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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-28982

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 11 May 2020
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 2 June 2020

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason people with untreated chronic lymphocytic leukaemia are not on the COVID-19 shielded list, and when they might be included.

Haematologists across Scotland continue to advise that shielding for every patient with a diagnosis of Chronic Lymphocytic Leukaemia is not necessary. There are significant downsides to shielding, and it is not something we want to ask of anyone unless clinical advice deems it necessary. CLL affects a very diverse group of patients. Some are unlikely to ever need treatment in their lives as it has no immediate impact on their health and others will require treatment.

Clinicians have been working locally to identify patients with CLL who are at the highest risk of severe illness from COVID-19 and therefore should be shielding. This is a clinical decision which takes into consideration any treatment and the overall health of the patient . Many patients with CLL will not be required to shield. We do not wish to advise anybody to follow shielding measures unless absolutely necessary. This is because shielding is a severe intervention which may be difficult to adhere to for such a long period of time, and the additional benefit gained from this extra measure needs to be weighed against any impact on someone’s mental and physical wellbeing.

Question reference: S5W-28975

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 11 May 2020
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 2 June 2020

To ask the Scottish Government (a) how many and (b) what proportion of the (i) NHS and (ii) social care workforce belong to BAME groups.

Question reference: S5W-28991

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 11 May 2020
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 2 June 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what information it has regarding staffing-to-patient ratios in intensive care unit settings during the COVID-19 outbreak.

Information on staff to patient ratios in intensive care unit settings during COVID-19 outbreak is not centrally held by ISD or NES.

A joint statement on developing immediate critical care nursing capacity, produced by the four United Kingdom Chief Nursing Officers together with the NMC, critical care nursing organisations, professional bodies and trade unions was issued to Board Chief Executives and Nurse Directors on 25 March 2020. The statement can be found on the following link:

https://www.nmc.org.uk/globalassets/sitedocuments/other-publications/joint-statement-on-developing-immediate-critical-care-nursing-capacity.pdf

To provide practical guidance for the delivery of this increased capacity an annex to this statement was also issued but not published online. Scottish Government officials are currently using the guidance in the annex to undertake further modelling in relation to the staffing required for the intended critical care expansion in Scotland. This will be issued shortly.

Question reference: S5W-28992

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 12 May 2020
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 2 June 2020

To ask the Scottish Government how many COVID-19-related deaths in each NHS board area have been reported to the Health and Safety Executive under the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences regulations.

The Scottish Government does not have access to this information as it held by the Health and Safety Executive which is reserved.

The total number of deaths in each health board where COVID-19 was mentioned on the death certificate is published weekly by the National Records of Scotland https://www.nrscotland.gov.uk/covid19stats

Where a death is attributable to the workplace (within the terms set out by the HSE) it is RIDDOR reportable and HSE are the body responsible for carrying out any such investigation. Not all deaths of workers reported to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) will be attributable to workplace contracted Covid-19.

Where a death is RIDDOR reportable (and if the employer chose to investigate at its discretion), we would expect any local investigation to take place in line with usual policies and procedures and for the employer to comply with any other investigation i.e. the HSE investigation or an Fatal Accident Enquiry if it were announced.

Question reference: S5W-29116

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 18 May 2020
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 29 May 2020

To ask the Scottish Government how many unpaid carers it estimates will not receive the recently announced additional Carer’s Allowance Supplement payment of £230.10, and for what reason they are not eligible.

According to the latest estimate around 690,000 people in Scotland are providing regular unpaid care to family members, friends, neighbours or others, for one or more hours a week, and on a range of incomes. The Coronavirus Carer’s Allowance Supplement will be paid automatically alongside the June Carer’s Allowance Supplement to unpaid carers living in Scotland and receiving Carer’s Allowance on the qualifying date of 13 April 2020. Carers who have applications for Carer’s Allowance backdated to include the qualifying date of 13 April 2020 will also be eligible.

By investing £19.2 million, the Scottish Government will ensure that around 83,000 unpaid carers will receive the payment. We are taking receipt of Carer’s Allowance as a proxy for those carers who have the most intensive caring roles and who have some of the lowest incomes. The majority of Carer’s Allowance recipients will not benefit from the UK Government’s increase to Universal Credit.

We considered a range of mechanisms to provide additional support for unpaid carers. An additional payment of Carer’s Allowance Supplement was the only feasible option to deliver extra money to carers quickly. Creating a brand new benefit for carers or extending eligibility for Carer’s Allowance Supplement would take several months as a minimum. It would require significant resources from Social Security Scotland, and Social Security staff within Scottish Government, to develop new processes and build new systems. It would also need to be supported by the Department for Work and Pensions. The Department for Work and Pensions and Social Security Scotland are prioritising frontline delivery of existing benefits to support people on low incomes at this time. Adding an additional benefit would place strain on these operations when they are needed most and we could not guarantee support would be available from the Department of Work and Pensions when we needed it.

Question reference: S5W-28990

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 11 May 2020
Current Status: Answered by Clare Haughey on 28 May 2020

To ask the Scottish Government how many mental health patients have died in hospital from COVID-19.

Question reference: S5O-04374

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 27 May 2020
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 4 June 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what specific funding the finance secretary is providing to ensure that dental practices remain viable during the COVID-19 pandemic and are able to meet any increase in demand when the outbreak is over.

Question reference: S5W-28968

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 11 May 2020
Current Status: Answered by Clare Haughey on 27 May 2020

To ask the Scottish Government (a) how many and (b) what proportion of referrals to mental health services during the COVID-19 pandemic have been identified as needing prioritised assessment.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, NHS Boards are prioritising referrals to mental health services in line with local continuity plans. The Scottish Government does not hold data centrally regarding (a) how many and (b) what proportion of referrals to mental health services during the COVID-19 pandemic have been identified as needing prioritised assessment.

Waiting times data on CAMHS and psychological therapies is published by Public Health Scotland each quarter and the September 2020 publication will report on April to June referrals.

Question reference: S5T-02212

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 26 May 2020
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 26 May 2020

To ask the Scottish Government how many people have died after contracting COVID-19 in a hospital and what action has been taken to investigate outbreaks in NHS settings.

Question reference: S5W-28969

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 11 May 2020
Current Status: Answered by Clare Haughey on 26 May 2020

To ask the Scottish Government how many times each NHS board has notified it of critical issues relating to mental health service continuity during the COVID-19 pandemic.

NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde and NHS Ayrshire and Arran both notified the Scottish Government of critical issues relating to mental health service continuity during the COVID-19 pandemic once. Both instances were to relate changes in service delivery in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Changes were brought to the attention of The Minister for Mental Health and advice was sought from professional advisors. The assessment of professional advisors in both cases was that the NHS Boards' proposals for service changes were sound and would achieve the objective of safe continuity of service.