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-19005

Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 24 September 2018
Current Status: Answered by Joe FitzPatrick on 26 October 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what consideration it has given to ensuring that dual energy x-ray absorptiometry (DXA) scanning is available to everyone as a means of early fracture diagnosis and prevention of further fractures in people at risk of osteoporosis.

Question reference: S5O-02458

Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 17 October 2018
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 25 October 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what the latest position is on its roll-out of 1,140 hours of free childcare by 2020.

We remain on track to deliver the 1140 hours expansion. This programme is ambitious and challenging, but we are working hard with local authorities and delivery partners to create the workforce and physical capacity required. We reached a landmark agreement with COSLA in April on a multi-year package to fully fund the expansion. We have established a Joint Delivery Board, which I co-chair with Councillor McCabe, to oversee progress and respond to any emerging issues.

Question reference: S5W-19138

Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 01 October 2018
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 22 October 2018

To ask the Scottish Government by what date NHS Ayrshire and Arran will finalise its proposed changes to the delivery of cancer treatment services.

Question reference: S5W-19140

Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 01 October 2018
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 15 October 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what action it takes to ensure that NHS boards give appropriate consideration to the suitability of transport infrastructure, including public transport provision and hospital parking, when planning major changes to the delivery of services.

Scottish Government identifies transport infrastructure as a key element in the development of a NHS investment along with factors such as land availability, energy infrastructure, clinical adjacencies, demographics and geography. The Scottish Capital Investment Manual's NHSScotland Design Assessment Process (NDAP), facilitated by Health Facilities Scotland, together with Architecture and Design Scotland, independently review major NHS Board proposals at key stages in development, against Scottish Government policy, NHS Guidance and national best practice.

NDAP progresses over the Initial Agreement, Outline Business Case and Full Business Case. This provides a check that projects are on track in terms of ensuring the design of their investments provide the investment objectives and national standards are achieved and adhered to. A key feature of NDAP at the Outline Business Case stage is the Site Strategy which specifically includes the planning to ensure the accessibility of the facilities through effective public transport and good parking routes.

Business cases will only be approved by the NHS Capital Investment Group if they have NDAP support and if NHS Boards can demonstrate that transport infrstructure, public transport provision and hospital parking have been taken into account.

Question reference: S5W-19003

Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 24 September 2018
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 11 October 2018

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-14416 by Shona Robison on 22 February 2018, and the subsequent commitment in its Programme for Government, when it will publish a national falls and fracture prevention strategy.

Question reference: S5W-18766

Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 12 September 2018
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 27 September 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what progress is being made by the South West Transport Study, and by what date the findings will be published.

As part of the study, data has been collected over the summer from bus and rail passengers in South West Scotland to supplement similar information already collected from road users. This information, together with that gathered from the stakeholder engagement phase, which got underway on the 19 September with the launch of an on-line public survey, will help define the key transport challenges in the South West. In addition to the on-line survey, workshops are planned with key stakeholders for October.

It is anticipated that the study will be completed in winter 2018-19 with the emerging outcomes then providing the robust evidence base for the second Strategic Transport Projects Review.

Question reference: S5F-02635

Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 24 September 2018
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 27 September 2018

To ask the First Minister what the Scottish Government’s response is to the report that obesity is set to overtake smoking as the biggest cause of preventable cancers in women.

Question reference: S5W-18147

Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 August 2018
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 13 September 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what the average waiting time has been for (a) routine and (b) urgent outpatient appointments for rheumatology patients in (i) 2016, (ii) 2017 and (iii) 2018.

The information requested is provided in the following table. Please note that due to ongoing technical issues information from NHS Ayrshire and Arran and NHS Tayside are not included in the figures below.

NHS SCOTLAND: MEDIAN WAITING TIMES FOR URGENT AND ROUTINE FIRST OUTPATIENT APPOINTMENT IN RHEUMATOLOGY

	2016	2017	January to June 2018
Median Wait –Urgent	35 days	37 days	36 days
Median Wait - Routine	69 days	79 days	79 days

Source: Waiting Times Warehouse

Question reference: S5W-18567

Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 04 September 2018
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 13 September 2018

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the commitment by the former Minister for Transport and the Islands in Maybole in November 2017 that construction of the Maybole Bypass was expected to commence in 2018, when construction will commence.

Question reference: S5W-18148

Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 August 2018
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 3 September 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to develop networks between rural and urban hospitals.

The Scottish Government has asked NHS boards to work collaboratively with each other and with partners to develop regional delivery plans. The plans will strengthen how services can best be planned and delivered, particularly at a regional level, and support the reform programme set out in the Health and Social Care Delivery Plan published in December 2016. The plans are in draft form and the Implementation Leads are engaging with stakeholders to refine their proposals over the rest of this year. Boards are now starting to develop clinical networks and new care pathways which will link hospitals and services across regions, including between rural and urban areas, to provide more effective and sustainable care for patients.