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-11287

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 13 September 2017
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 26 September 2017

To ask the Scottish Government how its Cancer Strategy aims to improve care and outcomes for people with pancreatic cancer.

Question reference: S5W-11288

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 13 September 2017
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 26 September 2017

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has or plans to set targets for survival rates for pancreatic cancer.

Our cancer strategy, ‘Beating Cancer: Ambition and Action’ and the accompanying £100 million investment over the coming years serves as a blueprint for the future of cancer services in Scotland, improving the prevention, detection, diagnosis, treatment and aftercare for all people with cancer, including those diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.

Two of the overarching aims of the cancer strategy are for more people to survive cancer for 1, 5 and 10 years, and to close the gap in survival between Scotland and the best countries in Europe; and we are determined to make this happen.

Question reference: S5W-11309

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 14 September 2017
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 26 September 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what action it takes to ensure that people requiring access to continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) devices can do so, and what its position is on rolling out the FreeStyle Libre System of CGMs.

I refer the member to the answer to question S5O-01194 on 29 June 2017 regarding continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) devices. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at .

CGM enables people to see their blood glucose levels 24 hours a day and will alert patients through an alarm/vibration if the sensor detects blood glucose values that exceed or will exceed the target zone set for their glucose levels, helping them to optimise glycaemic control. Flash glucose monitoring devices do not provide continuous real-time data but rather intermittent measurements which are accessed after the event and therefore cannot provide any alerts.

The Scottish Government notes the announcement by Abbott of the decision to include the Freestyle Libre flash glucose monitoring system on the England and Wales drug tariff. NHS Scotland has yet to receive official notification. Once received, NHS Scotland will follow the established due process for consideration of inclusion on the Scottish Drug Tariff.

Question reference: S5O-01298

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 20 September 2017
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 27 September 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to expand the number of places at medical schools for Scottish-domiciled students.

Question reference: S5W-10972

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 28 August 2017
Current Status: Answered by Aileen Campbell on 20 September 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reported concerns that the one month period for ISD Scotland's consultation on the publication of chronic pain waiting times information is too short to provide everyone who may wish to participate sufficient time to respond, and how it will ensure that as many (a) people experiencing chronic pain and (b) other stakeholders as possible are able to submit their views to the consultation.

Question reference: S5W-11120

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 07 September 2017
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 19 September 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to support the retention of consultant radiologists, in light of reported concerns regarding retention.

The Scottish Government is fully committed to a sustainable NHS and its workforce, which continues to deliver a consistently high quality healthcare service to the people of Scotland.

Under this Government, the number of Consultants with a specialty of Radiology in NHSScotland have increased by 41.9 per cent to 317.2 Whole Time Equivalent.

We have also enhanced the supply of doctors to fill Radiology training posts, with 26 new training places over the past 4 years – an increase of 20%. This will be augmented by a further increase of 10 Radiology training places for 2018, as agreed by the Shape of Training Transition Group on 24 August 2017. Supply will improve from 2018 onwards as our increased investment in Radiology training numbers begins to produce an increased output.

In addition to these measures, the National Radiology Implementation Programme aims to develop a longer term vision for Radiology over the coming year. This will rely on NHS Boards working together in a joined-up service approach to maximise available services in an effort to reduce demand, increase training numbers and other initiatives including an increase in Radiographer reporting.

We will also be meeting with the Royal College of Radiologists later this month to discuss recruitment and retention of Radiologists in NHS Highland.

Question reference: S5W-11119

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 07 September 2017
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 19 September 2017

To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) full- and (b) part-time (i) consultant and (ii) other radiologists have been employed in each year since 1999, broken down by NHS board.

Information on how many (a) full time and (b) part time (i) consultant and (ii) other radiologists have been employed in each year since 1999, broken down by NHS Board, is published by ISD Scotland and is available at the following web links:-

Information between 30 September 1999 and 30 September 2001 (please note this does not provide a breakdown of full-time and part time consultant staff):-

Information between 30 September 2002 and 30 September 2009 (please note this does not provide a breakdown of full-time and part-time consultant staff):-

Information between 30 September 2010 and 30 June 2010 (part-time and full-time consultant staff):-

Question reference: S5W-10947

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 25 August 2017
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 14 September 2017

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-10644 by John Swinney on 24 August 2017, what action it is taking to increase the number of modern language assistants in (a) Lothian, (b) local authorities that do not currently employ any and (c) Scotland.

Since 2013, Scotland’s local authorities have received £24.2m in developmental funding from the Scottish Government to support the implementation of the 1+2 policy by 2021. Many choose to use this to fund Modern Language Assistant posts. It is, however, the decision of each individual Local Authority to determine how to best use this funding to support language learning in their schools.

The Scottish Government recognises the value young native speakers bring to the classroom and we will continue to work closely with British Council Scotland to encourage them to explore creative and innovative ways to generate a greater take up of language assistants in Scotland.

Question reference: S5W-11088

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 06 September 2017
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 14 September 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what recent discussions it has had with NHS Lothian and the area's health and social care partnerships regarding the (a) action that is being taken to reduce delayed discharge and (b) the delayed discharge monthly census, which was published on 5 September 2017 and recorded the board as having the most delays.

Senior officials are engaging with the four Health and Social Care Partnerships across NHS Lothian (East Lothian, Midlothian, West Lothian and Edinburgh City), with the most recent meeting with the Edinburgh Health and Social Care Partnership on 31 August. All partners have assured us that they have plans to make improvement.

Scottish Government officials worked particularly closely with the Edinburgh Partnership in the early part of last year. We also allocated £2m to help address issues there, which led to the Partnership successfully reducing delays by 50% in April 2016. However, the Partnership continues to experience problems with their home care and care home capacity. The recent departure of the Chief Officer in Edinburgh poses another difficult challenge for the Partnership, and officials continue to work closely with them through this challenging time.

Question reference: S5W-10984

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 28 August 2017
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 14 September 2017

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the action it is taking to attract more men into the nursing sector.

The Scottish Government is committed to promoting and maintaining equality and diversity in all walks of life, including for students undertaking nursing and midwifery pre-registration programmes. The Nursing 2030 Vision acknowledges that there has been a small decrease in applications from men despite continuing work by the universities to promote positive images of men in nursing and midwifery to both primary and secondary school pupils.

Chief Nursing Officer, Professor Fiona McQueen, has commissioned Professor Paul Martin CBE, Depute Principal and Depute Vice Chancellor of the University of the West of Scotland, to chair a review into widening access to nursing and midwifery education and careers. The review brings together stakeholders to identify current barriers to the professions, and is expected to make recommendations later in 2017 on improving the opportunities for anyone who aspires to be a nurse or midwife, irrespective of their gender or background.