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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-13466

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 15 December 2017
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 9 January 2018

To ask the Scottish Government how much the Health & Care Experience Survey and its predecessor, the GP and Local NHS Services Patient Experience Survey, has cost and how many responses were received in each of the last ten years.

The information requested is provided in the following table. The results of each iteration of the Health & Care Experience Survey (and its predecessor), including numbers of responses, are available at www.gov.scot/GPSurvey.

Survey	Cost of the Survey (Excl. VAT)	No. of responses
2009-10	580,453	185,989
2011-12	502,610	145,569
2013-14	374,577	112,970
2015-16	458,156	111,611
2017-18	Final cost not yet available	Not yet available

Question reference: S5W-13371

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 14 December 2017
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 9 January 2018

To ask the Scottish Government when 24-hour paediatric inpatient services will be restored to St John's Hospital in Livingston.

The Scottish Government supports NHS Health Boards in their efforts to ensure that they have the right staff in place to meet the healthcare needs of the local population.

We have been assured by NHS Lothian that despite significant investment, the Board continued to face challenges with recruitment and sustaining a 24/7 workforce. Therefore it reluctantly took the decision, in the interest of children and their families, to implement an interim model on 7 July 2017.

The Board commissioned the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH) to review the work undertaken to secure a sustainable 24/7 staffing model. The College has carried out a review and produced a report which was received by the Board in the Autumn. It concluded that option one remained both the RCPCH’s and NHS Lothian’s preferred option for St John's Paediatric services i.e. 24 hour consultant and Tier 2 [middle grade] cover. The College recognised that the development of this model was a long-term solution depending upon the successful recruitment of consultants, Advance Nurse Practioners (ANP) and Specialty and Associate Specialist Doctors.

NHS Lothian has given an assurance that it is committed to increasing staffing levels and reinstating the 24/7 model.

Question reference: S5W-13253

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 07 December 2017
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 8 January 2018

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to the Urgent Question regarding NHS Lothian waiting times by Shona Robison on 5 December 2017 (Official Report, c. 75), in light of the cabinet secretary's comment that it was “apparent that the concerns were not restricted to St John’s but went across the acute sites in NHS Lothian”, for what reason its news release of 17 November 2017, Waiting Times at NHS Lothian, announced an independent review into A&E waiting times at St John's Hospital only.

While the whistle-blower raised concerns about St Johns Hospital specifically, NHS Lothian subsequently carried out an internal review of three of its acute hospitals. The independent Review, led by the Professor Derek Bell, will not only investigate the allegations made by the whistle-blower but will also review the findings from NHS Lothian's internal review, including St Johns Hospital, the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh and the Western General hospital.

As I said to the member, I expect the review to conclude early in the New Year.

Question reference: S5W-13398

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 14 December 2017
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 3 January 2018

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-02275 by Humza Yousaf on 15 September 2016, whether it will provide an update on the plans to increase the quality and capacity of trains serving Wallyford and Musselburgh.

Question reference: S5W-13344

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 12 December 2017
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 3 January 2018

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-12702 by Humza Yousaf on 27 November 2017, what information it has on the type of casualties and injuries sustained, including whether these were head injuries, and whether it considers that the wearing of helmets may have reduced the severity of, or prevented, casualties or head injuries.

Scottish Government data collation procedures only allow to distinguish between serious and slight injuries for such instances and these were set out in the answer to S5W-12702. It is not possible to directly attribute the wearing of a helmet to the injuries sustained in all of the situations contained in these statistics, however the Scottish Government encourages all cyclists to undertake safeguards and to wear a suitable helmet in line with advice in the UK Highway Code.

Question reference: S5W-13167

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 07 December 2017
Current Status: Answered by Aileen Campbell on 21 December 2017

To ask the Scottish Government whether NHS Lothian patients who require specialist headache services are able to access the specialist headache centres in Glasgow and Aberdeen, and, if so, what its response is to concerns regarding the costs of travel to these centres from Lothian.

Question reference: S5W-13166

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 07 December 2017
Current Status: Answered by Aileen Campbell on 21 December 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on NHS Lothian no longer having a specialist headache centre, in light of it previously having one in Edinburgh, and what discussions it has had with NHS Lothian on this issue.

Question reference: S5W-13263

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 08 December 2017
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 20 December 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the sentencing guidelines for people under 18 who are convicted of culpable homicide, and what plans it has to review these.

There are no current guideline judgements or sentencing guidelines in relation to the sentencing of people aged under 18 convicted of culpable homicide. Section 118 and section 189 of the Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995 provide authority for the court to issue a guideline judgement when dealing with a sentence appeal. In addition, the independent Scottish Sentencing Council is able to propose sentencing guidelines for approval by the High Court.

In the case of guideline judgements, it is a matter for the court to determine what issues could be covered. In the case of sentencing guidelines, it is a matter for the Sentencing Council to determine what issues could be covered.

Question reference: S5W-13164

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 07 December 2017
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 19 December 2017

To ask the Scottish Government how many times escalation procedures at A&E departments have been invoked in each winter since 1999, broken down by (a) NHS board and (b) hospital, and how many times these have been invoked so far this winter.

We do not use a national alert system across NHS Scotland to track the use of escalation procedures within Emergency Departments. As part of their winter planning activity NHS Boards are expected to have business continuity and escalation plans in place which are fully tested with their respective partners and which reflect local circumstances. Weekly official statistics are published on emergency department activity and performance, as well as trend information. These reports are available on the Information Services Division (ISD) website: http://www.isdscotland.org/Publications/index.asp

Question reference: S5W-13179

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 07 December 2017
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 19 December 2017

To ask the Scottish Government, in each of the last five years, how many (a) full-time, (b) full-time specialist and (c) part-time paramedics there have been, and how many (i) paramedics left the service, including through retirement, (ii) qualified paramedics were recruited and (iii) technicians completed paramedic training.