- Asked by: Tess White, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 04 January 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Jenni Minto on 22 January 2024
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-23865 by Jenni Minto on 21 December 2023, whether records are kept of the condoms issued to prisoners on the female prison estate; if so, how many have been issued in each month of the last two years, and for what reason condoms are issued on the female prison estate if conjugal visits are not permitted.
Answer
Data on the numbers of condoms issued in prisons is not collected centrally.
Condom provision is one of the most effective harm reduction interventions to control sexually transmitted infections (STIs) including HIV and therefore condoms are available to all prisoners to support health protection in the prison population.
While centralised data is not collected, prison healthcare teams report that women access condoms for home visits and liberation.
- Asked by: Tess White, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 15 December 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Michael Matheson on 16 January 2024
To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the (a) Royal College of Nursing report, The Nursing Workforce in Scotland: Review of Progress, (b) reported concern regarding high nursing vacancy rates across the NHS and social care and (c) most recent NHS statistics showing that 5,400 nursing and midwifery posts remain unfilled.
Answer
As set out in our Health and Social Care: National Workforce Strategy we are committed to taking all the appropriate steps to support staffing levels across our Health and Social Care settings.
Since October 2021 we have provided c. £18m funding to Health Boards to recruit 1,250 international nurses, midwives and AHPs by the end of this financial year with over 1,000 successfully recruited thus far.
However, we are not complacent, that is why we have convened the Nursing and Midwifery Taskforce to co-produce tangible and realistic recommended action with its members, including the RCN, to address areas for improvement identified by the nursing and midwifery professions. The Taskforce’s Listening Project is now well underway to gather the views of staff to help shape those recommendations.
- Asked by: Tess White, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 15 December 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Michael Matheson on 16 January 2024
To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to address the 11% drop in acceptances onto nursing programmes in Scotland in the last year, as reported by UCAS.
Answer
The Scottish Government has been monitoring UCAS figures, which exclude Open University and Honours programmes, and we thank our Higher Education Institutions who have worked hard to promote their programmes by visiting schools, attending careers fairs and promoting the range of opportunities via their social media channels.
The attraction and retention of students into nursing remains a key focus for the Nursing and Midwifery Taskforce - not everyone will begin their career by participating in an undergraduate programme and these are not the sole solution to filling workforce vacancies. That is why we are already considering alternative career pathways, such as apprenticeships and ‘earn as you learn’ routes, that can attract candidates and encourage existing staff to join supported education programmes that enable them to reach registration with the relevant professional bodies.
- Asked by: Tess White, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 14 December 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Michael Matheson on 15 January 2024
To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking with NHS boards to review NHS security measures, in light of reports that an individual impersonating a nurse gained access to the medical details of several patients at a hospital in NHS Fife.
Answer
The Scottish Government is concerned at this breach of security which has been the subject of an investigation by the Information Commissioner’s Office. NHS Fife has introduced a system on the ward for documents containing patient data to be signed in and out of each shift and individuals will not be able to commence their shift until their identification has been verified and cross-referenced. The Information Commissioner’s Office has made further recommendations to NHS Fife and requested a progress report by 6 June 2024. The Scottish Government will ask NHS Fife to also provide a copy of that progress report to it.
- Asked by: Tess White, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 January 2024
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Current Status:
Taken in the Chamber on 17 January 2024
To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to review the consultation process for energy infrastructure projects.
Answer
Taken in the Chamber on 17 January 2024
- Asked by: Tess White, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 18 December 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Jenni Minto on 29 December 2023
To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking in light of reports that deaths of newborn babies have reached a 15-year high, with 41 neonatal deaths recorded in the three months prior to the end of September 2023.
Answer
The recent quarterly increase in the rate of neonatal mortality is concerning.
We have asked Healthcare Improvement Scotland (HIS) to look into the increase in neonatal mortality reported in 2021-2022, and although this report has been slightly delayed, we expect HIS to report early in 2024.
Whilst this report will not examine the cases included in the most recent rise, we expect that the findings of that report will help us understand why neonatal mortality may be increasing, and we will look to act on those findings.
- Asked by: Tess White, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 14 December 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Jenni Minto on 21 December 2023
To ask the Scottish Government whether condoms are available to prisoners in the women's prison estate.
Answer
Prison healthcare centres can issue condoms for all prisoners including those in the women’s prison estate as part of a range of approaches to support sexual and reproductive health among the prison population.
- Asked by: Tess White, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 05 December 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Maree Todd on 19 December 2023
To ask the Scottish Government (a) how many and (b) what percentage of children in the NHS Grampian area who were referred for mental health treatment in (i) 2021, (ii) 2022 and (iii) 2023 started treatment within the 18-week target.
Answer
Table 1 shows total referrals, accepted referrals, total started treatment, total started treatment within 18 weeks of referral, and percentage started treatment within 18 weeks of referral at NHS Grampian for 2021, 2022 and 2023 (January to September, which is the latest published data).
The Scottish Government national standard is that 90% of children and young people should start treatment within 18 weeks of referral.
Table 1: Number of total referrals, accepted referrals, total started treatment, started treatment within 18 weeks of referral, and percentage seen within 18 weeks from referral to treatment, for calendar years 2021, 2022 and 2023 (January – September), NHS Grampian
| | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 (Jan-Sep) |
Total referrals | 3,738 | 3,738 | 2,746 |
Accepted referrals | 2,873 | 2,775 | 2,029 |
Total started treatment | 1,499 | 1,207 | 881 |
Started within 18 weeks | 1,399 | 1,158 | 818 |
% Started treatment within 18 weeks | 93.3 | 95.9 | 92.8 |
Source: PHS CAMHS database
- Asked by: Tess White, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 05 December 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Maree Todd on 19 December 2023
To ask the Scottish Government (a) how many and (b) what percentage of children in the NHS Tayside area who were referred for mental health treatment in (i) 2021, (ii) 2022 and (iii) 2023 started treatment within the 18-week target.
Answer
Table 1 shows total referrals, accepted referrals, total started treatment, total started treatment within 18 weeks of referral and percentage started treatment within 18 weeks of referral at NHS Tayside for 2021, 2022 and 2023 (January to September which is the latest published data).
The Scottish Government national standard is that 90% of children and young people should start treatment within 18 weeks of referral.
Table 1: Number of total referrals, accepted referrals, total started treatment, started treatment within 18 weeks of referral, and percentage stared treatment within 18 weeks from referral to treatment, for calendar years 2021, 2022 and 2023 (January – September), NHS Tayside
| | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 (Jan-Sep) |
Total Referrals | 2,076 | 2,404 | 1,719 |
Accepted Referrals | 1,534 | 1,561 | 889 |
Total Started treatment | 1,328 | 1,196 | 934 |
Started treatment within 18 Weeks | 1,134 | 873 | 553 |
% Started treatment within 18 Weeks | 85.4 | 73.0 | 59.2 |
Source: PHS CAMHS database
- Asked by: Tess White, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 04 December 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Maree Todd on 18 December 2023
To ask the Scottish Government whether the new strategic board for children and families mental health will have a sub-group for perinatal mental health, in light of the conclusion of the Perinatal and Infant Mental Health Programme Board, and whether it can provide an update on when it expects that the new strategic board will be launched.
Answer
The new Joint Strategic Board for Children and Family Mental Health, co-chaired by Scottish Government and COSLA, will have a strategic overview of mental health work spanning preconception, the perinatal period, parent-infant relationships, early years (up to 5), children and young people (5-24 year olds or 26 years for care leavers), their families and carers. This will build on the work of the Children and Young People’s Mental Health and Wellbeing Joint Delivery Board and the Perinatal and Infant Mental Health Programme Board which both came to an end in March 2023.
Work is underway to set up the new Joint Strategic Board. An early preparatory meeting of the Board took place in November, with the first formal meeting of the Board due to take place in early 2024. Part of this work will involve establishing the precise make up of the implementation groups sitting under the Joint Strategic Board. Whilst the exact remit of these groups has still to be finalised, perinatal and early years mental health has been agreed as a core priority area for the Joint Strategic Board.
