Questions and answers

Chamber and committees

Questions and answers

Parliamentary questions can be asked by any MSP to the Scottish Government or the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body. The questions provide a means for ��˿�� to get factual and statistical information.

Written questions must be answered within 10 working days (20 working days during recess)
Other questions such as Topical, Portfolio, General and First Minister's Question Times are taken in the Chamber

Urgent Questions aren't included in the Question and Answers search. There is a SPICe fact sheet listing Urgent and emergency questions.

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Question reference: S6O-02838

Asked by: Sandesh Gulhane, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 November 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 6 December 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to ensure that all fire and rescue officers in the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service have access to decontamination facilities.

Question reference: S6W-22910

Asked by: Sandesh Gulhane, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 14 November 2023
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 28 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how locum GPs can access the General Practice Armed Forces and Veterans’ Recognition Scheme.

The General Practice Armed Forces and Veterans’ Recognition Scheme has been developed to be relevant for all staff, including locum GPs, who may come into contact with an armed forces family or veteran patient. It is hosted on Turas, which is an online training platform run by NHS Education for Scotland and accessible to all NHS staff. It can be accessed here: .

More information about the scheme can also be found by contacting: [email protected]

Question reference: S6O-02829

Asked by: Sandesh Gulhane, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 November 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 30 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what recent discussions it has had with Glasgow City Council and Glasgow Life regarding the future provision of public services and facilities in the region, including the Glasgow National Hockey Centre.

Question reference: S6O-02760

Asked by: Sandesh Gulhane, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 November 2023
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 22 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government from which part of its Budget the additional £300 million pledged for the National Health Service will be allocated.

Question reference: S6W-22124

Asked by: Sandesh Gulhane, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 10 October 2023
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 7 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on its plans to consult on proposals to restrict the promotion of less healthy food.

As I set out in my statement to Parliament in May, I will begin to take forward a more focused consultation in the autumn on the detail of proposed regulations to restrict the promotion of less healthy food and drink where those are sold to the public. We have begun engaging with stakeholders as part of this process. It is important that engagement on our proposals is extensive and as inclusive as possible.

Question reference: S6W-22312

Asked by: Sandesh Gulhane, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 19 October 2023
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 6 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what engagement it is planning to have with the British Healthcare Trades Association, on behalf of its dispensing appliance contractor members, regarding the design and development of the proposed Digital Prescribing and Dispensing Pathways programme.

Governance for the programme is provided by the Digital Prescribing and Dispensing Programme Board which met for the first time in November 2021. The Board has met regularly since then and stakeholder representation includes:

NHS Board Primary Care Leads
NHS Board Directors of Pharmacy
NHS Board e-Health Leads
Royal College of General Practitioners Scotland
Scottish General Practitioners Committee (of the British Medical Association)
Community Pharmacy Scotland
Non-Medical Prescribers Group
NSS Contractor Prescribing Payments team

At each meeting, the Board discusses key issues and interdependencies such as appliance supply. This will ensure that we continue to develop and adapt as necessary through the life of the programme. At the appropriate time, we will consider engaging with other stakeholders, such as the British Healthcare Trades Association.

If stakeholders wish to keep up to date on progress, including a quarterly newsletter, the latest information can be found on the NSS’ . The programme also welcomes any feedback and comments, and these can be submitted by emailing: [email protected].

Question reference: S6W-22311

Asked by: Sandesh Gulhane, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 19 October 2023
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 6 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of what impact the proposed Digital Prescribing and Dispensing Pathways programme is likely to have on dispensing appliance contractors (DACs) contracted to the NHS to dispense stoma and incontinence care appliances against prescriptions issued by GPs and specialist nurse prescribers.

When launched, the initial iteration of the solution will replace the paper prescription with a digital solution. We will achieve this by developing an end-to-end digital solution for in-hours prescribing from general practices through to community pharmacy dispensing. Appliance items which are prescribed from in-hours general practice for community pharmacy dispensing, will come under the new process at this time.

If NHS health boards have alternative arrangements in place for appliance prescribing and dispensing, then these may be included in subsequent phases of the programme. Appliances for patients will continue to be prescribed and dispensed during any period of change.

Work is also underway to produce an Equality Impact Assessment which will provide a wide view of how the digital solution will affect people. These findings will be used to ensure that we can mitigate against any challenges or issues in the design of the DPDP digital solution while ensuring that it is inclusive and accessible.

Question reference: S6W-22125

Asked by: Sandesh Gulhane, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 10 October 2023
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 6 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide full details of its digital prescribing and dispensing programme for pharmacy, including implementation dates and any consultation with stakeholders.

Question reference: S6W-22121

Asked by: Sandesh Gulhane, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 10 October 2023
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 30 October 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on its implementation of the short-term recommendations from the Independent Review of Audiology Services in Scotland.

There are a number of recommendations that have been made through the Independent Review of Audiology Services in Scotland, many of which are targeted specifically at Health Boards and other partners, as well as the Scottish Government.

The Scottish Government is considering all of the recommendations made. Given the broad scope of the recommendations, and the seriousness of the issues raised, it is important that sufficient time is taken to fully plan how any actions will be taken forward.

We will provide an update to Parliament in due course.

Question reference: S6W-22123

Asked by: Sandesh Gulhane, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 10 October 2023
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 30 October 2023

To ask the Scottish Government when it will publish its Diet and healthy weight: monitoring report 2023 update.

The Diet and Healthy Weight Monitoring report was not published in 2022 and, as set out at the time, we have engaged with users to decide on the future of this publication. An announcement will be made shortly informed by the outcome of user engagement. Most of the data previously included in the Diet and Healthy Weight Monitoring report is now presented in the with the remaining few indicators available in other publications. Results from the 2022 Scottish Health Survey will be published on 5 December 2023. Data for the indicators on sales of soft drinks with added sugar, confectionery, biscuits, cakes and pastries are available on the Food Standards Scotland and type 2 diabetes prevalence is available in the report.