Parliamentary questions
Helen McDade
32 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.
15 Jul 2026 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the Council of Europe Committee for the Prevention of Torture report on its June 2025 visit to Scotland, which was published on 2 July 2026, by what date it will implement the outstanding recommendations of this report in relation to children's secure accommodation, and how …
15 Jul 2026 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the contrast between the three to five written complaints madeannually and the safeguarding concerns identified by the Care Inspectorate andthe European Committee for the Prevention of Torture, what specific steps itwill take to improve children's confidence in the internal …
15 Jul 2026 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of reports that no external review of restraint practices at St Mary's Kenmure has been commissioned, and that the Council of Europe Committee for the Prevention of Torture has requested a copy of any such review, whether it will commission or require an external review to be u…
15 Jul 2026 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the Children (Care, Care Experience and Services Planning) (Scotland) Act 2026 and the Restraint and Seclusion in Schools (Scotland) Act 2026 receiving Royal Assent in May 2026, what its timescale is for implementing the provisions of these Acts and for issuing the statutory…
15 Jul 2026 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of reports of the disproportionate use of restraint of girls at St Mary's Kenmure, what the outcome has been of the Care Inspectorate and Mental Welfare Commission's 2025–26 shared visits to secure accommodation centres, and what action, if any, has been taken as a conseq…
15 Jul 2026 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of whether housing girls placed for welfare reasons alongside older male offenders detained under criminal justice legislation is compatible with its obligations under the Equality Act 2010.
15 Jul 2026 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many children are currently placed in each of Scotland's four secure accommodation centres on welfare grounds only, and in how many cases such children are accommodated within the same living unit as children detained under criminal justice legislation.
15 Jul 2026 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of reports that a 13-year-old girl accommodated at St Mary's Kenmure secure accommodation centre had her request to be transferred away from young male offenders with whom she was placed, denied, for what reason the request was denied and what risk assessment was undertaken in …
2 Jul 2026 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to Freedom of Information request FOI/202400419507, whether the meeting between the then Deputy First Minister and the WAVE Trust on 1 June 2022 (a) followed an offer to make a charitable donation or (b) was arranged entirely independently of any such offer, and whether it…
2 Jul 2026 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it considers that offers of charitable donations linked to requests for meetings with Scottish Ministers are compatible with the Ministerial Code, and what guidance is provided to ministers and officials on how they should respond when such offers are made.
1 Jul 2026 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it considers that the current level of nursing and midwifery vacancies compared with the number of appointable graduates unable to secure posts is consistent with NHS boards' duties under the Health and Care (Staffing) (Scotland) Act 2019.
Answer · Angela Constance: The Health and Care (Staffing) (Scotland) Act 2019 places duties on Health Boards to ensure that at all times suitably qualified and competent individuals are working in such numbers as are appropriate for the health, wellbeing and safety of patients, the pro…
1 Jul 2026 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government further to the February 2025 report by the Nursing and Midwifery Taskforce, Delivering Together for a Stronger Nursing and Midwifery Workforce, what progress it has made towards implementing the report's recommended actions and whether any of them addresses the position of newly qua…
Answer · Angela Constance: The Scottish Government is firmly committed to ensuring that Scotland has the right nursing workforce, in the right place, with the right skills and competencies to support current and future service reform and sustainability.The Nursing and Midwifery Taskfor…
1 Jul 2026 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the £10,000 non-means-tested and non-repayable annual bursary and the controlled intake target for nursing and midwifery, what its position is on whether the number of funded training places should be aligned with a corresponding commitment of funded posts upon qualifi…
Answer · Angela Constance: The Scottish Government values the contribution of the NHS Scotland workforce and is committed to supporting those who choose to pursue a career in nursing. Scottish Ministers have overseen 14 consecutive years of growth in the NHS Scotland workforce, investe…
1 Jul 2026 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many students who started pre-registration nursing programmes did not complete them in each of the last three years, and what assessment it has made of the role of financial hardship and placement experience in non-completion.
Answer · Angela Constance: The Scottish Government does not hold information relating to students who have not completed pre-registration nursing programmes in each of the last three years. This data may be available via individual institutions. Students do not complete courses for a v…
1 Jul 2026 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the impact of newly qualified nurses being unable to secure a post on future nursing recruitment, in light of the rate of acceptances to undergraduate nursing courses in Scotland decreasing by 5.4% in 2025, from 3,530 to 3,340, which is the lowest…
Answer · Angela Constance: We want to help more people who are educated and trained in Scotland to work in NHS Scotland upon graduation. To do this, we have committed to an NHS Job Guarantee to all graduates for medicine, dentistry, nursing, and other NHS professions in Scotland with a…
1 Jul 2026 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how the further reduction in the nursing working week, which increases the number of staff required to maintain the same number of care hours, has been factored into NHS boards' plans for recruitment of newly qualified nurses.
Answer · Angela Constance: Investing in staff wellbeing supports retention rates, reduces absenteeism and helps foster a more sustainable workforce.NHS Boards are responsible for determining the workforce needed to deliver services safely and effectively, and have worked with us to pre…
1 Jul 2026 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of a combined cost of £425 million for bank and agency nursing and midwifery staffing in 2025-26, equivalent to 7,320 whole-time-equivalent staff, and in the context of appointable newly qualified nurses being unable to secure permanent posts…
Answer · Angela Constance: The use of temporary staff in an organisation as large and complex as NHS Scotland will always be required to ensure vital service provision during times of unplanned absence, sickness and increased unforeseen activity, with the majority of spend on temporary…
1 Jul 2026 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what its estimate is of (a) the total public investment per nursing student, including bursary, tuition and placement costs, and (b) the aggregate cost of training nursing graduates who have not subsequently been employed within NHS Scotland, in each of the last three years.
Answer · Angela Constance: The average cost to train a nursing student in Scotland is approximately £60k over the typical three year course. This includes bursary, tuition fees and teaching grant. Placement costs vary per student and are not included. The Scottish Government has …
1 Jul 2026 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether any NHS board has paused, frozen, capped or otherwise restricted the recruitment of newly qualified nurses and, if so, (a) which NHS board, (b) for what reason and (c) following what guidance or instruction from the Scottish Government or health bodies, in each of the last three …
Answer · Angela Constance: I refer the member to the answer to question S7W-01456 on 20 July 2026. 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/…
1 Jul 2026 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the situation whereby appointable nursing graduates have been told that no posts are available, while at the same time as there were reportedly 3,227.3 whole-time-equivalent unfilled nursing and midwifery posts as at 30 June 2025, compared with 2,015.4 WTE …
Answer · Angela Constance: Whilst the Scottish Government sets the strategic policy direction for the NHS in Scotland, operational matters such as staffing and recruitment, including the recruitment of graduates, are the responsibility of the individual health and social care employers…
1 Jul 2026 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a full account of how (a) the controlled student intake targets for nursing and midwifery, (b) the student bursary, and (c) NHS boards' newly qualified nurse recruitment decisions are coordinated, and what mechanism links the number of funded training places to th…
Answer · Angela Constance: Student intake targets for nursing and midwifery controlled funded places are set for three years to provide stability across partners, including higher education institutions. The most recent multi-year target has been set for 2026-27 to 2028-29, with an ann…
1 Jul 2026 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many candidates were assessed as suitable for appointment through NHS boards' newly qualified nurse recruitment programmes but were not offered a post, broken down by (a) NHS board and (b) field of practice, in each of the last three years, and whether NHS boards operate re…
Answer · Angela Constance: I refer the member to the answer to question S7W-01456 on 20 July 2026. 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/…
1 Jul 2026 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to ensure that newly qualified children's and young people's nurses, as a small and specialist workforce, are offered posts commensurate with the level of public investment made in their training.
Answer · Angela Constance: The Scottish Government values the contribution of the NHS Scotland workforce and is committed to supporting those who choose to pursue a career in nursing. We want to help more people who are trained in Scotland to work in NHS Scotland upon graduation. To do…
1 Jul 2026 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will request NHS Education for Scotland to publish information on the number of children's and young people's nursing graduates compared with the number of available children's and young people's nursing posts, broken down by NHS board, in each of the last three years.
1 Jul 2026 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many funded children's and young people's nursing posts were available to newly qualified nurses, and how many newly qualified children's and young people's nurses were offered a post, broken down by NHS board, in each of the last three years.
Answer · Angela Constance: Whilst the Scottish Government sets the strategic policy direction for the NHS in Scotland, operational matters such as staffing and recruitment, including the recruitment of graduates, are the responsibility of the individual health and social care employers…
1 Jul 2026 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many people have graduated from pre-registration children's and young people's paediatric and neonatal nursing programmes at higher education institutions in each of the last three years, broken down by institution.
Answer · Angela Constance: The Scottish Funding Council collects data on the number of students who have graduated from pre-registration children’s nursing courses across Scotland.There are no pre-registration neo-natal programmes available in Scotland. Instead, qualified nurses …
25 Jun 2026 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what action it will take to improve patient safety for children when blood gas testing identifies abnormal results such as significantly raised lactate levels, including whether it will introduce a national patient safety standard requiring abnormal blood gas or blood test results …
Answer · Angela Constance: Although there is no current specific guideline that requires blood tests with results outside the normal limits to be repeated in all cases before discharge from hospital, these are considered as part of a full clinical assessment.Healthcare Improvement Scot…
23 Jun 2026 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, what steps it is taking in partnership with medical schools and NHS Education for Scotland and via the Scotland Deanery to increase exposure to clinical oncology for medical students and foundation doctors.
Answer · Angela Constance: The Scottish Government works with medical schools and Public Services Delivery Scotland (PSDS) (previously NHS Education for Scotland) through the Scotland Deanery, to ensure that medical students and foundation years doctors receive appropriate exposure to …
23 Jun 2026 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to ensure that all regions in Scotland can provide adequate 24/7 access to interventional radiology services.
Answer · Maree Todd: The 2026-27 Budget provides almost £22.5 billion investment in health and social care services, exceeding consequentials and providing a real terms uplift to enable more sustainable and resilient services, including those for interventional radiology. D…
23 Jun 2026 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the potential implications for its policies of the findings from the Royal College of Radiologists' paper, 2025 Clinical Radiology Workforce Census Report, which was published in June 2026 and suggests that there is a 27% workforce shortfall of intervention…
Answer · Angela Constance: The Scottish Government acknowledges the findings of the Royal College of Radiologists' 2025 Clinical Radiology Workforce Census Report. The findings will be considered as part of ongoing workforce planning processes. Following annual reviews of the number of…