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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.

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Question reference: S6W-26876

Asked by: Sandesh Gulhane, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 16 April 2024
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 23 April 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the reported long-term downward trend in adherence to the 62-day cancer treatment standard, whether it plans to make any significant changes to its approach to tackling cancer waiting times.

he Framework for Effective Cancer Management provides NHS Cancer Teams with the tools to effectively manage people with a suspicion of cancer, from the point of referral to first treatment. A refresh of the Framework will take place in 2024 to ensure each key element has been reviewed and updated, providing NHS Cancer Teams with the tools to effectively manage patients with a suspicion of cancer, from the point of referral to first treatment.

Work is underway to redesign cancer diagnostic services with new optimal cancer diagnostic pathways published for Lung Cancer and Head & Neck Cancers. Work is underway to redesign the colorectal cancer diagnostic pathway.

In addition we have now established five Rapid Cancer Diagnostic Services to provide primary care with a new referral route for patients with non-specific symptoms of cancer in NHS Ayrshire & Arran, NHS Borders, NHS Dumfries & Galloway, NHS Fife and NHS Lanarkshire.

Question reference: S6W-26872

Asked by: Sandesh Gulhane, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 16 April 2024
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 23 April 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has regarding setting timelines for achieving the 62-day cancer treatment standard.

Cancer remains a national priority, within the Scottish Government and across NHS Scotland, with urgent suspicion of cancer referrals continuing to be prioritised, this is reflected in the fact that more people with cancer have been treated on both the 62 and 31 day pathways this quarter alone, compared to the same time pre-pandemic. NHS Boards have provided 62 day performance improvement plans, detailing what is being done at local level to drive improvements backed by £11.3 m investment.

In addition we are committed to reducing inpatient and day-case waiting lists by an estimated 100,000 patients over the next three years, backed by planned investment of an extra £100 million annually, subject to the annual Scottish Budget process.

An initial investment of £30 million can now be funded and will target reductions to the national backlogs that built up throughout the pandemic, including orthopaedics treatments, diagnostics for cancer referrals and patients with the longest waits. This will enable NHS Scotland to maximise capacity, build greater resilience and deliver year-on-year reductions in the number of patients who have waited too long for treatment.

Question reference: S6W-26873

Asked by: Sandesh Gulhane, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 16 April 2024
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 23 April 2024

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason adherence to the 62-day referral-to-treatment standard for cancer is reportedly worse than adherence to the 31-day decision-to-treatment standard.

It is reassuring to note that once a decision to treat has been made people wait on average 5 days to receive treatment. However we continue to see an increasing number of eligible cancer referrals and our priority is to ensure these people receive cancer diagnosis and treatment safely and based on their clinical urgency.

While suspected cancer patients are always prioritised there are capacity pressures on diagnostic services. This is why we have published a £70m Endoscopy and Urology Diagnostic Recovery & Renewal plan, which includes a commitment to develop a network of Urology Diagnostic Hubs which will help reduce waiting times for people with cancer.

We have also provided three permanent CT scanners to support core capacity within Boards, including a mobile CT pod. In addition, one further mobile CT and seven mobile MRI scanners are being used across multiple NHS Boards to provide additional capacity with plans underway to further increase activity.

Question reference: S6O-03334

Asked by: Sandesh Gulhane, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 17 April 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 24 April 2024

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason it has reportedly spent nearly £400,000 of public money to promote Scotland’s new hate crime laws.

Question reference: S6W-26481

Asked by: Sandesh Gulhane, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 27 March 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 15 April 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what the purpose is of its policy to make music tuition free in schools, and what its response is to reports that the policy could lead to a ban on private tuition during school hours and require paid lessons to be arranged outwith the school day.

The purpose of the Scottish Government’s policy on free instrumental music tuition is ensure that fees and charges are not a barrier to learning an instrument at school.

The policy has transformed instrumental music tuition in Scotland’s schools by funding all councils to eradicate unfair music tuition charges. The most recent Instrumental Music Survey published in December 2023 Instrumental Music Survey shows the number of pupils participating is at a record high.

The policy means that Local Authorities should not charge fees for instrumental music tuition at school.

Question reference: S6W-25560

Asked by: Sandesh Gulhane, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 15 February 2024
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 14 March 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether (a) it and (b) public sector pension agencies, including the Scottish Public Pensions Agency, (i) have taken or (ii) will take steps to ensure that companies or agencies that conduct medical assessments of public sector workers with long COVID are made aware that long COVID clinics do not exist in some areas of Scotland, on the basis that NHS boards make their own arrangements for long COVID treatment, in order to ensure that ill health retirement pension applications are not refused simply due to the lack of attendance at a long COVID clinic.

Care and support for people with long COVID is being provided across the full range of services delivered by NHS Scotland. This includes assessment and investigation in a setting close to home by local primary care teams, and referral to community-based rehabilitation services or secondary care settings for further investigation of specific complications where appropriate.

SPPA’s occupational health advisers at Health Partners are aware that Long Covid Clinics do not exist in some areas of Scotland. Ill health retirement applications are assessed on a case-by-case basis and the medical decision-making process takes into account the available treatment options for an individual. This principle is also contained in the guidance issued by SPPA that should be considered by scheme employers responsible for managing ill health retirement applications from members of the Local Government Pension Scheme (Scotland).

Question reference: S6W-25563

Asked by: Sandesh Gulhane, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 15 February 2024
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 14 March 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether existing criteria for conducting medical assessments of public sector workers with long COVID, in relation to ill health retirement pension applications, reflect that long COVID clinics do not exist in some areas of Scotland, and, if not, what action it can take to ensure that this is the case.

Question reference: S6W-25562

Asked by: Sandesh Gulhane, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 15 February 2024
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 14 March 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reports that long COVID patients in Scotland have been refused ill health retirement pensions because they have not attended a long COVID clinic.

We are not aware of reports that any long COVID patients have been refused ill health retirement from a public service pension scheme in Scotland solely because they have not attended a long COVID clinic. Each ill health retirement application should be assessed on a case-by-case basis and the medical decision-making process takes into account the available treatment options for an individual.

In assessing an ill health retirement application, the scheme manager must assess whether the individual is permanently incapable of carrying out the duties of their existing employment (lower-tier) or any regular employment of like duration (upper-tier) until their normal pension age. One of the factors which must be considered in making that assessment is whether the individual has received appropriate medical treatment. Where the member has not received appropriate medical treatment, permanent incapacity cannot be established. However, if a long COVID service was not available, according to the general principles of an ill-health retirement assessment, it would not be considered an appropriate treatment option for that individual.

Question reference: S6W-25561

Asked by: Sandesh Gulhane, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 15 February 2024
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 14 March 2024

To ask the Scottish Government which agencies or companies are being used by public sector pension scheme agencies, including the Scottish Public Pensions Agency, to conduct medical assessments such as assessments for ill health retirement pension applications, also broken down by the geographical area in which these agencies or companies are located.

SPPA’s appointed medical advisers are Health Partners (OH) Ltd who operate nationally and also provide services to the police and fire services. Full information on local government pensions administration is not held centrally but a range of providers are used, including Optima Health (Falkirk), PAM Group (Strathclyde, Scottish Borders, Lothian, Highland, Tayside, and Fife), TAC Healthcare (Orkney), Genesis OHS (Dumfries and Galloway) and NHS Shetland Occupational Health Service.

Question reference: S6W-25699

Asked by: Sandesh Gulhane, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 23 February 2024
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 8 March 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to deliver a new Monklands Hospital.

The UK Government did not inflation-proof its capital budget which has resulted in nearly a 10% real-terms cut in the Scottish Government’s capital funding over the medium-term between 2023-24 and 2027-28.

The result of this cut is that new health capital projects have currently been paused. Our emphasis for the immediate future will be on addressing backlog maintenance and essential equipment replacement. However we are in active discussions with NHS Lanarkshire on the impact of this budget settlement on the proposal to replace University Hospital Monklands and therefore no final decision has yet been made.