Alex Rowley

30 Aug 2022 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many houses it estimates need to be built to tackle the current housing waiting lists in Scotland.

23 Aug 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has any plans to (a) instruct NHS boards not to use private nursing agencies and (b) establish an in-house government agency for such purposes.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: It is important that NHS Boards can call on additional staffing when required, in order to deal with the exigencies of the service. It is for NHS Boards to decide when the additional support represented by agency staffing is required but the Scottish Governme…

23 Aug 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what work it has done to develop and set up a publicly owned nursing agency to assist NHS boards when they have staffing shortages.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: It is important that NHS Boards can call on additional staffing when required, in order to deal with the exigencies of the service. It is for NHS Boards to decide when the additional support represented by agency staffing is required but the Scottish Governme…

23 Aug 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many shifts have been provided by (a) staff bank and (b) agencies in each NHS board area in each of the last 10 years.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: The requested information on how many shifts have been provided by (a) staff bank and (b) agencies in each NHS board area in each of the last 10 years is not held centrally. Information on the total hours worked by Nursing and Midwifery bank and agency staff…

23 Aug 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much has been spent on providing (a) staff bank cover and (b) agency staff cover in each NHS board area in each of the last 10 years.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: The requested information on how much has been spent on providing (a) staff bank cover and (b) agency staff cover by NHS board since March 2014 can be found on the following link: NHSScotland workforce | Turas Data Intelligence (Bank and Agency) tab.

23 Aug 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what the average pay is per shift for an (a) NHS nurse and (b) agency nurse, broken down by grade.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: This information is not held by the Scottish Government. Pay for directly employed staff would depend on a number of variables like the Banding of the nurse, the length of the shift and whether the shift takes place at night or over the weekend when an unsoci…

23 Aug 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on how it is possible for NHS Tayside to achieve 83.8% of patients seen within the four-hour A&E target, in light of NHS Fife reportedly only achieving 54.3%.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: As you will know our hospitals, particularly across the central belt, are under significant pressure due to the direct and indirect consequences of the pandemic which is impacting on A&E performance. We recognise the good work underway in each of our Health…

23 Aug 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on how it is possible for NHS Tayside to achieve 83.8% of patients seen within the four-hour A&E target, in light of NHS Forth Valley reportedly only achieving 41.7%.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-10578 on 27 September 2022. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-commi…

15 Aug 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much agricultural land has been lost in Scotland to house building developments in the last decade.

Answer · Tom Arthur: The Scottish Government does not hold information relating to the amount of land that has changed from agricultural use to homes. In our draft National Planning Framework 4 (NPF4) we proposed national planning policy which included that development proposal…

15 Aug 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much agricultural land in Scotland has been lost to tree planting in the last decade.

Answer · Mairi McAllan: Tree Planting is a critical element of the Scottish Government’s plans to tackle the climate emergency and help achieve a net-zero Scotland. Although data on land use prior to woodland establishment is not available, tree planting takes place on a range of …

12 Aug 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether patients using private healthcare for urgent operations can recoup the costs from the NHS.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: Throughout the pandemic, NHS Boards have ensured that urgent, maternity and vital cancer services continue as usual. Any arrangements for NHS patients to be treated at an Independent Sector hospital would need to be made between the patient and the NHS Board…

12 Aug 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what the cash value is of payments made to the private healthcare sector and independent providers of (a) healthcare and (b) social care in each of the last 10 years.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: Scottish Ministers remain fully committed to a health service that provides timely, quality care, is free at the point of contact and true to the founding principles of the NHS. The creation of a National Care Service will bring social care in to parity of es…

12 Aug 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) private operations and (b) diagnostic procedures have been commissioned by the NHS from the private sector in each of the last 10 years.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: Non-NHS provider figures relate to patients treated in non-NHS locations such as private hospitals, hospices, nursing homes, and care homes. Patients who receive treatment at a private (independent) hospital which is paid for by the NHS board should be record…

12 Aug 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reports that, compared with the period from October to December 2019, in the period from October to December 2021 in Scotland there has been an increase of 136% in patients paying for private cataract operations, 169% increase in private hip-replacement operations…

Answer · Humza Yousaf: I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-10385 on 20 September 2022. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-commi…

12 Aug 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on what the reasons are for more people reportedly using private healthcare.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: The Scottish Government does not hold information on the reasons why people are reportedly using private healthcare. However, we recognise that addressing the effects of the pandemic has inevitably disrupted the NHS’s ability to carry out routine procedures,…

12 Aug 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the reported increase in the number of people using private healthcare.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: Over the last two and a half years, our NHS has suffered the biggest shock of its 74-year existence. Caring for large numbers of patients seriously unwell with COVID-19 has inevitably meant that planned care procedures have had to be delayed, and while we are…

14 Jul 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to ensure a secure future for shipbuilding and fabrication in Scotland.

Answer · Ivan McKee: Building on a rich shipbuilding heritage, the future for Scottish shipbuilding, marine engineering and fabrication is very strong. The latest official statistics show Scottish shipbuilding generated £408 million of gross value added in 2019 – a 45% increase f…

22 Jun 2022 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many housing developments in Scotland are currently unable to progress as a result of funding for schools and social infrastructure not being in place.

13 Jun 2022 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Government what progress it is making to address the reported recruitment and retention problems in the delivery of care at home.

8 Jun 2022 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to ensure a secure future for shipbuilding and fabrication in Scotland.

1 Jun 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many social care staff have (a) joined and (b) left the sector in each of the last 10 years.

Answer · Kevin Stewart: The Scottish Government does not hold this data centrally. Mr Rowley may wish to approach the Scottish Social Services Council, who are the regulator for the social service workforce in Scotland, and may be able to supply the relevant data in relation to his…

1 Jun 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what the average weekly cost per person is of (a) a hospital stay, (b) residential care home provision and (c) providing care at their own home.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: While the average weekly cost per person per week in each of these settings is not directly comparable, published data is available as follows; The average weekly costs per person of (a) a hospital stay for inpatients across all specialities and all hospital…

1 Jun 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to encourage an increase in trade union membership in the social care sector.

Answer · Kevin Stewart: The Scottish Government has a long standing commitment of improving Fair Work across Scotland. We are actively working with our partners in Local Government, COSLA, Trade Unions and the third and independent sectors to support and encourage Effective Voice wi…

1 Jun 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what average annual charge is set by care home providers for a place that is occupied by someone who is self-funding, broken down by integration joint board (IJB) area.

Answer · Kevin Stewart: We currently do not have the data by IJB and the following table gives details by Local Authority area. Full details are contained in the Care home census for adults in Scotland Statistics for 2011 to 2021 ( Care home census for adults in Scotland - Statisti…

1 Jun 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many whole-time equivalent staff NHS Fife requires to fulfil all of its vacancies.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: The number of vacant posts in each NHS Board can be found on the NHS Education for Scotland (NES) website: NHSScotland workforce | Turas Data Intelligence To ensure all Health Boards including NHS Fife have sufficient capacity planning guidance has been is…

1 Jun 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much it pays local authorities annually for each local authority-funded care home place.

Answer · Kevin Stewart: The Scottish Government’s policy towards local authorities’ spending is to allow local authorities the financial freedom to operate independently. As such, the vast majority of funding is provided by means of a block grant as part of the annual local governme…

1 Jun 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many hours of social care provision have been provided each year by the Fife Integration Joint Board (IJB).

Answer · Kevin Stewart: The total number of hours of social care provided each year by integration joint boards is not held centrally. Public Health Scotland publish the Experimental Statistics publication: “Insights into Social Care: Statistics for Scotland” which includes some in…

31 May 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what percentage of overall spend NHS boards will be expected to save in each year from 2022-23 to 2024-25.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: Each financial year, NHS Boards are typically required to deliver a level of efficiency savings to deliver financial balance. Efficiency savings are how health boards ensure they are making the best possible use of public money and every penny of efficiency s…

31 May 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many hospital beds there have been in NHS Fife in each of the last 10 years.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: A set of data tables for the most recent and historical hospital bed numbers for each board is available in the annual PHS publication, which was released on 28 September 2021, which be found at https://publichealthscotland.scot/publications/acute-hospital-a…

31 May 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much funding was allocated to NHS Fife in 2021-22, and how much it anticipates will be allocated in each year from 2022-23 to 2024-25.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: For 2021-22 and 2022-23, I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-08999 on 20 June 2022. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.sc…