Sue Webber

28 Feb 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to increase the number of lung cancer nurse specialists.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring that all people living in Scotland with lung cancer are able to access the best possible care and support, and benefit from healthcare services that are safe, effective and put people at the centre of their car…

28 Feb 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the number of lung cancer nurse specialists who will retire in the next five years in (a) the West of Scotland Cancer Network, (b) the North Cancer Alliance, (c) the South East Scotland Cancer Network and (d) Scotland.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-15447 on 15 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 Feb 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what the current vacancy rate is for lung cancer nurse specialists within the (a) West of Scotland Cancer Network, (b) North Cancer Alliance and (c) South East Scotland Cancer Network.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: The information requested on what the current vacancy rate is for lung cancer nurse specialists within the (a) West of Scotland Cancer Network, (b) North Cancer Alliance and (c) South East Scotland Cancer Network is not centrally available.  

28 Feb 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the adequacy of current staffing levels for lung cancer nurse specialists within the (a) West of Scotland Cancer Network, (b) North Cancer Alliance and (c) South East Scotland Cancer Network.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: The Scottish Government has overall responsibility for health and social care policy in Scotland, however the statutory responsibility for delivering or commissioning services lies with health boards. Operational decisions, including whether there is a need f…

28 Feb 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of how many new lung cancer patients per whole-time equivalent lung cancer nurse specialist there were in September (a) 2020, (b) 2021 and (c) 2022.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: The Scottish Government does not hold this information centrally.

13 Feb 2023 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to increase the number of student nurses.

16 Jan 2023 · First Minister's Question

To ask the First Minister what progress the Scottish Government has made in clearing the reported backlog of people waiting for key diagnostic tests.  

7 Dec 2022 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the open letter signed by over 500 businesses asking for the Deposit Return Scheme to be delayed beyond next summer.

1 Dec 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many delayed breast reconstruction operations have been carried out in 2022, broken down by (a) month and (b) NHS board.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: This information is not held centrally. Public Health Scotland do not hold the information that would allow us to identify the amount of delayed breast reconstruction operations that have been carried out in 2022, broken down by month and NHS Board.

30 Nov 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, for its (a) Alcohol Harm Prevention Policy Team, (b) Alcohol Treatment Policy Team and (c) Drugs Policy Unit, how many posts there are in each team, and of these, how many are currently filled.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: As of 12th December 2022 there are: (a) 7 posts in the Alcohol Harm Prevention Team, all posts are currently filled (b) 4 posts in the Alcohol Treatment Policy Team, with 3 posts filled (c) 46 posts in the Drugs Policy Division, with 44 posts filled

8 Nov 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what information it holds on the number of patients that have participated in clinical trials in each year since 2015, broken down by (a) clinical speciality and (b) gender.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: The total number of participants in clinical studies carried out between 2015-16 and 2021-22 ranged between 32,443 and 45,394 per year. Figures broken down per study type and clinical specialty are outlined in the table. Data broken down by gender is not avai…

8 Nov 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many ongoing clinical trials there are in the NHS Research Scotland research area portfolio of (a) stroke, (b) cancer, (c) cardiovascular, (d) diabetes and (e) neuroprogressive and dementia.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: According to the most recent year for which there is complete data, April 2021 to March 2022, a total of 792 studies were active and open to recruitment across these portfolio areas. Details for each portfolio area are indexed in the following table. Table 1…

8 Nov 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what the annual budget was for each of the NHS Research Scotland research networks and speciality groups, in each year since 2016.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: Since 2016, Scottish Government Chief Scientist Office has provided a total of approximately £3.8 million to £4.3 million each year for all NRS Networks and Specialty Groups. Figures for individual Networks and Specialty Groups are indexed by financial year i…

21 Sep 2022 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the funding of extra-curricular activities in schools.

15 Sep 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what issue it is seeking to address by proposing to implement a new licensing scheme for muirburn.

Answer · Mairi McAllan: I refer the member to the answers to questions S6W-11097 and S6W-11098 on 17 October 2022. 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/cham…

29 Jul 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what budget it has allocated for smoking cessation services in (a) each of the last five financial years, including 2021-22 and (b) 2022-23, and what budget it has provisionally allocated for smoking cessation services over the remainder of the current parliamentary session.

Answer · Maree Todd: The Scottish Government has provided £9,144,964 to Health Boards for the provision of smoking cessation services. This funding is calculated on the basis of smoking rates and deprivation and is used to provide the free Quit Your Way service. This service inc…

27 Jun 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what consideration it has given to extending the sunset clause on minimum unit pricing until June 2023, when Public Health Scotland plans to publish its final, overarching report on the policy.

Answer · Maree Todd: Public Health Scotland will publish their final report on Minimum Unit Pricing (MUP) in summer 2023. The sunset clause within the Alcohol (Minimum Pricing) (Scotland) Act 2012 means that this policy is only in effect until 30th April 2024 unless an affirmati…

22 Jun 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what recent assessment it has made of mixed-sex wards in NHS hospitals in Scotland.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: Scottish Government has not undertaken a recent assessment of mixed sex wards in NHS hospitals. Since 2005 the Scottish Government has expected Boards to ensure that all of their facilities comply with the guidelines and recommendations on the elimination of…

22 Jun 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government when the recommendations of the Ventilation Short-Life Working Group (a) were submitted to the Scottish Government and (b) will be published, and what the reasons are for any delay.

Answer · John Swinney: I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-09259 on 4 July 2022. 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/…

14 Jun 2022 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on how much it is allocating in its Budget for infrastructure plans.

6 Jun 2022 · First Minister's Question

To ask the First Minister whether she will provide an update on work to close the attainment gap.

19 May 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the reported increasing numbers of long COVID patients who have ME/CFS, the publication of NICE guideline, NG206, on the diagnosis and management of ME/CFS, published on 29 October 2021, and the Scottish Government’s reported commitment to implementing the NICE guideline in …

Answer · Maree Todd: I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-08705 on 7 June 2022. 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/…

19 May 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will commit to developing a cross-government delivery plan for ME based on the two core principles outlined by the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care in his statement of 12 May 2022, and whether it will commit to listening to those with lived experience of ME/CFS in…

Answer · Maree Todd: The Scottish Government welcomes the announcement from the UK Government on the ambition to develop an Action Plan on ME/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS), and fully supports its two core principles. We plan to work with the UK Government to explore areas of pot…

16 May 2022 · Topical Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the investigation into the recent spike in deaths of newborn babies.

9 May 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the reported findings of the recent report by the International Cancer Benchmarking Partnership, with Cancer Research UK, that in 38.5% of cases, patients in Scotland were diagnosed with cancer only after emergency admittance to hospital.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: The Scottish Government has committed a further £20 million over the parliamentary term to our Detect Cancer Early Programme, which aims to provide greater public awareness of signs and symptoms of cancer to improve earlier diagnosis rates. Significant fundi…

28 Apr 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to gather data on restraint practices applied to care-experienced children while being securely transported.

Answer · Clare Haughey: To uphold the rights of children and young people who require secure transport, and to meet the Secure Care Standards and the Youth Justice Standards , the Scottish Government and COSLA led Secure Care Group seek to identify and develop solutions to the…

28 Apr 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what data exists regarding the use of restraint applied to care-experienced children while being securely transported.

Answer · Clare Haughey: The responsibility for the organisation and funding of secure transport lies principally with the local authority responsible for the child’s placement. Information on the use of restraint applied to care-experienced children whilst being securely transported…

14 Apr 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has met its target to embed, within every Drug and Alcohol Partnership, the 10 Medication-Assisted Treatment (MAT) standards by April 2022.

Answer · Angela Constance: Work to embed the MAT standards by local services and Alcohol and Drug Partnerships (ADPs) is a crucial and significant undertaking. To support progress, we are providing multi-year funding to HSCPs specifically for the standards and have set up a MAT support…

11 Apr 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much funding the Chief Scientist Office provided to support clinical research careers in each year since 2012.

Answer · Maree Todd: These are the directly funded clinical academic fellowships (CAF) and Senior Clinical Academic Fellowships (SCAF) awarded by the Chief Scientist Office since 2012. Year Fellowships Awarded Total Funding committed 2012 CAF/12/04 £666,181  CAF/12/05   C…

11 Apr 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much funding the Chief Scientist Office provided for clinical research infrastructure in each year since 2012.

Answer · Maree Todd: The Scottish Government, through the Chief Scientist Office and NHS Research Scotland, has invested approximately £40 million per year in clinical research infrastructure since 2012. This funding supports Health Boards, researchers, clinicians and industry to…