Parliamentary questions
Annie Wells
659 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.
15 Aug 2017 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to recent drug-related death figures, which reportedly show an increase by almost a quarter between 2015 and 2016 and that Scotland's drugs death rate is two and a half times that of the rest of the UK.
Answer · Aileen Campbell: Each drug related death is a tragedy for the individual, their family and the wider community. Unfortunately, there is a general trend of increasing drug related deaths across the UK and many parts of Europe. This is predominantly being driven by an older coh…
15 Aug 2017 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what its assessment is of recent figures that reportedly show methadone contributed to 42% of drug-related deaths in 2016.
Answer · Aileen Campbell: We are clear that any death related to substance use is a tragedy and we will continue to do all we can to prevent others from experiencing similar heartbreak. Evidence supports the view that methadone remains a central component of the treatment for opiate …
4 Aug 2017 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how the three aims of its public education campaign on hate crime were chosen; whether other aims were considered; whether it intends to evaluate the effectiveness of the campaign, and, if so, which measures will be used.
Answer · Angela Constance: Our Independent Advisory Group on Hate Crime, Prejudice and Community Cohesion found that the public are not clear what is meant by hate crime and therefore many instances of hate crime can go unreported. We are working in partnership with stakeholders to dev…
4 Aug 2017 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many schools directly employ counsellors to be based on school premises.
Answer · John Swinney: The Scottish Government does not hold this information.
4 Aug 2017 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether the recently announced £35 million for mental health professionals in A&Es, GP surgeries and other settings is a one-off or recurring budget item.
Answer · Shona Robison: Action 15 in the Mental Health Strategy 2017-27 commits the Scottish Government to increase the workforce to give access to dedicated mental health professionals to all A&Es, all GP practices, every police station custody suite, and to our prisons. To deliver…
4 Aug 2017 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will publish a costed, timetabled delivery plan, setting out which bodies will undertake action and what the expected outcomes are, to support the implementation of its Mental Health Strategy and, if so, when.
Answer · Maureen Watt: The new Mental Health Strategy contains an initial set of 40 Actions. Each action is intended to tackle a specific issue and, in this way, the Strategy will make a positive and meaningful difference to people with mental health issues. Action 39 of the Strat…
4 Aug 2017 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-08740 by Maureen Watt on 27 April 2017, when the full summary of progress made by the Mental Health Strategy 2012-15 will be published.
Answer · Maureen Watt: The full summary of progress made by the Mental Health Strategy 2012-15 has now been published on the Scottish Government website at the following link: http://www.gov.scot/Topics/Health/Services/Mental-Health/Strategy/MHSSummary
3 Aug 2017 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what impact (a) the reported resignation of seven school nurses taking part in pilots in Perth and Kinross and Dumfries and Galloway and (b) reports that many nurses do not feel equipped to deal with the number of children coming forward with mental health issues, will have on its trial …
Answer · Shona Robison: School nurses are valued members of the nursing workforce and the Scottish Government remains committed to their vital contribution to improving the health and wellbeing of children, young people and families. NHS Dumfries & Galloway and NHS Tayside advised …
3 Aug 2017 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what its assessment is of reported figures by the National Records of Scotland that state that the number of people in Scotland dying from Alzheimer's and dementia has more than doubled to 5,571 since 2000.
Answer · Maureen Watt: In Scotland the number of people with a diagnosis of dementia - including Alzheimer’s disease - and the number of people dying of dementia has risen as our population ages, and the rates of diagnosis have improved partly due to a greater awareness of getting …
3 Aug 2017 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what its assessment is of a BBC investigation that highlighted that three NHS boards had patients who waited more than three years to be discharged from acute mental health units.
Answer · Shona Robison: The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring that no-one is inappropriately delayed in hospital and we continue to drive improvements through local Integration Authorities. However, the long delays highlighted by the BBC are not awaiting mainstream care …
26 Jul 2017 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what specific funding has been allocated in 2017-18 to organisations that provide support for male victims of sexual abuse.
Answer · Michael Matheson: The Scottish Government provides funding to a wide range of organisations that provide support for male victims of sexual abuse, both in terms of specific services for victims of sexual abuse and more general victim support services. Support for Victims of …
26 Jul 2017 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how information about pupil access to mental health services is recorded in light of the comment in The Scotsman on 26 July 2017, that "The Scottish Government say that a mental health link person is available for every school to access but it is not a specific job title and the role may…
Answer · Maureen Watt: This information is not gathered centrally. Awareness of child and adolescent mental health in schools has been improved by, amongst other things, our commitment to encouraging the establishment of explicit links between schools and child and adolescent ment…
25 Jul 2017 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking in response to the recent finding by Audit Scotland that male students are still not choosing courses traditionally seen as attracting more female students, such as social work, health, hairdressing and beauty.
Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: In response to Developing the Young Workforce: Scotland’s Youth Employment Strategy, the Scottish Funding Council (SFC) developed a Gender Action Plan (GAP) to address gender imbalance at subject level in colleges and universities. The GAP was published in A…
20 Jul 2017 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-10074 by Shona Robison on 27 July 2017, whether the £2.85 million of additional funding announced in June 2017 was new funding or whether it was allocated from the £100 million cancer plan announced in March 2016.
Answer · Shona Robison: The Scottish Government continues to support improved cancer access performance across NHS Scotland. Our Cancer Strategy commits to investing an additional £2 million per annum in a new Diagnostics Fund to support swift access to diagnostics for people with …
20 Jul 2017 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-10074 by Shona Robison on 27 July 2017, how the £2.85 million of additional funding released in June 2017 will be distributed between NHS boards.
Answer · Shona Robison: The Scottish Government continues to support improved cancer access performance across NHS Scotland. £2.85m funding was distributed to NHS boards in June 2017 using the Scottish Resource Allocation Formula.
20 Jul 2017 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many people attended A&E departments in each year since 2011-12 where the primary diagnosis was a psychiatric condition.
Answer · Shona Robison: There is variation and incompleteness in the recording of diagnoses in A&E. This means that it is not possible to produce accurate national reporting of trends in attendances due to psychiatric conditions. In 2016-17, around 3.8% of those attendances with a v…
20 Jul 2017 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many people in each NHS board are being prescribed antidepressants.
Answer · Maureen Watt: The Information and Statistics Division (ISD) annual report “Prescribing in Mental Health” provides summary information on antidepressant use in Scottish Health Boards. This report is published online, the latest report was published on 4 October 2016 and is …
20 Jul 2017 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what its estimated funding will be for mental health services in the current parliamentary session.
Answer · Maureen Watt: The Scottish Government made a commitment that the Scottish budget 2017-18 deliver investment in mental health that exceeds £1 billion for the first time, and will in future years grow at a rate above the overall growth in the frontline NHS budget.
20 Jul 2017 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many mental health link workers will be recruited by the end of 2017, and whether they will be included in its commitment to employing 800 additional mental health workers.
Answer · Maureen Watt: The Scottish Government has committed to recruiting an additional 250 Community Links Workers (CLWs) in practices in deprived areas with 40 in place by September 2017. The rollout will be phased until 2021. CLWs connect people to non-medical sources of suppor…
13 Jul 2017 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what consultations have taken place regarding the proposed safe drug consumption facility in Glasgow.
Answer · Shona Robison: Proposals for a combined safer drug consumption and heroin assisted treatment facility are matters for authorities in Glasgow to take forward at this time. Scottish Ministers have encouraged Glasgow’s Health and Social Care Partnership to consult sensitively …
13 Jul 2017 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on how a potential legal exemption from national drug laws for the proposed safe drug consumption facility in Glasgow might work in practice.
Answer · Shona Robison: On 16 June 2017, senior officials from Glasgow’s Health and Social Care Partnership wrote to the Lord Advocate in connection with their safer consumption proposals. A written response to this correspondence will be provided in due course.
13 Jul 2017 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what discussions have taken place between the Cabinet Secretary for Justice and the Crown Office regarding the proposed safe drug consumption facility in Glasgow.
Answer · Shona Robison: On 28th June 2017, I met the Lord Advocate, the Solicitor General and the Minister for Community Safety and Legal Affairs, to discuss Glasgow Health and Social Care Partnership’s safer drug consumption and heroin assisted treatment proposals.
13 Jul 2017 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to encourage (a) more girls into taking STEM subjects at school and (b) non-STEM female students and graduates to consider technology-related careers.
Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: Improving gender equality is a priority for this Government and we are addressing the under-representation of girls and women in STEM subject courses and careers. Our STEM Education, Training and Lifelong Learning Strategy, to be finalised later this year, wi…
13 Jul 2017 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what its response to statistics that suggest that women account for 18% of digital technology jobs in Scotland.
Answer · Jamie Hepburn: The Scottish Government recognises that there is a significant gender imbalance within this sector, this is a global issue across STEM professions that all major economies are attempting to tackle. We are not complacent however and we know we must continue to…
11 Jul 2017 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what action it will take to assist NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde to improve Emergency Department waiting time figures at the Glasgow Royal Infirmary, where for the week commencing 2 July 2017 only 83.6% of patients were reportedly seen within four hours.
Answer · Shona Robison: The Scottish Governments National Unscheduled Care Team is working closely with the local teams across NHS GG&C, including the Glasgow Royal Infirmary (GRI), to support the implementation of the six essential actions work. We have recently been supporting th…
10 Jul 2017 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-09861 by Maureen Watt on 10 July 2017, what guidance it provides to NHS boards on (a) minimum staffing levels in mental health facilities and (b) attracting health care professionals to roles in mental health facilities.
Answer · Maureen Watt: As stated in response to S5W-09861, it is for each NHS Board to decide best how to utilise resources while taking account of priorities to meet local health needs. We expect NHS Boards to plan their facilities and workforce to deliver these services, ensuring…
10 Jul 2017 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many children and young people with mental health problems have been treated in England in each of the last three years for secure inpatient care (non-forensic) as a result of a lack of facilities in Scotland.
Answer · Maureen Watt: National Services Division (NSD) funds placements of children and young people with mental health disorders who require specialist care. The following figures are for patients with a mental health diagnosis including autism and learning disabilities who have …
10 Jul 2017 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many children and young people with mental health problems have been treated in England in each of the last three years as a result of a lack of forensic CAMHS inpatient facilities in Scotland.
Answer · Maureen Watt: National Services Division (NSD) funds placements of children and young people with mental health disorders who require specialist care. The following figures are for patients with a mental health diagnosis including autism and learning disabilities who have …
6 Jul 2017 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reported comments by the Chief Executive of Scottish Care that laws on self-directed support are routinely being ignored.
Answer · Aileen Campbell: The Social Care (Self-directed Support) (Scotland) Act 2013 represents a long-term, challenging transformation in how Scotland plans and delivers social care and, as such, is taking time to fully embed. The Scottish Government continues its role to support a…
3 Jul 2017 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to make the recording of reliable data by NHS boards on where mental health patients are being treated a statutory requirement.
Answer · Maureen Watt: Scottish Government expects Health Boards and Integration Authorities to ensure adequate mental health care and treatment is available for their populations. This applies to community and hospital treatment. Generally these are provided as locally as possible…