Parliamentary questions

Monica Lennon

3,484 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.

12 Aug 2020 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government what impact the COVID-19 pandemic has had on the work of NHS preparations for the end of the Brexit transitionary period.

10 Aug 2020 · Topical Question

To ask the Scottish Government when it will begin talks with trade unions regarding NHS staff pay and conditions.

28 Jul 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether charitable organisations such as drop-in centres that provide hot meals and supplies for those who need it are expected to follow the hospitality guidelines for safe reopening, or whether a more specific update will be issued.

Answer · Fergus Ewing: Charitable organisations providing hot meals and supplies for those who need it should follow appropriate COVID-19 infection prevention and control guidelines which apply to the catering/food service sector. Food Standards Scotland has published a guidance pa…

27 Jul 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what safeguards it is putting in place to ensure that NHS boards and integration authorities are involving people with arthritis as services are resumed, as per their statutory duties.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: Robust arrangements for public engagement are in place for both NHS Boards and Integration Authorities. Health Boards are subject to the public involvement duties set out in the NHS Reform (Scotland) Act 2004 and the national CEL 4 (2010) guidance on “Inform…

27 Jul 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether future guidance to NHS boards can include reference to the statutory duty to involve patients in service delivery.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: There is already national guidance to support NHS Boards to fulfil their public involvement duties under the NHS Reform (Scotland) Act 2004. The CEL 4 (2010) guidance to NHS Boards, “Informing, Engaging and Consulting People in Developing Health and Communit…

27 Jul 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how it will ensure that there is representation of people with arthritis and their supporters on its Mobilisation Recovery Group.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: The Mobilisation Recovery Group, which I chair, is an advisory group established under Re-mobilise, Recover, Re-design: the Framework for NHS Scotland ( https://www.gov.scot/publications/re-mobilise-recover-re-design-framework-nhs-scotland/ ) to generate ke…

23 Jul 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the holding answer to question S5W-29031 by Jeane Freeman on 29 May 2020, when it will provide a substantive answer, and for what reason it has not provided this to date.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: Ministers will always endeavour to answer Parliamentary Questions as quickly as possible. In this instance, the Scottish Government awaited information from HM Treasury to be able to answer the question as fully as possible. When it was clear that updated fi…

20 Jul 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will publish the evidence it used to determine that 20 people are permitted to attend a funeral service, while 50 are permitted to attend other church services in the same location with the same safety measures in place.

Answer · Joe FitzPatrick: Funerals are highly emotional and incredibly difficult events in our lifetimes. They are unique and intimate. Unlike most other gatherings, those in attendance are likely to know or be close to many others in attendance. Because of this, it is much more likel…

15 Jul 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to support people with diabetes who are at increased risk from COVID-19, and whether it is considering any additional protections on their returning to work, as well as on the return of other groups of people who are shielding.

Answer · Joe FitzPatrick: The Scottish Government appreciates returning to work will be a worrying time for people living with an underlying health condition, such as diabetes. The health and wellbeing of individuals, communities and the economy is the priority of the Scottish Govern…

14 Jul 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what the hospital occupancy rate has been in each week since the NHS was placed on an emergency footing on 17 March 2020, broken down by (a) hospital and (b) NHS board, and what the rate was during the same period in 2019.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: Public Health Scotland publish data on bed occupancy on a quarterly basis. They have pre-announced that Acute Hospital Activity and Beds data to end March 2020, is scheduled for publication in September 2020 and that quarterly data for April to June 2020 is s…

13 Jul 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what action it has taken in response to its COVID-19 Advisory Group stating that young people are the group that "will be most impacted by long term non-covid impacts".

Answer · John Swinney: We know that there are likely to be a range of non-COVID impacts of the pandemic on our young people, including on their mental health and wellbeing, learning, employment prospects and increased levels of poverty. As we begin to understand the issues in more …

13 Jul 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to ensure that appropriate data is available quickly in order to target local COVID-19 spikes.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: As Scotland transitions to the next phase of the COVID-19 pandemic, we are implementing a responsive system of community surveillance for COVID-19 direct and indirect impacts at national, regional and local level. This will help to minimise the spread of COVI…

13 Jul 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will establish a third sector recovery and renewal fund for third sector health and care organisations in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: The Scottish Government recognised that the Covid-19 pandemic has had a major impact on the third sector and that is why we launched the £25 million Third Sector Resilience Fund (TSRF). This fund was part of a wider £350 million emergency coronavirus funding.…

10 Jul 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on giving relatives and friends of care home residents the equivalent of key worker status and access to COVID-19 testing to enable them to actively contribute to residents' care and support, in light of the reported concerns by charities of a "hidden catastrophe" in…

Answer · Jeane Freeman: The Scottish Government recognises how hard it has been for care home residents and their friends and relatives not to have regular face to face contact during the pandemic. The decision to restrict visitors was not taken lightly and was informed by scientifi…

7 Jul 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it has taken to ensure that there is an adequate supply of PPE for health, social care and other key workers to prepare for any further COVID-19 outbreak.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: Procurement provisions are in place to ensure there is sufficient PPE for the current outbreak of Covid-19, including for the possibility of a second wave. Scotland has maintained and built up stocks of PPE via procurement on the international markets, as wel…

7 Jul 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to reduce drug-related deaths linked with benzodiazepines.

Answer · Joe FitzPatrick: The harms caused by the use of benzodiazepines in Scotland is a serious concern, especially as evidence indicates that the number of deaths involving them has increased over recent years. The Drug Deaths Taskforce is focused on ensuring that drug treatment se…

7 Jul 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Sport has had with NHS boards, care providers and trade unions regarding the quality of PPE distributed to workers in health and social care settings regarding the COVID-19 pandemic response.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: I have met with interested parties on matters relating to the provision of PPE throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. These include meetings with unions, and where appropriate health boards and care sector representatives.

7 Jul 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what information it has regarding how many children have lost a parent or parental figure in each of the last five years due to drug-related deaths.

Answer · Joe FitzPatrick: The latest information is available on the Public Health Scotland website in Table 5b of the National Drug-Related Deaths Database publication tables at https://beta.isdscotland.org/media/1502/2018-06-12-ndrdd-tables.xlsx . The data in the table show annua…

7 Jul 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what progress is being made with delivery of its strategy for responding to loneliness and social isolation, A Connected Scotland; what work is being carried out by the national implementation group, and whether it will publish the group’s minutes.

Answer · Christina McKelvie: The Scottish Government has significantly reoriented our work to address the urgent needs that Covid 19 has brought. As part of this, we have continued to work with the Social Isolation and Loneliness National Implementation Group on issues that are impacting…

7 Jul 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what impact lockdown has had on access to sexual health services.

Answer · Joe FitzPatrick: From 20 March 2020, due to the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, sexual health services were necessarily limited to urgent and essential care only during lockdown. Significant efforts have been made to maintain care provision to meet public health priorities…

2 Jul 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the reported findings of a fatal accident inquiry that unsafe staffing levels contributed to the suicide of a patient at the Royal Edinburgh Hospital on 4 April 2014, and what action it has taken to ensure that all hospital wards have sufficient staff to maintain …

Answer · Clare Haughey: The Scottish Government were concerned to read the findings of this tragic incident. NHS Lothian have accepted the findings of the Fatal Accident Inquiry and have confirmed that a number of actions have taken place since 2014 to improve the number of staff in…

1 Jul 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what efforts have been made to source transparent face coverings for use in health and social care settings to aid communication for patients and staff who are deaf or have hearing loss.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: The Scottish Government has been working with partners to explore options for transparent masks and face coverings. Currently, there are no commercially available transparent masks that are certified for use in clinical settings. However, £50,000 of funding f…

1 Jul 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment has been made of the implications of its guidance on the use of face coverings for people who are deaf or have hearing loss.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: In developing its advice on face coverings, the Scottish Government took account of equality issues and advice from national disability stakeholders. People do not have to wear a face covering if they have a health condition or they are disabled. Additionall…