- Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 07 July 2025
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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.
Answer
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.
- Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 07 July 2025
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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.
Answer
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.
- Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 30 June 2025
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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.
Answer
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.
- Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 30 June 2025
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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.
Answer
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.
- Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 02 June 2025
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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.
Answer
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.
- Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 June 2025
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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.
Answer
Taken in the Chamber on 11 June 2025
- Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 22 May 2025
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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.
Answer
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.
- Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 15 May 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Jenni Minto on 27 May 2025
To ask the Scottish Government whether investment for Crohn’s disease and colitis is included as a "similar condition" in the £4.5 million of funding announced in the Programme for Government 2025-26 for new specialist support for long COVID, myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME), chronic fatigue and other similar conditions.
Answer
Long COVID and Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME)/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) are examples of post-acute infection syndromes. Work is ongoing to determine how the additional £4.5 million announced in the 2025-26 budget to deliver new specialist support will be allocated to NHS boards. It is expected that NHS boards will develop support based on their understanding of local population need and synergies with existing local service provision.
- Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 15 May 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Jenni Minto on 27 May 2025
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the announcement within the Programme for Government 2025-26 of £4.5 million for new specialist support for long COVID, myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME), chronic fatigue and other similar conditions, what it identifies as "similar conditions".
Answer
Long COVID and Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME)/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) are examples of post-acute infection syndromes. Work is ongoing to determine how the additional £4.5 million announced in the 2025-26 budget to deliver new specialist support will be allocated to NHS boards. It is expected that NHS boards will develop support based on their understanding of local population need and synergies with existing local service provision.
- Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 13 May 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Neil Gray on 27 May 2025
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to the second supplementary to question S6O-04619 by Neil Gray on 7 May 2025, whether it will provide an update on the delivery of an electronic, single shared patient record system.
Answer
The provision of patient record systems remains the operational responsibility of Health Boards, but at a national level I can confirm it is our intention to launch the first version of a personalised digital health and social care service from December 2025. This was set out in the answer to question S6W-30875 on 11 November 2024.
The Scottish Government emphasises that this provides citizens with access to their own health and care data and accordingly will address the desire across Scotland for individuals to have access to a single shared patient record.
It is important to recognise that implementation of the service for our workforce, will build on our current Clinical Portal system, which currently enables many Health Boards across Scotland to have access to health information as part of the integrated record. This commitment is also set out in our recently published Programme for Government 2025-26 -https://www.gov.scot/binaries/content/documents/govscot/publications/advice-and-guidance/2025/05/programme-government-2025-26/documents/programme-government-2025-26/programme-government-2025-26/govscot%3Adocument/programme-government-2025-26.pdf.
We highly recognise the importance of ensuring staff have access to the correct patient information where required, and we continue to improve this through development of our National Digital Platform, which enables the storage and integration of data for digital services that are public facing. We have also applied our learning collated from the use of the Clinical Portals, and we will continue to collate and apply intelligence gathered to our ongoing development of Integrated Records.
All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers
