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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-14026

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 31 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-13529 by Maree Todd on 16 January 2023, when the baseline audit will be complete, and whether that information will be publicly available.

The initial baseline audit of the public health workforce should be completed in 2023. However, given the diversity of public health roles in the domains of health improvement, health protection, healthcare public health and associated research, data and intelligence, the collection and analysis process will have to be refined before the data is suitable for publication. Our ultimate aim will be to publish it alongside the other NHS Education for Scotland workforce data.

Question reference: S6W-14040

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 31 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-13609 by Maree Todd on 17 January 2023, whether it has gathered data on how many women access free contraception from each of the sources listed, and, if so, what the figures are for each year since 2007.

Question reference: S6W-13962

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 17 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 31 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many patients and residents currently being cared for by health and social care services (a) do and (b) do not have access to free Wi-Fi (i) at their bedside and (ii) in public areas within their healthcare setting, broken down by NHS board.

The Scottish Government does not hold this information centrally.

All Health Boards have a responsibility to ensure that that Wi-Fi is of a sufficient standard to support both patients and staff to have access to connectivity.

In 2019, Scotland undertook its first digital maturity assessment across health and social care which helped to prioritise key areas for investment. A further assessment is due to take place later this year which will include consideration of availability of Wi-Fi that we expect to inform further priorities.

There is no centrally held resource providing information about the Wi-Fi provision for residents in care homes. However, data obtained from participating care homes on the programme of work to fulfil the Digital Approaches in Care Homes Action Plan has indicated that an estimated 55% of care homes have Wi-Fi access throughout the premises, 38% have only partial Wi-Fi coverage, and 9% have no Wi-Fi access for residents.

Our digital in care homes programme was launched to complement the Connecting Scotland digital inclusion programme. It saw over 75% of all adult and children's care homes in Scotland take up the offer of digital devices, data packages, connectivity improvements and skills. This included providing increased Wi-Fi/MiFi capabilities for those who required this. The homes who took up this offer cover over 90% of all care home residents in Scotland with devices being used to help residents to remain connected to friends and family and to access key services such as the NHS.

Question reference: S6W-13964

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 17 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 31 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how much it has spent in each year since 2007 on the provision of access to free Wi-Fi for patients and residents currently being cared for by health and social care services (a) at their bedside and (b) in public areas within their healthcare setting.

Question reference: S6W-13984

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 17 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 31 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many patients have accessed health and social care services via asynchronous communication in the last year, broken down by NHS board.

Question reference: S6W-13990

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 17 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 31 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the commitment in its Digital Health and Care Strategy, what rights and responsibilities people have for using digital means to access information and services.

The “Health and Social Care Standards: my support, my life” set out a range of standards on what people should expect when using health, social care or social work services in Scotland. These include the use of technology to support independence and having more control over their own health and wellbeing, and for those in 24 hour care that they are connected to the internet. The Standards also set out an expectation that people can access the right information at the right time, and patients rights and responsibilities in relation to their information is further enhanced by the Charter of Patient Rights and Responsibilities which sets out expectations around confidentiality and handling of medical information.

Question reference: S6W-13994

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 17 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 31 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the commitment in its Digital Health and Care Strategy to develop a fully interactive "Front Door", how many health and care services, both digital and physical services, across the statutory, third and independent sectors, are currently available on this system.

Question reference: S6W-14111

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 19 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 31 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the commitment in its Digital Health and Care Strategy, how much it has spent on providing a single and secure way for health and care staff to sign in to clinical and care systems and data.

At a national level, the Scottish Government continues to support and prioritise the full use of the capabilities offered by the Microsoft 365 platform, under the national NHS-wide tenancy including secure access to systems. The responsibility for managing individual access to clinical and care systems is a matter for individual employers.

Since October 2021, Scottish Government has contributed £2.4 million to the Microsoft 365 Programme for NHS Scotland. As part of this investment, we are continuing to develop identity solutions for health and social care staff.

Question reference: S6W-14035

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 31 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-13610 by Maree Todd on 17 January 2023, when its pilot for an online service is expected to begin, and how long it will run for.

The development of the pilot e-prep clinic is in the early stages and is likely to involve a staged approach.

As this is a complex project, involving significant IT and clinical expertise to deliver well, it is not yet possible to provide a definitive start date. The development work that’s currently underway will determine the scale, start date and duration of the initial pilot. While we expect significant progress to be made in the coming months, it is important that when we launch the pilot we ensure that it is fit for purpose and will meet the highest standards of patient safety.

As I committed to during the Parliamentary Debate on World Aids Day, the Scottish Parliament will be provided with an annual report regarding the progress made towards the goal of ending HIV transmission within Scotland by 2030.

Question reference: S6W-13965

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 16 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 31 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many patients have used the Near Me service in each NHS board area in each month since it was brought into use, broken down by (a) type of appointment and (b) service provided.