Anas Sarwar

20 Nov 2019 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Government when the health secretary last met the chief executive of NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde and what was discussed.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: I last met with the Chief Executive and Chair on Friday the 22nd of November 2019 to advise them of the Board's escalation to level 4.

18 Nov 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of oropharyngeal cancer rates in Scotland reportedly being the highest in the UK, are increasing, and are projected to increase further, whether it will introduce an HPV catch-up vaccination programme for boys.

Answer · Joe FitzPatrick: Vaccination policy in Scotland, as with the rest of the UK, is based on recommendations from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI). The JCVI has not recommended a catch-up approach for the HPV Boys programme at this time. As with all vac…

18 Nov 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will set out the advice it received from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation for the girls’ HPV vaccination programme prior to its introduction in 2008, and specifically whether it indicated that the programme should be implemented with a single school year of …

Answer · Joe FitzPatrick: The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) made a recommendation to introduce the HPV programme for girls on the 18 July 2008. The JCVI recommended a universal HPV vaccination programme for girls aged 12 to 13 years and a time-limited ‘catch u…

18 Nov 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has in place to publicise and promote the uptake of HPV vaccinations among S1 boys.

Answer · Joe FitzPatrick: NHS Health Scotland have produced a variety of resources to raise awareness of the extension of the HPV school immunisation programme to S1 boys. These include a new user-tested leaflet, parent letter and consent form, posters for schools and community settin…

18 Nov 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what specific advice from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation statement in July 2018 it used to decide that the boys' HPV vaccination programme should not be implemented via a catch-up vaccination programme.

Answer · Joe FitzPatrick: I asked Scotland’s Chief Medical Officer to write to the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation to seek their expert view on the policy of no HPV catch up programme for boys and the rationale behind this. The JCVI responded on 26 June confirming tha…

30 Oct 2019 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to publish an assessment of the possible economic impact on Scotland of it leaving the UK.

21 Oct 2019 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to review the eligibility criteria for the HPV vaccine.

25 Sep 2019 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to ScotRail failing to meet its customer satisfaction targets for the second year running.

11 Sep 2019 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government what the criteria will be for the allocation of funding for the pilot scheme for first-time buyers.

4 Sep 2019 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government what recent representations it has received from community representatives in Scotland regarding the conflict in Kashmir.

12 Jun 2019 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government when it last met Remembering Srebrenica Scotland and what was discussed.

29 May 2019 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on its discussions with the National Federation of SubPostmasters regarding the charging of non-domestic rates for external ATMs.

16 May 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what statutory support is offered to age-disputed unaccompanied asylum-seeking children who have had an age assessment in another part of the UK, been dispersed to Glasgow through the asylum dispersal system and go on to challenge the age assessment.

Answer · Aileen Campbell: Each Scottish local authority determines its own approach to the statutory support that it provides to unaccompanied asylum-seeking children which varies according to the particular circumstances of each case.   For a young person seeking asylum and chall…

16 May 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what procedures are in place within Scottish local authorities to support an unaccompanied asylum-seeking young person to challenge an age assessment that has been undertaken by another statutory agency in a different geographic location that determined that they are an adult when they m…

Answer · Aileen Campbell: I refer the member to the answer to S5W-23266 on 5 June 2019 . 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/28877.aspx…

16 May 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what procedures are in place within Scottish local authorities to undertake an age assessment of an unaccompanied asylum-seeking young person who has previously been age assessed by another statutory agency in a different geographic location and determined to be an adult when they mainta…

Answer · Aileen Campbell: Each Scottish local authority determines its own approach to age assessment and each case is taken on a case-by-case basis. The key principles are set out in the Scottish Government guidance: https://www.gov.scot/publications/age-assessment-practice-guidance…

8 May 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will publish the evaluation of the new clinical decision support system that it commissioned Dr Kathrin Cresswell of the University of Edinburgh to review.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: In line with the previous response given in question S5W-22530 on 24 April 2019., the Scottish Government commissioned the Digital Health and Care Institute (DHI) to lead on this work. It was the DHI that commissioned the University of Edinburgh to conduct th…

7 May 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what procedures local authorities follow to support young unaccompanied asylum seekers who have been dispersed to Scotland and who are challenging an age assessment on them that had been carried out in another part of the UK, and whether this includes the councils considering carrying ou…

Answer · Aileen Campbell: I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-23009 on 21 May 2019. 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…

7 May 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what statutory support it offers to young unaccompanied asylum seekers who have been dispersed to Scotland and who are challenging an age assessment on them that has been carried out in another part of the UK. 

Answer · Aileen Campbell: Where a child arrives in Scotland unaccompanied and separated from their family, they are safeguarded under the Children (Scotland) Act 1995 which affords them Looked After Children status and they have access to further services under the Children and Young …

1 May 2019 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the amount of reserves required for a new central bank in the event of a separate Scottish currency.

24 Apr 2019 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to research from Glasgow Caledonian University that suggests a tenfold increase in HIV infection rates among drug users in Glasgow.

23 Apr 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, following its pilot in NHS Lothian, what steps it is taking to support a national roll-out of the mental health screening programme for children with epilepsy.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: The PAVES – (Psychology Adding Value: Epilepsy Screening) project in NHS Lothian was awarded funding for two years from the Value Improvement Fund in October 2018. The purpose of this fund is to enable health boards to take forward initiatives which seek to d…

17 Apr 2019 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to prevent hospital acquired infections.

18 Mar 2019 · Topical Question

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to provide reassurance to communities in the wake of the Christchurch terrorist attack.

13 Mar 2019 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the ongoing dispute between lecturers and management at the City of Glasgow College.

12 Mar 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government by what date it will publish its hepatitis C elimination strategy, in light of the publication of the short-life working group report, Recommendations on Hepatitis C Virus Case Finding and Access to Care.

Answer · Joe FitzPatrick: The strategy is currently in development and will be set out as quickly as is practicable when it has been concluded.

11 Mar 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what the ratio of haematologists to patients is in each NHS board.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: It is the responsibility of Boards to determine appropriate numbers for each medical speciality in their Board, based on local priorities. However the most up to date published data to December 2018, which is held centrally, on the number of WTE haematology …

11 Mar 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many children are diagnosed with blood cancer, on average, each year.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: NHS National Services Scotland’s Information Services Division (ISD) supported by Scottish Government funding, collates this information. Number of Children Diagnosed with Blood Cancer in ScotlandYear Under 5 5-9 10-14 1992 26 10 5 1993 22 14 8 1…

11 Mar 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to improve early diagnosis of blood cancer.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: The Scottish Government is committed to early detection – this is reflected in our £42 million Detect Cancer Early (DCE) Programme. DCE’s latest social marketing campaign – Survivors – ran on TV, radio and digital channels across Scotland late 2018 to highlig…

22 Feb 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government which three reviews were approved by NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde in the week beginning 18 February 2019 in relation to the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital and the Royal Hospital for Children.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: In a paper submitted to the board of NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde (GGC), the Health Board set out the three main elements of the work that they are undertaking to assess the overall position at Queen Elizabeth University Hospital (QEUH) and the Royal Hospita…

23 Jan 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the impact of 5G mobile communication on public health.

Answer · Joe FitzPatrick: The Scottish Government receives evidence based advice on the health effects of 5G networks from Public Health England (PHE). PHE has the expertise to assess the scientific literature available on this topic. The current evidence suggests that overall exposur…