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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: S5W-27679

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 02 March 2020
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 11 March 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to carry out a pilot study into medical techniques that recapture anaesthetic vapour, similar to that being undertaken in NHS England.

For clarity, recapturing anaesthetic vapour is an engineering solution, not a medical technique.

NHS Scotland currently has no plans to pilot an engineering solution that recaptures anaesthetic vapour in Scotland, though we remain open to new ideas being tested in other countries. However, NHS Scotland anaesthetist teams are proactive in this area and since 2012, Health Facilities Scotland estimate that they have reduced emissions in anaesthetic gases by more than one third. This has been achieved through the combination of the use of low-flow anaesthesia techniques, and using oxygen / air as a primary carrier for anaesthetic agents rather than Nitrogen oxides.

Question reference: S5W-27696

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 02 March 2020
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 11 March 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what the time period is for the confirmation of a positive case of the coronavirus, COVID-19, following initial testing.

Question reference: S5W-27697

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 02 March 2020
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 11 March 2020

To ask the Scottish Government how long it takes for samples of suspected cases of the coronavirus, COVID-19, in Scotland to be sent to the Public Health England laboratory in London for confirmatory tests.

Question reference: S5W-27703

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 03 March 2020
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 10 March 2020

To ask the Scottish Government whether data is recorded for each non-melanoma skin cancer a patient develops, or whether only the first non-melanoma skin cancer is recorded.

Question reference: S5W-27694

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 02 March 2020
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 10 March 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what the process and timescale is for testing a person who is suspected of having the coronavirus, COVID-19, after being identified through contract tracing.

Question reference: S5W-27705

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 03 March 2020
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 10 March 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment has been made of anticipated non-melanoma skin cancer incidence rates in the next five years.

Question reference: S5W-27704

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 03 March 2020
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 10 March 2020

To ask the Scottish Government how many people have been diagnosed with non-melanoma skin cancer in each NHS board in each of the last five years, also broken down by (a) age, (b) gender, (c) type of non-melanoma skin cancer diagnosis and (d) stage at diagnosis.

ISD publish annual cancer incidence figures for non-melanoma skin cancer. The latest published figures using data from the Scottish Cancer Registry are for data up to 2017. 2018 data is due to be published on 28-04-2020. Annual cancer incidence figures for non-melanoma skin cancer are available on the ISD website split by sex and NHS Board at: https://www.isdscotland.org/Health-Topics/Cancer/Publications/2019-04-30/i_cancer_skin.xls . Five-yearly cancer incidence figures for non-melanoma skin cancer are available on the ISD website split by sex, age group and NHS Board. Figures by age group and NHS Board are produced for five-yearly figures only to protect patient confidentiality. The following annual and five-yearly figures are also available for Basal cell carcinoma of the skin and Squamous cell carcinoma of the skin at these links. Information on stage at diagnosis is not available in the Scottish Cancer Registry for non-melanoma skin cancer. https://www.isdscotland.org/Health-Topics/Cancer/Publications/2019-04-30/si_cancer_skin.xls

Question reference: S5W-27695

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 02 March 2020
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 10 March 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to establish priority assessment areas in hospitals for people suspected as having the coronavirus, COVID-19.

Question reference: S5W-27668

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 28 February 2020
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 10 March 2020

To ask the Scottish Government how many cases of MRSA have been reported in each year since 1999, broken down by hospital.

Health Protection Scotland has published quarterly data on both healthcare associated and community associated Staphylococcus aureus bacteraemias (SABs) at Board level since October 2017. Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and methicillin-sensitive Staphylococcus aureus (MSSA) are not reported on individually due to small numbers of MRSA cases, but are part of the overall SAB data. The most recent quarterly report, published in January 2020, can be found on the Health Protection Scotland website here .

Mandatory reporting of MRSA infections commenced across Scotland in 2003. Historic data is available from the Health Protection Scotland archive here , however any data published before October 2017 does not specify whether infections were healthcare or community associated.

Since 2007, rates of MRSA infections have reduced significantly. In their latest Healthcare Associated Infection Annual Report (May 2019), Health Protection Scotland reported a decreasing year on year trend in Scotland’s MRSA infection rate between 2014 and 2018.

Question reference: S5W-27663

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 28 February 2020
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 10 March 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what the average waiting time has been to see a dermatologist in each year since 2007, broken down by NHS board.

The average waiting time to see a dermatologist is available for new outpatients and inpatient/day cases quarterly, since December 2012 and NHS Board on ISD’s website. Please find the following link to the NHS Waiting Times Stage of Treatment publication where the data files are available:

https://beta.isdscotland.org/find-publications-and-data/healthcare-resources/waiting-times/nhs-waiting-times-stage-of-treatment/ .