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: S6F-02918

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 11 March 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 14 March 2024

To ask the First Minister what urgent action is being taken to address long waits in A&E departments, in light of reports that over 7,300 patients waited for more than a day in 2023, with some waiting much longer.

Question reference: S6W-25806

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 27 February 2024
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 11 March 2024

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason Care Inspectorate employees are reportedly still waiting to receive a 2023-24 pay offer, in light of employees of similar organisations, including Scottish Government civil servants, having already received pay offers for this financial year.

Question reference: S6W-25804

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 27 February 2024
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 11 March 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reported concerns that the Care Inspectorate has not yet made a formal pay offer to employees for the 2023-24 financial year.

I understand that there has been reported concerns regarding the pay deal offer from the Care Inspectorate. I can confirm that the Care Inspectorate made a pay award offer for financial years 2023-24 and 2024-25 during week commencing 19 February 2024. The Care Inspectorate’s recognised trade unions agreed to ballot their members on this offer.

The results of the trade union ballots are expected in the second week of March. Should the offer be accepted, the Care Inspectorate intends to pay their staff the first element of the 2023-24 award in their March 2024 salaries.

Question reference: S6W-25805

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 27 February 2024
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 11 March 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has received a proposal for a 2023-24 pay offer from the Care Inspectorate, and, if so, when any such offer will be approved.

The Scottish Government has received the Care Inspectorate pay offer proposal for 2023-24. The Care Inspectorate has since made a pay award offer for financial years 2023-24 and 2024-25 during week commencing 19 February 2024.

The Care Inspectorate’s recognised trade unions agreed to ballot their members on this offer. The results of the trade union ballots are expected in the second week of March. Should the offer be accepted, the Care Inspectorate intends to pay their staff the first element of the 2023-24 award in their March 2024 salaries.

Question reference: S6W-24940

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 22 February 2024
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 4 March 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the workforce review in oncology.

Question reference: S6W-24941

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 22 February 2024
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 4 March 2024

To ask the Scottish Government when the workforce review in oncology will be published.

Question reference: S6W-25007

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 31 January 2024
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 15 February 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how many GP practices currently provide an online booking system for patients.

The National Health Service (General Medical Services Contracts) (Scotland) Regulations 2018 provide that:

A contractor must provide its registered patients with—

1. an online appointment service;

2. an online repeat prescription service; and

3. an online repeat prescription information service,

in a manner which is capable of being electronically integrated with the computer systems of the contractor’s practice and using appropriate systems authorised by the Health Board.

Health Boards are responsible for contracting with GP practices. The Scottish Government does not hold information about how many practices currently provide online booking systems.

Question reference: S6T-01788

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 05 February 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 6 February 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the reported recall of 150,000 women who were wrongly excluded from cervical cancer screening since 1997.

Question reference: S6W-24549

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 22 January 2024
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 1 February 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how much funding it has provided to train physician associates and anaesthesia associates in each of the last five financial years.

Employment of Anaesthesia Associates (AAs) and Physician Associates (PAs) is the responsibility of individual NHS Scotland Boards who receive funding from the Scottish Government. In the case of AAs, it is open to Boards to employ and support these individuals for the duration of their training as a way of building clinical capacity. There have been no nationally funded programmes to grow the AA and PA workforce over the last five financial years.

We will work with NHS Education for Scotland and continue to review the merits associated with a subsidised educational offer for trainee AAs and PAs in Scotland, building on models adopted elsewhere in the UK, as we progress with an evidence-based approach to the expansion of Medical Associate Profession roles across NHS Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-24339

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 04 January 2024
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 1 February 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking through its Budget for staff, services and patients in relation to those in need of support who are waiting more than six weeks for a social care assessment due to the sector reportedly being under-resourced.

The Scottish Government invested £1.7 billion in social care support and health and care integration in 2023-24, and the Scottish budget for 2024-25 provides and additional £2 billion investment in social care and integration. This delivers on our commitment to increase spending by 25% over this parliament – two years ahead of our original target.

Whilst the Scottish Government has overall responsibility for health and social care support policy, local authorities and health and social care partnerships are responsible for commissioning appropriate services for local and individual needs.