Michelle Ballantyne

31 Oct 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to Audit Scotland's comment that "the Scottish Government has not yet adequately estimated what impact increasing and changing demand for services could have on the workforce or skills required to meet this need".

Answer · Shona Robison: Part 1 of the National Health and Social Care Workforce Plan published on 28 June 2017 is clear on the need to project the future supply and demand of the NHSScotland workforce, using scenario planning to factor in future population demand and workforce suppl…

31 Oct 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to Audit Scotland's comments that the "Scottish Government and health boards have not planned effectively for the long term" and that responsibility for health planning is "confused".

Answer · Shona Robison: I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-12300 on 20 November 2017. 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…

31 Oct 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to tackle workforce challenges facing the NHS arising from (a) meeting the demands of an ageing population and (b) its reported (i) recruitment and retention difficulties, (ii) ageing workforce and (iii) greater use of temporary staff.

Answer · Shona Robison: Part 1 of the National Health and Social Care Workforce Plan published on 28 June 2017 made specific recommendations on strengthening available NHSScotland workforce data; The Plan commits to increasing training places for nurses and midwives by a further 1,6…

31 Oct 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how it has adapted its approach to workforce planning to accommodate the reported increased complexity arising from the integration of health and social care and regional and national planning arrangements.

Answer · Shona Robison: The Scottish Government published Part 1 of the National Health and Social Care Workforce Plan on 28 June 2017. This makes specific recommendations in key areas to strengthen national, regional and local improvements to NHS workforce planning. Parts 2 and 3…

31 Oct 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the comment by Audit Scotland that there is a "potential funding gap" in the estimated £2 billion required for NHS boards’ capital programmes.

Answer · Shona Robison: We will develop a medium term financial framework by February 2018 to support national, regional and local financial planning for the next 5 years.

31 Oct 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the comment by Audit Scotland that there is "no national capital investment strategy underpinning plans to move more care into the community".

Answer · Shona Robison: We will develop a medium term financial framework by February 2018 to support national, regional and local financial planning for the next 5 years.

31 Oct 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how it measures the impact of community healthcare on demand for acute services.

Answer · Shona Robison: Within our Health and Social Care Delivery Plan we aim to reduce occupied bed days by 10 percent (around 400,000 bed days) by reducing avoidable admissions, delays and inappropriate long stay delays in hospital. The Scottish Government has funded NHS Nation…

31 Oct 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how it will ensure that increasing the supply of community services does not affect the supply of acute services.

Answer · Shona Robison: Integration Authorities' strategic commissioning plans set out how they intend to deliver care appropriate to people's needs in their localities, including any plans to shift provision of care from institutional to community settings. Strategic commissioning …

31 Oct 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether the Health and Social Care Delivery Plan will be funded by (a) reducing spending on acute services in order to move funding into the community or (b) investing more money in the community to develop and establish new models of care while maintaining broadly consistent spending on…

Answer · Shona Robison: I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-12337 on 20 November 2017. 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…

31 Oct 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how existing funding will be used differently in the next five years to deliver health and social care in new ways, and in what areas this will be (a) spent and (b) no longer spent.

Answer · Shona Robison: The Health and Social Care Delivery Plan, published 19 December 2016, affirms that there will be a shift in the balance of care from hospital to community care settings, and to individual homes when that is the best thing to do. By 2021-22 more than half of f…

31 Oct 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what progress it is making in developing a financial framework to illustrate how moving healthcare from acute settings into communities will be funded.

Answer · Shona Robison: I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-12302 on 20 November 2017. 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…

31 Oct 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the comment by Audit Scotland that the Health and Social Care Delivery Plan "does not set out in detail how the changes described in it will be achieved".

Answer · Shona Robison: I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-12334 on 20 November 2017. 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…

31 Oct 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to ensure that fundamental changes to the healthcare system are overseen by what Audit Scotland describes as a "robust governance framework".

Answer · Shona Robison: An overall programme plan was agreed with the Delivery Plan National Programme Board in August 2017, mapping the work currently underway with detail on specific actions, targets, timescales and key milestones. This included a programme plan and regular monito…

31 Oct 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how it balances person-centred care and the minimisation of variation in the provision of care.

Answer · Shona Robison: The Chief Medical Officer’s second annual report, Realising Realistic Medicine sets out the need to strengthen relationships between professionals and individuals, with the person at the centre of all decisions and the need to tackle unwarranted variation. Th…

31 Oct 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on all NHS boards adopting NHS (a) Borders’ initiative of putting posters in its facilities asking patients to think ahead about the questions that they should ask doctors and (b) Forth Valley's standardisation of diabetic footcare, which aims to reduce variation.

Answer · Shona Robison: The Chief Medical Officer’s vision is that by 2025, all healthcare professionals will demonstrate realistic medicine principles and values through their professionalism. The posters that have been developed and displayed by NHS Borders support one of the key…

31 Oct 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government,in light of the comments by Audit Scotland, how it measures progress of realistic medicine in the context of (a) reducing waste, (b) reducing unwarranted variation and (c) creating a personalised approach to care, and how it ensures that its approach is robust and accurate.

Answer · Shona Robison: The Chief Medical Officer’s vision is that by 2025, all healthcare professionals will demonstrate Realistic Medicine principles and values through their professionalism. Delivery of the CMO’s vision will not happen overnight. The desired change in culture wi…

31 Oct 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how it ensures that NHS boards publish draft accounts that are accurate and based on complete financial data.

Answer · Shona Robison: Unlike local authorities and integration authorities, NHS Boards do not publish draft accounts. NHS Boards publish their annual accounts once the accounts have been audited and laid before the Scottish Parliament. All NHS Boards received an unqualified audit…

31 Oct 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to Audit Scotland's finding that some integration authorities submitted late financial information to NHS boards for the 2016-17 accounts process and that this could not be included in the draft accounts.

Answer · Shona Robison: All Boards were able to obtain the necessary financial information from the relevant integration authorities for inclusion in the final accounts. All Boards received an unqualified audit opinion for the 2016-17 annual accounts. It is important to note that 2…

31 Oct 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what progress is being made in the development of clinical governance processes by integration authorities and NHS boards.

Answer · Shona Robison: The Scottish Government has published a clinical care governance framework as part of the suite of statutory guidance for Integration Authorities. In 2018 we will be working with stakeholders who are delivering arrangements locally to learn from their experie…

31 Oct 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to improve the data regarding health inequalities in the context of (a) disability, (b) gender identity, (c) religion and (d) sexual orientation.

Answer · Shona Robison: The Scottish Government Equality Evidence Strategy, published on 18 July 2017, identifies evidence gaps across policy areas for all protected characteristics and sets out its general approach to filling these. Over the four year period of the strategy, the S…

31 Oct 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on how Scotland's mortality rate from (a) cancer and (b) heart disease compares with the rest of the UK.

Answer · Shona Robison: Statistics published by Information and Statistics Division (ISD) Scotland on 21 February 2017 show that the mortality rate for heart disease had fallen 37.6% per cent between 2006 and 2015. ISD statistics for cancer mortality, published on 31 October 2017 al…

31 Oct 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to improve morale among nurses and to tackle any workload pressures that they face.

Answer · Shona Robison: The welfare of NHS staff is critically important, every health board is required to have policies in place and to comply with national policies on managing health at work, which includes activity to support staff wellbeing. Scotland has led the UK in the dev…

31 Oct 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to improve morale among GPs and to tackle any workload pressures that they face.

Answer · Shona Robison: The Scottish Government and the BMA have negotiated a new contract (published 13 November) which will help to improve GP morale and tackle workload pressures. Details of the new contract offer can be found at http://www.gov.scot/Topics/Health/Services/Primary…

31 Oct 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its response to the finding in the national inpatient experience survey that 39% of the people surveyed said that they felt they were not involved in decisions about their care or treatment as much as they would have liked.

Answer · Shona Robison: The Chief Medical Officer’s reports, Realistic Medicine and Realising Realistic Medicine, seek to put the person receiving healthcare at the centre of decision-making and create a personalised approach to their care. Realistic medicine aims to reduce harm, wa…

31 Oct 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the finding in the national inpatient experience survey that 20% of the people surveyed said that they experienced problems while in hospital, including infections, sepsis, bedsores and falls.

Answer · Shona Robison: The Scottish Government’s position on patient safety is very clear – it is, and will remain, of paramount importance. The Healthcare Quality Strategy for NHSScotland has three quality ambitions to provide safe, effective, person-centred care. The Scottish P…

31 Oct 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the comment by Audit Scotland that NHS boards’ efforts to meet short-term targets, including recruiting additional staff and redesigning processes and services, "do not necessarily demonstrate value for money in achieving the longer term aims and objectives of the…

Answer · Shona Robison: The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring that NHSScotland delivers high quality services and improved outcomes for patients. The Modern Outpatient Programme and Scottish Access Collaborative will deliver sustainable improvements. We have adopted a col…

31 Oct 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the comments by Audit Scotland that "NHS boards are increasingly struggling to improve performance against national targets while also achieving financial balance".

Answer · Shona Robison: On 29 August, the creation of an expert group which will provide support to transform scheduled care and put services on a sustainable footing was announced. The Elective Access Collaborative Programme will bring together experts from the Scottish Government,…

31 Oct 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reports that the national performance standard target for cancer treatment to begin within 62 weeks of referral is not being met on a regular basis, and when it expects to achieve this on a sustained basis.

Answer · Shona Robison: The national performance standard for cancer is 95 per cent of patients referred urgently with a suspicion of cancer are to begin treatment within 62 days of receipt of referral. We know further work is needed to shorten waits for diagnostics and in Septembe…

31 Oct 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reports that the national performance standard target for A&E attendees to be seen within four hours is not being met on a regular basis, and when it expects to achieve this on a sustained basis.

Answer · Shona Robison: Unscheduled care is a key priority for Scottish Government and we want all hospitals across Scotland to sustainably achieve 95% of all patients attending A&E to been seen, treated and discharged or admitted with four hours. The latest weekly performance again…

31 Oct 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reports that the national performance standard target for the 12-week treatment time guarantee for inpatient/day care treatment services is not being met on a regular basis, and fell by 10% in the quarter to March 2017, and when it expects to achieve this on a sus…

Answer · Shona Robison: I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-12315 on 20 November 2017. 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…