- Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 19 January 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Humza Yousaf on 2 February 2023
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the commitment in its Digital Health and Care Strategy, how much it has spent on enabling people to (a) book/rearrange appointments, (b) order prescriptions, (c) update their details and (d) generally conduct all routine "transactions" online.
Answer
I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-13979 on 30 January 2023. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at /chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers .
- Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 19 January 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Humza Yousaf on 2 February 2023
To ask the Scottish Government how it is preparing the health and social care workforce to deliver different types of services in different ways online.
Answer
The cross-sector Building Digital Skills & Leadership Programme hosted by NHS Education for Scotland is our main programme to support the ongoing work of health and care employers, alongside the redesign work of individual change programmes (such as Near Me) required to ensure meaningful adoption and use of online services. Progress is reported in the 2022-23 Delivery Plan published last year.
- Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 25 January 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Kevin Stewart on 1 February 2023
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the recommendation in Coming Home Implementation: A report from the working group on complex care and delayed discharge, what it has done to increase the amount of available evidence for, and to explore the issues related to, people with enduring mental health conditions who are subject to delayed discharge from hospital.
Answer
The Scottish Government has accepted all 5 key recommendations in the Coming Home Implementation Report and is working with people with lived experience, COSLA, professionals from Local Authorities; Health and Social Care Partnerships (HSCPs); the NHS; and other key stakeholders to implement these recommendations. This includes progressing the Dynamic Support Register, Peer Support Network and National Support Panel recommendations, focussing in the first instance on getting it right for people with learning disabilities using a collaborative and partnership approach.
We will work to address wider issues around the delayed discharge that people with enduring mental health conditions experience. Our work on the National Care Service, the Barron Forensic Services Review, and the Scottish Mental Health Law Review will further improve the care and support of people with enduring mental health conditions.
- Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 25 January 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Kevin Stewart on 1 February 2023
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the recommendation in Coming Home Implementation: A report from the working group on complex care and delayed discharge, whether it will provide an update on what it has done to develop the Dynamic Support Register into a tool for national use.
Answer
The Scottish Government is committed to implementing the recommendations set out in the Coming Home Implementation Report to reduce delayed discharges and out-of-area placements for people with learning disabilities and complex care needs.
Significant work has been undertaken to develop and test a Dynamic Support Register, which has been led by a working group and co-designed with people with lived experience, HSCPs and NHS professionals across Scotland. We will be launching the Register soon following successful testing.
- Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 25 January 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Kevin Stewart on 1 February 2023
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the recommendation in Coming Home Implementation: A report from the working group on complex care and delayed discharge, whether it has established a National Peer Support Network.
Answer
The Scottish Government is committed to implementing the recommendations set out in the Coming Home Implementation Report to reduce delayed discharges and out-of-area placements for people with learning disabilities and complex care needs.
Following the publication of the Coming Home Implementation report, the Scottish Government has worked with key stakeholders to understand the role and remit of a Peer Support Network in order to design a model that provides value and allows for genuine collaboration across Scotland. Further details on the establishment of the Peer Support Network will be available soon.
- Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 27 January 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Elena Whitham on 1 February 2023
To ask the Scottish Government what consideration it has given to allowing licensing boards to charge more than £10 for an occasional licence where the cost of administering the licensing is significantly higher than £10.
Answer
The purpose of the occasional licence is to cater for the multitude of events which take place on premises which are not 'fully' licensed but feature the sale of alcohol. These can often include events arranged for the benefit of local communities such as local community fetes, gala day celebrations, wedding receptions and arts events. Occasional licences offer a flexible regime for the hospitality and entertainment sector to provide alcohol at events outside licensed premises.
The Scottish Government previously consulted on whether the current £10 occasional licence fee should be reviewed, and also whether the Scottish Ministers should make regulations setting limits on the number and duration of occasional licences granted. This follows concerns that occasional licences can be used in a manner designed to avoid the consequences of a permanent alcohol licence. Work in relation to this consultation was paused as a consequence of the coronavirus pandemic.
Having reflected carefully on this matter, the Scottish Government is minded to bring forward regulations which will put in place “occasional licence limits” in terms of the number of occasional licences, or the number of days on which occasional licences have effect, in relation to the same applicant or premises in any 12 month period.
The Scottish Government is also planning fresh engagement with licensing stakeholders to consider the level of fee currently charged for an occasional licence.
The approach of the Scottish Government will seek to balance the need for the cost and burden of occasional licences to be met by those seeking them while avoiding any undue impact on important local community events such as gala days and fetes. Any draft regulations would be subject to a targeted consultation and ultimately it will be for the Scottish Parliament to consider and approve.
- Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 25 January 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Kevin Stewart on 1 February 2023
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the recommendation in Coming Home Implementation: A report from the working group on complex care and delayed discharge, whether it will provide an update on the establishment of a National Support Panel, including what its (a) role and (b) remit is, or will be.
Answer
The Scottish Government is committed to implementing the recommendations set out in the Coming Home Implementation Report to reduce delayed discharges and out-of-area placements for people with learning disabilities and complex care needs.
The recommendation made clear that additional work was required by Scottish Government on the precise role and remit of a panel in order to ensure that it would provide value and achieve its objectives.
The Scottish Government and COSLA established and have been working with a new Senior Strategy Group who are advising on developing the National Support Panel, including its role and remit, before it is formally established. Further details will be available soon.
- Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 January 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Maree Todd on 31 January 2023
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-13529 by Maree Todd on 16 January 2023, when the baseline audit will be complete, and whether that information will be publicly available.
Answer
The initial baseline audit of the public health workforce should be completed in 2023. However, given the diversity of public health roles in the domains of health improvement, health protection, healthcare public health and associated research, data and intelligence, the collection and analysis process will have to be refined before the data is suitable for publication. Our ultimate aim will be to publish it alongside the other NHS Education for Scotland workforce data.
- Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 17 January 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Humza Yousaf on 31 January 2023
To ask the Scottish Government how many patients and residents currently being cared for by health and social care services (a) do and (b) do not have access to free Wi-Fi (i) at their bedside and (ii) in public areas within their healthcare setting, broken down by NHS board.
Answer
The Scottish Government does not hold this information centrally.
All Health Boards have a responsibility to ensure that that Wi-Fi is of a sufficient standard to support both patients and staff to have access to connectivity.
In 2019, Scotland undertook its first across health and social care which helped to prioritise key areas for investment. A further assessment is due to take place later this year which will include consideration of availability of Wi-Fi that we expect to inform further priorities.
There is no centrally held resource providing information about the Wi-Fi provision for residents in care homes. However, data obtained from participating care homes on the programme of work to fulfil the has indicated that an estimated 55% of care homes have Wi-Fi access throughout the premises, 38% have only partial Wi-Fi coverage, and 9% have no Wi-Fi access for residents.
Our digital in care homes programme was launched to complement the Connecting Scotland digital inclusion programme. It saw over 75% of all adult and children's care homes in Scotland take up the offer of digital devices, data packages, connectivity improvements and skills. This included providing increased Wi-Fi/MiFi capabilities for those who required this. The homes who took up this offer cover over 90% of all care home residents in Scotland with devices being used to help residents to remain connected to friends and family and to access key services such as the NHS.
- Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 19 January 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Humza Yousaf on 31 January 2023
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the commitment in its Digital Health and Care Strategy, how much it has spent on providing a single and secure way for health and care staff to sign in to clinical and care systems and data.
Answer
At a national level, the Scottish Government continues to support and prioritise the full use of the capabilities offered by the Microsoft 365 platform, under the national NHS-wide tenancy including secure access to systems. The responsibility for managing individual access to clinical and care systems is a matter for individual employers.
Since October 2021, Scottish Government has contributed £2.4 million to the Microsoft 365 Programme for NHS Scotland. As part of this investment, we are continuing to develop identity solutions for health and social care staff.