Monica Lennon

22 Dec 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government on what date it will launch the public consultation on guidance in relation to the Health and Care (Staffing) (Scotland) Act 2019.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-34260 on 20 January 2021. 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…

22 Dec 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government when the (a) Healthcare Staffing Programme National Steering Group, and (b) Education sub-group of that National Steering Group last met and when they will next meet.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: Health Improvement Scotland (HIS) is responsible for both the Healthcare Staffing Programme National Steering Group and Education sub-group of that National Steering Group. The Healthcare Staffing Programme National Steering Group last met on 6 November 2019…

22 Dec 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has had any discussions with the fourteen territorial NHS boards since 23 March 2020 on the implementation of the Health and Care (Staffing) (Scotland) Act 2019 and on what dates any such discussions took place.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-34257 on 20 January 2021. 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…

22 Dec 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had since 23 March 2020 with (a) Healthcare Improvement Scotland and (b) the Care Inspectorate with regard to (i) the implementation of and (ii) duties imposed by the Health and Care (Staffing) (Scotland) Act 2019.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-34263 on 20 January 2021. 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…

22 Dec 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what measures are in place to ensure that compliance with the outputs from each (a) new and (b) existing workload tools is being (i) measured and (ii) reported across health and care services.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: I refer the member to the answers to questions S5W-34257 and S5W-34264 on 20 January 2021. 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/parl…

22 Dec 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many doses of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine have been allocated to each NHS board for (a) December 2020 and (b) January 2021.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: As of Monday 1 March 2021 the total number of doses allocated was 2,138,450. The total number of doses allocated refers to the number of doses that have been made available by Public Health England to the Scottish Government for ordering, and is the cumulativ…

22 Dec 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many months it will require to vaccinate the general population against COVID-19, and what modelling it has carried out to inform this estimate.

Answer · Mairi Gougeon: We still intend to offer first doses of vaccination to all the JCVI priority groups by the end of May, as our vaccine supply allows. After this initial group has been vaccinated, the rest of the population will follow.

22 Dec 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what level of vaccine wastage was recorded for the (a) flu and (b) HPV programmes in each of the last two years.

Answer · Mairi Gougeon: The Scottish Government procures sufficient vaccine to vaccinate all those who are invited to receive the seasonal flu vaccine, in line with uptake planning assumptions. For the adult flu programme, vaccines are procured nationally and as part of the contract…

22 Dec 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what the anticipated level of wastage is for the (a) Pfizer vaccine and (b) overall COVID-19 vaccination programme.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: Our modelling contained within the Scottish Government’s Vaccine Deployment Plan took a deliberately cautious approach. Based on the information provided by the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS) we set our expectations of delivery b…

22 Dec 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) NHS staff and (b) care home (i) residents and (ii) staff have received the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine in each week this has been available, broken down by NHS board area.

Answer · Mairi Gougeon: 1,431,942 people have received the first dose of the Covid vaccination in the period 8 December to 8:30 am Sunday 21 February. It means that we have now given a first dose to almost 1/3 of the adult population. 35,479 people have received the second dose of…

17 Dec 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-27946 by Jeane Freeman on 30 March 2020, which indicated that it would publish its Women's Health Plan by the end of 2020, on what date it will publish this.

Answer · Clare Haughey: The Women's Health Plan continues to be developed and it is planned at present to publish it during 2021.

17 Dec 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of reported disruption to cardiac rehabilitation services across the country, what support it is providing to re-establish these services and to engage with groups that typically do not attend, such as women.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: Throughout 2020 the Scottish Government’s Cardiac Rehab Champion, in conjunction with the British Heart Foundation, was in contact with health boards across Scotland and worked with them to discuss alternative, Covid-appropriate options to traditional face-to…

16 Dec 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many people diagnosed with spontaneous coronary artery dissection have been referred by NHS boards to the specialist service at Glenfield Hospital, Leicester, in each of the last five years.

Answer · Mairi Gougeon: This data is not held centrally but should be held by relevant health boards.  

16 Dec 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many people have been diagnosed with spontaneous coronary artery dissection in each of the last five years, also broken down by gender.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: This information is not centrally held. I suggest you contact the relevant Boards for this information.  

16 Dec 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government by what date it will implement the recommendations in the report, Residential Rehabilitation Working Group: recommendations on drug and alcohol residential treatment services.

Answer · Angela Constance: We will respond to each recommendation of the Residential Rehabilitation Working Group in the New Year. This will include setting out plans to substantially increase the provision of residential treatment in the short term and looking deeper into need, demand…

16 Dec 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much it has invested in residential rehabilitation services in each of the last five years, broken down by NHS board.

Answer · Angela Constance: Since 2008 we have invested almost £895 million to tackle problem alcohol and drug use, including spending up to £95.3 million on alcohol and drugs in 2020-21. Decisions on configuration of local services, including residential rehabilitation, as well as the…

16 Dec 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government on what date the Minister for Public Health, Sport and Wellbeing last met the Lord Advocate, and what matters were discussed.

Answer · Mairi Gougeon: The Minister for Public Health, Sport and Wellbeing meets the Lord Advocate from time to time to discuss matters of mutual interest.  

14 Dec 2020 · Topical Question

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking in response to the NRS publication, Drug-related deaths in Scotland in 2019, in order to prevent further drug-related deaths.

9 Dec 2020 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the GMB Scotland campaign, Give Key Workers a Break.

8 Dec 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what advice and guidance it has provided to hospices regarding visiting arrangements under the COVID-19 restrictions.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: The Chief Medical Officer, Chief Nursing Officer and National Clinical Director most recently wrote to hospices on the 22 December 2020 to offer updated advice on visiting over the winter period. This letter emphasised that Scottish Hospices are expected to …

4 Dec 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what action it has taken to engage with Black and Minority Ethnic women regarding their lived experience of health outcomes and healthcare when developing its Women's Health Plan.

Answer · Clare Haughey: Engagement with women is central to the development of the Women’s Health Plan, particularly engagement with women with lived experience of health inequalities. A series of lived experience online engagement events are scheduled to take place in early 2021 t…

4 Dec 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what action it has taken to engage with issues that specifically or disproportionately affect Black and Minority Ethnic women when developing its Women's Health Plan.

Answer · Clare Haughey : The aim of the Women’s Health Plan is to reduce health inequalities for all women, including black and minority ethnic women, in relation to the specific priorities set out in the 2019-20 Programme for Government and reaffirmed in the 2020-21 Programme for Go…

4 Dec 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what support is in place for women seeking asylum who are socially and digitally excluded.

Answer · Aileen Campbell: The New Scots refugee integration strategy recognises that women seeking asylum face particular challenges that can cause social isolation. The Scottish Government is providing nearly £1 million a year to third sector organisations for projects that support r…

4 Dec 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it supports the campaign aims of Five X More; what opportunities it considers there are for such work in Scotland; what information it has regarding the impact of race on women's health inequalities, and what plans it has for further data collection and analysis on this issue.

Answer · Joe FitzPatrick: The Scottish Government notes the work with interest of the Five X More campaign. In Scotland, maternity care is provided by multi-professional teams with quality and safety for all mothers and babies central to decision making. Clinical teams work in partner…

4 Dec 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what action it took in response to the MBRRACE-UK report published in 2018, which found that Black women were five times more likely to die in pregnancy and childbirth compared with White women, and that Asian women were three times more likely.

Answer · Joe FitzPatrick: I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-30234 on 20 July 2020. During the COVID-19 pandemic, following findings of the UK Obstetric Surveillance System, which found that 56% pregnant women admitted to hospital with SARS-CoV-2 infection in pregnancy …

4 Dec 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether its Women's Health Plan takes into account digital participation and inclusion, particularly in relation to accessing remote and online healthcare in the light of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Answer · Clare Haughey: The Women’s Health Plan is currently in development. The Scottish Government has seen a significant increase in uptake of remote and online services throughout the pandemic. The experiences of women, and clinicians, of arrangements put in place during the CO…

4 Dec 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what funding it made available in 2019-20 to organisations that support Black and African people in Scotland, particularly those supporting women and families affected by long-term health conditions and who are socially, economically and digitally excluded.

Answer · Christina McKelvie: The Scottish Government is committed to creating a fairer Scotland for all. In 2019-20 we allocated over £2.6m to organisations working to advance race equality. This funding has supported our minority ethnic communities to access vital services such as empl…

3 Dec 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government on what date the Carer's Allowance Supplement will be paid.

Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: The next Carer’s Allowance Supplement will be paid from 18 December, with the vast majority of payments being made on that date.

3 Dec 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government who will be responsible for identifying and contacting school pupils and staff should COVID-19 cases come to light immediately prior to or during the Christmas break, and what guidance has been issued to headteachers, school staff and trade unions on this.

Answer · John Swinney: We recognise the need to minimise school staff being required to support contact tracing activities over the holiday period. Public Health Scotland are working with local Health Protection teams and Directors of Education to put in place arrangements for each…

2 Dec 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the levels of scepticism regarding vaccine safety or efficacy, and what impact it anticipates this will have on the uptake of a COVID-19 vaccine.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: Following extensive research to determine motivations to vaccinate we launched a mass communication public health marketing campaign ‘Roll up your sleeves’ to promote the roll out of the vaccine programme, on 21 st January. The Roll Up Your Sleeves campaign w…