Seòmar agus comataidhean

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.

Find out more about parliamentary questions

Criathragan Hide all filters

Displaying 3202 questions Show Answers

Order by |

Question reference: S5W-24932

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 26 August 2019
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 12 September 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what role specialist chronic pain clinics will have in the delivery of a sustainable chronic pain service.

As Chronic Pain impacts on every aspect of the lives of those experiencing it, we will be working with chronic pain clinics and services across the whole patient pathway to ensure that people can receive the most appropriate safe and timely treatment and care in the future. This will take in to consideration all services across primary and secondary care, including specialist chronic pain clinics, with a view to developing sustainable services.

Question reference: S5W-24845

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 21 August 2019
Current Status: Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 12 September 2019

To ask the Scottish Government how many graduate apprentices started in each framework in (a) 2017-18 and (b) 2018-19, broken down by gender.

Question reference: S5W-24707

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 13 August 2019
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 11 September 2019

To ask the Scottish Government which NHS hospitals hold contracts with private providers for the delivery of catering services.

The list of NHS hospitals where all catering services are delivered by private providers (either through a PFI or PPP contract), is set out below:

NHS Ayrshire and Arran - East Ayrshire Community Hospital

NHS Forth Valley - Forth Valley Royal Hospital, Larbert

NHS Forth Valley - Clackmannanshire Community Healthcare Centre

NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde - SGH - Geriatric Medicine (Langlands)

NHS Highland - New Craigs Hospital

NHS Lanarkshire - Hairmyres Hospital

NHS Lanarkshire - Wishaw General Hospital

NHS Lothian - Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh (RIE)

NHS Lothian - Ferryfield House

NHS Lothian - Tippethill House Hospital, Bathgate

NHS Lothian - Ellen's Glen House

NHS Tayside - Carseview Centre

NHS Forth Valley - Stirling Care Village Phase 1

These are contractual arrangements which must be followed and are part of the wider PFI/PPP contracts which were signed prior to the construction of these facilities.

The catering service in every Board must comply with National Food Safety Standards and the Food in Hospitals specification (the National Catering and Nutrition Specification for Food and Fluid Provision in Hospitals in Scotland) with regards to the quality of their patient catering service.

These standards are mandatory whether the service is provided in-house or by an external provider. For those services that are provided externally, Boards are responsible for ensuring that the standards and specification form the basis of the quality criteria for the provision of those services.

Question reference: S5W-24871

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 22 August 2019
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 11 September 2019

To ask the Scottish Government how many paediatric gastroenterologists there have been in each NHS board in each of the last five financial years, also given in terms of whole-time equivalent staff.

The Information requested on how many Paediatric Gastroenterologists there have been in each of the last five financial years is not centrally held.

Information on the whole time equivalent of Consultant staff by specialty is only available for Paediatric and Gastroenterology specialties, but not both combined. Information on Paediatric Consultants and Gastroenterology Consultants by NHS Board can be found on ISD Scotland’s workforce statistics site at:
https://www.isdscotland.org/Health-Topics/Workforce/
Publications/2019-09-03/Medical-and-Dental.asp .

Question reference: S5W-24908

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 23 August 2019
Current Status: Answered by Joe FitzPatrick on 11 September 2019

To ask the Scottish Government when the Respiratory Care Action Plan will be published for public consultation.

Question reference: S5F-03523

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 09 September 2019
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 12 September 2019

To ask the First Minister what the Scottish Government's response is to reported concerns for patient and staff safety at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital.

Question reference: S5W-24849

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 21 August 2019
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 6 September 2019

To ask the Scottish Government how many stop smoking specialist midwives there have been in each of the last five years, also broken down by NHS board.

Information regarding numbers of smoking cessation midwives in the last five years broken down by NHS Board is not centrally held.

Data on midwives can be found in the Nursing & Midwifery dashboard – https://www.isdscotland.org/Health-Topics/Workforce/
Publications/2019-09-03/Nursing-and-Midwifery.asp .

Clinical Nurse Specialists are also involved in smoking cessation care. Due to data quality concerns, some NHS Boards have asked for their Clinical Nurse Specialist data not to be published while these issues are addressed.

ISD Scotland has indicated that it intends to recommence the publication of CNS data, showing CNS numbers as at 30 September 2019 in national workforce statistics published on 3 December 2019. They have advised that all historical CNS data, whilst approved by NHS Boards when it was published, should be treated with caution in light of the concerns reported to them by Boards.

Question reference: S5O-03518

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 September 2019
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 12 September 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to support the freedom of the media.

Question reference: S5W-24952

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 26 August 2019
Current Status: Answered by Joe FitzPatrick on 4 September 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reports that a death in the United States has been caused by a severe respiratory disease linked to the use of e-cigarettes.

You will appreciate that the Scottish Government cannot comment on the individual case that occurred in the United States of America no matter the cause of death.

In Scotland we have taken the strictest regulatory approach in Europe to e-cigarettes. The Scottish Consensus Statement on e-cigarettes is clear that these are not harmless products. Our regulatory regime aims at protecting non-smokers and children and young people from exposure to e-cigarettes because they can cause harm. Our stop smoking services are some of the first in the World to introduce support for people to quit vaping and we are already encouraging people who vape to use our services.

Question reference: S5W-24623

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 06 August 2019
Current Status: Answered by Christina McKelvie on 4 September 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to ensure the continuation of the Children Experiencing Domestic Abuse Recovery (CEDAR) programme in South Lanarkshire, which is operated by Women's Aid South Lanarkshire and East Renfrewshire.

The Scottish Government recognises that all victims and survivors of domestic abuse deserve access to support. Our Equally Safe Fund provides £5.6 million (2019-2020) to support local projects and frontline services which support women and children who have experienced domestic abuse. This includes front line services for children who need support. I have asked Women’s Aid South Lanarkshire and East Renfrewshire to discuss these matters further with my officials.

More generally, we are aware of the pressures on services and are taking forward a review of how national and local specialist services for women and children experiencing gender based violence are commissioned and funded.