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: S5W-28576

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 April 2020
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 2 June 2020

To ask the Scottish Government how many cases of hospital acquired (a) COVID-19, (b) MRSA and (c) C. diff have been recorded in each week since 1 January 2020.

Health Protection Scotland (HPS) has advised that it is not possible to say with the degree of certainty required, how many cases of hospital acquired COVID-19 there have been across Scotland. Healthcare Associated Infections (HCAIs) would usually be regarded as those infections, not present or incubating on admission, arising 48 hours after admission to hospital. Current estimates suggest a median incubation period from 5–6 days for COVID-19, with a range from 1–14 days. This means that COVID-19 arising before day 14 in hospital or other care settings may not be HCAI.

b) and c)

Health Protection Scotland has published quarterly data on both healthcare associated and community associated Staphylococcus aureus bacteraemias (SABs) at Board level since October 2017. SABs comprise MRSA and Meticillin-Sensitive Staphylococcus aureus, MSSA ); Clostridioides difficile infections (CDI); Escherichia coli bacteraemia (ECB); and Surgical Site Infections (SSIs) in Scotland.

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and methicillin-sensitive Staphylococcus aureus (MSSA) are not reported on individually due to small numbers of MRSA cases, but are part of the overall SAB data. The most recent quarterly report, published in April 2020, can be found on the Health Protection Scotland website . The report for the next quarter, covering January to March 2020, will be published at the beginning of July.

Mandatory reporting of MRSA infections commenced across Scotland in 2003, with mandatory surveillance of CDI starting in 2006.

Since 2007, rates of MRSA infections have reduced significantly and, in their latest Healthcare Associated Infection Annual Report (published in May 2019), Health Protection Scotland reported a decreasing year on year trend (2014-2018) in the incidence rate of MRSA and CDI .

Question reference: S5W-28551

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 20 April 2020
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 2 June 2020

To ask the Scottish Government how many people have been tested for COVID-19 via the community hub model since it began operating.

The Covid-19 Community Pathway was established to alleviate the pressure on GP practices by providing a pathway for those patients who were experiencing Covid-19 symptoms. Once assessed, those patients admitted to hospital will be tested. Patients who have been assessed either through the Community Hubs or at the Assessment Centres, and asked to manage their symptoms at home, are not routinely tested for Covid-19.

The only testing carried out through community assessment centres and community telephone hubs has been conducted by Health Protection Scotland for the purposes of community surveillance. This has involved testing a sample of people with mild to moderate symptoms. The number of tests carried out on a weekly basis is not published by Health Protection Scotland, but data is used to provide statistically robust estimates of the prevalence of the virus. This will allow the right strategies to be put in place to respond effectively to Covid-19.

Question reference: S5W-28590

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 April 2020
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 2 June 2020

To ask the Scottish Government how many NHS online consultations have taken place in each week since 1 January 2020.

Patients are currently using several different ways to contact the NHS with the majority of consultations taking place by telephone. We are encouraging the use of video for consultations where it’s necessary to see the patient, such as for skin conditions or to view their general wellbeing. The monthly and weekly figures for Near Me video consultations are listed in the following table, with weekly usage figures only available from March.

Monthly	Monthly	Weekly											Final Total
Jan-20	Feb-20	1/3-7/3	8/3-14/3	15/3-21/3	22/3-28/3	29/3-4/4	5/4-11/4	12/4-19/4	20/4-26/4	27/4-3/5	4/5-10/5	11/5-17/5	2020
1116	1109	336	569	3034	4628	5904	6203	6780	9367	10770	10619	13206	73643

Question reference: S5W-28413

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 April 2020
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 2 June 2020

To ask the Scottish Government how many items of personal protective equipment (PPE) have been distributed to care homes by the NHS National Distribution Centre since the COVID-19 outbreak began.

Between 19 March (when the NHS National Services Scotland social care PPE triage helpline was launched) and 15 May, the following products have been distributed to residential care homes from the national stock. This is a daily changing picture, and the number of items will now be higher.

Aprons 4,564,502

Gloves 6,750,069

Masks 3,102,461

Eye Protection 156,935

FFP3 320

Visors 200

Total 14,574,487

Question reference: S5W-28416

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 April 2020
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 2 June 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what guidance has been given to care homes regarding limiting the transmission of COVID-19 in addition to that published by Health Protection Scotland on personal protective equipment (PPE).

Health Protection Scotland (HPS) has published infection control guidance for care homes which is updated regularly and most recently on 20 May. The HPS guidance is based on the National Infection Prevention and Control Manual and includes advice on how to prevent and manage the spread of all respiratory infections including COVID-19.

To supplement HPS guidance, the Scottish Government also issued clinical and practice guidance for care homes. This was first published on 13 March and updated on 26 March and 15 May. This guidance draws on the HPS guidance but provides more detailed information on some of the practical steps that are required to protect staff and residents. Both the HPS and the Scottish Government guidance are continually reviewed to take account of the emerging picture around COVID-19.

Question reference: S5T-02220

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 01 June 2020
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 2 June 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reports that there have been around 600 more deaths in care homes from COVID-19 than officially recorded.

Question reference: S5W-28399

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 14 April 2020
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 1 June 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what the staff absence rate has been in the care home sector since the COVID-19 outbreak began, and what information it has regarding how many have been absent because they (a) are suspected of having and (b) have the virus.

Question reference: S5W-29056

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 14 May 2020
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 27 May 2020

To ask the Scottish Government how many meetings Ministers held to discuss the Silver Swan pandemic meeting in 2015.

Question reference: S5T-02214

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 26 May 2020
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 26 May 2020

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will have recruited all 2,000 contact tracers by the end of May.

Question reference: S5W-28936

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 07 May 2020
Current Status: Answered by Kate Forbes on 26 May 2020

To ask the Scottish Government how much of the £30 million received from the National Lottery Communities Fund has been distributed.

The Scottish Government has not received £30 million from the National Lottery Community Fund, but has been notified by HM Treasury of an estimated £30 million consequentials relating to UK Government grant to the National Lottery Community Fund in respect of England.

The Cabinet Secretary for Communities and Local Government announced additional support for the third sector in Scotland on 18 March 2020 as part of a £350 million package of communities funding, prior to the UK Government announcement of funding for charities.

This funding exceeds the consequentials expected for Scotland from the UK Government.

The Scottish Government funding package includes a £50 million Wellbeing Fund to provide support to third sector organisations, including charities and social enterprises, helping them to work with at-risk people most affected by the coronavirus pandemic. It also includes a Third Sector Resilience Fund, now worth £25 million, to provide an emergency fund for charities, community groups, social enterprises and voluntary organisations working in Scotland.