Sharon Dowey

26 Apr 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, following the completion of the National Cancer Plan in March 2023, whether it will provide an update on the forthcoming publication of its new cancer strategy.

Answer · Michael Matheson: We plan to publish the proposed new cancer strategy in early Summer 2023. We do not have a specific date.

26 Apr 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much funding it has allocated to (a) therapeutic and (b) palliative care for people with cancer in each financial year since 2007-08.

Answer · Jenni Minto: The Scottish Government provides baseline funding to NHS Boards, which Boards use to best meet the healthcare needs of their resident population. Funding is not ring-fenced for cancer services. It is not therefore possible to provide this proportion of the bu…

26 Apr 2023 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will increase funding for hospices to ensure that they can manage any rising costs, in light of the reported increase in the number of people in need of palliative care.

26 Apr 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what plans are in place to help increase the number of people attending their breast screening in Ayrshire and Arran.

Answer · Jenni Minto: I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-17625 on 15 May 2023. 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/…

26 Apr 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what plans are in place to increase the number of people from the most deprived areas in Ayrshire and Arran to attend their breast screening, in light of recent evidence suggesting that they are less likely than those in the least deprived areas to attend a screening.

Answer · Jenni Minto: The Scottish Government welcomes the increase in uptake of breast screening, set out in the latest available data published by Public Health Scotland. However, we recognise that work is required to address the inequalities arising those from more deprived are…

25 Apr 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a list of all of its Special Advisers, broken down by portfolio area.

Answer · George Adam: Special Advisers and their responsibilities can be found on the Scottish Government website .

24 Apr 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it is planning to add Parkinson’s medication to the High Risk Medicines Framework.

Answer · Michael Matheson: The High Risk Medicines Framework specifies some medicines and medicines groups and at the current time this does not include Parkinson’s medication. There is also a High Risk Medicines Discussion template that is not medicine specific and can be adapted and …

24 Apr 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what policies and protocols are currently in place in NHS Scotland to ensure that people whose medicine is time-critical, such as those with Parkinson’s disease, receive their medication on time, every time, including when they are in hospital.

Answer · Michael Matheson: People living with Parkinson’s should be responsible for the administration of all their medicines, including during a stay in any health or care setting, unless a risk assessment indicates otherwise. There are several tools to help people to remember to take…

24 Apr 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what policies and procedures are in place to support medicines reconciliation for all hospital inpatients upon (a) admission to, (b) transfer within and (c) discharge from hospital.

Answer · Michael Matheson: The medicines reconciliation process is set out at a national level, and the responsibility lies within each Health Board to enact and monitor adherence. Board specific policies detail the roles and responsibilities of healthcare professionals when completi…

24 Apr 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to update the High Risk Medicines Framework.

Answer · Michael Matheson: All Healthcare Improvement Scotland’s resources are reviewed regularly by the clinical team supporting HIS. The high risk medicines framework has been reviewed and has been identified as a useful resource for teams to use within their local settings. These ar…

24 Apr 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what the Scottish Patient Safety Programme Medicines Collaborative is currently working on, and whether any areas of its work have ceased to be active.

Answer · Michael Matheson: The Scottish Patient Safety Programme (SPSP) Medicines Collaborative was hibernated in 2020. Since then, the following elements have restarted:Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs (NSAID) Safer Care BundleNSAID Communication Care BundleMedicines Sick Day Rul…

24 Apr 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether any evaluation of the use of the High Risk Medicines Framework in NHS Scotland has been conducted, and, if so, what the result of any such evaluation was.

Answer · Michael Matheson: The Scottish Patient Safety Programme (SPSP) has developed a number of tools and resources to improve medicines safety. One area of focus has been on developing resources around the use of high risk medicines, and within high risk situations. The high risk me…

24 Apr 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether the High Risk Medicines Framework is currently in use in NHS Scotland.

Answer · Michael Matheson: Reducing harm due to high-risk medicines has been identified as a priority by health boards across Scotland and the Scottish Patient Safety Programme (SPSP) has focussed on supporting teams to discuss and prioritise improvement activities related to high-risk…

24 Apr 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the progress of the roll-out of Hospital Electronic Prescribing and Medicines Administration (HEPMA) in each NHS board, and when it expects that each NHS board will have HEPMA capability.

Answer · Jenni Minto: Hospital Electronic Prescribing and Medicines Administration (HEPMA) has been rolled out in in seven Health boards including NHS Ayrshire & Arran, NHS Dumfries & Galloway, NHS Forth Valley, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, NHS Lanarkshire, NHS Lothian and The S…

24 Apr 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how the medicines reconciliation process for all inpatients is monitored within each NHS hospital.

Answer · Michael Matheson: I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-17540 on 11 May 2023. 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/…

18 Apr 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government when the ScotRail timetable consultation for the upcoming May 2023 timetable concluded, and when the findings will be published.

Answer · Kevin Stewart: Consultation with statutory stakeholders was completed in January 2023. It was agreed through this process that given the May 2023 timetable was an interim step due to resource constraints, it could not be viewed in isolation and it was appropriate to hold a …

18 Apr 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what the objectives are of the ScotRail timetable consultation for the upcoming May 2023 timetable, and for what reasons each objective has been chosen.

Answer · Kevin Stewart: As required by the Grant Agreement, ScotRail has consulted its May 2023 timetable with statutory consultees including Regional Transport Partnerships, Transport Focus and other public transport operators such as Calmac. No specific objectives are set by the G…

18 Apr 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to increase recruitment for staff in older people's medicine (a) across Scotland and (b) in NHS Ayrshire and Arran.

Answer · Michael Matheson: NHS Boards are responsible for ensuring they have local policies in place to recruit effectively and retain their staff. They are supported in this through the Scottish Government’s National Workforce Strategy, which sets out the actions it will take in partn…

18 Apr 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many staff vacancies there have been in older people's medicine (a) across Scotland and (b) in NHS Ayrshire and Arran, in each of the past five years.

Answer · Michael Matheson: The information requested on how many staff vacancies there have been in older people's medicine (a) across Scotland and (b) in NHS Ayrshire and Arran, in each of the past five years can be found on the TURAS NHS Education for Scotland workforce statistics si…

18 Apr 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to encourage a nationwide implementation of electronic prescriptions across all NHS boards.

Answer · Michael Matheson: The Digital Prescribing and Dispensing Pathways (DPDP) programme aims to revolutionise Scotland’s prescribing and dispensing process by ultimately replacing the paper prescription, initially by developing an end-to-end digital solution for in-hours prescribin…

11 Apr 2023 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on reported potential reductions to bed numbers and the closure of a ward at University Hospital Ayr.

29 Mar 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to support people aged 71 to 74 who have reportedly been unable to get a breast screening appointment through the self-referral scheme, both pre- and post-COVID-19 pandemic.

Answer · Jenni Minto: Under the phased restart of self-referrals, women aged 71-74, and those over 75 with a history of breast cancer, are currently eligible to self-refer for a screening appointment. Where the eligibility criteria is met, a breast screening appointment should be …

28 Mar 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the progress it has made towards creating a Scottish Education Exchange Programme.

Answer · Graeme Dey: I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-15600 on 16 March 2023. 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-committee…

28 Mar 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether the topic of Scottish independence was discussed during the meeting between the Cabinet Secretary for Constitution, External Affairs and Culture and United States Congressman, Steve Cohen, on 7 April 2022.

Answer · Angus Robertson: Congressman Steve Cohen and I held a positive meeting in April last year, in which we spoke about Scottish and US relations and Representative Cohen’s membership of the Friends of Scotland Caucus in the US Congress. The subject of Scottish independence was n…

28 Mar 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether the topic of Scottish independence was discussed during the meeting between the Cabinet Secretary for Constitution, External Affairs and Culture, Ian Russell and Sir Drummond Bone on 6 December 2022.

Answer · Angus Robertson: The topic of Scottish Independence was not discussed at this meeting, which was about the important role of the cultural national collections, their current challenges post-pandemic and future plans.

28 Mar 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether the topic of Scottish independence was discussed during the meeting between the Cabinet Secretary for Constitution, External Affairs and Culture and the Secretary General of Paradores de Turismo on 2 November 2022.

Answer · Angus Robertson: The Secretary General and I had a constructive meeting in November last year during which Mr Ferrer and his colleagues provided me with an insight on the Paradores model and the work being done to repurpose and restore historical buildings and bring commercia…

28 Mar 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether the topic of Scottish independence was discussed during the meeting between the Cabinet Secretary for Constitution, External Affairs and Culture and the Director of the Goethe-Institut on 5 December 2022.

Answer · Angus Robertson: The Director and I had a constructive meeting in December last year during which we discussed language learning in Scotland.The subject of Scottish independence was not an agenda item in discussions. However, Scottish ministers will always be polite enough du…

28 Mar 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether the topic of Scottish independence was discussed during the meeting between the Cabinet Secretary for Constitution, External Affairs and Culture and the French Minister of Culture on 4 October 2022.

Answer · Angus Robertson: The Minister and I had a constructive meeting last year in Paris during which we discussed culture, heritage and sports diplomacy.The subject of Scottish independence was not an agenda item in discussions. However, Scottish ministers will always be polite eno…

28 Mar 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether the topic of Scottish independence was discussed during the meeting between the Cabinet Secretary for Constitution, External Affairs and Culture and the Canadian Ambassador to the EU on 31 May 2022.

Answer · Angus Robertson: The Canadian Ambassador to the EU and I held a positive meeting in May last year, in which we spoke about trade and cultural links between Scotland and Canada, as well as both countries' energy and climate change priorities.The subject of Scottish independenc…

28 Mar 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether the topic of Scottish independence was discussed during the meeting between the Cabinet Secretary for Constitution, External Affairs and Culture and the Belgian Minister of Climate, Environment, Sustainable Development and Green Deal on 31 May 2022.

Answer · Angus Robertson: The Belgian Minister of Climate, Environment, Sustainable Development and the Green Deal and I held a positive meeting in May last year, in which we spoke about the circular economy, wellbeing economy and climate governance policy matters.The subject of Scott…