strategic, tactical, and operational matters which contribute to the delivery of health and care service across Scotland.
25 Jan 2024 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government when the Programme Delivery Board designing the National Care Service last met, and what was discussed.
Answer · Maree Todd: The Programme Delivery Board last met on 31 January 2024. The Board discussed the Programme’s progress to date, including an update on the status of the NCS Bill and subsequent planning across the programme for 2024.
25 Jan 2024 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government when the TOM Reference Group, one of the groups designing the National Care Service, last met, and what was discussed.
Answer · Maree Todd: The NCS TOM reference group last met on the 19 May 2022. The meeting was a workshop focused on review of the current system and potential options for future systems. Consideration was given at this meeting to the potential approaches for the structure of the …
25 Jan 2024 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government when the COM Reference Group, one of the groups designing the National Care Service, last met, and what was discussed.
Answer · Maree Todd: The NCS COM reference group last met on the 19 May 2022. The meeting was a workshop focused on review of the current system and potential options for future systems. Consideration was given at this meeting to the potential approaches for the structure of the …
25 Jan 2024 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government when the Nursing and Midwifery Taskforce last met, and what was discussed.
Answer · Michael Matheson: The last meeting of the Nursing and Midwifery Taskforce was held on the 6 December 2023 and was chaired by myself. The next meeting is scheduled for the 13 March 2024. The Scottish Government publishes the agreed minutes and actions from each meeting on its …
25 Jan 2024 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6O-03002 by Michael Matheson on 24 January 2024, when the National Community Hospital Group was first established; what the membership of the group is; when it last met, and what was discussed.
Answer · Michael Matheson: The Community Hospital group has met in its current format since June 2023. The membership comprises professional advisors, NHS and HSCP clinicians, managers and leaders, and Scottish Government officials. It last met on 24 January 2024. The attendees discuss…
25 Jan 2024 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what recent discussions it has had with retailers about reducing the amount of plastic used to package food products.
Answer · Lorna Slater: Working with the other UK governments, the Scottish Government is introducing packaging Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) from October 2025. Packaging EPR will see producers taking financial responsibility for the full net cost of responsible management …
25 Jan 2024 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to introduce legislation to reduce the amount of plastic produced by retailers at source.
Answer · Lorna Slater: The Scottish Government is working with the other UK governments to legislate to introduce extended producer responsibility (EPR) for packaging. Among other benefits, this will create a strong incentive for producers to reduce their use of packaging and drive…
24 Jan 2024 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with NHS boards regarding the provision of screening services, such as breast screening, outwith normal 9.00 am to 5.00 pm working hours.
Answer · Jenni Minto: The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring safe and equitable access to screening for the eligible population. In collaboration with NHS National Services Scotland, NHS Scotland, and representatives from the third sector and academia, the Equity in Scr…
24 Jan 2024 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of its 2018 commitment to increase the school nursing workforce, what assessment it has made of the school nursing workforce in the last 12 months.
Answer · Jenni Minto: The Scottish Government has invested over £34 million since 2018 and this has supported the recruitment and retention of an additional 216.16 whole time equivalent school nurses. This investment has meant that all Health Boards in Scotland have been able to …
24 Jan 2024 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what support it can offer to NHS boards to assist with the (a) recruitment and (b) retention of qualified health visitors.
Answer · Jenni Minto: Local recruitment is the responsibility of the Health Board however, the Scottish Government actively supports health boards across Scotland to plan locally for service need and for service delivery. Following our £40 million investment from 2014-2018 to rec…
24 Jan 2024 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the current physical activity levels of primary school children during the school day.
Answer · Jenny Gilruth: The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring that all children in primary school receive at least two hours of physical education (PE) each school week. To monitor progress on this commitment, local authorities have provided us with data about provision …
24 Jan 2024 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to encourage school leavers and return learners to consider physical education teaching as a long-term career.
Answer · Graeme Dey: The Scottish Government is committed to supporting school leavers and return learners to access career support services to fulfil their potential. The national all age careers service, led by Skills Development Scotland, ensures that everyone has access to qu…
24 Jan 2024 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of any changes in the availability of publicly-run leisure facilities over the last 10 years.
Answer · Maree Todd: The Scottish Government places great importance on community sports and leisure facilities. They are crucial to the wellbeing of all our country and most importantly, for our children and young people to be healthy and active. We have asked sportscotland to …
24 Jan 2024 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many local authorities are currently participating in the Daily Mile initiative.
Answer · Maree Todd: All 32 local authorities in Scotland currently participate in the Daily Mile Initiative.
24 Jan 2024 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-23468 by Michael Matheson on 20 December 2023, whether it can provide details of its plan to eliminate use of the private sector for NHS planned care, including details of any (a) current use of private sector provision and (b) medium- to long-term …
Answer · Michael Matheson: While we work with Boards through planning to make best use of existing NHS resources and capacity, we will continue to use the private sector in a structured and prioritised manner. As we deliver new, better and more sustainable ways of delivering services t…
24 Jan 2024 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-23773 by Michael Matheson on 8 January 2024, when the Flow Navigation Specialty Delivery Group was established; how often the group has met in the last 12 months, and who its key stakeholder members are.
Answer · Michael Matheson: The first official meeting of the Flow Navigation Special Delivery Group was held on 4 October 2023. The group meet monthly with 4 meetings having taken place since its formation. The group is led by the Centre for Sustainable Delivery and consists of clinic…
24 Jan 2024 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-23777 by Michael Matheson on 8 January 2024, when it expects the Centre for Sustainable Delivery (CfSD) to report back on its commissioned work to "improve Community Urgent Care (CUC) pathways as part of the wider Urgent and Unscheduled Care Program…
Answer · Michael Matheson: The Scottish Government works closely with the Centre for Sustainable Delivery (CfSD) to support delivery of improvement programmes, including the Urgent and Unscheduled Care collaborative, to ensure sustainable ways of delivering services, improving access f…
19 Dec 2023 · General Question
To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether its proposed budget spend increase of £0.1 million for alcohol and drugs policy, which is reportedly a real-terms reduction, is sufficient to address the challenges faced in this area.
13 Dec 2023 · Portfolio Question
To ask the Scottish Government what work to tackle poverty it is currently undertaking to support people who are in debt to public bodies.
10 Dec 2023 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the community space available for NHS primary care services such as community midwives and allied health professionals, in light of any increases in demand due to the commitments in its publication, NHS Recovery Plan 2021-26.
Answer · Michael Matheson: While Scottish Government is responsible for the strategic direction of the NHS, territorial Health Boards are responsible for delivering services in their areas, and providing appropriate community spaces for midwives and allied health professionals. Commun…
10 Dec 2023 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what progress it has made in relation to the statement that, "In the coming months, we will be working with partners across the health and social care system, Local Government and wider stakeholders, to set out our shared long term planning for population health and integrated health and…
Answer · Michael Matheson: Our approach to planning and delivering health and care services needs to change to enable the step-change we need in our services. Our Policy Prospectus and Programme for Government is explicitly clear that reform is required and sets out initial actions we …