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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: S6W-39209

Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 07 July 2025
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 30 July 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to address the reported variability of access across Scotland to the 12-month minimum guaranteed post-diagnostic support for people living with dementia.

The New Dementia Strategy for Scotland emphasises the importance of ensuring that people are supported to receive a timely diagnosis, delivered in a person-centred manner, and high quality Post-Diagnostic Support is received for a minimum of 12 months, irrespective of where they live or how old they are. This includes a diagnosis of dementia being followed with clear, consistent quality information and support options, underpinned by inclusive communication approaches, including Post-Diagnostic Support, rehabilitation and other supportive treatments to people with dementia and their care partners.

To support the delivery of this ambition, and address variation in access, we have continued to invest an additional £3.5m per year to Health & Social Care Partnerships to increase uptake of this support in communities across Scotland.

We have also commissioned IFF Research to undertake an independent evaluation of Scotland’s dementia Post-Diagnostic Support policy. To better understand how this is being prioritised and delivered locally, and provide evidence of the value and impact of Post-Diagnostic Support to date which will help inform future Post-Diagnostic Support policy, service planning and practice.

To support the evaluation, we are progressing work with data specialists in the Scottish Government, local government and Public Health Scotland to improve data collection on diagnosis and Post-Diagnostic Support, with the aim of publishing more accurate data on the numbers of people living with a diagnosis and the proportion of those diagnosed who access Post-Diagnostic Support. Early work has seen Public Health Scotland develop an initial version of a Dementia Index which brings together 5 points of data from across Health and Social Care. This data work is crucial in helping us to identify the number of people living with dementia who are accessing care and support, ensuring that this links into data from primary care.

Lastly, I also want to highlight the role that dementia community groups across Scotland play in supporting people to seek a diagnosis and improve access to Post-Diagnostic Support. Working with the National Dementia Resilient Communities Board, made up of local, national and third sector partners alongside the voices of lived experience, the Scottish Government has allocated around £1.45m since 2024 to enhance the resilience of community and grassroots supports for those who are living with dementia.

Question reference: S6W-39212

Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 07 July 2025
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 30 July 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on developing a clear, consistent set of national standards and care pathway guarantees that set out the level and standard of care that everyone with a diagnosis of dementia should expect throughout each stage of their condition.

A national local delivery plan (LDP) standard was introduced to agree priorities between Scottish Government and NHS boards for the provision of care and support. The LDP standard states all people newly diagnosed with dementia should receive a minimum of one year’s Post-Diagnostic Support, provided by a named link worker.

Extending the awareness, reach and impact of Post-Diagnostic Support is a key priority for all those living with dementia, from those diagnosed with the condition it its initial stages to those living in residential care. This supports people with dementia and their care partners to uphold their right to participation in care needs assessment, future care planning, choosing and arranging care, support and treatment. This includes advanced decision making, embracing the principle of shared decision making and in accordance with the principles of Realistic Medicine and detailed in the SIGN Dementia Guideline.

Question reference: S6W-39213

Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 07 July 2025
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 30 July 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment has been undertaken to understand the potential impact of increasing eligibility criteria to access local social care services on people living with dementia.

The Scottish Government and CoSLA are working in partnership to deliver on the Joint Statement of Intent and Next Steps for Adult Social Care 2022-23 commitment to overhaul the current mechanism of eligibility criteria to ensure an approach to social care support that is based on human rights and needs, including for people living with dementia.

This work is being undertaken with input from an external working group including representatives from Disabled People’s Organisations, carers’ representatives, people working in the sector and academics. We are also ensuring the voices of people with lived experience are informing our work via the ongoing National Care Service co-design programme.

The work will include planning for assessment of impacts of any future eligibility criteria.

Question reference: S6W-39211

Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 07 July 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 29 July 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how the planned long-term conditions framework will be (a) prioritised and (b) resourced to address the (i) current and (ii) future projected burden of disease for such conditions.

The Scottish Government published its Health and Social Care Service Renewal Framework (SRF) on 17 June 2025. This Framework provides a high-level guide for change, to ensure the sustainability, efficiency, quality, and accessibility of health and social care services in Scotland. Within the SRF, we set out our commitment to publish the Long-Term Conditions Framework and its aim and outcomes will be closely linked to the principles of the SRF.

We are considering using an evidence-based process to determine which improvement work will be prioritised and details of this will form part of the Long-Term Conditions Framework which we will publish in December 2025. Resources will be addressed as part of the ensuing series of action plans.

Question reference: S6W-39210

Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 24 July 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 21 August 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-38812 by Jenni Minto on 26 June 2025, what prior engagement it had with the clinical community to inform the development of the long-term conditions framework consultation, and what feedback it received from any such engagement.

Question reference: S6W-39079

Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 30 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 24 July 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the potential of embedding specialist support practitioners, such as specialist nurses, dieticians, and psychologists, within local settings, in order to (a) improve (i) access to holistic care and (ii) the management of long-term conditions, such as Crohn’s disease and colitis, closer to home and (b) prevent avoidable hospital admissions.

The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring that people living with long term conditions like inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), including Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis, can access high-quality, person-centred care.

We have provided additional investment to NHS boards since 2015 to support clinical nurse specialist provision and care. Boards make the decisions on where to prioritise this funding based on local need.

The Scottish Government expects NHS boards to ensure that patients with specialist conditions have appropriate access to a range of professionals, including specialist nurses, to ensure the best management of their condition. NHS Boards have been asked to work in partnership with third sector organisations, social care partners and patients with specialist conditions in designing and delivering services.

Question reference: S6W-39080

Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 30 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 24 July 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, as part of the initiative to provide more specialist clinical care in the community, as detailed in the Health and Social Care Renewal Framework, whether increased specialist support in local settings will be available for people with inflammatory bowel disease in order to allow those with Crohn’s disease or colitis to manage their condition closer to home.

The 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 whether there is a need for additional specialist nurses, are therefore matters for those bodies.

Question reference: S6W-38145

Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 02 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 11 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what patient-facing features will be available to people piloting the national Digital Front Door app within NHS Lanarkshire later in 2025.

The initial users in NHS Lanarkshire will be patients accessing dermatology outpatient services. They will have the following features:

Secure login using a unique ID through Scot Account.
Receive digital letters from the dermatology team
View dermatology appointments
Access personal health information, including demographics, medications and allergies.
Use a national service finder to locate health and care services.

These details have been published in our Operational Improvement Plan which you can access here; https://www.gov.scot/publications/nhs-scotland-operational-improvement-plan/pages/5/.

To ensure good practice in our approach, we intend for the initial version to be tested thoroughly in Lanarkshire before we seek to spread and scale it across Scotland.

Question reference: S6O-04775

Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 June 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 11 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of any economic implications of the Scottish Fiscal Commission’s latest forecasts and the potential impact of rising public health costs on businesses across Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-37823

Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 22 May 2025
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 30 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether legislation will be required to deliver an integrated social care and health record, as referenced in its Care in the Digital Age: Delivery Plan 2024-25.

The Scottish Government are committed to delivering a digital health and care record and can confirm that legislation is not required to create such a record. However, Part 2 of the Care Reform (Scotland) Bill, if passed, will create the enabling conditions for success of a digital health and care record by improving information sharing and usage between individuals and organisations within the health and social care system. The Scottish Government is listening to the views of MSPs presented at Stage 2 of the parliamentary process and considering what amendments may be useful in delivering a record that improves outcomes for people in Scotland.