Miles Briggs

19 Nov 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the financial savings that are achieved when a housing association adapts a home to make it accessible for a tenant with an assessed need, rather than them being admitted to acute care.

Answer · Kevin Stewart: The Scottish Government has not made an assessment of savings achieved by housing association adaptations. However we are aware of research undertaken by others both in Scotland and elsewhere in the UK that considers the evidence for potential savings to heal…

19 Nov 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what funding is available to (a) local authorities and (b) integration joint boards to encourage housing associations to adapt homes to make them accessible for tenants with an assessed need.

Answer · Kevin Stewart: Since the integration of health and social care, Integration Joint Boards are responsible for the planning and delivery of adaptations largely using budgets created by delegation from local authorities. Local authority budgets for adaptations are agreed local…

19 Nov 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what financial incentives are available to support housing associations adapt homes to make them accessible for tenants with an assessed need.

Answer · Kevin Stewart: Since the integration of health and social care, Integration Joint Boards (IJBs) are responsible for the delivery of adaptations and for reviewing, planning and developing services to improve outcomes for people who require adaptation services. We have also …

19 Nov 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what role adaptations to make homes accessible for tenants with an assessed need rather than re-housing them will play in the Housing Beyond 2021 consultation.

Answer · Kevin Stewart: The Scottish Government recognises the importance of housing being adaptable in order to meet people’s needs over time. Housing Beyond 2021 will be a vision for how our homes and communities should look and feel in 2040 and the options and choices to get ther…

19 Nov 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what actions it has taken to encourage housing associations to undertake adaptations to make homes accessible for tenants with an assessed need.

Answer · Kevin Stewart: Since the integration of health and social care, Integration Joint Boards (IJBs) are now responsible for the planning and delivery of adaptations using budgets created by delegation and for reviewing and developing services to improve outcomes for people who …

19 Nov 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what responsibilities local authorities have to support housing associations to adapt homes to make them accessible for tenants with an assessed need.

Answer · Kevin Stewart: Since the integration of health and social care in 2015, local authorities' responsibilities in relation to adaptations (including for housing association tenants) have been legally delegated to Integration Joint Boards (IJBs). IJBs now are responsible for th…

12 Nov 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government when it will launch the consultation on restricting the promotion of e-cigarettes, which was announced in its Tobacco Control Action Plan, and what the timetable will be.

Answer · Joe FitzPatrick: The Scottish Government will launch a consultation on restricting domestic advertising and promotion of e-cigarettes in early 2019. This timetable will allow for the Tobacco Products and Nicotine Inhaling Products (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2018 to com…

9 Nov 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-19271 by Jeane Freeman on 8 November 2018, whether it will provide the information that was requested regarding the number of new GPs recruited through the GP Recruitment and Retention Fund, also broken down by NHS board, and for what reason it did …

Answer · Jeane Freeman: The GP Recruitment and Retention fund has resulted in 57 GPs being recruited across Scotland. The funding offered by the Scottish Government enabled projects to be developed and funding to be mainstreamed. NHS Ayrshire and Arran, Tayside and the Deep End Pio…

7 Nov 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether each NHS board provided the Scottish Public Health Network with staffing figures for chronic pain services to inform its report, Health Care Needs Assessment of Adult Chronic Pain Services in Scotland, and, if so, in light of the comment in the report that staffing “was the bigge…

Answer · Jeane Freeman: The Health Care Needs Assessment of Adult Chronic Pain Service in Scotland report was commissioned by the Scottish Public Health Network (SPHN). This report’s methodology is a matter for SPHN, who can be contacted by using the following link: https://www.sco…

7 Nov 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the comment in the Scottish Public Health Network report, Health Care Needs Assessment of Adult Chronic Pain Services in Scotland, that staffing “was the biggest concern for most boards”.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: The Scottish Government recognises that effective workforce planning is essential in order for NHS Boards and Integration Authorities to provide safe and high quality patient care. That is why we have published a National Health and Social Care Workforce Plan…

7 Nov 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will break down the service provision tables at Appendix 5 of the Scottish Public Health Network report, Health Care Needs Assessment of Adult Chronic Pain Services in Scotland, by the number of (a) part- and (b) full-time staff employed by each NHS board at the (i) self-manag…

Answer · Jeane Freeman: The Scottish Government sets strategic policy for NHSScotland. The responsibility to deliver safe and sustainable services rests locally with Health Boards. The Health Care Needs Assessment of Adult Chronic Pain Service in Scotland report was commissioned by…

7 Nov 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will break down the information at Table 10 of the Scottish Public Health Network report, Health Care Needs Assessment of Adult Chronic Pain Services in Scotland, by the number of (a) part- and (b) full-time staff employed in each discipline by each NHS board

Answer · Jeane Freeman: The Scottish Government sets strategic policy for NHSScotland. The responsibility to deliver safe and sustainable services rests locally with Health Boards. ISD Scotland publish quarterly national workforce data, broken down by NHS Board. Data on Medical Co…

7 Nov 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many clinical staff for chronic pain services there have been in each of the last five years, broken down by NHS board.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: The information requested on ‘chronic pain services’ is not centrally available. National workforce data records the staff group, profession and specialty of staff in post. It does not capture the service(s) that an individual employee may contribute to.

6 Nov 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the possibility that they might be working with vulnerable patients, what its position is on offering nursing and midwifery students the flu vaccine.

Answer · Joe FitzPatrick: Student nurses, midwives and allied health professionals who may be exposed to the flu during placements within NHS Boards should receive the flu vaccination in line with all other NHS healthcare workers. A joint letter is issued each year from the Chief Med…

6 Nov 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what the average waiting time is for a new outpatient urology appointment at NHS Tayside; what action is being taken to reduce this, and how many people are waiting for an appointment.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: NHS Tayside have indicated that the median waiting time for a new outpatient urology appointment within NHS Tayside based on completed waits in September 2018, was 20 weeks. The Board currently have 2,077 new outpatients waiting for a Urology appointment with…

1 Nov 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much it has spent in each of the last five years on specialist palliative care services in each (a) NHS board and (b) health and social care partnership area, also broken down by its expenditure on services provided by the (i) third and (ii) independent sector.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: The Scottish Government does not hold this information centrally. Since 2016, it has been the responsibility of Integration Authorities to commission and plan specialist palliative and end of life care services and supports to meet the needs of their local po…

1 Nov 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much of the £3.5 million that it allocated in 2015 to support its strategic framework for action on palliative and end of life care has been spent, and how much it will allocate to support the framework in (a) 2019-20 and (b) 2020-21.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: In December 2015, the Scottish Government committed to allocating £3.5m over four years to support the implementation of the Strategic Framework for Action on Palliative and End of Life Care (SFA). This funding is to support improvements in palliative and end…

1 Nov 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the commitment in its health and social care delivery plan, what progress it is making with doubling levels of palliative and end of life provision in the community, and how it defines such provision.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: We do not have a single measure that captures performance against this aim, as the provision of palliative care depends on the interaction of a range of services - formal palliative care, care at home and care home services, and access to hospice and hospice-…

25 Oct 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5F-00793 by Nicola Sturgeon on 26 January 2017 (Official Report, c. 21), whether it will provide an update on how it is addressing Bliss Scotland's concerns regarding neonatal units not having enough nurses.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: Health Boards must ensure that their neonatal units are appropriately and safely staffed. All NHS boards with a neonatal unit have run the neonatal nursing workload tool in 2016 and 2017, with the exception of NHS Highland. Scottish Government officials have …

25 Oct 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what progress it is making in implementing the recommendations in the report, The Best Start: A Five-Year Forward Plan for Maternity and Neonatal Care in Scotland.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: Work is well underway to implement the 76 recommendations contained within The Best Start: A Five Year Forward Plan for Maternity and Neonatal Care in Scotland. The recommendations have been split into those suitable for local and national implementation and …

24 Oct 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the recent Public Health England report, English Surveillance Programme for Antimicrobial Utilisation and Resistance (ESPAUR), and, in light of this, whether it plans to take additional action to reduce levels of antibiotic resistance.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: The Scottish Government welcomes the recently published ESPAUR report which details progress on tackling Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) in England as part of the UK AMR Strategy 2013-2018. Health Protection Scotland will publish its next Scottish One Health A…

23 Oct 2018 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Government what support it is providing to help grow the life sciences sector.

22 Oct 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccination is part of NHS boards' winter planning considerations.

Answer · Joe FitzPatrick: As part of winter planning activity, Boards routinely monitor HPS updates to help detect and respond to potential increases in influenza and other respiratory infections. Winter plans also take into account the predicted surge of flu activity that can happen …

22 Oct 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government which neonatal units and paediatric units offer respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccination to at-risk babies, in line with Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation guidance.

Answer · Joe FitzPatrick: Each NHS board has access to a passive immunisation medical product (Palivizumab) that can reduce the worst complications of RSV in those young children at the greatest risk of complications of RSV once they have become infected with this virus. All eligible …

22 Oct 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many babies and infants have been admitted to hospital with respiratory syncytial virus (RSV)-related bronchiolitis in each year since 2010 and, of these, how many were for those with (a) bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) or chronic lung disease, (b) congenital heart disease and (c) s…

Answer · Joe FitzPatrick: The number of infants up to one year of age that have been admitted to hospital with respiratory syncytial virus (RSV)-related bronchiolitis in each financial year since 2010-11 and the number of these with (a) bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) or chronic lung…

18 Oct 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many health visitors there have been in each NHS board area in each year since 2007, and what progress it is making towards meeting its 2014 commitment to increase the number of health visitors by 500 by 2018.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: Workforce data on Health Visitors is published by ISD Scotland. 1. Information on health visitors from 2007 to 2014 can be found on the statistics web site at: https://www.isdscotland.org/Health-Topics/Workforce/Publications/2017-12-05/Non-Medical_Trend_S20…

17 Oct 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reports that (a) some pharmacies offering the flu jab have run out of supplies until November 2018 and (b) it will be unable to offer the adjuvanted trivalent flu vaccine to all over 65s; what impact this will have on infection rates in 2018-19, and what plans it …

Answer · Joe FitzPatrick: a) As part of this year’s arrangements for the 2018-19 NHS seasonal flu programme anyone eligible to receive the flu vaccine can make arrangements to do so through their GP practice. As part of the childhood programme, children who are aged 2-5 (and not yet i…

17 Oct 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5F-02629 by Nicola Sturgeon on 27 September 2018 (Official Report, c.10), what evidence it has to support the First Minister's comment that "that the vaccine that is being offered to 65- to 74-year-olds this winter still provides full flu protection". …

Answer · Joe FitzPatrick: Vaccination policy in Scotland, as with the rest of the UK, is based on recommendations from the JCVI. The JCVI is an independent, expert group which provides advice on all aspects of vaccination to the four UK health departments. For the 2018-19 flu season,…

16 Oct 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many people are waiting for (a) urgent and (b) non-urgent operations or procedures at the Edinburgh Western General Hospital urology hub; what the average waiting time is, and what action is being taken to reduce this.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: The number of patients on the waiting list on 30 June 2018 - latest published information - for an urology operations or procedure at Edinburgh Western General Hospital was 922 of which 363 had been categorised by the referrer as urgent and 559 as routine. In…

15 Oct 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many bids have been made for funding support from the extra funding that it announced for breastfeeding services in July 2018, also broken down by NHS board.

Answer · Joe FitzPatrick: I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-19158 on 6 November 2018. 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/parliamentarybusines…