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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-17536

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 27 April 2023
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 15 May 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether the High Risk Medicines Framework is currently in use in NHS Scotland.

Reducing harm due to high-risk medicines has been identified as a priority by health boards across Scotland and the Scottish Patient Safety Programme (SPSP) has focussed on supporting teams to discuss and prioritise improvement activities related to high-risk medicines and high-risk situations around medicines.

The SPSP programme within HIS has developed a number of tools and resources which are publicly available via the Healthcare Improvement Scotland (HIS) website. These resources include the Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs (NSAID) Safer Care Bundle, NSAID Communication Care Bundle, Medicines Sick Day Rule Cards, High Risk Medicines Framework and the High Risk Medicines Discussion Framework. All resources available on the HIS website are reviewed by the clinical team supporting HIS to ensure they remain up to date and beneficial, and are available for staff to use within their local settings.

Question reference: S6W-17533

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 27 April 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 15 May 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the progress of the roll-out of Hospital Electronic Prescribing and Medicines Administration (HEPMA) in each NHS board, and when it expects that each NHS board will have HEPMA capability.

Hospital Electronic Prescribing and Medicines Administration (HEPMA) has been rolled out in in seven Health boards including NHS Ayrshire & Arran, NHS Dumfries & Galloway, NHS Forth Valley, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, NHS Lanarkshire, NHS Lothian and The State Hospital.

The six North of Scotland Boards have worked collaboratively together to develop a regional HEPMA and have implemented capability for the region. NHS Grampian, NHS Highland, NHS Tayside and NHS Orkney have gone live and are now planning for a wider roll out across each of their estate. Both NHS Shetland and NHS Western Isles are finalising preparations for go live in the coming weeks.

Work is underway to rollout HEPMA systems in the remaining Health Boards of NHS Borders, NHS Fife and the Golden Jubilee National Hospital. We expect these implementations to begin in 2024.

Question reference: S6W-17539

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 28 April 2023
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 11 May 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what policies and protocols are currently in place in NHS Scotland to ensure that people whose medicine is time-critical, such as those with Parkinson’s disease, receive their medication on time, every time, including when they are in hospital.

People living with Parkinson’s should be responsible for the administration of all their medicines, including during a stay in any health or care setting, unless a risk assessment indicates otherwise. There are several tools to help people to remember to take their medication, including using alarms on a digital watch, or setting a reminder on a smartphone, using medication reminder charts, using pill timer boxes and multi-compartment compliance aids. In health and care settings, including hospitals, organisational policies will define who can administer medicines, or the appropriate delegation of the administration of medicines, within that setting. This should include a policy for self-administration of medicines.

All registered healthcare professionals who administer medicines, or - when appropriate - delegate the administration of medicines, are accountable for their actions, and this includes recording when a dose of medication may have been missed. This is in line with professional and regulatory standards and guidance. Non-registered healthcare professionals are appropriately trained, assessed as competent and meet relevant organisational guidance on medicines administration.

The administration of Parkinson’s medications vary from person to person and does not always correspond with hospital ward medicine administration rounds for people who are not able to self-administer, and so the roll-out of a Hospital Electronic Prescribing and Medicine Administration (HEPMA) system across Scottish hospitals will help to reduce any missed doses, as well as providing a record of any omissions which provides data to support improvement in the administration of medicines. In addition, there are additional tools in use in some hospitals which can provide alerts as reminders to administer Parkinson’s medicines.

Question reference: S6W-17540

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 28 April 2023
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 11 May 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what policies and procedures are in place to support medicines reconciliation for all hospital inpatients upon (a) admission to, (b) transfer within and (c) discharge from hospital.

The medicines reconciliation process is set out at a national level, and the responsibility lies within each Health Board to enact and monitor adherence.

Board specific policies detail the roles and responsibilities of healthcare professionals when completing and updating medicines reconciliation forms during admission, transfer, and discharge.

Arrangements may vary, therefore specific details could be obtained directly from the Health Boards.

Question reference: S6W-17532

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 April 2023
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 11 May 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how the medicines reconciliation process for all inpatients is monitored within each NHS hospital.

Question reference: S6O-02233

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 May 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 17 May 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on how it is supporting the arts sector.

Question reference: S6W-17360

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 24 April 2023
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 9 May 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to increase recruitment for staff in older people's medicine (a) across Scotland and (b) in NHS Ayrshire and Arran.

NHS Boards are responsible for ensuring they have local policies in place to recruit effectively and retain their staff. They are supported in this through the Scottish Government’s National Workforce Strategy, which sets out the actions it will take in partnership with Boards to plan, attract, train, employ and nurture the health and social care workforce. At national level these actions include increasing workforce supply through international recruitment and providing additional medical and nursing student places.

Since 2014, Scottish Ministers have created 725 expansion posts across a wide range of medical specialties including 20 posts in geriatric medicine. This 32% increase in geriatric medicine training brings the total number of established places to 82 across all years of the Geriatric Medicine training programme.

Question reference: S6W-17373

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 24 April 2023
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 9 May 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what the objectives are of the ScotRail timetable consultation for the upcoming May 2023 timetable, and for what reasons each objective has been chosen.

As required by the Grant Agreement, ScotRail has consulted its May 2023 timetable with statutory consultees including Regional Transport Partnerships, Transport Focus and other public transport operators such as Calmac. No specific objectives are set by the Grant Agreement for consultation with statutory consultees. The May 2023 timetable is an interim position which seeks to deliver as reliable as possible a service for customers with the resources ScotRail currently has available, specifically traincrew.

ScotRail has developed further timetable proposals for Ayrshire, Inverclyde, Glasgow South Electrics and Edinburgh to Glasgow via Shotts routes and aims to publicly consult these in the coming months. The objectives set for the public consultation are:

1. To encourage customers and stakeholders to have their say and help shape the future of Scotland’s Railway.

2. To promote the proposed timetable changes and consultation as a positive step in the railway’s road to recovery.

Question reference: S6W-17374

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 24 April 2023
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 9 May 2023

To ask the Scottish Government when the ScotRail timetable consultation for the upcoming May 2023 timetable concluded, and when the findings will be published.

Question reference: S6W-17579

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 02 May 2023
Current Status: Answered by George Adam on 5 May 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a list of all of its Special Advisers, broken down by portfolio area.