Parliamentary questions
Miles Briggs
4,209 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.
4 Nov 2019 · General Question
To ask the Scottish Government what information it has on the number of operations that have taken place in the private healthcare sector since 2007.
Answer · Jeane Freeman: I answered a similar question from the member in July when I provided details of the NHS operations carried out in private hospitals. If he is now asking about all operations undertaken in the private healthcare sector, then the Scottish Government does not h…
31 Oct 2019 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the comment by the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills in The Scotsman on 30 October 2019 that “the named person approach will continue”, what action it has taken or plans to take to ensure that such an approach will be compatible with all legislation regarding informa…
Answer · John Swinney: The Scottish Government will develop guidance to support and promote good, proportionate and lawful information sharing practice so that practitioners can confidently handle information in a way that respects the rights of the individual and ensures that chil…
31 Oct 2019 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the comment by the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills in The Scotsman on 30 October 2019 that “the named person approach will continue”, whether it will confirm what aspects of the initiative it plans to take forward; what updated guidance on this it plans to issue to…
Answer · John Swinney: Across Scotland, families are already benefitting from having a named person who can offer help and support to children and families when they need it. The Scottish Government is fully supportive of current named person practice being delivered in line with e…
30 Oct 2019 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many people in the last year have been prescribed the migraine treatment, Erenumab, broken down by NHS board.
Answer · Jeane Freeman: The information requested is not routinely collected by the Scottish Government. Information about the number of prescriptions dispensed in the community is collected by the Information Services Division of NHS National Services Scotland.
29 Oct 2019 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the outcome of the recent Early Lung Cancer Detection Study in Scotland, what steps are being taken to increase awareness of the condition across society, including among people from the lowest socioeconomic quintiles, and what action it is taking to make participation in sc…
Answer · Joe FitzPatrick: The Scottish Government is committed to improving Scotland’s lung cancer early detection rates – this is reflected in our ongoing £42 million Detect Cancer Early (DCE) Programme. Since the Programme began in 2012, there’s been a 31.0% increase in stage 1 lung…
29 Oct 2019 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the outcome of the recent Early Lung Cancer Detection Study in Scotland, what its position is on establishing a national screening programme that will incorporate the simple blood test used in the study, and by what date such a programme could be launched.
Answer · Joe FitzPatrick: I refer the Member to the answer to question S5W-25953 on 6 November 2019. 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…
25 Oct 2019 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what its timescale is for completing all of the "high risk" backlog maintenance relating to NHS assets, which was due to have been completed in the last financial year.
Answer · Jeane Freeman: The high risk backlog which was identified in the original ‘NHS State of the Estate’ in 2011 has been eliminated. However this is an iterative process and as high risk areas are eliminated and resources focussed to do that, new backlog will emerge and areas p…
24 Oct 2019 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-24196 by Jeane Freeman on 26 July 2019 regarding attacks on NHS staff, whether it is in a position to publish the figure for 2018-19 and, if not, when this information will become available.
Answer · Jeane Freeman: The Scottish Government is not in a position to publish information on how many attacks on NHS staff have been recorded in 2018-19, as this information is not held centrally. Information on assaults on staff is collated by Health Boards. The Scottish Governm…
24 Oct 2019 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many prescriptions for medical cannabis were issued by the NHS between November 2017 and November 2018.
Answer · Jeane Freeman: Prior to the UK Government regulatory changes introduced on 1 November 2018, cannabis was a schedule 1 controlled drug under the terms of the Misuse of Drugs Regulations 2001. Prescription levels or numbers for information on unlicensed cannabis based produc…
24 Oct 2019 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many prescriptions for medical cannabis have been issued by the NHS since the rescheduling of cannabis-based products.
Answer · Jeane Freeman: The information requested is not routinely collected by the Scottish Government. On 31 October 2018, the Chief Medical Officer issued guidance to all NHS Boards around the rescheduling of CBPMs. As set out in this guidance, Controlled Drug Accountable Office…
23 Oct 2019 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to implement each of the recommendations in the Parkinson’s UK Scotland report, Get It On Time.
Answer · Joe FitzPatrick: The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring that everyone living in Scotland with neurological conditions, including Parkinson’s disease, is able to access the best possible care and support, and benefit from healthcare services that are safe, effective …
23 Oct 2019 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the Parkinson’s UK Scotland report, Get It On Time, which suggests that the country’s hospitals fail to give people with Parkinson’s their medication on time more than 100,000 times every year.
Answer · Joe FitzPatrick: Ensuring patients receive their medication on time when in hospital is a fundamental aspect of good quality care. This is set out in professional guidance, published in January 2019 by the Royal Pharmaceutical Society, on 'the Administration of Medicines in H…
22 Oct 2019 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will incorporate questions on fatigue in the 2020 NHS Staff Survey in order to assess any issues arising and take appropriate action to ensure the wellbeing of NHS staff.
Answer · Jeane Freeman: The annual iMatter questionnaire designed by staff, for staff, asks them if they feel that their manager and their employer cares about their wellbeing. This allows managers and health and social employers to monitor and take action to reduce work related str…
22 Oct 2019 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on accessible rest facilities for staff being available in hospitals.
Answer · Jeane Freeman: I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-25924 on 19 November 2019. 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…
22 Oct 2019 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what guidance it gives to NHS boards on the inclusion of rest facilities for NHS staff in the building of new hospitals.
Answer · Jeane Freeman: Each NHS Board is responsible under the Health and Safety at Work Act (1974) and its subsequent regulations, to provide appropriate staff rest facilities. They are best placed locally to determine the particular requirements for safe staff working, including …
22 Oct 2019 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether issues relating to fatigue and wellbeing in relation to NHS staff are included in the curriculum of medical courses at Scottish universities.
Answer · Jeane Freeman: The GMC’s ‘Promoting Excellence: Standards for Medical Education and Training’ sets out requirements for the management and delivery of undergraduate and postgraduate medical education and training. University medical schools encompass GMC requirements which …
22 Oct 2019 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-14095 by Aileen Campbell on 8 February 2018 regarding expenditure on smoking cessation campaigns, whether it will provide the information for each of the last two years.
Answer · Joe FitzPatrick: The total spend on the "Quit your way Scotland" campaign which ran in 2018, was £608,198. Spend from this campaign was frontloaded in Financial Year 2017-18: 2017-2018 - £552,975 2018-2019 - £55,223
22 Oct 2019 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-25456 by Jeane Freeman on 17 October 2019, what plans it has to include non-clinical support, particularly representatives of the voluntary and community sector, in the cross-sector team that will be tasked with providing focussed support on unsched…
Answer · Jeane Freeman: The support team will be engaging directly with ward and clinical staff to address process and cultural issues within the hospital, and includes representatives from the community sector. It does not currently include anyone from the voluntary sector However,…
21 Oct 2019 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what guidance is issued by (a) NHS Education for Scotland and (b) medical schools regarding fatigue among medical staff.
Answer · Jeane Freeman: NHS Education for Scotland`s Thriving in Medicine is a collection of online resources to support doctors, including ways to address and combat fatigue: https://www.scotlanddeanery.nhs.scot/trainee-information/thriving-in-medicine/ . The GMC’s Promoting Exc…
8 Oct 2019 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what funding or support it provides for (a) powerchair football and (b) other sports for disabled people.
Answer · Joe FitzPatrick: We support the development of powerchair and para-football and provide funding to the Scottish FA, through sport scotland, to encourage everyone to play our national game. sport scotland provides direct funding to Scottish Disability Sport, the co-ordinating…
8 Oct 2019 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a breakdown of the £10.6 million cost of the Edinburgh Tram Inquiry.
Answer · Michael Matheson: The breakdown of the £10.6 million cost of the Edinburgh Tram Inquiry to 31st August 2019 is as follows. Expenditure £000’s Staff costs 4,606 Accommodation 1,221 Professional fees 2,690 Transport Scotland Legal fees 105 IT 1,119 Miscellaneous …
4 Oct 2019 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it has any plans to provide proton beam therapy in the NHS.
Answer · Jeane Freeman: Proton Beam Therapy is currently available to patients through the NHS. However, due to the highly specialised nature of the treatment, there are only a few centres that can offer this kind of intervention. Scottish cancer patients who require this treatment …
3 Oct 2019 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how much funding it has provided to dementia research in each year since 2007.
Answer · Jeane Freeman: The Scottish Government provides funding to support dementia research via a number of mechanisms.Direct funding of research projects and fellowships submitted to the Chief Scientist Office (CSO) funding panels for consideration. In common with all other appli…
3 Oct 2019 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what the average time has been to see a dementia specialist in each year since 2007.
Answer · Jeane Freeman: Information on the average waiting time to see a dementia specialist is not collected or held by NHS National Services Scotland (NSS). NSS collect and hold information relating to referrals to old age psychiatry but it is not dementia-specific. The Standard…
3 Oct 2019 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will publish the findings in the report by the special team headed by Jim Mackey that it set up in 2018 to support NHS Lothian to implement recommendations made following concerns regarding emergency departments in NHS Lothian.
Answer · Jeane Freeman: In response to allegations of bullying and harassment at St John’s Hospital in 2017, which included concerns around the misreporting of A&E statistics across NHS Lothian, the Chair of the Academy of Royal Colleges, Professor Derek Bell, carried out an indepen…
2 Oct 2019 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many non-disclosure agreements have been signed by staff in each NHS board in each year since 2007.
Answer · Jeane Freeman: This information is not collected or held centrally. Pre-2014 Position: From records available between 2007-08 and 2013-14, 315 settlement agreements containing confidentiality clauses signed by the relevant staff were agreed. This information is at nationa…
2 Oct 2019 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many intensive care unit beds there have been in each NHS board area in each of the last five years, also broken down per 100,000 people.
Answer · Jeane Freeman: The average number of funded level 3 beds in Intensive Care and Combined Unitsin Scotland for each year in the period 2014-2018 is included in the following table. Combined units also contain level 2 HDU beds, these are not shown in the following table. NHS …
2 Oct 2019 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what information it holds regarding the intensive care unit mortality figures in each of the last three years for patients whose support was withdrawn.
Answer · Jeane Freeman: The information is not held centrally by the Scottish Government, and should be requested from NHS Boards.
2 Oct 2019 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how much each NHS board has spent on legal costs, including resolving patient complaints, in each year since 2014.
Answer · Jeane Freeman: The information is not held centrally by the Scottish Government, and should be requested from NHS Boards.
2 Oct 2019 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what guidelines and protocols are used by NHS boards regarding the treatment of intensive care unit patients, including when considering whether to recommend the withdrawal or continuation of support.
Answer · Jeane Freeman: The Scottish Government expects NHS Boards to apply relevant condition-specific clinical protocols as well as overarching standards, such as those set out in the Minimum Standards and Quality Indicators for Critical Care in Scotland which were published in 20…