Alex Cole-Hamilton

4 Feb 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to (a) collect and (b) publish data regarding waiting times for access to eating disorder support.

Answer · Clare Haughey: The Scottish Government is working with Information Services Division (ISD) on a number of actions to improve the data that is collected regarding referrals to child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) and to adult services. A new core dataset has …

4 Feb 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what information it has regarding how many people have an eating disorder, also broken down by NHS board area, and how the national figure compares per head of population with (a) England and (b) Wales.

Answer · Clare Haughey: I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-27297 on 4 March 2020 which outlines the numbers of people who have been admitted with an eating disorder diagnosis1 by health board of treatment, per year (January- December) 2013 - 2018. All answers to writte…

4 Feb 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to conduct a review of the peer coaching project, ECHO, for people with an eating disorder, and whether it will publish the findings.

Answer · Clare Haughey:  A review of the ECHO peer coaching service will be undertaken in 2021, with a full evaluation being undertaken in 2022 by the University of Edinburgh. We will finalise publication arrangements of these reviews in due course.

4 Feb 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many people with an eating disorder have (a) contacted and (b) received support each year from the peer coaching project, ECHO, broken down by NHS board area.

Answer · Clare Haughey: Since the launch of the ECHO peer coaching service during Eating Disorder Awareness Week 2019 there have been 188 hours of support provided to parents and carers of those with an eating disorder. The service has supported 20 parents and carers since February …

4 Feb 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason the minutes of the Scottish Screening Committee are not routinely published.

Answer · Joe FitzPatrick: The Scottish Screening Committee (SSC) is a Ministerial Advisory Group, and was established in 2016. The SSC was established to improve the strategic management of screening services in Scotland and fully considers the implementation of all recommendations ma…

4 Feb 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what care and treatment pathways there are for people experiencing complications arising from hernia mesh implants.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: Any patient who suspects they are experiencing complications from hernia mesh surgery should discuss their concerns with their GP or other clinicians involved in their case. Any subsequent care may be surgical or non-surgical depending on the individual circu…

4 Feb 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the plans for Dr Veronikis to visit Scotland to conduct mesh removal surgery and train other surgeons in this technique.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: Following discussion between the Chief Medical Officer and Dr Veronikis last week, he has agreed in principle to make an initial, observational visit to Scotland in spring. Precise dates for the visit will be proposed by Dr Veronikis in due course.  

3 Feb 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide the minutes of all meetings of the Scottish Screening Committee since 2017.

Answer · Joe FitzPatrick: I refer the Member to the answer to question S5W-27248 on 24 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…

3 Feb 2020 · Topical Question

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has for the leadership of NHS Lothian, in light of the recent resignation of its Chairman and forthcoming retirement of its Chief Executive.

29 Jan 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how it plans to use the money received through the Barnett formula as a result of the UK Government’s Stronger Towns Fund.

Answer · Aileen Campbell: There has been no detail from HM Treasury on the extent to which the Stronger Towns Fund and Future High Streets Fund is additional funding on which the Scottish Government would receive a consequential, or the profile of any future funding. Ministers have pr…

27 Jan 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to introduce regulated lists for assistance dogs.

Answer · Christina McKelvie: I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-25806 on 29 October 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…

23 Jan 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how fees for birth and death certificates are regulated and monitored.

Answer · Fiona Hyslop: The setting of fees for registration matters, including charges for extracts from the Birth and Death Registers (birth certificates and death certificates), is the responsibility of the Registrar General for Scotland, subject to the approval of Scottish Minis…

23 Jan 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much was spent on the upkeep of the Forth Road Bridge in the financial year (a) 2017-18 and (b) 2018-19.

Answer · Michael Matheson: In 2017-2018 the Scottish Government spent £21,883,984.57 in 2017-18 (1 April 2017 – 31 March 2018) and £21,436,190.15 in 2018-19 (1 April 2018 – 31 March 2019) on the maintenance of the Forth Road Bridge.

22 Jan 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the finding in the report by Equality Here, Now, Disabled people, work, and the NHS in Scotland 2019, that, if the figure for NHS 24 is excluded, the proportion of the NHS workforce identifying as being disabled is 0.91%.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: Disclosure of a disability to an employer is on a voluntary basis and was previously only asked for when someone started employment with the NHS. Staff may therefore have elected not to disclose a ‘hidden’ disability, particularly where a reasonable adjustmen…

22 Jan 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of reports that more than half of NHS employees refuse to share this information, what action NHS boards are taking to make staff feel more confident regarding sharing information about their disability status.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: Statistics published annually by NHS Information Services Division indicate the number of NHS Scotland Employees who have disclosed they are living with a disability. Official statistics do not however record the number of staff who have declined to disclose …

22 Jan 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to increase the number of disabled people employed across the NHS.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: The Scottish Government is committed to increasing the number of disabled people employed across the NHS. Our NHS Professional Careers Programme continues to place disabled graduates in rewarding roles and the careers of their choices. A number of health boa…

22 Jan 2020 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to protect standards in publicly-owned care homes.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: Our national Health and Care Standards set out what everyone should rightly expect when using health and social care services in Scotland. The Care Inspectorate carries out a rigorous programme of inspections to ensure registered services are meeting these st…

17 Jan 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the findings of the recent Global Burden of Disease study published in The Lancet, which estimated that there were 48.9 million cases of sepsis worldwide in 2017, and 11 million deaths, what action it is taking to (a) raise awareness of this condition and (b) support researc…

Answer · Jeane Freeman: a) The Scottish Government is committed to further reducing the number of deaths from sepsis. Scottish Government-led sepsis awareness campaigns, which ran in 2018 and 2019, have contributed to awareness of the condition reaching 90%. However, as sepsis can a…

17 Jan 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many cases of sepsis have been diagnosed in each year since 2017, broken down by NHS board.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: Information on cases of sepsis is only held centrally for people admitted to hospital. The following table presents the number of hospital stays with a diagnosis of sepsis at any point during the stay by NHS Board of Treatment for the years 2017, 2018 and up …

17 Jan 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what information it has regarding how many people have died from sepsis in each year since 2017, broken down by NHS board, and what its position is on asking each board to routinely record these figures.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: Data on sepsis and sepsis mortality is collated by Information Services Division (ISD) and is linked with National Records of Scotland (NRS) death records. Guidelines specify the codes which are to be used in all cases where sepsis appears in the patient reco…

15 Jan 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the project that is referred to in the paper, An Integrated Health and Social Care Workforce Plan for Scotland, which is testing whether having medical consultant roles that enable overseas work alongside delivering services in rural general hospitals…

Answer · Jeane Freeman: The NHS Scotland Global Citizenship Programme was launched in June 2018. The aims of the Programme are to: (a) reflect and support our existing international development commitments to our partner countries, and to support capacity strengthening in the area o…

15 Jan 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a breakdown of what action it is taking to address the "distinct recruitment issues across health and social care in remote, rural and Island areas", which were referred to in the paper, An Integrated Health and Social Care Workforce Plan for Scotland.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: We are supporting remote, rural and island general practice with a comprehensive package of measures: We have significantly enhanced recruitment incentives in the 2019/20 GP contract, investing £400,000 in recruitment incentives for rural GP posts across Sco…

15 Jan 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many so-called Golden Hello payments have been made to GPs in each year since this incentive was introduced, broken down by NHS board. 

Answer · Jeane Freeman: Golden Hellos were introduced for General Medical Services GP contractors for the financial year 2014-15. Before then all GP contractors taking up a new post in Scotland received a standard payment and those starting work in specified Health Board areas recei…

6 Jan 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reports that, since 2009, the number of GP practices in NHS Lothian has fallen from 126 to 119, while the average practice list size has increased.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: The reason for the reduction in GP practice numbers since 2009 is mainly due to a number of smaller single handed practice closures and the patient list being absorbed into larger neighbouring practices. This is in line with a national trend as we see a redu…

6 Jan 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government when it expects the one-year review of the Queensferry Crossing to be published.

Answer · Michael Matheson: Transport Scotland anticipates receiving the draft one-year after evaluation report in the Spring. A technical review of the evaluation will then take place to ensure its robustness and the report will be finalised as soon as possible thereafter. Timescales d…

6 Jan 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of all unintentional and intentional homeless households being entitled to temporary accommodation or settled accommodation, how many households (a) were and (b) were not provided such accommodation in (i) 2017, (ii) 2018 and (iii) 2019, and for what reason households were not …

Answer · Kevin Stewart: The following tables gives information about the use of temporary accommodation for all homeless applications that closed in the financial years ? 2016-17, 2017-18 and 2018-19 that were assessed as unintentionally or intentionally homeless or threatened with …

6 Jan 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the City of Edinburgh Council's recent announcement of support for Shelter Scotland's campaign to have the right to a home enshrined in Scots law, whether it supports this policy, and what plans it has to introduce such a law.

Answer · Kevin Stewart: We welcome Shelter Scotland’s ‘Are You With Us’ campaign and its alignment with the Scottish Government’s commitment to ensuring that Scotland is a modern, inclusive nation which protects, respects and realises internationally recognised human rights. Scotla…

20 Dec 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking in response to the findings of the recent Breast Cancer Now survey into secondary breast cancer.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: I met with Breast Cancer Now in December to discuss their survey, and agreed several areas of work for collaboration over the coming months. We are taking forward a range of actions that align with the recommendations from the survey report by Breast Cancer N…

19 Dec 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason the roll out of flu vaccines for winter 2019-20 to primary school children in Edinburgh has reportedly been delayed by several months.

Answer · Joe FitzPatrick: There was a delay to the supply of a proportion of the children’s flu vaccine (Fluenz Tetra) which led to some school vaccination programmes having to be rescheduled. This delay affected the whole of the UK and was due to issues with routine quality assurance…

18 Dec 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, to avoid the risk of any potential confusion, what guidance and support it offers to vulnerable people regarding the differences in the shape and colour of tablets if they are prescribed a different brand of the same drug.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: I refer the Member to the answer to question S5W-26681 on ? 8 January 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/parliamentarybusin…