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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 MSPs 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.

Find out more about parliamentary questions

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Question reference: S6O-04321

Asked by: James Dornan, MSP for Glasgow Cathcart, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 12 February 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 19 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how it is working to support Scotland’s food and drink sector, both domestically and internationally.

Question reference: S6O-04327

Asked by: Clare Adamson, MSP for Motherwell and Wishaw, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 12 February 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 19 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how it is supporting frontline staff at University Hospital Wishaw.

Question reference: S6W-34099

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 28 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 12 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to phase out the use of pagers in the NHS and replace them with more modern communication technology devices.

Question reference: S6W-34102

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 28 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 12 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what guidance it has issued to NHS boards regarding the use of pagers in critical care and emergency situations.

Question reference: S6W-34098

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 28 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 12 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of any potential impact on patient safety of any continued reliance on pagers in the NHS.

Question reference: S6W-34115

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 12 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many patients have been deemed “surgically fit for discharge” but have refused to leave hospital in each year since 2018, broken down by NHS board.

As discussed in answer to PQ S6W-34114 on 12 February 2025, the standard definitions of delayed discharge in use across NHS Scotland since 2016 do not identify patients as surgically fit for discharge, and the reasons for delayed discharge (when patients remain in hospital after being declared clinically ready for discharge) do not allow a direct count of patients who have refused to leave hospital.

All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers

Question reference: S6W-34160

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 12 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to improve the reporting and recording of assaults on nurses across all NHS boards.

Health Boards have reporting systems in place to capture data on violence and aggression. At present, Health Boards collect this data locally.

We are exploring how we can improve incident reporting systems and investigating proposals for developing standardised approaches to reporting and handling incidents nationally.

We are working to ensure that all staff are aware of currently available reporting mechanisms and ensure they have the psychological safety to report incidents when they occur.

Question reference: S6W-34153

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 12 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what guidance is issued to staff regarding the acceptable use of its devices and networks, including rules on accessing inappropriate content.

Question reference: S6W-34114

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 12 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how patients who are deemed “surgically fit for discharge” but refuse to leave hospital are (a) recorded and (b) monitored, and whether this is standardised across all NHS boards.

Public Health Scotland publishes monthly Official Statistics on the number of people remaining in hospital after being declared ready for discharge, along with the reason for their delay. This information is recorded within each NHS board using a common set of definitions and codes applied across all NHS boards in Scotland.

Inpatients are determined clinically ready for discharge by the consultant/GP responsible for the inpatient medical care and where a multi-disciplinary team has agreed that the individual’s care needs can be further assessed or properly met outside a hospital setting. Clinical readiness is not synonymous with surgical fitness for discharge.

Refusal to leave hospital is not directly captured as a reason for delay in the common delayed discharge definitions.

Delayed discharges due to patients exercising their statutory right to choice of care home accommodation are captured under two reason codes:

71: Standard delays due to Patient exercising statutory right of choice, and
71x: Complex (Code 9) delays due to Patient exercising statutory right of choice where an interim placement is not possible or reasonable.

Patients recorded as delayed due to exercising their statutory right to choice (71 and 71x) should not be interpreted as refusing to leave hospital.

Codes 71 and 71x are used when a patient has exercised their right to their choice of residential care home, which is a statutory right under The Social Work (Scotland) Act 1968 (Choice of Accommodation) Directions 1993. This right is subject to provisions, including that the chosen accommodation will be available within a reasonable period, the provider is willing to provide accommodation and the cost to the local authority is not more than it would usually expect to pay.

The definitions further specify that code 71x: “…should only be used where long travel distances or limited transport infrastructures restrict the ability of families and friends to visit and where the placement may isolate the individual from a vital family and social network. This code should only be applied where remaining in a hospital setting is a more appropriate outcome and is the only viable alternative to an interim move. In all other choice cases (code 71) the underlying principle should be that remaining in hospital is not an option.”

Any patient who refuses to leave hospital for any other reason other than exercising their statutory right to choice of accommodation may be recorded as delayed due to “Other patient/carer/family-related reason”, however not all patients recorded with this reason code can be said to be refusing to leave hospital.

Question reference: S6W-34159

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 12 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what measures are in place to support nurses who have been victims of assault in the workplace.

No-one should be the victim of abuse or violence while at work and assaults on NHS staff are completely unacceptable. We encourage Health Boards to support criminal proceedings, where appropriate, against anyone who assaults staff. NHSScotland staff can access a range of services to care for their physical and mental health. This includes employee assistance programmes, trauma counselling services and pastoral support, to ensure a safe working environment.

The wellbeing of our health and social care workforce remains a key priority and we are working to ensure that the right level of support is offered across the system. Scottish Government funding provides our workforce with access to psychological interventions and therapies, self-service resources through the National Wellbeing Hub and the National Wellbeing Helpline delivered by NHS 24 to support their wellbeing. We also provide access to confidential mental health services through the Workforce Specialist Service.