David Stewart

15 Jun 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether funding will be available to support the conservation work of the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland at the Highland Wildlife Park, including efforts to save the wildcat from extinction in Scotland, in light of the charity having to borrow £5 million due to the closure of its p…

Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: The Scottish Government recognises the importance of the conservation work which the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland (RZSS) undertakes both in Scotland and internationally. The RZSS was closely involved in The Scottish Wildcat Action project which ran f…

15 Jun 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland having to borrow £5 million due to the closure of its parks, whether it will make funding available to support (a) the Highland Wildlife Park and (b) all of Scotland’s zoos during the COVID-19 outbreak.

Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: The First Minister announced a funding package of £2.6m for the emergency support of Scotland’s zoos and aquariums on 18 June. The criteria for the support fund will be based on need. The aim of the scheme is to provide targeted emergency support to alleviate…

15 Jun 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether the Highland Wildlife Park will be able to reopen in phase two of the easing of lockdown restrictions, in light of the park being able to initially open to people from the local area and members, control visitor numbers and provide public greenspace.

Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: The First Ministers announced on 18 June that zoos and gardens will be able to re-open their outdoor spaces to the public from 29 June, for local visitors only.  

5 Jun 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it considers there is adequate staffing and resourcing of the Care Inspectorate for rigorous inspection and enforcement purposes in every part of Scotland.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: The Care Inspectorate is currently operating in unprecedented circumstances and have the resources to respond in a risk assessed way to carry out their duties and provide public protection. Like other organisations, the Care Inspectorate has had to manage a n…

5 Jun 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to improve care homes' access to NHS services.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: The Scottish Government is absolutely clear that we expect anyone who would benefit from access to NHS services to receive it. This includes care home residents, when such services are clinically assessed to be in the best interest for their care. The Scottis…

5 Jun 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of reports that Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) people may be disproportionately affected by COVID-19, and the issuing of interim guidance for health and social care employers on this issue, how it is ensuring the implementation of guidance in the (a) care home sector a…

Answer · Jeane Freeman: We are establishing a working group of BAME staff across health and social care to hear their voices and lived experiences. This will include listening to how they feel the interim guidance has been implemented and perceived. This is critical in our approach …

5 Jun 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what resources it is making available to support the mental health of care home staff dealing with the impact of COVID-19.

Answer · Clare Haughey: I am working closely with partners across the health and social care sector, including NHS Boards, Health and Social Care Partnerships and local employers, to ensure mental health and wellbeing support is in place for the workforce. A range of support servic…

5 Jun 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what workforce planning it is undertaking to ensure adequate staffing in the social care sector in light of the potential impact of Brexit.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: In December 2019, we co-published with COSLA the first Integrated National Health and Social Care Workforce Plan in the UK. Developed in partnership with COSLA, the Integrated Plan sets out how health and social care services will meet growing demand to ensur…

5 Jun 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how it is monitoring the impact of expanded COVID-19 testing (a) of social care staff and (b) generally.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: The COVID-19 data and trend charts for Scotland are published daily and provide a range of information, including the number of care home staff tests and other general information on social care staff. Weekly data on COVID-19 in adult care homes in Scotland …

5 Jun 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to increase (a) skills and (b) capacity within Scotland's workforce to support the care home industry.

Answer · Maree Todd: The Scottish Government has been working with representatives of Scottish Care, Care Home Providers, the Care Inspectorate, NES and the Scottish Social Services Council, to produce a number of resources which will support care home staff during the Covid-19 p…

5 Jun 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether SVQ training for care staff prepared the workforce sufficiently to protect both staff and the people they work with during the COVID-19 outbreak.

Answer · Maree Todd: SVQs equip workers with an overview of the knowledge, values and skills required to work with individuals in a range of settings where people may have different needs. They are based on National Occupational Standards and are designed to ensure that staff hav…

5 Jun 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to support care home providers to help prevent transmission of COVID-19 in residential care home settings.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: There is a range of support being provided to care home providers to help them prevent transmission of COVID-19 in residential care home settings. This includes guidance on measures to protect residents and staff alongside direct support and advice given to c…

5 Jun 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on developing a "Care Home Professional" worker definition for registration with the Scottish Social Services Council, which could include training and skills such as infection control.

Answer · Maree Todd: We currently have no plans to introduce a professional care home worker category. Registration with the Scottish Social Services Council (SSSC), the regulator for the social services workforce in Scotland, already means that care home workers are part of a p…

5 Jun 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it can guarantee the care home sector that it will have adequate access to PPE from local hubs.

Answer · Clare Haughey: As you will no doubt be aware, in the private, public and third sectors, the supply of PPE for social care is primarily the responsibility of social care providers themselves. However, given the immense pressure that global supply chains have been put under d…

3 Jun 2020 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the impact of COVID-19 on tourism in the Highlands and Islands.

21 May 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment has been made of NHS Highland's commissioned survey into staff bullying in Argyll and Bute.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: The Scottish Government welcomes this survey as an important step in identifying cultural issues in Argyll & Bute Health & Social Care Partnership, as recommended by the Sturrock Review. Whilst the findings cannot necessarily be compared directly with those …

18 May 2020 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government what research it has done regarding the correlation between deaths from COVID-19 and patients with diabetes.

15 May 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of previously published scientific trials in 1994, 2006 and 2015 stating that negative ion ionisers are effective at reducing cross infectivity, whether it has considered using them as an additional method to protect care workers against COVID-19.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: The evidence for a number of alternative technologies for decontamination is currently being reviewed across the UK for both efficacy and safety in a variety of settings. These include UV light, hydrogen peroxide vapour and germicidal UV (GUV) and while there…

7 May 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what proportion it is supplying of the personal protective equipment (PPE) being used in care homes.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: In both private and public sector care homes (and also all other social care providers), the supply of PPE is primarily the responsibility of the care home/social care provider itself. However, the Scottish Government recognises that global supply chains have…

7 May 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to source masks and other personal protective equipment (PPE) that are designed for female sizes.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: It is important that frontline staff receive the protective equipment they require. NHS National Services Scotland, with the support of Scottish Government and other national agencies, are working hard to ensure a continued supply of the right equipment acros…

7 May 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what proportion of NHS staff had been fit-tested for respirators by the end of (a) December 2019, (b) January 2020 and (c) February 2020.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: This information is not held centrally, but is held by individual health boards. Please contact individual health boards for the information you are looking for. A number of additional measures have been introduced to ensure that sufficient fit testing is in…

7 May 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) gowns and (b) visors were added to the national personal protective equipment (PPE) stockpile in February 2020 following the guidance from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: A national pandemic stockpile of PPE was maintained prior to the outbreak of Covid-19. Neither gowns nor visors formed part of that. NHS National Services Scotland has lead responsibility for the procurement of PPE on behalf of health and social care users i…

6 May 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what the estimated rate of infection (R number) is for COVID-19 (a) nationally and (b) broken down by each NHS board.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: Based on the latest range of estimates provided to the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE), the Scottish Government believes the R value to currently lie between 0.7 and 1.0. The models used to produce these figures use data at a national level …

6 May 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many excess deaths have been attributed by each NHS board for non-COVID-19-related conditions since the start of the outbreak, broken down by the cause of death.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: Number of "excess deaths" registered in Scotland, from 16 March 2020 (the week in which the first COVID-19 death in Scotland was registered) 10 May (latest available data, used in the 13 May 2020 “Deaths involving Coronavirus in Scotland” publication), inclus…

5 May 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will consider discounting any periods of maternity leave in its assessments of self-employed women in each year since 2017 for COVID-19 self-employed business support, on the basis that the period of time away from work on maternity leave will reduce the average profits over t…

Answer · Jamie Hepburn: The Self Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS) is the primary business support scheme available to self-employed people. It is a UK Government scheme, and therefore the Scottish Government have no power to discount periods of maternity leave for the purpos…

4 May 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will introduce a programme of targeted lung (a) health checks and (b) cancer screening to support earlier diagnosis of conditions following the COVID-19 outbreak.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: The Scottish Government, along with the rest of the UK, is advised on all aspects of screening by the UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC), an independent expert advisory group. Due to a lack of evidence to support the use of the screen tests within a pop…

4 May 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of capacity in (a) radiology and (b) pathology to prevent delays in lung cancer diagnosis (i) during and (ii) following the COVID-19 outbreak.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: NHS Health Boards have made assessments of their capacity for radiology and pathology. Separate patient flows have been developed within services for COVID and non-COVID referrals which enable patients, who are fit and able to attend, to have their imaging un…

4 May 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what the (a) timeline and (b) criteria will be for resuming cancer screening programmes following the COVID-19 outbreak.

Answer · Joe FitzPatrick: The Scottish Government advised Parliament on 30 March that the pause to the breast, bowel and cervical screening programmes is temporary and would be reviewed after 12 weeks, or earlier if indicated by the evidence. Each screening programme has a programme b…

15 Apr 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with banks to encourage them to charge their commercial borrowers the Bank of England base rate of 0.1% for three months, then month to month as it sees fit, in order to support businesses during the COVID-19 outbreak.

Answer · Fiona Hyslop: The regulation of financial services is reserved to the UK Government, meaning Scottish Ministers are unable to directly intervene in the commercial decisions made by financial services companies. However, Scottish Ministers are engaging closely with the bank…

6 Apr 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether (a) pharmacists and (b) community pharmacy staff responding to the COVID-19 outbreak are classed as category 1 key workers for the purposes of access to childcare, and what the reasons are for its position on this matter.

Answer · John Swinney: Pharmacists and community pharmacy staff responding to Coronavirus (COVID-19) are defined as category 1 key workers for the purpose of access to childcare. The Scottish Government guidance outlining the key worker definition includes in Category 1 ‘critical p…