Questions and answers

Question reference: S5W-28834

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 04 May 2020
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 18 May 2020

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason it publishes a daily list of COVID-19-related deaths for hospitals only, and whether it plans to publish a daily list of such deaths across all settings, similar to the approach in England.

Daily statistics published by the Scottish Government have always included the number of Covid-19 deaths (where COVID-19 has been confirmed from a lab positive test result) in all settings of death, including in hospitals, care homes, homes or other settings. This was in contrast to the original daily reporting of deaths in England which applied to hospital settings only.

Scottish Government statistics are published on the Scottish Government website each day at 2pm.

In addition to the daily statistics, the National Records of Scotland (NRS) also publishes a weekly report on the number of deaths where there was a confirmed or suspected case of Covid-19. These include a breakdown of deaths by setting.

Question reference: S5W-28700

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 27 April 2020
Current Status: Answered by Joe FitzPatrick on 15 May 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what support it routinely provides to unpaid carers, and whether it plans to increase this during the COVID-19 outbreak.

The Carers (Scotland) Act 2016 has established a system of carers’ rights designed to listen to carers; improve consistency of support; and help sustain caring relationships by protecting carers’ health and wellbeing. This includes each carer’s right to a personalised plan to identify what is important to them and set out any support they might need.

Ministers and COSLA have written to local authorities encouraging them to prioritise additional carer support in their local plans for responding to the pandemic. This is on top of the extra £11.6 million for carer support in the 2020-21 budget.

We are working alongside key organisations to ensure carers have the advice they need to help protect themselves and their loved ones during the COVID-19 outbreak, as well as advice on how to access support and changes to carers’ benefits carers. We have also established a £500,000 fund to help local carer services adapt to providing advice and emotional support remotely. This includes advice on accessing personal protective equipment (PPE). We have also made changes to our £3 million Short Breaks Fund so that carers can access breaks that are suitable at this time.

We support around 80,000 unpaid carers in Scotland with Carer’s Allowance and Carer’s Allowance Supplement. Through the Coronavirus (Scotland) Bill 2, we propose to make an extra payment of £230.10 to Carer’s Allowance recipients in Scotland this June, on top of Carer’s Allowance Supplement.

We understand that many carers are under additional emotional pressure at present. We have provided an additional £3.8 million to begin to increase the capacity of NHS 24’s telephone and online services, including making the NHS 24 Mental Health Hub available 24/7 and expanding the Breathing Space helpline and web support service.

A webpage has been published on the Scottish Government website which provides specific information for unpaid carers during the COVID-19 outbreak: https://www.gov.scot/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-advice-for-unpaid-carers/ .

Question reference: S5W-28750

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 27 April 2020
Current Status: Answered by Joe FitzPatrick on 15 May 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it is making to allow the safe reopening of independent podiatry services.

We are considering how best to bring all services back on stream, but in doing so we must be very careful that we do not do anything that might compromise the fragile gains that we are making in containing Covid-19.

We recently published ‘COVID-19: A Framework for Decision Making’ which sets out the challenges we face and how we will approach them. However, our priority at this time is to preserve life and reduce harm.

The current restrictions remain in place and we need to stick with them for now, in order to be able to relax things in future. Independent podiatrists who are still practicing should continue to adhere to national Covid-19 guidance and the guidance produced by their professional bodies.

Question reference: S5W-28923

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 06 May 2020
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 15 May 2020

To ask the Scottish Government how many pregnant women are being asked to shield at home from the COVID-19 outbreak, also broken down by how many have (a) (i) congenital and (ii) acquired heart conditions and (b) other underlying health conditions, broken down by type.

It is not possible to provide information on the exact reasons why individuals have been asked to shield within each specific shielding group as this is not recorded in the list of people who have been asked to shield.

The following table provides information on the number of individuals who have been asked to shield categorised by shielding group. Individuals who fall within more than one shielding group are counted under each group but only once in the overall total.

Number of individuals on the Shielding list by shielding group (as at 11 May 2020)

Shielding group	On shielding list
1 (Transplant)	6635
2 (Cancer)	20984
3 (Respiratory)	79708
4 (Rare disease)	10553
5 (Immunosuppression)	38153
6 (Pregnant with heart disease)	56
7 (Individual clinician judgment)	41704
Total (number of individuals)	174937

Source: Public Health Scotland

Notes:

The same individual may be counted in one or more of the shielding groups.

There may be variation, across Health Boards, in the way that patients in group 7 are identified.

Individuals are categorised as group 7 if no other group is specified.

Group 7 also includes patients who are receiving renal dialysis treatment.

Figures exclude individuals with an unknown area of residence and those recorded as outwith Scotland.

Figures exclude individuals who have died and those flagged for removal from the shielding list. Individuals may be flagged for removal for a number of reasons including false positive identification, having moved away or no longer requiring to shield following discussion with a clinician.”

Question reference: S5W-28922

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 06 May 2020
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 15 May 2020

To ask the Scottish Government how many people who have been asked to shield at home from the COVID-19 outbreak are receiving immunosuppression therapies that might significantly increase their risk of infection.

It is not possible to provide information on the exact reasons why individuals have been asked to shield within each specific shielding group as this is not recorded in the list of people who have been asked to shield.

The following table provides information on the number of individuals who have been asked to shield categorised by shielding group. Individuals who fall within more than one shielding group are counted under each group but only once in the overall total.

Number of individuals on the Shielding list by shielding group (as at 11 May 2020)

Shielding group	On shielding list
1 (Transplant)	6635
2 (Cancer)	20984
3 (Respiratory)	79708
4 (Rare disease)	10553
5 (Immunosuppression)	38153
6 (Pregnant with heart disease)	56
7 (Individual clinician judgment)	41704
Total (number of individuals)	174937

Source: Public Health Scotland

Notes:

The same individual may be counted in one or more of the shielding groups.

There may be variation, across Health Boards, in the way that patients in group 7 are identified.

Individuals are categorised as group 7 if no other group is specified.

Group 7 also includes patients who are receiving renal dialysis treatment.

Figures exclude individuals with an unknown area of residence and those recorded as outwith Scotland.

Figures exclude individuals who have died and those flagged for removal from the shielding list. Individuals may be flagged for removal for a number of reasons including false positive identification, having moved away or no longer requiring to shield following discussion with a clinician.

Question reference: S5W-28680

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 23 April 2020
Current Status: Answered by Clare Haughey on 14 May 2020

To ask the Scottish Government how it ensures that all personal protective equipment (PPE) being used by female health and social care staff fits properly, in light of concerns that some PPE may be designed for male sizes only.

It is important that frontline staff receive the protective equipment they require and NHS National Services Scotland, with the support of Scottish Government and other national agencies are working hard to ensure a continued supply of the right equipment across a range of sizes.

NHS NSS are also providing additional support to NHS Boards in relation to fit-testing capacity for FFP3 respirators. This is to ensure staff requiring these are fitted correctly before performing their crucial roles .

Question reference: S5W-28378

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 14 April 2020
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 14 May 2020

To ask the Scottish Government how many grocery boxes have been requested by people shielding from the COVID-19 outbreak in each local authority area, and how many have been delivered.

By 24 April, 100,961 grocery boxes had been requested by people shielding. The following table provides an illustration of this broken down by local authority area .

Local Authority	Percentage of total boxes ordered
Aberdeen City	3.9
Aberdeenshire	3.4
Angus	2.1
Argyle and Bute	1.9
City of Edinburgh	5.0
Clackmannanshire	0.9
Dumfries and Galloway	2.6
Dundee City	2.6
East Ayrshire	2.9
East Dunbartonshire	1.4
East Lothian	1.7
East Renfrewshire	1.3
Falkirk	2.7
Fife	6.6
Glasgow City	12.2
Highland	3.3
Inverclyde	1.9
Midlothian	1.9
Moray	1.5
Na h-Eileanan Siar	0.3
North Ayrshire	3.2
North Lanarkshire	7.9
Orkney	0.4
Perth and Kinross	3.0
Renfrewshire	2.5
Scottish Borders	2.2
Shetland	0.3
South Ayrshire	2.3
South Lanarkshire	12.5
Stirling	1.0
West Dunbartonshire	1.9
West Lothian	3.0
Total	100

Brakes and Bidfood, who are contracted to fulfil the orders, reported that by 24 April 2020, 92,316 grocery boxes had been delivered.

On any given date, the number of grocery boxes requested includes all boxes due to be delivered over the following week. This means that the number of boxes requested will always be higher than the number already delivered. The exact day on which person’s box will be delivered depends on which day of the week Brakes and Bidfood deliver to their postcode. Under the Scottish Government’s agreement with Brakes and Bidfood, people who are shielding receive their first grocery box within
‎ 7 days of their request reaching Brakes and Bidfood. Thereafter they receive their box(es) once a week, until they cancel the deliveries.

Question reference: S5W-28918

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 06 May 2020
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 14 May 2020

To ask the Scottish Government how many people who have been asked to shield at home from the COVID-19 outbreak have (a) had a bone marrow or stem cell transplant in the last six months and (b) are taking immunosuppression drugs following a bone marrow or stem cell transplant carried out more than six months ago.

It is not possible to provide information on the exact reasons why individuals have been asked to shield within each specific shielding group as this is not recorded in the list of people who have been asked to shield.

The following table provides information on the number of individuals who have been asked to shield categorised by shielding group. Individuals who fall within more than one shielding group are counted under each group but only once in the overall total.

Number of individuals on the Shielding list by shielding group (as at 11 May 2020)

Shielding group	On shielding list
1 (Transplant)	6635
2 (Cancer)	20984
3 (Respiratory)	79708
4 (Rare disease)	10553
5 (Immunosuppression)	38153
6 (Pregnant with heart disease)	56
7 (Individual clinician judgment)	41704
Total (number of individuals)	174937