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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-14212

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 30 January 2018
Current Status: Answered by Aileen Campbell on 20 February 2018

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the comment by its spokesperson in The Scotsman on 27 January 2018 that "we have provided additional funding to improve access to specialist nursing support and for Action for ME", whether it will provide details of the additional funding that it is providing for specialist ME nursing support.

From 2015-16 Scottish Government has been investing an additional £2.5 million of recurring funding in the Specialist Nursing and Care Fund to improve access to specialist nursing support. Scottish Government has overall responsibility for health and social care policy in Scotland, however the statutory responsibility for delivering or commissioning services at a local level lies with local authorities, NHS Boards and integrated health and social care partnerships. Operational decisions, including recruitment of specialist nurses, are therefore matters for these bodies.

Action for ME were awarded over £300,000 in 2016 from the Scottish Government’s Transforming Self-Management Fund.

Question reference: S5W-14211

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 30 January 2018
Current Status: Answered by Aileen Campbell on 20 February 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what funding it will provide to (a) Action for ME and (b) other ME-related organisations in 2018-19.

Question reference: S5W-14704

Current Status: Withdrawn

Question reference: S5O-01785

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 14 February 2018
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 22 February 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions ministers have had regarding the future regeneration of Edinburgh’s waterfront.

Question reference: S5W-14097

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 25 January 2018
Current Status: Answered by Maureen Watt on 14 February 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what advice it issues to public sector organisations regarding accessible toilets with hoists and adult changing beds.

The Scottish Government is fully committed to the continuing provision of Changing Places toilets, through our A Fairer Scotland for Disabled People delivery plan ambition ‘places that are accessible to everyone’. We will continue to support PAMIS to ensure the Changing Places campaign delivers more Changing Places Toilets (CPTs) across Scotland.

As part of the campaign, the Changing Places Consortium, of which PAMIS is
co-chair, has produced resources for organisations considering installing a CPT. These resources are available on the Changing Places Consortium website (http://www.changing-places.org) and includes a Practical Guide on the design and management of a CPT, as well as sections on the legislative background, including applicable Building Regulations, equality legislation and recommendations for risk management. There is also a section covering planning and design with example room layouts.

Building standards do not currently require the installation of CPTs. However, the non-domestic building standards Technical Handbook provides guidance (introduced in October 2013) on the type of building where the installation of a CPT should be considered, as well as providing basic design information relating to layout, fixtures and equipment. The guidance can be found within clause 3.12.1 of the Technical Handbooks at www.gov.scot/Resource/0047/00478119.pdf.

We have now commenced a review on current building standards and associated Technical Handbook guidance. As a part of this review on several building standards topics, we intend to look at introducing measures to advance the number of CPT facilities in Scotland, such as provision in large new buildings, for example shopping malls. However, there are limitations to what can be achieved through building standards and it will not be possible to “target” the geographical areas that are most in need of CPTs.

Question reference: S5W-13071

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 November 2017
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 13 February 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reports that the radiology department at NHS Lothian's Lauriston building will be closed each Friday until Christmas 2017, and on additional days after Christmas and the New Year, due to staffing shortages; what discussions it has had with the NHS board regarding this, and what support it is offering to resolve the reported staff shortage.

NHS Lothian has advised that due to unexpected illness, a temporary model has been introduced for the primary care x-ray service at Lauriston, which resulted in the service being reduced by one day per week from mid-November until 21 December and for all of the Christmas fortnight.

The Scottish Government have enhanced the supply of doctors to fill Radiology training posts, with 26 new training places over the past 4 years, an increase of 20%. This will be augmented by a further increase of 10 Radiology training places for 2018.

The Scottish Government is also taking action to ensure we have enough radiologists for the future, working with NHS Boards and staff side organisations, including the Royal College of Radiologists, to make sure we have the right numbers in the right place conducting the right procedures.

In September 2017 we announced an additional £3 million to increase the number of radiology trainees in Scotland by at least fifty over the next five years. This was in the context of our wider package of measures to improve waiting times for diagnosis and treatment of cancer patients in Scotland.

Furthermore, the National Radiology Implementation Programme will see radiology information systems connected across every NHS Board in Scotland over the next 1-2 years. The programme will rely on NHS Boards working together in a joined-up service approach to maximise available services

Question reference: S5W-14312

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 01 February 2018
Current Status: Answered by Aileen Campbell on 9 February 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what progress is being made in implementing each of the provisions in the Carers (Scotland) Act 2016, and what funding it is providing to support this work.

Officials are working in liaison with local authorities, health boards, integration authorities and carer organisations and others on preparations for implementation from 1 April 2018.

Draft guidance, co-produced with stakeholders was circulated at the end of December and will be finalised as statutory guidance in March.

Thirteen local pilots of different measures under the Act have helped inform the guidance, with learning also being shared to help local implementation across Scotland.

A number of Scottish Statutory Instruments required before implementation on 1 April 2018 have already been passed with five currently before the Scottish Parliament and one more to be laid shortly.

A carers charter, setting out carers’ rights under the Act is due to be published by 1 April 2018, following public consultation last year.

Our draft budget for 2018-19 includes an extra £66m to support additional expenditure by local government on social care including supporting the implementation of the Carers Act.

Local authorities, integration authorities and health boards are working on preparations for implementation of their different responsibilities under the Act, including setting of local eligibility criteria for carer support by 1 April 2018.

Question reference: S5W-14278

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 31 January 2018
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 8 February 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to work with (a) patient groups and (b) the health sector to establish which managed access schemes and conditional acceptance options will be of greatest benefit.

Since publication of the Montgomery Review of Access to New Medicines, we have been working closely with relevant partners, stakeholders, patient representatives, the third sector and the pharmaceutical industry to consider the most appropriate and effective way to take forward the recommendations.

I wrote to the Health and Sport Committee on 16 November to provide an update on the Scottish Government’s progress on implementing the recommendations of the Montgomery Review. I will provide a further update to the Committee in the Spring.

Question reference: S5W-14280

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 31 January 2018
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 8 February 2018

To ask the Scottish Government when it will publish the findings of its comparative review of the health technology assessment processes of other countries, including those for orphan and ultra-orphan medicines.

Question reference: S5W-14279

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 31 January 2018
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 8 February 2018

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the letter to the Health and Sport Committee by Shona Robison on 16 November 2017, what progress has been made with the development of a new pathway for ultra-orphan medicines; what consultation on this it has carried out or plans, and when the pathway will be in place.