Jackie Baillie

31 Oct 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the findings by the Stroke Association that no NHS board is delivering satisfactory psychological care to stroke survivors.

Answer · Jenni Minto: Monitoring of performance against the nationally agreed criteria in the Scottish Stroke Improvement Programme, which now includes a requirement to demonstrate adequate provision of psychological support, allows us to identify where challenges are being faced …

31 Oct 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to improve access to post-stroke psychological care.

Answer · Jenni Minto: The new Stroke Improvement Plan , published in June, includes a commitment to assess the current ability of NHS Boards to implement the National Model of Psychological Care in Stroke (Scotland). This is being assessed via NHS Board reviews, which now inclu…

31 Oct 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what support it is providing to women experiencing menopause in rural or remote areas.

Answer · Jenni Minto: The Scottish Government recognises the challenges facing those living in remote and rural areas and the importance of women being able to access the support they need, when they need it. Work is ongoing to ensure services are developed in a flexible and innov…

31 Oct 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what efforts are being made to support the education and training of line managers in workplaces so that they are aware of menopause symptoms.

Answer · Jenni Minto: The recently published NHSScotland Menopause and Menstrual Health Policy is intended as an example of best practice so that employers across Scotland can adapt it for their organisation, should they wish. The supporting resources, includes line managers’ gu…

31 Oct 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on developing and implementing evidence-based education and training programmes on post-stroke psychological care for all staff working in stroke services.

Answer · Jenni Minto: Priority six in the Stroke Improvement Plan is focused on psychological care and includes commitments to understand the availability of existing resources and develop strategies for raising awareness of the emotional and psychological impact of stroke on me…

31 Oct 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to improve working conditions for social care and childcare workers.

Answer · Maree Todd: From April 2024, social care workers in the private, voluntary and independent (PVI) sectors in a direct care role, and those working in the PVI sector to deliver funded early learning and childcare will see their pay increase to at least £12 per hour. This w…

31 Oct 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the implementation of the National Model of Psychological Care in Stroke (Scotland), as referenced in the Stroke Improvement Plan.

Answer · Jenni Minto: The Stroke Improvement Plan includes a commitment to assess the current ability of NHS Boards to implement the National Model of Psychological Care in Stroke (Scotland). This is currently being assessed via NHS Board reviews which now include a requirement…

31 Oct 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the development of a new, dedicated national outcome that is focused on care and carers.

Answer · Shona Robison: Ministers are required by the Community Empowerment Act (2015) to review the National Outcomes within five years of their previous publication, and the next review is currently underway. The Scottish Government intends to lay the statutory document in Parliam…

31 Oct 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason it is reportedly the only administration in the UK that is not delivering a government-funded public health face, arm, speech, time (FAST) stroke media campaign.

Answer · Jenni Minto: Priority two in our new Stroke Improvement Plan , published in June is focused on awareness raising and includes a commitment to establishing the current degree of public understanding of FAST and stroke symptoms. This work is currently underway and will h…

31 Oct 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what efforts are being made to increase the number of psychologists with protected time for stroke clinical and neuropsychology roles, in light of the findings of the Stroke Association that there are only 7.8 full-time equivalent psychologists for every 128,000 people in Scotland who ar…

Answer · Jenni Minto: While the Scottish Government holds information on the number of overall psychology posts and vacancies, we do not hold information on specialty psychology roles. Decisions on such specialty roles are for Health Boards to address. Psychology staffing has mo…

31 Oct 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the launch of a public health campaign to remove stigma and raise awareness of the symptoms of menopause, as outlined in the Women’s Health Plan.

Answer · Jenni Minto: A public health campaign to help remove stigma and raise awareness of the symptoms of menopause is in development and is planned at present to be delivered within the current financial year.

31 Oct 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to improve value and investment in care, in light of reports that the role of care and carers is too often hidden and systemically under-valued.

Answer · Maree Todd: We recognise the incredible contribution that all of Scotland’s unpaid carers make to our communities as well as the pressures many carers are under. We are implementing our National Carers Strategy which sets out a cross-government approach to carers issues,…

31 Oct 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to a poll conducted by YouGov, which reportedly indicates that 74% of adults in Scotland believe that care work is not valued highly enough by the Scottish Government.

Answer · Maree Todd: The Scottish Government has a long-standing commitment to the principles of Fair-Work for the social care sector as we recognise and value the work that they do. The £12 minimum pay-rate from April 2024 for Adult Social Care workers represents a 14.3% increa…

31 Oct 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what support it is providing to women of menopausal age who have a disability, long-term health condition, or identify as an ethnic minority.

Answer · Jenni Minto: The Women’s Health Plan recognises that many women face multiple and often overlapping disadvantages and barriers to health and healthcare. That is why we aim to take an intersectional approach across all the actions in the Women’s Health Plan, so that all wo…

31 Oct 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what strategies are being implemented to ensure that menopause is a more visible issue, and to promote adequate and fair menopause policies in workplaces.

Answer · Jenni Minto: Menopause care and support is a top priority in the Women’s Health Plan . Progress against the menopause actions can be found in our Women’s Health Plan: Report on Progress and Interim Progress Update 2023 . Since the publication of the Interim Progres…

30 Oct 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, in relation to the projected figures for (a) Additional Inpatient and Day case Activity, (b) Outpatient activity, and (c) Additional Diagnostic Procedures, as outlined in the NHS Recovery Plan, and in light of the commitments included in its Programme for Government 2023-24, (i) what mo…

Answer · Michael Matheson: The 2023 annual NHS Recovery Plan progress update is being finalised and will be issued in the coming weeks. The Plan sets out commitments to implement improvements and new models of care by increasing NHS capacity as soon as possible. Inpatient and Day case…

30 Oct 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a list of the Specialty Delivery Groups that have been established to date by the Centre for Sustainable Delivery, including their (a) membership, (b) terms of reference and/or objectives and (c) outcomes (i) anticipated and (ii) achieved.

Answer · Michael Matheson: NHS Scotland’s Centre for Sustainable Delivery (CfSD) Specialty Delivery Groups (SDG’s) have been established to support, innovate and develop high quality services across Scotland, reducing unwarranted variation, promoting a 'best in class' services and, w…

30 Oct 2023 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to tackle the reported record levels of homelessness in Scotland.

26 Oct 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will publish the scoring methodology and underpinning detail used in identifying which neonatal services should be retained.

Answer · Jenni Minto: The Options Appraisal Report , published on 25 July 2023 describes the process undertaken to determine the three final Neonatal Intensive Care Units, and the feasibility analysis and testing that followed the conclusion of that process. Annex A of the Repor…

26 Oct 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what evidence it considered regarding the potential consequences of separating a mother from their newborn in connection with the proposed location of neonatal intensive care units.

Answer · Jenni Minto: The Best Start emphasises parents as key partners in caring for their baby and aims to keep mothers and babies, and families together as much as possible in the crucial early weeks, with services designed around them. The new model of care aims to minimise t…

26 Oct 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what consideration was given to deprivation factors in deciding on the proposed location of neonatal services.

Answer · Jenni Minto: The locations of the three Neonatal Intensive Care Units was based on clinical evidence that the very smallest and sickest babies, including those born extremely premature (below 27 weeks), do best when they are cared for in larger specialist neonatal units w…

26 Oct 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it considered a model of three urban units plus one remote unit for the provision of specialist neonatal services to serve the needs of Scotland’s population.

Answer · Jenni Minto: The Best Start Report, published in 2017 followed a review of maternity and neonatal services in Scotland, and was based on research evidence, the views of clinicians and the views of service users. Based on data on birth data, the report recommended that we …

26 Oct 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether any clinician from University Hospital Wishaw was involved in the work of the (a) Best Start Review Group and (b) Sub-Group on Neonatal Models of Care.

Answer · Jenni Minto: The membership of the Best Start Review Group and the Best Start Sub-Groups is published in Appendix E and Appendix F of the Best Start Report . Dr Ian Wallace, at the time Medical Director at NHS Lanarkshire, was a member of the Best Start Review Group a…

26 Oct 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will set out the membership of the (a) Best Start Review Group and (b) Sub-Group on Neonatal Models of Care, broken down by the (i) duration and (ii) role of each person's membership of the group.

Answer · Jenni Minto: The membership of the Best Start Review Group and the Best Start Sub-Groups is published in Appendix E and Appendix F of the Best Start Report , published in 2017. This includes the members job titles and organisation, and the remits of the sub groups. The …

26 Oct 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will publish any paper on the potential implications of losing intensive care status in neonatal units.

Answer · Jenni Minto: The Best Start recommendation to move to a model of three intensive care units in Scotland was based on evidence that this will improve outcomes for the smallest and sickest babies. The Framework for Practice ‘Criteria to Define Levels of Neonatal Care incl…

26 Oct 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will publish the reports into the pilot schemes for neonatal service changes in NHS (a) Ayrshire and Arran and (b) Fife.

Answer · Jenni Minto: The 5 reports from the Neonatal Early Implementers have been placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (BIB number 64669).

26 Oct 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what geographical location each proposed neonatal intensive care unit will serve, and what the population density is for each of those locations.

Answer · Jenni Minto: The three NICU units; Royal Hospital for Children in Glasgow, the Aberdeen Maternity Hospital and the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary will serve the West, North and East regions of Scotland. Data on births in Scotland is published on the National Records of Scotla…

26 Oct 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what experts were consulted before it took the reported decision to downgrade neonatal services at University Hospital Wishaw.

Answer · Jenni Minto: The Best Start Implementation Programme Board was tasked with taking forward implementation of the recommendations within Best Start. The Programme Board set up the Perinatal Sub Group and asked it to take forward the Neonatal Intensive Care work, including a…

26 Oct 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will publish all the evidence and data on which it reportedly decided to downgrade neonatal services at University Hospital Wishaw.

Answer · Jenni Minto: The New Model of Neonatal Care is aimed at the most premature and sickest of babies and is based on a review of evidence carried out by Dr Anna Gavine, Dr Steve MacGillivray and Prof Mary Renfrew of the University of Dundee and a summary of the evidence revie…

26 Oct 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the impact of respiratory infections, including COVID-19 and flu, on people with lung conditions, such as cystic fibrosis, ahead of the winter months.

Answer · Jenni Minto: Studies looking at the impact of respiratory infections on those with lung conditions have often demonstrated that this cohort are at greater risk of hospitalisation. We recognise that people with lung conditions often have pre-existing reduced lung function …