Annie Wells

13 Mar 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what data on race and ethnicity it collects, and how this is made public.

Answer · Christina McKelvie: The Scottish Government collects and publishes a wide range of data on race and ethnicity across a number of policy areas, including the labour market, education, health, justice and others. The data on ethnic group is normally published initially within indi…

13 Mar 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on using external bodies to assist with its monitoring of race and ethnic disparity.

Answer · Christina McKelvie: The Scottish Government are open to engaging with external bodies to shape the data used for monitoring race and ethnic disparity. A range of race equality partner organisations were invited to contribute to Scotland’s Equality Evidence Strategy and to shape …

12 Mar 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-20987 by Clare Haughey on 17 January 2019, whether policy officials have completed processing and collating information relating to the recruitment of mental health workers.

Answer · Clare Haughey: Based on the information received from the Integration Authorities in respect of the first quarterly update on Action 15, 106 additional mental health workers have been recruited as of 1 January 2019. The settings these workers are based in are as follows: A…

11 Mar 2019 · Topical Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reports that the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital faces a repair bill of up to £50 million.

7 Mar 2019 · SPCB Oral Question

To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body whether it will carry out a review of the car park booking system.

6 Mar 2019 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to publish an up-to-date timetable for the introduction of legislation included in its Programme for Government.

11 Feb 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to improve mental health service provision for autistic people, in light of a recent survey by the Autistic Mutual Aid Society, which indicated that a quarter of people were denied this support because they are autistic.

Answer · Clare Haughey: The Scottish Government is absolutely committed to improving the lives of autistic people in Scotland through The Scottish Strategy for Autism and values the involvement of autistic people in the strategies planning and decision. Local provision of mental he…

11 Feb 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to improve mental health support for farmers.

Answer · Clare Haughey: The Scottish Government made a clear commitment to improving mental health provision including specifically those in rural areas through the Mental Health Strategy published in 2017 and Better Mental Health in Scotland: PfG delivery plan published in 2018. T…

8 Feb 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on when the responses to its consultation on a female genital mutilation (FGM) bill will be published.

Answer · Christina McKelvie: The consultation closed on 18 January 2019 and we have received 75 responses. These responses are currently in the process of being analysed and we will publish the results in due course.

6 Feb 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many people in each NHS board area have received treatment for an eating disorder in each year since 2016-17.

Answer · Clare Haughey: The analysis provided contains information on the number of individuals discharged from NHS hospitals after being admitted with eating disorder diagnoses, broken down by health board of treatment and financial year from 2016-17 to 2017-18. As the figures do n…

5 Feb 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to figures published by Information Services Division (ISD), which record 46.7% of new dementia diagnoses being referred for automatic 12-month support packages, and what action it is taking to increase this figure.

Answer · Clare Haughey: The Scottish Government continues to take national action to support local partnerships in improving the number of referrals into and the quality of post-diagnostic support services, as part of the 2017-2020 National Dementia Strategy. This includes action to…

25 Jan 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what it will do to improve cancer treatment waiting times in NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, in light of it reportedly being the worst performing NHS board for the 31-day target and the second worst for the 62-day target.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: Latest published data from ISD show that NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde narrowly missed the 31 day (95%) standard in Q3 2018 (July - Sept) with 94.8% of patients receiving treatment within 31 days of a decision to treat with an average wait of seven days (abov…

25 Jan 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking in relation to statistics in the Royal College of Radiologists report, The breast imaging and diagnostic workforce in the United Kingdom, which state that 20% of breast radiologists in Scotland are expected to retire between 2015 and 2025.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: Numbers of clinical radiology consultants in NHSScotland have increased in this government by 45.4%: from 223.5 WTE in September 2006 to 325.0 WTE as at September 2018. We have also enhanced the supply of doctors to fill radiology training posts, with 26 new…

25 Jan 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking in relation to the statistics in the ISD publication, Cancer Incidence Projections for Scotland 2013-2027, which show that the number of new cases of female breast cancer is projected to increase by 27% between 2008-12 and 2023-27, from just over 22,400 cases to …

Answer · Jeane Freeman: We are committed to improving the prevention, detection, diagnosis, treatment and aftercare for all people living in Scotland who are affected by any form of cancer. This is reflected in our £100 million, 5 year national cancer strategy, ‘Beating Cancer: Ambi…

22 Jan 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the HM Inspectorate of Constabulary in Scotland report, Progress Review of Provision of Forensic Medical Services to Victims of Sexual Crime, what progress is being made with relocating the Archway service to alternative premises in Glasgow city centre.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: The Chief Medical Officer for Scotland chairs a Taskforce set up to provide national leadership for the improvement of healthcare and forensic medical examination services for people who have experienced rape and sexual assault. Following a rigorous options …

22 Jan 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5T-01442 by Jeane Freeman on 22 January 2019 (Official Report, c.3), in light of the announcement of the review into the reported multiple problems at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital; who will carry out the review out; what its scope will be, a…

Answer · Jeane Freeman: I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-21250 on? 25 January 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/parliamentarybusines…

15 Jan 2019 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government how it promotes active travel.

15 Jan 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reports that more than £15 million was spent by Glasgow City Council on supply teachers in 2017-18, which represented a £1.5 million increase on the previous year.

Answer · John Swinney: The recruitment and deployment of teachers is a matter for local authorities and it is for them to determine what best suits their local needs. We value the important contribution that all teachers make to the education of our children and young people. Supp…

15 Jan 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-20711 by Clare Haughey on 8 January 2019, by what date the update on recruitment will be provided.

Answer · Clare Haughey: As referred to in my answer to question S5W-20711, a reporting template was issued to all the Integration Authorities in December for completion. Policy officials are currently in the process of receiving and collating this information. I expect to be able t…

7 Jan 2019 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the findings of a recent survey by WWF Scotland, how it supports small businesses to prepare for the risks posed by climate change.

19 Dec 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-18352 by Clare Haughey on 20 September 2018, whether it will confirm how many of the 800 additional mental health workers that it committed to recruiting in its mental health strategy have been appointed.

Answer · Clare Haughey: We have recently agreed a reporting framework with the Chief Officers of Integration Authorities on the development of this commitment and who are recruiting the additional mental health workers for their areas. The reporting framework involves quarterly upd…

19 Dec 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the recommendation by the Children & Young People's Mental Health Taskforce to reduce the waiting time target for child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) from 18 to 12 weeks.

Answer · Clare Haughey: The Children and Young People’s Mental Health Taskforce Delivery Plan set out its intention to develop a reduction in CAMHS waiting times to within 12 weeks for assessment and start of treatment, by 100% service as a measure. The Scottish Government will cons…

17 Dec 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the report in The Herald on 15 December 2018 that spending on public health campaigns has fallen by two-thirds since 2010 to just over £1 million, and whether it plans to increase such expenditure.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: Over the last 10 years, robust evaluation and subsequent learnings from campaigns has allowed us to become more efficient and cost effective in targeting and reaching our audiences. Also, over that period, more of our audiences are now online, meaning we’ve b…

13 Dec 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what action it will take in response to the recent Mental Welfare Commission report, which shows a rising number of young people with mental illness are being treated in non-specialist wards, from 66 admissions in 2016-17 to 90 admissions in 2017-18.

Answer · Clare Haughey: We welcome the publication of this annual report from the Mental Welfare Commission. The report’s findings are always of great help to our work to improve services for children and young people. We agree with the report’s recommendations to improve the effic…

12 Dec 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to recommendations made by the Wessely review of the Mental Health Act 1983, and how this might impact on the Mental Health (Care and Treatment) (Scotland) Act 2003, particularly regarding the rights of patients to be given more opportunities to challenge detention a…

Answer · Clare Haughey: The Wessely Review recommends many of the aspects which are already provided for in Scotland’s existing mental health legislation. The Mental Health (Care and Treatment) (Scotland) Act 2003 is based on rights and principles and provides safeguards which inclu…

11 Dec 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what action it has taken to implement the recommendation that was made by the Health and Sport Committee in its 2017 report, Healthcare in Prisons, which suggested that national health workforce data staffing numbers should be recorded separately for prisons.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: The Scottish Government's Health and Social Care in Prisons Programme has commissioned NHS Information Services Division to develop a dashboard for healthcare in prisons, which will be in place by Spring 2019 which will cover existing data held by ISD in rela…

11 Dec 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many nursing vacancies there are across the Scottish Prison Service.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: The requested information is not centrally held by ISD. Information on NHSScotland nursing and midwifery vacancies in prisons are collected and published within Public Health Nursing vacancies. As such, it is not possible to identify nursing vacancies specif…

11 Dec 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to the second supplementary to question S5O-02673 by Jeanne Freeman on 12 December 2018 (Official Report, c. 7), how many times in each of the last five years has NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde been unable to staff out-of-hours GP services.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: This information is not held centrally. The member should contact the Board direct for this information. NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde operate the out of hours service from 9 centres across the region as well as a home visiting service. There are occasions whe…

11 Dec 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to the second supplementary to question S5O-02673 by Jeanne Freeman on 12 December 2018 (Official Report, c. 7), what action it is taking in response to the report in the Evening Times on 11 December 2018 that NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde was unable to staff out-o…

Answer · Jeane Freeman: I am aware that the out of hours service at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital was temporarily closed between 1800 and 2400 on 1 December. This was due to staff shortages. Whilst I expect NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde to take every measure possible to e…

10 Dec 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on reports that NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde decided not to inform patients who underwent surgery using implements processed at Cowlairs Decontamination Unit after the plant lost its approval.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: The issues at Cowlairs were not related to the sterilisation of the equipment and therefore no risk to patients that had already been treated. The Scottish Government was content that the Board acted quickly following the closure of the Decontamination Unit a…