Jackie Baillie

21 Mar 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many individuals under the age of 18 have been prescribed puberty suppressing hormones in each year since 2013.

Answer · Jenni Minto: The term “puberty-suppressing hormones” is non-specific, and could be applied to a range of medicines used for a variety of conditions. In the context of the provision of gender identity healthcare to children and young people, I refer the member to question…

19 Mar 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government when all GP surgeries across Scotland will be able to use electronic signatures to authorise prescriptions.

Answer · Neil Gray: The Digital Prescribing and Dispensing Pathways (DPDP) programme, is scheduled to replace the current paper prescription in Scotland with a digital approach by the end of this parliamentary term. The business case which sets out the proposal for the next pha…

11 Mar 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what arrangements are in place to compensate any children that have been affected as a consequence of their mothers being given sodium valproate during pregnancy, and when it expects compensation payments to commence.

Answer · Jenni Minto: The Scottish Government will await the view and any decisions by the UK Government in relation to redress for anyone who was affected by exposure to valproate. As set out in our letter to MSPs, this is because the recommendations on redress the UK Government…

11 Mar 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many children have been affected as a consequence of their mothers being prescribed sodium valproate during pregnancy.

Answer · Jenni Minto: We do not know the numbers of children affected because the information has not been collected historically. In response to the Independent Medicines and Medical Devices Safety Review (IMMDSR), the Scottish Government commissioned Public Health Scotland (PHS…

11 Mar 2024 · First Minister's Question

To ask the First Minister what urgent action is being taken to address long waits in A&E departments, in light of reports that over 7,300 patients waited for more than a day in 2023, with some waiting much longer.

11 Mar 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it (a) is taking and (b) will take to ensure that any barriers to (i) full-time and (ii) volunteer firefighters carrying and administering naloxone to treat opioid overdoses are removed.

Answer · Christina McKelvie: The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) naloxone programme was launched in February 2022, backed with investment of £89,000 from Scottish Government. The programme aims to establish a network of fire officers who will carry naloxone and be trained to admi…

6 Mar 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether the £237.5 million of Barnett consequential funding arising from the Chancellor of the Exchequer’s Budget statement on 6 March 2024, as a result of the NHS productivity plan, will all be spent on the NHS in Scotland.

Answer · Neil Gray: HM Treasury’s costing for the NHS productivity plan shows funding starting in 2025-26. Therefore no consequentials are expected in 2024-25 in relation to the plan, and the position is only expected to become clear at the next UK spending review. The Health c…

6 Mar 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network (SIGN) guidelines recommending that long COVID patients should have support from a doctor-led integrated service, what its response is to reported concerns that this is not uniformly followed across NHS boards, which may risk exace…

Answer · Jenni Minto: Section 8.1 of the ‘COVID-19 rapid guideline: managing the long-term effects of COVID-19’ developed jointly by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), the Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network (SIGN) and the Royal College of Genera…

6 Mar 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on what work has been undertaken to specifically measure (a) the impact of long COVID on (i) older people and (ii) ethnic minorities and (b) the ability of these groups to access long COVID treatment.

Answer · Jenni Minto: Patient related experience and patient outcome measures will be recorded through NHS Boards’ use of the C-19 YRS digital screening tool. The provision of heath data through this tool will assist in understanding the provision and effectiveness of long COVID s…

6 Mar 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on what steps have been taken to review public health messaging on long COVID.

Answer · Jenni Minto: NHS Inform has a dedicated long COVID microsite for people with ongoing symptoms after Covid-19, accessible at Long-term effects of COVID-19 | NHS inform . The information was updated in November 2023 following a user research exercise conducted with people…

6 Mar 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has considered any spending changes to funding for long COVID, in light of the recommendations of the COVID-19 Recovery Committee’s report, Long COVID.

Answer · Jenni Minto: We remain committed to delivering the £10 million long COVID Support Fund in full. The 2024-25 budget published on 19 December 2023 outlines our plans to make £3 million from the long COVID Support Fund available over 2024-25. We anticipate that the remainder…

6 Mar 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on what monitoring has been undertaken to ensure that long COVID services provide equitable care across all NHS boards and do not widen existing health inequalities for patients in deprived areas.

Answer · Jenni Minto: As set out in my answer to question S6W-26000 on 18 March 2024, patient related experience and patient outcome measures will be recorded through NHS Boards’ use of the C-19 YRS digital screening tool. The provision of health data through this tool will assist…

6 Mar 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it can provide a breakdown of which NHS boards have specific doctor-led services for long COVID patients.

Answer · Jenni Minto: This is a matter for each territorial NHS Board. The information requested is not held centrally.  

6 Mar 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether long COVID data from the Scottish Health Survey have been used in the development of its long COVID service design.

Answer · Jenni Minto: Data from the Scottish Health Survey did not inform the development of ‘Coronavirus (COVID-19): Scotland's Long Covid service’, published on 30 September 2021. This is because the results of the Scottish Health Survey 2021, which included questions on long CO…

23 Feb 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has received a proposal for a 2023-24 pay offer from the Care Inspectorate, and, if so, when any such offer will be approved.

Answer · Maree Todd: The Scottish Government has received the Care Inspectorate pay offer proposal for 2023-24. The Care Inspectorate has since made a pay award offer for financial years 2023-24 and 2024-25 during week commencing 19 February 2024. The Care Inspectorate’s recogni…

23 Feb 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reported concerns that the Care Inspectorate has not yet made a formal pay offer to employees for the 2023-24 financial year.

Answer · Maree Todd: I understand that there has been reported concerns regarding the pay deal offer from the Care Inspectorate. I can confirm that the Care Inspectorate made a pay award offer for financial years 2023-24 and 2024-25 during week commencing 19 February 2024. The Ca…

23 Feb 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason Care Inspectorate employees are reportedly still waiting to receive a 2023-24 pay offer, in light of employees of similar organisations, including Scottish Government civil servants, having already received pay offers for this financial year.

Answer · Maree Todd: I can confirm that the Care Inspectorate made a pay award offer for financial years 2023-24 and 2024-25 during week commencing 19 February 2024. There has been some variation in the timing of pay award offers due to differing governance processes and arrangem…

5 Feb 2024 · Topical Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the reported recall of 150,000 women who were wrongly excluded from cervical cancer screening since 1997.

30 Jan 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many GP practices currently provide an online booking system for patients.

Answer · Neil Gray: The National Health Service (General Medical Services Contracts) (Scotland) Regulations 2018 provide that: A contractor must provide its registered patients with— 1. an online appointment service; 2. an online repeat prescription service; and 3. an online…

30 Jan 2024 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on progress against the five fair work benchmarks in the National Strategy for Economic Transformation.

29 Jan 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government when the workforce review in oncology will be published.

Answer · Neil Gray: The workforce review in oncology was an NHS internal review with no plans to publish. The Scottish Government is using its findings to inform the new Oncology Transformation Programme. This is an action of the Cancer Action Plan for Scotland 2023-26.    

29 Jan 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the workforce review in oncology. 

Answer · Neil Gray: The Scottish Government commissioned the Scottish Cancer Network in August 2022 to review oncology capacity and demand and consider development of a national plan. This work was completed in January 2023.    

29 Jan 2024 · First Minister's Question

To ask the First Minister when the Scottish Government expects the remainder of the National Treatment Centres to be opened, in light of reports that NHS capital infrastructure projects have been paused.  

15 Jan 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much funding it has provided to train physician associates and anaesthesia associates in each of the last five financial years.  

Answer · Michael Matheson: Employment of Anaesthesia Associates (AAs) and Physician Associates (PAs) is the responsibility of individual NHS Scotland Boards who receive funding from the Scottish Government. In the case of AAs, it is open to Boards to employ and support these individual…

15 Jan 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether any funding for training anaesthesia associates and physician associates is allocated from (a) the NHS Scotland workforce training budget or (b) a separate funding stream.

Answer · Michael Matheson: The Scottish Government does not currently directly fund training for physician associates or anaesthesia associates via the Health and Social Care Portfolio. Health Boards may choose to put in place local arrangements for staff to train as an anaesthesia ass…

15 Jan 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what public awareness campaigns it has planned regarding the use of medical associate professions across NHS Scotland. 

Answer · Michael Matheson: Medical Associate Professions (MAPs) are not new professions and have been practising across the UK for 20 years. They are an important and valued part of the NHS Scotland workforce. Guidance regarding ways in which MAPs communicate and engage with patients …

12 Jan 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason it has reportedly withdrawn funding support for the 2024-25 Mark Scott Leadership for Life Award.

Answer · Siobhian Brown: Our block grant funding for this Budget is derived from the UK Government's spending decisions and has fallen by 1.2% in real terms since 2022-23 – a real terms drop of £0.5 billion. The reality is that the amount Scotland has available to spend is still larg…

8 Jan 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what metrics will be used to consider the effectiveness of its short-term let licensing policy, and, consequently, what information it has requested from local authorities as part of this.

Answer · Paul McLennan: The Scottish Government and licensing authorities have agreed a specification for the collection of data relating to short-term let licensing applications. This is available to view at Short-term lets: data collection specification - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) …

3 Jan 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking through its Budget for staff, services and patients in relation to those in need of support who are waiting more than six weeks for a social care assessment due to the sector reportedly being under-resourced.

Answer · Maree Todd: The Scottish Government invested £1.7 billion in social care support and health and care integration in 2023-24, and the Scottish budget for 2024-25 provides and additional £2 billion investment in social care and integration. This delivers on our commitment …

3 Jan 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on how its Budget recognises the part that social care plays within Scotland’s communities as an investment in the overall health of the nation.

Answer · Maree Todd: We have protected and prioritised additional investment into social care despite the extreme pressure the Scottish Government is under as a result of the ongoing impacts of Covid, Brexit and inflation, and UK Government spending decisions, this years Budget h…