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: S6W-14372

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 27 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 9 February 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what percentage of people with type 1 diabetes have been recorded as having a diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) episode, in each year since 2007.

Question reference: S6W-14338

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 26 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 8 February 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what impact it anticipates the Deposit Return Scheme will have on consumer choice.

Scotland’s Deposit Return Scheme will make a significant contribution to Scotland’s efforts to reduce climate emissions, tackle litter and increasing recycling. As it is a producer responsibility scheme, in line with similar schemes across the world, it inevitably means significant change for all producers in Scotland.

Drinks producers must register their products in order to continue to sell them in Scotland once DRS has launched. Registration is free for producers with an annual turnover of £85,000 or lower. As an industry-led scheme, it will be for individual businesses to decide what products they wish to sell in Scotland once DRS launches. Any producer with questions or concerns about registration should contact Circularity Scotland for advice and guidance.

Question reference: S6W-14170

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 25 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 7 February 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has an assurance process to ensure that health and care digital innovations are developed in an ethical, standards-based way, and, if this is the case, how much was spent on creating it.

An Accelerated National Innovation Pathway has been established to standardise and facilitate the adoption of health and care innovations. The Scottish Health Technology Group also supports standardisation by providing robust governance and advice. Digital technologies are required to meet clinical safety standards such as Software as a Medical Device (SaMD) and compliance with MHRA regulations.

Scotland’s first Data Strategy for health and social care will articulate further national principles and deliverables around the ethical use of data. The strategy is due for publication this year

Question reference: S6W-14242

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 23 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 7 February 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-13542 by Humza Yousaf on 20 January 2023, how many non-executive board members have completed the e-learning module on the Public Sector Equality Duty and the Equality Act.

Question reference: S6W-14154

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 23 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 7 February 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how it is using artificial intelligence to create data-driven recommendations in health and social care.

We are working in partnership across the UK to explore the safe use of AI within health and social care. AI is currently being utilised in the NHS to support clinicians by making data driven recommendations in areas like cancer screening and other medical imaging practices.

The Scottish Government is also currently considering how the specific needs of AI can be built into our wider work on data to provide the right infrastructure and support service that enables the adoption of AI solutions within the NHS. Further details on this will be set out in the forthcoming Data Strategy for Health & Social Care, including on the ethical and transparent use of AI.

Further to this, we are working to consider how AI can be used in existing decision support tools, for example the

Question reference: S6W-14336

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 26 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 7 February 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-13469 by Humza Yousaf on 24 January 2023, how many of those places were taken by (a) international and (b) domestic students.

Information on entrants and enrolments at Scottish Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) is collect by the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA).

Between 2018-19 and 2019-20 HESA introduced a new subject classification system moving from JACS over to HECOS. As such, a continuous time series can not be provided and information has been put into two different tables below.

First degree entrants to pre-clinical medicine courses at Scottish HEIs, JACS subject classification

Scottish Provider	Domicile	2007-08	2008-09	2009-10	2010-11	2011-12	2012-13	2013-14	2014-15	2015-16	2016-17	2017-18	2018-19
University of Edinburgh	Scotland	125	120	110	120	135	100	110	90	85	85	95	80
	Rest of UK	80	85	95	95	75	85	85	95	90	90	95	105
	Overseas	30	30	35	35	25	15	20	30	25	25	25	25
	Total	230	235	235	250	235	200	215	210	205	205	210	210
University of Glasgow	Scotland	155	145	125	110	110	145	140	140	140	140	150	165
	Rest of UK	50	65	85	100	130	60	60	60	65	60	65	65
	Overseas	30	25	30	35	30	25	30	35	35	45	35	50
	Total	235	235	240	245	270	235	230	235	235	245	250	280
University of Aberdeen	Scotland	115	110	105	135	110	90	115	105	100	115	115	125
	Rest of UK	45	60	55	30	60	55	30	40	40	35	35	35
	Overseas	20	20	20	20	15	20	20	25	25	30	30	20
	Total	180	190	180	185	185	170	170	165	165	180	180	185
University of Dundee	Scotland	140	110	115	90	105	120	75	90	95	115	115	125
	Rest of UK	10	25	30	40	40	40	30	25	35	25	20	20
	Overseas	15	15	15	25	15	10	15	25	15	15	15	15
	Total	165	155	155	155	160	170	120	140	145	155	155	160
University of St Andrews	Scotland	70	75	70	65	85	65	60	55	60	60	40	85
	Rest of UK	50	40	45	40	65	35	50	65	55	60	60	80
	Overseas	30	40	45	45	70	50	45	45	55	50	45	50
	Total	150	150	160	150	220	145	155	165	165	165	145	210

Source: HESA student data

Figures have been rounded to the nearest 5

EU students are included in the overseas figures

Pre-clinical medicine as defined by JCAS code 'A100'

First degree entrants to pre-clinical medicine courses at Scottish HEIs, HECOS subject classification

Scottish Provider	Domicile	2019-20	2020-21	2021-22
University of Edinburgh	Scotland	105	115	130
	Rest of UK	75	95	95
	Overseas	35	25	30
	Total	215	235	255
University of Glasgow	Scotland	190	205	240
	Rest of UK	55	60	50
	Overseas	50	70	35
	Total	295	335	325
University of Aberdeen	Scotland	145	140	175
	Rest of UK	35	30	25
	Overseas	30	40	25
	Total	210	215	220
University of Dundee	Scotland	130	140	140
	Rest of UK	20	20	20
	Overseas	15	25	25
	Total	170	185	185
University of St Andrews	Scotland	75	50	95
	Rest of UK	75	65	90
	Overseas	55	60	60
	Total	205	175	250

Source: HESA student data

Figures have been rounded to the nearest 5

EU students are included in the overseas figures

Pre-clinical medicine as defined by HECOS code '100276'

Question reference: S6W-14335

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 26 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 7 February 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-13437 by Humza Yousaf on 24 January 2023, (a) how much it has spent and (b) what quantifiable effect any spending has had on assisting to bridge the gap between service demand and capacity within the health and care system in relation to (i) online training provision within the Scotland Deanery, (ii) train-the-trainer for “simulation” training across a number of specialties and in specific procedures, such as in cystoscopy, (iii) virtual reality pilots for communications training in handling stressful situations in pre-hospital emergency care and mental health tribunals, (iv) mental health simulation training, (v) virtual reality simulators, including six endoscopy simulators in six different health boards, alongside a national introductory course covering cancer diagnosis and (vi) a national urology simulator and learning programme.

The Scottish Budget provided baseline funding of over £492 million to NHS Education for Scotland in 2022-2023, it is for NHS Board to determine how they use this funding. In addition to this, further funding has been made available to NHS Education for Scotland to support specific programmes of work including:
‎ £22.3 million is provided towards the improvement of Mental Health Training and £3.7 million for the NHS Scotland Academy which offers accelerated training programmes to those working, and soon to be working, across many roles within Health and Social Care. Much of the training and education activity delivered by NHS Education for Scotland is supported and enhanced through digital solutions.

We continually monitor the sufficiency of education and training support across NHS Scotland as we work to deliver a sustainable Health and Social Care workforce and implement improvements in patient care. As part of this, The Scottish Government has regular strategic engagement with NHS Education for Scotland regarding its priorities. The Scottish Government also has a number of other mechanisms to oversee and review each Board’s performance. The Annual Reviews held by Ministers remain an important part of the accountability process as do Board Annual Operating plans, building on the local governance arrangements which form part of Board structures.

Question reference: S6W-14379

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 26 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 7 February 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what it has done to ensure that people with type 1 diabetes receive appropriate and timely access to technologies to improve glycaemic control and their quality of life.

As part of the Scottish Diabetes Group, there are several sub-groups working on delivering commitments specific to Type 1 Diabetes. These include commitments to improving education and self-management and also inpatient care. Closed Loop Systems are also being considered for potential inclusion in the new Accelerated National Innovation Adoption (ANIA) pathway co-odinated by the Centre for Sustainable Delivery. Projects centred on access to technologies will have a particular focus on increasing access for those living in the most deprived areas of Scotland, using SIMD data.

Question reference: S6W-14376

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 26 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 7 February 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what it has done to support early optimisation of glycaemic control in new onset type 1 diabetes.

As part of the Scottish Diabetes Group, a Short Life Working Group (SLWG) has been established to develop recommendations for a ‘Once for Scotland’ approach to Type 1 diabetes education. For people newly diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes, there is an urgent need for their diabetes specialist team to introduce self-management techniques in order to ensure early optimisation of glycaemic control. The SLWG has input from health professionals from every NHS Board in Scotland, and they are working in partnership with people living with Type 1 diabetes to design the pathways.

Question reference: S6W-14378

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 26 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 7 February 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what percentage of people with diabetes have achieved optimal glycaemic control, defined as <58mmol/mol in adults and <48mmol/mol in children, at one year post diagnosis in each year since 2007.