Alex Cole-Hamilton

20 Apr 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many people who have died from COVID-19 had (a) heart disease, (b) diabetes, (c) experienced a stroke, (d) cancer and (e) a lung condition.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: This information is currently not available. NRS plan to publish more detailed analysis of COVID-19 deaths, including information on pre-existing conditions mentioned on the death certificate, in due course.  

20 Apr 2020 · Topical Question

To ask the Scottish Government, with the school term resuming, whether it will provide an update on how it is ensuring equal access to learning, including for those with additional support needs and from disadvantaged backgrounds.

17 Apr 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to implement each of the 29 recommendations made by the Drug Deaths Taskforce in response to the COVID-19 outbreak, which were published on 16 April 2020.

Answer · Joe FitzPatrick: We welcome the Taskforce’s recommendations and we are now working with them, and partners, to implement as many of these as possible as a matter of urgency. I met with the Chair and Vice-Chair of the Taskforce on 21 April to discuss the recommendations and t…

17 Apr 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what information it has regarding the number of people dying at home each day from cardiac arrest since the start of the COVID-19 outbreak, and how this compares to the figures prior to this.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: In the 50 days between 1 March and 19 April 2020, 43 death were registered where the deceased died at home or in a non-institutional setting and cardiac arrest was mentioned on the death certificate either as the underlying cause or as a contributory cause of…

17 Apr 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to ensure that people with non-COVID-19 health conditions, including cancer, are (a) seeking and (b) getting the treatment that they require during the lockdown.

Answer · Joe FitzPatrick: Scottish Government launched the ‘ NHS is Open’ campaign on Friday 23 April. This campaign encourages people to promptly seek help for urgent non-coronavirus health concerns, possible cancer signs and to attend immunisation appointments. It reinforces that GP…

2 Apr 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to relax the requirement for landlords to obtain an annual gas safety certificate during the COVID-19 outbreak.

Answer · Kevin Stewart: The annual gas safety regulations are reserved to the UK Government and the Scottish Government cannot change them. Whilst the Scottish Government recognises the importance of the annual safety checks, during the current health emergency, the Scottish Govern…

31 Mar 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the publication of the equality impact assessment for its deposit return scheme, whether it plans to establish a fund to develop teaching and training resources.

Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: Zero Waste Scotland is conducting research with disabled people and carers, and representative organisations, to understand their views on Scotland’s Deposit Return Scheme (DRS). The intention is for this work to inform communications regarding DRS and to be …

31 Mar 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the publication of the equality impact assessment for its deposit return scheme, whether it plans to run educational programmes to engage those at risk of being disadvantaged by the scheme.

Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: There are no plans for the Scottish Government to establish a fund for teaching and training resources in relation to the deposit return scheme. It will be the responsibility of the businesses with responsibility for implementing DRS, including any scheme adm…

31 Mar 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the publication of the equality impact assessment for its deposit return scheme, what plans it has for further consultation with (a) disabled people and (b) access panels throughout the scheme's implementation phase.

Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: Zero Waste Scotland is conducting research with disabled people and carers, and representative organisations, to understand their views on Scotland’s Deposit Return Scheme (DRS). The intention is for this work to inform communications regarding DRS and to be …

31 Mar 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the publication of the equality impact assessment for its deposit return scheme, how it plans to increase the accessibility of return points for (a) older people, (b) people with reduced mobility and (c) people generally.

Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: The Regulations to establish Scotland’s Deposit Return Scheme (DRS), published on 16 March 2020, have taken full account of the importance of accessibility. In particular, to maximise accessibility, Scotland’s DRS will follow a ‘return-to-retail’ model, with …

18 Mar 2020 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether the finance secretary will make funding available to assist local authorities in reducing the risk of homelessness in light of the COVID-19 outbreak.

Answer · Aileen Campbell: On 18 March, I announced that we are making available £350 million of funding to support local government, the third sector and communities during this unprecedented public health emergency. £50 million in being passed directly to local authorities to suppor…

17 Mar 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the numbers of people with long-term conditions such as diabetes and peripheral arterial disease, which can lead to foot and lower limb ulceration and amputation, for what reason its Integrated Health and Social Care Workforce Plan does not mention NHS podiatry services and …

Answer · Jeane Freeman: The Scottish Government recognises the important role of Allied Health Professionals such as podiatrists. A national recruitment campaign for nursing, midwifery, Allied Health Professionals and health care scientists ran from November 2019 until January 2020,…

17 Mar 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the reported reduction in the number of podiatrists working in the NHS over the last 10 years, for what reason its Integrated Health and Social Care Workforce Plan does not include any specific support to future-proof the NHS podiatry workforce.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: The National Health and Social Care Integrated Workforce Plan sets out how health and social care services will meet growing demand to ensure the right numbers of staff, with the right skills, across health and social care services. We have published a serie…

11 Mar 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to counteract the increase in the child mortality rate from 9.3 to 9.7 per 100,000 for children aged one to nine.

Answer · Joe FitzPatrick: The most recent available data from National Records of Scotland show over the last five years (2013-2018) the mortality rate for children aged 1-9 has fallen from 10.39 per 100,000 to 9.70 per 100,000 – from 54 to 51. That’s down from a rate of 15.173 (75 de…

11 Mar 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government by what date it will publish the Children and Young People’s Health and Wellbeing Outcomes Framework, to complement the Child Poverty (Scotland) Act 2017.

Answer · Maree Todd: The intention is to publish the Outcomes Framework for Children, Young People and Families later in the spring. We are currently engaging with stakeholders from local government, health and the third sector to ensure the framework is fit for purpose.  

10 Mar 2020 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions the justice secretary has had with ministerial colleagues regarding how many of the 800 additional mental health workers committed to in its Mental Health Strategy will be deployed within police and prison services in Edinburgh.

10 Mar 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the potential cost to the NHS of longer-term podiatric treatment, what support it offers to NHS boards to assist podiatrists in improving levels of early diagnosis.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: In recent years podiatry services across Scotland have been redesigned to ensure that patients with the most urgent clinical need are seen by a podiatrist and those that do require personal footcare are redirected to a more appropriate service. Our National P…

10 Mar 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what action NHS Lothian is taking to improve access to podiatric services.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: The Scottish Government is fully committed to providing the people of Scotland with the NHS services which meet their needs and maintain high standards of care, including Podiatry Services, however, it is for each NHS Board to decide how best to deliver these…

10 Mar 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many podiatrists are employed by each NHS board, and how this compares with 2010, also broken down per head of population.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: The whole time equivalent numbers of podiatrists and podiatrists per 10,000 population by NHS Board, at September 2010 and December 2019, are as follows.   NHS Board 2010 total 2010 per 10,000 population [1] 2019 total 2019 per 10,000 population [2]…

10 Mar 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much the NHS has spent on diabetic foot ulceration treatment, including amputations, in each year since 2010.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: The Scottish Government provides baseline funding to NHS Boards, that Boards use to best meet the healthcare needs of their resident population. This includes diabetic foot ulceration treatment and amputations. The information is not collected or held central…

10 Mar 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reports that there has been an 11% increase in referral rates for paediatric ENT services in NHS Lothian.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: The Health Board do not recognise where the figure of an 11% increase in the referral rate for Paediatric ENT services within NHS Lothian. The Board’s Annual Operational Plan for 2020/21 has been compiled with an assumption of a generic 1% annual increase, an…

10 Mar 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of its publication, A healthier future: Scotland's diet and healthy weight delivery plan, which was published in July 2018, what oversight and governance is in place to report on progress implementing the actions outlined in this plan, and whether there will be an interim repor…

Answer · Joe FitzPatrick: We are making good progress on implementation of the Delivery Plan, with robust governance in place for the top priorities including restricting foods promotions, type 2 diabetes prevention and development of an out of home action plan. We intend to publish …

5 Mar 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-10468 by Maureen Watt on 15 August 2017, what progress has been made in developing the eating disorder support service, SPIRE, and whether it will provide a breakdown of what information and data this service collects, including the data that has no…

Answer · Clare Haughey: I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-27309 on 4 March 2020. 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/…

5 Mar 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-27298 by Clare Haughey on 4 March 2020, by what date ISD will complete this work.

Answer · Clare Haughey: As some Boards will need to replace or significantly enhance their systems, it is likely to be at least 1 year before the minimum dataset can be delivered and up to 3 years before the full core dataset will be available nationally. ISD are supporting Boards …

5 Mar 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-27299 by Clare Haughey on 4 March 2020, for what reason some NHS boards have no eating disorder specialist staff.

Answer · Clare Haughey: NHS Boards in Scotland are responsible for ensuring they plan and deliver appropriate local services, which includes staffing. It is for local NHS Boards to decide how they implement these policies to ensure that their local population have the highest qualit…

5 Mar 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what estimate it has made of the number of people in Scotland who have an eating disorder, in light of reports that around one million people across the UK might have such a condition.

Answer · Clare Haughey: The Scottish Government has not estimated the number of people in Scotland who have an eating disorder. I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-27297 on 4 March 2020 which outlines the number of people in Scotland who have been admitted to hospital …

5 Mar 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what consideration was given to the terms and conditions of locums during the recent GP contract negotiations.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: The Scottish Government and the Scottish General Practitioners Committee of the British Medical Association negotiated a new GP contract in 2017. The new GP contract, which came into effect in 2018, applies to independent contractors who hold either General M…

5 Mar 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason the surviving families of locums who die in service do not qualify for death-in-service benefits.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: Death-in-service benefit is only available to those in the NHS Pension scheme. Locums can join the scheme and would qualify for death-in-service benefits. However if they have gaps in employment and leave the scheme they would no longer qualify. The Scottish…

5 Mar 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether locums will be paid for sessions that they are unable to perform due to the closure of medical practices on the advice of public health officials because of suspected outbreaks of the coronavirus, COVID-19.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: The Scottish Government has published guidance for NHS Boards and GP practices on contractual arrangements for responding to the impact of the coronavirus on primary care. Health Boards are advised that they are best placed to direct locum GPs in their area …

5 Mar 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-27462 by Michael Matheson on 26 February 2020, for what reason it considered that a similar system for the Forth Road Bridge would not be suitable or effective.

Answer · Michael Matheson: A netting system does not prevent a person self-harming, as the person who jumped from the bridge into the netting would still be able to jump into the water. The removal of a person from the netting system would be difficult and pose an increased risk to sta…