Neil Findlay

26 Oct 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether its health policies for older people during the COVID-19 pandemic have been discriminatory.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: Since the start of the pandemic our priority has been to save lives and we have always placed the upholding of human rights at the heart of our approach. COVID-19 presents an unprecedented public health challenge and the actions we have taken in responding t…

26 Oct 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether any NHS board used an age-based frailty score system triage tool at any time during the COVID-19 pandemic, and how such a system operated.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: We are not aware of any NHS board using an age-based frailty score system as a triage tool during pandemic. On 25 July, Scottish Government published on updated Clinical Advice that aims to support clinicians with decision making throughout this COVID-19 p…

26 Oct 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether the ratings score for ambulance patients to be admitted to hospital has been changed at any time during 2020.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: The Scottish Ambulance Service does not have a ratings score system. The decision to admit patients to hospital is made by either the Emergency Department or Primary Care, not the ambulance service. In terms of categorisation of calls, these have not change…

26 Oct 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many excess deaths there were (a) outside and (b) inside care homes in the first six months of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: The information, covering the first 6 months of the pandemic, is published by National Records of Scotland (NRS) in their monthly 'Deaths involving coronavirus (COVID-19) in Scotland' reports. The latest report was published on 14th October. https://www.nrsc…

26 Oct 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many intensive care vacant bed (a) days and (b) nights there have been in each month since January 2020.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: The Scottish Intensive Care Society Audit Group (SICSAG) is part of the Scottish National Audit Programme (SNAP) within Public Health Scotland (PHS) and has the aim to improve the quality of care delivered to critical care patients in Scotland by monitoring a…

26 Oct 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what advice was given to the Scottish Ambulance Service regarding who to admit to hospital during the first six months of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: The Scottish Ambulance Service always make decisions on requirement to convey patients to Hospital on an individual and clinical basis. Whilst receiving no direct advice from the Scottish Government, SAS implemented a specific protocol on 3rd April 2020 comm…

26 Oct 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many people over 65 were admitted to intensive care in each month from February to May in each of the last five years.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: Table 1 gives the total number of episodes of care of patients aged 65 and over to ICU and combined units in Scotland for the past 6 years. The data includes both elective and emergency episodes of care. The level of elective and emergency demand on hospitals…

26 Oct 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to Dr Veronikis's evidence to the Public Petitions Committee on 22 October 2020.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: The Scottish Government was grateful to Dr Veronikis for his offer to come to Scotland and I am, of course, disappointed that he appears to have decided against this option now. The Government has remained ready to welcome him here for an observational visit,…

23 Oct 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason dental patients are reportedly unable to receive some treatments on the NHS due to COVID-19 restrictions but are able to get the same treatment if they pay for it privately.

Answer · Joe FitzPatrick: Following the announcement of the national lockdown in Scotland in March 2020 all dental care in high street settings ceased, with treatment transferring to within the Urgent Dental Care Centres in each NHS Board area for the most urgent cases. Since that tim…

23 Oct 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-32315 by Jeane Freeman on 23 October 2020, whether it will provide the information that was requested regarding how these care home places will be funded in the longer term.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: Since the response set out to question S5W-32315, the Scottish Government has made available additional funding of £112 million to support social care winter preparedness. This takes the level of additional financial support to £262 million for social care to…

21 Oct 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason NHS Louisa Jordan is reportedly not being used to respond to the COVID-19 ward at St John’s Hospital in Livingston being full.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: At present NHS Boards, including NHS Lothian, have sufficient acute capacity to meet the current demand from COVID-19 patients. Following these assessments, at present the NHS Louisa Jordan is not required to support high dependency level care, as the NHS in…

19 Oct 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what plans NHS Lothian has for rolling out a COVID-19 preventative treatment programme in 2020-21.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: While there is currently no established preventative treatment for COVID-19, Scotland is participating in UK-wide research to establish both preventative and supportive treatments. To date three supportive treatments, remdesivir, dexamethasone and hydrocortis…

19 Oct 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what plans NHS Lothian has for rolling out a COVID-19 vaccine in 2020-21.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: Whilst recent news from Pfizer is very welcome, we do not yet have a date for the availability of a Covid-19 vaccine for use in Scotland. The UK Vaccines Taskforce is procuring COVID-19 vaccines on a 4 nations basis and we expect that any doses that become a…

19 Oct 2020 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason the education attainment gap is reportedly continuing to grow.

15 Oct 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether Police Scotland plans to work with Sri Lanka's Special Task Force in the future, in light of the allegations regarding its human rights record in the documentary, Keenie Meenie: Britain's Private Army.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: Any future work with the Sri Lankan Police Service is a matter for the Chief Constable of Police Scotland. Police Scotland has not delivered training specifically for Sri Lanka’s Special Task Force.  

15 Oct 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether the Cabinet Secretary for Justice has the power to stop Police Scotland training Sri Lankan police officers.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: Under sections 15 and 87 of the Police and Fire Reform (Scotland) Act 2012, Scottish Ministers must approve the deployment of Scottish Police Officers when they are delivering training overseas.  

15 Oct 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what role Police Scotland has had in training (a) the Sri Lankan police force and (b) Sri Lanka's Special Task Force.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: Police Scotland, and the legacy Scottish Police College, have been involved in the delivery of training, mentoring and capacity building for the Sri Lankan Police Service since 2010. This has taken the form of a range of programmes, including: Community Polic…

15 Oct 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government when Police Scotland last had contact with a member of Sri Lanka's Special Task Force, and what the purpose of this was.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: We understand, that from 12 to 16 December 2016 a delegation from the Sri Lankan Police Service visited Police Scotland, in relation to Human Rights compliant approaches to Public Order training. Of the four Sri Lankan Police Service officers who attended, we…

14 Oct 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much funding it has provided to the Health and Social Care Alliance in each year since 2007.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: The Scottish Government has funded the Health and Social Care Alliance (The ALLIANCE) for their work on a wide ranging number of projects. This work has crossed a number of Scottish Government policy areas including Children and Families and Health. Within H…

13 Oct 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether Scottish Enterprise will rehire directly its cleaning staff whose contracts have been terminated by Sodexo because of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Answer · Fiona Hyslop: This is an operational matter for Scottish Enterprise. I have passed your query to Linda Hanna, the Interim Chief Executive of Scottish Enterprise, who will provide an answer to you directly.

13 Oct 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason redundancies have been announced among the Scottish Enterprise cleaning staff; how many people are being made redundant, and whether this action is in line with its fair work guidance.

Answer · Fiona Hyslop: This is an operational matter for Scottish Enterprise and no Scottish Enterprise staff have been made redundant. I have passed your query to Linda Hanna, the Interim Chief Executive of Scottish Enterprise, who will provide an answer to you directly.  

13 Oct 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many young people it estimates need employment support; what progress it has made on developing the Young Person Guarantee and Kickstart schemes in Scotland, and how many young people in Scotland it estimates will be helped through each of these schemes.

Answer · Jamie Hepburn: The latest ONS Labour market statistics show that COVID-19 is continuing to impact on Scotland’s young people. Based on trends from previous recessions it is estimated that the unemployment rate of 16-24-year olds in Scotland could peak at around 20% as a res…

13 Oct 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much additional funding it is providing to local authorities to assist them with local economic recovery plans, and what specific support it has provided to (a) West Lothian, (b) Midlothian and (c) the City of Edinburgh Council.

Answer · Fiona Hyslop: Communities, including those affected by the COVID-19 restrictions in West Lothian, Midlothian and the City of Edinburgh, continue to be supported by investment through the Scottish Government’s Communities funding package. Details of funding allocated by loc…

13 Oct 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to help people of all ages who have become unemployed as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Answer · Jamie Hepburn: The Scottish Government is committed to providing support to people of all ages with access to employment support and opportunities to retrain and reskill. COVID-19 has had a fundamental impact on the Scottish economy and labour market and our response aims t…

13 Oct 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what plans are in place to ensure that additional resources allocated to economic recovery go to those who need it most and are used to alleviate poverty, improve health outcomes and build stronger communities.

Answer · Fiona Hyslop: We understand the economic and social impact that restrictions are having on businesses and communities, that is why we have put in place a package of package of support worth over £2.3 billion to limit the impact of COVID-19 and this month we also confirmed …

12 Oct 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government when it will introduce routine COVID-19 testing of staff and patients in hospitals.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: The Scottish Government’s Strategic Framework for the Pandemic, published on 23 October, sets out plans to develop the testing element of Test and Protect over the next three months which focusses on building capacity within NHS Scotland and deploying expansi…

12 Oct 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government when it will introduce routine COVID-19 testing of staff and pupils in schools.

Answer · John Swinney: John Swinney; The Scottish Government’s approach to using testing alongside other measures to suppress COVID-19 outbreaks is set out in Scotland’s Strategic Framework, published on 23 October and available at https://www.gov.scot/publications/covid-19-scotla…

12 Oct 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason it is reportedly not following the World Health Organization (WHO) advice to test, trace and isolate every case of COVID-19.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: Test and Protect has now been operating for more than six months and is performing well – since its launch on 28 May, Test and Protect has offered testing to all symptomatic individuals to identify positive cases and traced close contacts of positive cases vi…

12 Oct 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government when it will introduce temperature checks in hospitals for staff and patients.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: The evidence on temperature checks in hospital staff and patients has been reviewed by experts within the COVID-19 Nosocomial Review Group (CNRG) and the Antimicrobial Resistance and Healthcare Associated Infection (ARHAI) Scotland service. The following link…

12 Oct 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government when it will introduce temperature checks in schools for staff and pupils.

Answer · John Swinney: There are no plans to introduce temperature checks in schools at the current time. As referenced in S5W-32464 on 30 October 2020, there is not enough evidence to support the use of Infrared Thermal Imaging devices to detect potential COVID-19 cases. Employing…