Parliamentary questions
Lewis Macdonald
2,224 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.
7 Sep 2020 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to raise awareness of the symptoms of blood cancers.
Answer · Jeane Freeman: Through the Scottish Government’s £42 million Detect Cancer Early Programme a new social marketing campaign was launched in September 2018 to raise awareness of potential cancer symptoms, including those of haematological (blood) cancers. The Scottish Cancer…
7 Sep 2020 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government when it will update the Scottish Cancer Registry and Intelligence Service data.
Answer · Jeane Freeman: Scottish Cancer Registry and Intelligence includes various sources of data. General cancer registration data is included up to 2018. 2019 Data will be available in April 2021.
7 Sep 2020 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what its projection is of the number of diagnoses for (a) leukaemia, (b) myeloma and (c) lymphoma over the next 10 years, and what plans it is putting in place to address these.
Answer · Jeane Freeman: Latest Scottish cancer incidence projections for the period 2013-2027 were published by ISD Scotland on 18 August 2015. This data-set only includes projections for leukaemia and lymphoma, not myeloma. The projected number of cases for the 2013-2027 period ar…
7 Sep 2020 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether COVID-19 interim treatment policies will be funded until the end of the 2020-21 financial year.
Answer · Jeane Freeman: We expect that the funding for the implementation of National Cancer Medicines Advisory Group recommendations to be made available for the remainder of the financial year.
7 Sep 2020 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how the National Cancer Recovery Plan will address the needs of people living with blood cancers, given their higher risk of COVID-19 infection.
Answer · Jeane Freeman: Our National Cancer Recovery plan will address COVID19 risks in a number of ways, which will not be disease specific as the mitigation of these risks will help a wide range of patients. Health Boards have been tasked with urgent implementation of local Clini…
7 Sep 2020 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the impact of COVID-19 on people living with blood cancers being able to access innovative medicines as a result of the pause to clinical trials.
Answer · Jeane Freeman: The Chief Scientist Office published a statement on the restart framework for clinical trial activity on May 27th 2020. https://www.cso.scot.nhs.uk/cso-statement-on-the-restart-framework/ This confirmed that the Chief Scientist Office will monitor restart …
7 Sep 2020 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it is making the same type of interest-free loan that it has provided to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe available to other cultural venues or events and, if so, whether it will provide further information regarding this.
Answer · Fiona Hyslop: The Scottish Government has, as of 16 September, not received requests from other cultural venues or events for the provision of loans and has no current plans to make such loans available.
7 Sep 2020 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government (a) how and (b) when identified priority groups will be contacted regarding their invitation to receive an influenza vaccination.
Answer · Joe FitzPatrick: Responsibility for delivering the Seasonal Flu Vaccine in 2020-21 rests with Health Boards and Integration Authorities. Scottish Health Boards will begin to send invitation letters by post from the 18 September to those who are entitled to a free seasonal fl…
7 Sep 2020 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the anticipated increase in uptake as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, what guidance it has issued to GPs for managing demand for influenza vaccinations.
Answer · Joe FitzPatrick: NHS Scotland Health Boards will deliver the Seasonal Flu Vaccination programme 2020/21 and guidance was provided by the Chief Medical Officer on 7 August (https://www.sehd.scot.nhs.uk/cmo/CMO(2020)19.pdf ). Scottish Health Boards are currently preparing pla…
7 Sep 2020 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government when it expects influenza vaccinations to be available to NHS patients at their GP surgery.
Answer · Joe FitzPatrick: Responsibility for delivering the Seasonal Flu Vaccine in 2020-21 rests with Health Boards and Integration Authorities. This is a change from previous years, where GP practices, took the lead role in providing flu immunisations. NHS Scotland Boards will use …
7 Sep 2020 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what options patients in identified priority groups will have to access NHS influenza vaccinations, other than at their GP surgery.
Answer · Joe FitzPatrick: I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-31628 on 22 September 2020. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at: http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusi…
7 Sep 2020 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what measures it is putting in place to ensure that identified priority groups seeking to access influenza vaccinations via the NHS are not disadvantaged by private provision.
Answer · Joe FitzPatrick: Those most at risk from the seasonal flu are already eligible to receive the vaccine for free. The Scottish Government is expanding free eligibility for the Seasonal Flu Vaccine in 2020-21 to:Social care workers who provide direct care;Household members of in…
3 Sep 2020 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what impact domestic and foreign travel had on the COVID-19 clusters in Aberdeen in August 2020 and Glasgow, West Dunbartonshire and East Renfrewshire in September; what action it took to deal with the impact of this domestic and foreign travel; whether it considers that the action it to…
Answer · Humza Yousaf: There is no evidence to suggest that foreign and domestic travel played a significant role in the recent COVID-19 outbreak in Aberdeen which was largely associated with a number of bars in the City. The current outbreak in West of Scotland is driven by a numb…
24 Aug 2020 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what estimate it has made of the economic impact on low-risk hospitality businesses in Aberdeen remaining closed between 22 and 25 August 2020.
Answer · Jamie Hepburn: We worked with the city’s Business Resilience Group and local partners to understand the impacts of local restrictions and how we might support affected businesses. That is why we confirmed last month that a new £1m grant support scheme – delivered by Aberde…
24 Aug 2020 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what prevalence of COVID-19 in Aberdeen was reported to ministers on (a) 19 and (b) 23 August 2020.
Answer · Jeane Freeman: Advice was provided to Scottish Ministers on the following dates as follows: At 18 August 2020:Rate per 100,000 for cluster related cases was 16.6Rate per 100,000 for not related cases was 25.8 At 23 August 2020:Rate per 100,000 for cluster related cases wa…
24 Aug 2020 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the announcement on 30 July 2020 regarding the resumption of a limited range of aerosol-generating procedures, what (a) indicative dates it has set and (b) criteria it has published regarding the resumption of other the resumption of other dental treatments.
Answer · Joe FitzPatrick: The Scottish Government remains committed to providing the public with as much clarity as it can about the phased reintroduction of activities as part of the COVID 19 recovery plan. Significant work has been undertaken to better understand the nature and beha…
21 Aug 2020 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many hospital admissions for COVID-19 have arisen from the cluster identified in Aberdeen City at the end of July 2020, and how many of the patients have been admitted to intensive care.
Answer · Jeane Freeman: The Scottish Government has discussed this with Grampian Health Board who advised that given the total small number of COVID-19 inpatients in Grampian, this should be considered as personal identifiable information and therefore cannot be released.
21 Aug 2020 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what consideration it gave to imposing local lockdown restrictions in areas of Aberdeenshire at the same time as these were introduced in Aberdeen City, and which areas were considered.
Answer · Jeane Freeman: I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-31366 on 7 September 2020. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusine…
21 Aug 2020 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government for what reason it imposed local lockdown restrictions in all of the Aberdeen City area, but in no other parts of the Aberdeen Travel to Work Area.
Answer · Jeane Freeman: The Scottish Government considered the recommendations and data from the Grampian IMT, local clinical advice, and our own Scottish Government clinical advice. It was clear from this that the area of greatest concern was Aberdeen City, and as such the most pro…
21 Aug 2020 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many positive results from tests for COVID-19 there were on each day between 26 July and 19 August 2020, also expressed as a percentage of the total number of tests carried out in each NHS board area.
Answer · Jeane Freeman: The Scottish Government publishes a range of daily and weekly data on the Scottish Government website. The Scottish Government does not currently publish a detailed breakdown of tests per board, instead publishing the number of new positive cases each day at …
21 Aug 2020 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many people (a) have confirmed via the COVID-19 shielding system’s SMS that they want priority supermarket delivery slots and (b) supermarkets have registered for priority slots via this service in each month since April 2020.
Answer · John Swinney: The number of people who registered for supermarket priority delivery slots and the number of people who were matched to at least one supermarket for each time period is shown in the following table. These figures are cumulative. Time period Registered f…
19 Aug 2020 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-31285 by Jeane Freeman on 19 August 2020, for what reason it rejected the recommendations of the Incident Management Team that hospitality premises in Aberdeen should be opened on a phased basis, with lower-risk settings opening on 22 August, and hi…
Answer · Jeane Freeman: Our decision was based on the advice of the Grampian Incident Management Team (IMT), local clinical advice as well as our own Scottish Government clinical advice. We took into account all the evidence and data available as well as detailed discussions with lo…
19 Aug 2020 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-31285 by Jeane Freeman on 19 August 2020, whether if it will publish the latest information on the positive COVID-19 tests identified as part of the Aberdeen City cluster, broken down by (a) date of symptom onset and (b) local authority area.
Answer · Jeane Freeman: The Scottish Government has discussed this with Grampian Health Board who advised that, as per current national guidance, it is expected that the IMT will determine the most appropriate format for incident reporting, after the incident is declared over and th…
19 Aug 2020 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-31285 by Jeane Freeman on 19 August 2020, whether it will publish the recommendations of the Incident Management Team that were brought forward on 18 August in relation to statutory control measures in the city of Aberdeen.
Answer · Jeane Freeman: The Scottish Government has discussed this with Grampian Health Board who advised that, as per current national guidance, it is expected that the IMT will determine the most appropriate format for incident reporting, after the incident is declared over and th…
19 Aug 2020 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-31285 by Jeane Freeman on 19 August 2020, for what reason it rejected the recommendations of the Incident Management Team that restrictions on movement (a) in and out of Aberdeen and (b) on visiting other households should be lifted on 22 August.
Answer · Jeane Freeman: Our decision was based on the advice of the Grampian Incident Management Team (IMT), local clinical advice as well as our own Scottish Government clinical advice. We took into account all the evidence and data available as well as detailed discussions with lo…
18 Aug 2020 · Portfolio Question
To ask the Scottish Government how the views of young people will be taken into account in decisions about schools over the next few months.
10 Aug 2020 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what financial support is available to nightclubs that remain closed because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Answer · Jamie Hepburn: The Scottish Government fully recognises the value of nightclubs to Scotland’s night time economy, and acknowledges that their exclusion from the phase three route map update announcement will have been disappointing for the sector. However given the increase…
31 Jul 2020 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether there are any restrictions currently preventing the removal of contraceptive implants and, if so, when these restrictions will be lifted.
Answer · Joe FitzPatrick: There are no specific restrictions in place preventing the removal of contraceptive implants, however sexual health services were necessarily limited to urgent and essential care only due to the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. As the removal of contracepti…
23 Jul 2020 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-30277 by Jeane Freeman on 16 July 2020, whether it will list the other exercises that it has (a) run and (b) been involved with that have been based on (i) coronavirus-related, (ii) flu-related and (iii) other diseases, and whether it published or w…
Answer · Jeane Freeman: Since the H1N1 pandemic in 2009-10, the Scottish Government has led or participated in the following disease related exercises: African Swine Fever (ASF) (2020) - This exercise tested UK responsiveness to a disease outbreak within the current COVID-19 constr…
22 Jul 2020 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-30276 by Clare Haughey on 8 July 2020, when the data regarding the number of people with learning disabilities who have died from COVID-19 will become available.
Answer · Clare Haughey: The Scottish Learning Disability Observatory have approval to link the National Records of Scotland (NRS) and NHS controlled datasets to enable them to investigate the impact of COVID-19 on the learning disabilities population in Scotland. Once they receive t…