Parliamentary questions

Neil Findlay

2,296 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.

1 Jun 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government when COVID-19 testing for all community social care workers will be introduced, whether they show symptoms or not.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: Our testing strategy is based on expert clinical and scientific advice, and it is kept under constant review. We are not currently planning to offer testing to community social care workers who are asymptomatic. At the current time, anyone in Scotland age 5 o…

1 Jun 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason the publication of the 2018 edition of the Scottish Care Home Census has reportedly been delayed.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: Public Health Scotland advise on their website that the release of the 2018 edition of the Scottish Care Home Census publication had been delayed due to Information Governance issues. https://www.isdscotland.org/Health-Topics/Health-and-Social-Community-Care…

1 Jun 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it is still considering implementing self-testing kits for cervical screenings and, if so, what its position is on whether these are viable, in light of the reported difficulties in carrying out the procedure.

Answer · Joe FitzPatrick: The Programme for Government 2019-20 included a commitment to begin work to pilot self-sampling for cervical screening at a national level. Although the work to establish a pilot in Scotland was paused due to the escalation of COVID-19, it will be resumed and…

1 Jun 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how long it considers it safe for a cervical screening test to be overdue.

Answer · Joe FitzPatrick: The decision to pause the cervical screening programme was taken with the advice of the Chief Medical Officer and follows careful consideration of all of the risks involved. While there are risks to individuals through delayed diagnosis of cervical cancer, t…

1 Jun 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government when it considers it will be safe to fully resume cervical screening tests and, in light of reports that many tests are overdue because of the COVID-19 lockdown, what action it will take to deal with the backlog.

Answer · Joe FitzPatrick: The Scottish Government announced a structured pause of the cervical screening programme on 30 March 2020. Work is underway to prepare for the resumption of all of the national cancer screening programmes as part of the remobilisation of our NHS and in line w…

1 Jun 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason its senior managers have reportedly been awarded pay rises of up to 12%; how this compares with the salary increases that have been offered to its other employees, and what its position is on the fairness of this.

Answer · Kate Forbes: Public Sector Pay Policy was agreed as part of the Scottish Budget 2020-21 and includes a basic increase of £750 or 3%. Pay progression is at the discretion of individual employers. The pay awards for all Scottish Government staff are entirely consistent with…

1 Jun 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government when it will provide a substantive answer to question S5W-28175, which received a holding response from Jeane Freeman on 28 April 2020.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: Ministers will always endeavour to answer Parliamentary Questions as quickly as possible. Due to the Covid pandemic, Ministers are receiving an unprecedented volume of parliamentary questions and correspondence, and are working as quickly as possible to answ…

1 Jun 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-28170 by Jeane Freeman on 1 June 2020, and in light of its COVID-19 Advisory Group being established after it made the decision on or around 12 March 2020 to end its test, trace and isolate approach, whether it will publish the scientific evidence o…

Answer · Jeane Freeman: As set out in a paper from 10 March 2020, the Scottish Government was clear that if a point of sustained community transmission for COVID-19 was reached, we would rely less on contact tracing and focus instead on providing the best care to those who had devel…

29 May 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a breakdown by age of the number of people who have died in hospital and had COVID-19 recorded as a contributory factor.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: The information is available at https://www.nrscotland.gov.uk/statistics-and-data/statistics/statistics-by-theme/vital-events/general-publications/weekly-and-monthly-data-on-births-and-deaths/deaths-involving-coronavirus-covid-19-in-scotland/related-statisti…

29 May 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many people with suspected COVID-19 have been moved from care homes to hospital for treatment in each month since January 2020 and, if it does not hold this information, whether it will request it from NHS boards.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: The information is not held centrally. I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-29384 on 16 July 2020 for further information about data on hospital admissions from care homes. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parlia…

29 May 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what the application process is for its recently-announced fund for people with mesh-related complications, and what the criteria are to make a claim.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-29926 on 16 June 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/parliamentarybusiness/2…

29 May 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what risk assessment it carried out before rolling out the policy of discharging hospital patients to care homes that were untested for COVID-19.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: Throughout the pandemic we have continued to followed the same risk assessments procedures that were in place prior to the outbreak. All policy decisions made by Ministers and Government officials were based on the best clinical advice available at that time.…

28 May 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on its plans to establish a practitioner health service for doctors, and whether this will apply to both primary and secondary care staff.

Answer · Clare Haughey: The Scottish Government is working with partners to ensure that all health and social care workers, including doctors, have the support they need when they need it, including access to specialist psychological services.

28 May 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many people in care homes have died from COVID-19 or had COVID-19 mentioned on their death certificate.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: National Records of Scotland produce a weekly publication which includes figures for the number of deaths associated with COVID-19 that occurred in a care home.

28 May 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many people have died in care homes in each week since 1 February 2020.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-29478 on 10 June 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/parliamentarybusiness/2…

27 May 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many deaths have occurred in each care home since 1 March 2020 and who owns each of these homes, and if it does not hold this information, whether it will provide details of who does and if it can obtain the information from that source.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: This data is not held by the Scottish Government. Care homes are required to notify the Care Inspectorate of the death of any of their residents. In line with new statutory reporting requirements, the Care Inspectorate now provide a weekly report on the total…

27 May 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many people in each NHS board area have received emergency dental treatment during each month of the COVID-19 lockdown, and, if it does not hold this information, whether NHS boards can provide it with this.

Answer · Joe FitzPatrick: The figures requested for each NHS Board area is as follows: NHS Board 23-31 March 1-30 April 1-31 May Ayrshire and Arran Not available 168 5 455 Borders Not available 41 4 153 Dumfries & Galloway 7 1 141 354 Fife 160 2 857 823 For…

26 May 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a list of central contact numbers for people returning to work who have questions about issues related to the COVID-19 outbreak, such as health, safety and the furlough scheme, to ensure that they receive consistent reliable advice.

Answer · Jamie Hepburn: The Scottish Government has a webpage which provides comprehensive advice on Coronavirus in Scotland, including signposting to health, safety and UK Government advice which includes further information on the furlough scheme. The website was updated on 29 May…

26 May 2020 · Written Question

To as the Scottish Government what its position is on deep cleaning as a strategy to tackle COVID-19.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: We have a good understanding of the transmission of COVID-19 but this continues to evolve as new evidence becomes available. Transmission is through two main routes: droplet and contact. Airborne transmission may also occur in certain circumstances, for exam…

26 May 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many people who attended the Rangers versus Bayern Leverkusen football match on 12 March 2020 were contact traced for COVID-19, and what information it has on how many people who attended the match have since died of COVID-19.

Answer · Joe FitzPatrick: We do not hold information as to which individuals attended the match.

26 May 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason it considered that the Rangers versus Bayer Leverkusen football match on 12 March 2020 should go ahead, in light of the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic, and on whose advice the match was sanctioned.

Answer · Joe FitzPatrick: The Scottish Government had no role in deciding this game should go ahead – operational responsibility for football matches rests with the Safety Advisory Group as the local licensing authority. This match was governed by UEFA, with the Scottish FA suspending…

25 May 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government for what reasons delayed discharge affected reportedly large numbers of people in the period up to March 2020.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-29295 on 2 July 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/parliamentarybusiness/28…

25 May 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what the average cost is of a care home place contracted through an integration joint board (IJB), broken down by IJB area.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-29292 on 2 July 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/parliamentarybusiness/28…

25 May 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many people in the last 10 years have been subject to delayed discharge from hospital due to a lack of funds to pay for care home or home care places; for what reasons people were told that their discharge was as a result of a care home place or home care package not being available,…

Answer · Jeane Freeman: Information on the delays relating to funding and a lack of care home places can be found in the Delayed Discharge monthly census, published by Health Protection Scotland at https://beta.isdscotland.org/find-publications-and-data/health-and-social-care/delay…

25 May 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government for what reasons people could not be accommodated in care homes or with care packages at home in the period prior to February/March 2020 and the outbreak of COVID-19, and how much additional money it has provided for dealing with delayed discharge cases since then.