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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: S6W-34326

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 31 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 12 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what proportion of the health budget was spent on the National Wellbeing Hub in the financial year (a) 2023-24 and (b) 2024-25.

The National Wellbeing Hub offers a range of self-service resources for staff across health, social care and social work on how to improve their wellbeing and resilience.

Less than 1% of the health budget was spent on the National Wellbeing Hub in financial years 2023-24 and 2024-25. The funding provided by Scottish Government is broken down as follows:

2023-24: £191,000 was allocated to the Hub.

2024-25: £96,000 was allocated to the Hub.

Question reference: S6W-34328

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 31 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 12 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the adequacy of wellbeing services for healthcare professionals, including in relation to their accessibility, frequency of usage and success in reducing burnout rates, in light of reported research by the Medical and Dental Defence Union Scotland (MDDUS) stating that 67% of doctors in Scotland say that their empathy for their patients is reduced because they have compassion fatigue.

Scottish Government regularly receives data from wellbeing services that support healthcare professionals. Each of the services actively gather user feedback which is shared with Scottish Government who use it to enhance and develop their wellbeing resources.

Scottish Government funding of over £2.5m has been committed to support the mental health and wellbeing of healthcare professionals in 2024-25. These resources include a 24/7 compassionate listening service, confidential treatment for mental illness through the Workforce Specialist Service and access to psychological therapies and interventions.

Prioritising these treatment and therapeutic programmes reflects our commitment to offer care and support to those staff suffering from burnout and mental illnesses.

In addition, the National Wellbeing Hub offers a range of self-care wellbeing enhancing resources and signposting to relevant mental health and support services. The content of The Hub is fully shaped by Health and Social Care (HSC) stakeholders, with a key focus on providing support and education on recognising and addressing burnout. It aims to help individuals identify burnout in themselves and others, offering practical interventions to prevent or mitigate its effects. These resources are designed both for individuals and those in supportive roles within teams, as well as guidance on accessing further support and recovery services.

It is recognised that more must be done to improve the working conditions of HSC staff to reduce the risk of burnout at its source.

Question reference: S6W-34327

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 31 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 12 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many of the 16 full-time equivalent roles to support the mental health and wellbeing of the NHS workforce have been filled since the publication of this pledge in the national workforce strategy in March 2022.

Question reference: S6W-34809

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 10 February 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 10 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with Peel Ports regarding the potential development of a cruise ship berth on the upper Clyde.

Question reference: S6W-34498

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 05 February 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 5 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, in relation to the Childsmile programme in the financial year 2023-24, whether it will provide the (a) total cost of the programme and (b) estimated cost per child per annum.

Question reference: S6W-34465

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 05 February 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 5 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body whether it will liaise with Police Scotland and the British Transport Police to establish an equivalent scheme to the Police Service Parliamentary Scheme for MSPs.

Question reference: S6W-34464

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 05 February 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 5 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body whether it will make the necessary arrangements for MSPs to be able to participate in the Armed Forces Parliamentary Scheme.

Question reference: S6W-34435

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 04 February 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 4 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how much it has cost to run the National Dental Inspection Programme in (a) 2024-25 to date and (b) the four previous financial years.

Question reference: S6W-33829

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 23 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 4 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how it plans to ensure that there is access to capsule sponge diagnostics for all who require this in NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde.

The Centre for Sustainable Delivery (CfSD) continues to support the roll out, and evaluation of the Oesophageal Cell Collection Device (CytoSponge) across Scotland.

However, whilst Scottish Ministers are responsible for determining the strategic policy of the NHS in Scotland, neither Scottish Ministers or officials are able to intervene directly in matters relating to clinical decision making as this is the sole responsibility of Healthcare professionals and Boards.

To specifically support scope based diagnostics we have published an Endoscopy and Urology Diagnostic Recovery and Renewal Plan backed by £70 million. The plan focuses on key areas such as: Balancing Demand and Capacity; Workforce Training and Development; Infrastructure; and Innovation and Redesign. This plan has delivered:

Four mobile endoscopy units across Scotland, providing 5-6 additional endoscopy rooms.
A national endoscopy surveillance framework, introduced in February 2022, which has been implemented in all Health Boards and holds near-real time information for patients in Scotland having regular endoscopy checks (surveillance).
Triage tools such as qFIT, and endoscopy alternatives such as Cytosponge, and Colon Capsule Endoscopy have also been introduced.

Question reference: S6W-33828

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 23 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 4 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many tests have been performed to date in NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde by the capsule sponge diagnostic service.

As part of the Scottish Government’s Endoscopy Recovery and Remobilisation Plan (2021) nurse led Oesophageal Cell Collection Device services were rolled out across NHS Boards. To date, 11 Mainland Boards have active services with over 6,000 procedures delivered to August 2023. The OesophagealCell Collection Device is an alternative to endoscopy for diagnosis of pre and early oesophageal cancer as part of Upper GI Endoscopy Recovery Planning. The Centre for Sustainable Delivery (CfSD) continue to support the roll out, and evaluation of OesophagealCell Collection Device across Scotland.

Since starting in September 2020, NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde have performed 1,680 oesophageal sponge cytology tests.