Parliamentary questions
Jackie Baillie
9,393 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.
25 Oct 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-03377 by Humza Yousaf on 18 October 2021, (a) how many and (b) which elective surgeries have (i) been cancelled and (ii) taken place in NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde in each month since January 2021.
Answer · Humza Yousaf: Having spoken to Public Health Scotland, I can confirm that only limited information is published in the Stage of Treatment publication on cancelled planned operations. You will find this information at: Cancelled planned operations - Month ending 30 Septemb…
22 Oct 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government which NHS boards have (a) declared themselves to be Code Black and (b) triggered escalation procedures for Code Black since 1 September 2021.
Answer · Humza Yousaf: Each Health Board operates their own escalation policy for the management of inpatient capacity that includes well established processes with locally agreed trigger points for maintaining a safe service and ensuring patient safety. At present, we are only awa…
21 Oct 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether it is appropriate to dismiss care home staff who are not vaccinated against COVID-19.
Answer · Humza Yousaf: While the Scottish Government strongly encourage care home staff to take up the vaccine, we have no plans to make vaccination mandatory for social care staff. Whilst we strongly encourage those eligible to receive the coronavirus vaccination to do so, the de…
21 Oct 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with care home providers regarding the dismissal of care home staff who have not been vaccinated against COVID-19.
Answer · Humza Yousaf: The Scottish Government have been clear and consistent that whilst we strongly encourage those eligible to receive the coronavirus vaccination to do so, the decision is one of personal choice, and we have no current plans to introduce mandatory vaccination, o…
21 Oct 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what percentage of eligible patients will have received their COVID-19 booster vaccine by 31 December 2021.
Answer · Humza Yousaf: Booster vaccinations in Scotland started as soon as possible once the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) provided their advice on boosters, which stated that the booster dose should be offered no earlier than six months after completion of…
21 Oct 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether there is a protocol for ministerial responses to MSPs and, if so, what that is.
Answer · George Adam: The Scottish Government aim to respond to all ministerial correspondence within 20 working days. Correspondence from MSPs to Scottish Ministers is routinely answered by a Cabinet Secretary or Minister.
21 Oct 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government which (a) cabinet secretaries and (b) ministers no longer routinely answer correspondence from MSPs and, in the event that any no longer do so, what the reasons for this are.
Answer · George Adam: Correspondence from MSPs should routinely be answered by Scottish Government Cabinet Secretaries and Ministers. The Health and Social Care portfolio has experienced a huge and unprecedented increase in correspondence over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic. …
20 Oct 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reports that 12 to 17-year-olds, who are eligible for a second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine because they live with someone who is immunosuppressed, are not being notified of their entitlement to a second dose.
Answer · Humza Yousaf: This cohort was appointed locally and Health Boards used this data to make arrangements. Anyone who was identified as part of this cohort in tranche 1 should automatically be included for the second. The majority of Health Boards sent personal NVSS invitatio…
20 Oct 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many COVID-19 vaccination centres have been operating in each NHS board area on a (a) full-time and (b) part-time basis, broken down by month since January 2021.
Answer · Humza Yousaf: NHS health boards lead on the local delivery of the vaccination programme. Vaccination centres have frequently changed throughout the programme, with some facilities being repurposed, and drop-in clinics being made available as we have had to exercise flexibi…
20 Oct 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will publish any hot debrief that was completed by the incident management team that investigated the COVID-19 outbreak at the Nike conference in Edinburgh in February 2020, as required by the Management of Public Health Incidents: Guidance on the Roles and Responsibilities of…
Answer · Humza Yousaf: Public Health Scotland have confirmed that a hot debrief is guidance and not mandatory. The Incident Management Team therefore did not completed a hot debrief relating to the COVID-19 outbreak at the Nike Conference. Public Health Scotland have, however, publ…
20 Oct 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many social care staff who are eligible for their COVID-19 booster vaccine have received this dose, and by what date all social care staff will have received their COVID-19 booster vaccine.
Answer · Humza Yousaf: Booster vaccinations in Scotland started as soon as possible once the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) provided their advice on boosters, which stated that the booster dose should be offered no earlier than six months after completion of…
20 Oct 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, in relation to each of the COVID-19 vaccines that are in use in Scotland (a) whether it will provide an update on what the efficacy is, broken down by (i) first and (ii) second dose, and (b) when a booster vaccine is recommended.
Answer · Humza Yousaf: Analysis published by Public Health England (PHE) showed high effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccinations against hospitalisation after 2 doses. The Pfizer vaccine is 96% effective against hospitalisation after 2 doses, with the AstraZeneca vaccine being 92% effec…
20 Oct 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many people aged 60 to 69 who are eligible for their COVID-19 booster vaccine have received this dose, and by what date all eligible people aged 60 to 69 will have received their COVID-19 booster vaccine.
Answer · Humza Yousaf: Booster vaccinations in Scotland started as soon as possible once the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) provided their advice on boosters, which stated that the booster dose should be offered no earlier than six months after completion of…
20 Oct 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many people aged 80 and over who are eligible for their COVID-19 booster vaccine have received this dose, and by what date all eligible people aged 80 and over will have received their COVID-19 booster vaccine.
Answer · Humza Yousaf: Booster vaccinations in Scotland started as soon as possible once the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) provided their advice on boosters, which stated that the booster dose should be offered no earlier than six months after completion of…
20 Oct 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many NHS staff who are eligible for their COVID-19 booster vaccine have received this dose, and by what date all NHS staff will have received their COVID-19 booster vaccine.
Answer · Humza Yousaf: Booster vaccinations in Scotland started as soon as possible once the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) provided their advice on boosters, which stated that the booster dose should be offered no earlier than six months after completion of…
20 Oct 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many people who are eligible for their COVID-19 booster vaccine have received this dose, and by what date all eligible people will have received their COVID-19 booster vaccine.
Answer · Humza Yousaf: Booster vaccinations in Scotland started as soon as possible once the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) provided their advice on boosters. In response to the changing risk posed by the Omicron variant, the booster will now be given no soo…
20 Oct 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many people aged 50 to 59 who are eligible for their COVID-19 booster vaccine have received this dose, and by what date all eligible people aged 50 to 59 will have received their COVID-19 booster vaccine.
Answer · Humza Yousaf: Booster vaccinations in Scotland started as soon as possible once the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) provided their advice on boosters, which stated that the booster dose should be offered no earlier than six months after completion of…
20 Oct 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many people aged 70 to 79 who are eligible for their COVID-19 booster vaccine have received this dose, and by what date all eligible people aged 70 to 79 will have received their COVID-19 booster vaccine.
Answer · Humza Yousaf: Booster vaccinations in Scotland started as soon as possible once the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) provided their advice on boosters, which stated that the booster dose should be offered no earlier than six months after completion of…
20 Oct 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has in place to respond to any potential rise in COVID-19 cases.
Answer · John Swinney: We continue to monitor closely and assess this next phase of the pandemic. The current package of statutory measures is considered an appropriate public health response to the incidence or spread of infection in Scotland in line with our strategic intent to s…
20 Oct 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with the UK Government in relation to the reintroduction of previously relaxed COVID-19 restrictions in light of the increasing number of cases.
Answer · John Swinney: We are committed to meaningful engagement with UK Government and with the devolved governments. The Scottish Government has frequent and ongoing engagement across the Four Nations. The First Minister has been taking part on a weekly basis in four nations mini…
20 Oct 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what the cost is of training a nursing student.
Answer · Humza Yousaf: The Scottish Government package of support for Scottish student nurses and midwives is currently at its highest level. The average cost of training a nursing student, over three years of full-time university education, is £55,000. This comprises:Teaching gran…
20 Oct 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many additional nursing students it believes will be needed to resolve the reported staffing issues, and how much it believes it will cost to fill these places.
Answer · Humza Yousaf: Growing our nursing workforce is crucial and we have steadily increased places on undergraduate nursing courses over 9 consecutive years. Each year we undertake a robust nursing student intakes planning process to determine the target number of nursing studen…
20 Oct 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, in relation to applications to study medicine, how many (a) were received and (b) were successful, broken down by each year since 2007.
Answer · Humza Yousaf: Data on the number applications and accepted applicants is collected and published by the University and College Admissions Service (UCAS). To note:Applicants ’ are able to make up to 5 applications to study at Universities across the UK when applying throug…
20 Oct 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many times the Scottish Government COVID-19 Advisory Group has met since the start of 2021, and on what dates.
Answer · Humza Yousaf: The Scottish Government COVID-19 Advisory Group has met 14 times since the start of 2021.Meetings took place on the following dates:7 January 202121 January 202128 January 202118 February 20214 March 202118 March 20211 April 202115 April 202113 May 202127 May…
20 Oct 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what public information action it has in place to encourage the uptake of the COVID-19 booster vaccine.
Answer · Humza Yousaf: On the week commencing 25 October we launched booster campaign activity to support those aged between 60 and 69 and those 16+ with an ongoing health condition who have started to receive their COVID-19 Vaccine Booster appointments. The main element of the me…
20 Oct 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what the current level of uptake is of the flu vaccination in 2021, and what the uptake was in each of the two previous years.
Answer · Humza Yousaf: Public Health Scotland's weekly respiratory report indicates that up to week 42 (week ending 24th October 2021) a total of 944,989 individuals, among different eligible cohorts, have received influenza vaccine. This season a combination of data recording syst…
20 Oct 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what analysis it has done of the cost of administering the COVID-19 booster vaccine by GP practices compared with health boards, and what the estimated costs were of both approaches.
Answer · Humza Yousaf: The COVID-19 booster will be administered by both Health Boards and GP practices. Health Boards will seek to make best use of their locally available resources when planning delivery whilst being mindful of the need to protect core GP services.
20 Oct 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, in relation to applications to study nursing, how many (a) were received and (b) were successful, broken down by each year since 2007.
Answer · Humza Yousaf: Table 1 highlights data from UCAS showing both the number of applications and number of accepted applicants to pre-registration nursing programmes from 2007 to 2020. Figures for 2021 have not yet been published yet. Table 1 Applications and acceptances to n…
20 Oct 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many additional medical students it believes will be needed to resolve the reported staffing issues, and how much it believes it will cost to fill these places.
Answer · Humza Yousaf: The Scottish Government is fully committed to ensuring a sustainable medical supply pipeline into the NHS. In response to overall UK undersupply of medical graduates, the Scottish Government has been expanding university medical school places since 2016 and h…
20 Oct 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what the cost is of training a medical student.
Answer · Humza Yousaf: The cost of funding a Scottish domiciled student from entry to university through to graduation is set out in the first table. The cost of funding a student from the Rest of the UK (RUK) from entry to university through to graduation is set out in the second …