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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-33963

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 24 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 4 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many patients were on waiting lists for cardiology (a) in total and (b) for over a year, in each of the last five years.

Public Health Scotland (PHS) publishes statistics on the length of time patients wait to be seen as a new outpatient or admitted for treatment as an inpatient or day case in the Stage of Treatment (SoT) publication. The latest publication release contains data up to quarter ending 30 September 2024.

Statistics relating to the total number of ongoing waits and the number of waits with a wait length over 52 weeks by specialty from 31 December 2019 can be found in the ‘Waits over 52 weeks’ data table in sheets ‘Table 3.1.1’ for new outpatient appointments, and ‘Table 3.2.1’ for inpatient or day case admissions.

https://publichealthscotland.scot/media/30453/waits_over_52_weeks_nov24.xlsx

Longer trend information can be found in the following tables:

New outpatient appointments (‘1.6 Table’): https://publichealthscotland.scot/media/30080/newop_nov24.xlsx

Inpatient or day case admission (‘2.6 Table’): https://publichealthscotland.scot/media/30452/ipdc_nov24.xlsx

Question reference: S6F-03787

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 03 February 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 6 February 2025

To ask the First Minister what action the Scottish Government is taking to address the reported shortage in clinical radiologists, which is projected to rise to 263 fewer posts than needed by 2028.

Question reference: S6W-33960

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 24 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 3 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what percentage of the delivery of its winter vaccination programme was achieved in November 2024, broken down by NHS board area.

The following table shows the breakdown of this winter’s COVID-19 and flu vaccination uptake that was achieved as of 1 December 2024, broken down by Health Board. The table also shows the uptake as a percentage for the whole for Scotland.

This data is publicly accessible via the Public Health Scotland (PHS) Open Source website: Flu & COVID vaccinations - Datasets - Scottish Health and Social Care Open Data

Uptake as of 1 December 2024:

Health Board	Covid Uptake %	Flu Uptake %
NHS Ayrshire and Arran	41	44.9
NHS Borders	50.6	53.4
NHS Dumfries and Galloway	48.8	52.5
NHS Fife	44.3	48.2
NHS Forth Valley	42.9	48.7
NHS Grampian	37.5	41.1
NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde	33.6	37.7
NHS Highland	41	43.5
NHS Lanarkshire	41	45.5
NHS Lothian	43.3	48
NHS Orkney	50	54.8
NHS Shetland	46	48.6
NHS Tayside	41.9	45
NHS Western Isles	37.8	41.7
Overall uptake for Scotland	40.4	44.4

Question reference: S6W-33965

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 24 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 3 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many people have died from heart disease in each of the last five years, and, of these, how many were classed as premature deaths.

Question reference: S6W-33967

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 24 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 3 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to develop a new Heart Disease Action Plan.

We are exploring a new long term conditions strategy to better recognise the fact that many people living with long term conditions need the same types of support and care, regardless of their condition. The strategy will focus on ensuring equitable and sustainable access to the services that all people with long term conditions need, while still allowing for targeted action on condition-specific care and support where appropriate.

We will shortly launch a full public consultation on this strategy. We are therefore not yet in a position to confirm the implications of the consultation and ensuing strategy with regard to condition-specific action plans.

Question reference: S6W-33966

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 24 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 3 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether there will be an evaluation of its Heart Disease Action Plan.

Question reference: S6W-33958

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 24 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 3 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason the delivery of the COVID-19 and flu vaccination programme for 2024-25 has been later than the programmes in the previous two years.

It is important to make sure that the start date of the annual flu programme reflects the expected peak of flu circulating to ensure maximum vaccine efficacy.

The 2024 Winter Flu and Covid programme (FVCV) launched on 9 September with the child flu programme. This was the earliest the programme in Scotland could start the child programme, due to vaccine supply deliveries.

Vaccination of adult flu groups began on 16 September, with the main flu and COVID-19 co-administration launching on 23 September. As per previous winter programme, Boards used the first two weeks of the main programme to focus on our most vulnerable citizens, notably residents in care homes for older adults and the housebound. Community appointments then began on 7 October.

These launch dates were based on two factors;

1.Advice from the Joint Committee on Vaccination & Immunisation (JCVI): The JCVI advice noted that Health Departments should ideally aim to vaccinate their adult flu population in October and November, in order to vaccinate the eligible population prior to the beginning of the flu season, and to minimise the impact of vaccine waning.

2.Availability of COVID-19 vaccine supply: The vast majority of COVID-19 and flu vaccines are co-administered (currently 95.2% as of 26 January), for maximum convenience for people who are eligible for both. As such we had to wait for COVID-19 vaccine supplies to be available in Scotland to start that main phase of the programme, and 23 September was the earliest possible date.

During planning for its winter programmes, the Scottish Vaccination & Immunisation Programme (SVIP) takes multiple, complex factors into account when arriving at programme dates. These include JCVI advice on programme timings and cohort eligibility, the risk of emerging new COVID-19 variants, flu and COVID-19 vaccine supply availability and clinic capacity within the system.

These factors change annually, meaning that programme start dates will shift and therefore a direct comparison is difficult.

Question reference: S6W-33962

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 24 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 31 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what arrangements the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care has agreed with NHS Highland in relation to GPs taking over vaccination programmes in their area.

Question reference: S6W-33961

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 24 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 31 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether GPs will be able to deliver the winter vaccination programme for their area in the future, should they wish to do so.

Question reference: S6W-33325

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 17 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 31 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how the funding for thrombectomy services set out in its draft Budget 2025-26 was calculated, and how this level of funding will assist in meeting the objective of a national round-the-clock thrombectomy service, as set out in priority 3 of the Stroke Improvement Plan 2023.

The Scottish Government draft budget 2025-26 has been informed by planning forecasts provided by the Thrombectomy Advisory Group (TAG). Clinicians and third sector organisations, as well as NHS planning colleagues, are represented on the TAG and the information provided by them helps to inform decisions taken by the National Thrombectomy Programme Board.

Work is ongoing to establish how the £16 million funding announced in the Scottish budget, subject to parliamentary scrutiny, will be best used to maximise the number of patients able to benefit from thrombectomy.