Questions and answers

Question reference: S6W-38229

Asked by: Jamie Halcro Johnston, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 03 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 11 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether any stock assessments have been conducted for (a) Loligo forbesi and (b) L. vulgaris in Scottish inshore waters since 2010, and, if so, what the findings were of any such assessments.

Question reference: S6W-37724

Asked by: Jamie Halcro Johnston, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 19 May 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 2 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what estimate it has made of the number of hours of palliative care that have not been delivered due to staff shortages in the last five years, broken down by (a) year and (b) NHS board.

Referral to specialist palliative care services for people living with serious health conditions and/or those who require specialist palliative care when they are dying is based on individualised needs assessments. As a wide range of specialist and generalist staff in hospitals, care homes, primary care, social care, hospices and the third sector are involved in providing palliative care to individuals and their families, and could all be considered as delivering palliative care, it would be challenging to efficiently and effectively gather this data centrally.

Question reference: S6W-37727

Asked by: Jamie Halcro Johnston, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 19 May 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 2 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will publish the average referral-to-treatment times for patients receiving palliative care in (a) hospital, (b) hospice and (c) community settings for each of the last five years, broken down by NHS board.

This information is not held centrally.

Referral to specialist palliative care services for people living with serious health conditions and/or those who require specialist palliative care when they are dying is based on individualised needs assessments. As a wide range of specialist and generalist staff in hospitals, care homes, primary care, social care, hospices and the third sector are involved in providing palliative care to individuals and their families, and could all be considered as delivering palliative care, it would be challenging to efficiently and effectively gather this data centrally.

Question reference: S6W-37723

Asked by: Jamie Halcro Johnston, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 19 May 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 2 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many palliative care nursing and medical posts have remained unfilled in each of the last five years, broken down by NHS board.

Question reference: S6W-37720

Asked by: Jamie Halcro Johnston, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 19 May 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 2 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many patients waited longer than the recommended time for palliative care services to begin in each of the last five years, broken down by NHS board.

This information is not held centrally.

Referral to specialist palliative care services for people living with serious health conditions and/or those who require specialist palliative care when they are dying is based on individualised needs assessments. As a wide range of specialist and generalist staff in hospitals, care homes, primary care, social care, hospices and the third sector are involved in providing palliative care to individuals and their families, and could all be considered as delivering palliative care, it would be challenging to efficiently and effectively gather this data centrally.

Question reference: S6W-37725

Asked by: Jamie Halcro Johnston, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 19 May 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 2 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether any NHS boards have reported difficulty in recruiting specialist palliative care professionals in the last five years, and what actions it has taken in response.

Question reference: S6W-37721

Asked by: Jamie Halcro Johnston, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 19 May 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 2 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what the average waiting time has been for specialist palliative care referrals to be actioned in each of the last five years, broken down by NHS board.

This information is not held centrally.

Referral to specialist palliative care services for people living with serious health conditions and/or those who require specialist palliative care when they are dying is based on individualised needs assessments. As a wide range of specialist and generalist staff in hospitals, care homes, primary care, social care, hospices and the third sector are involved in providing palliative care to individuals and their families, and could all be considered as delivering palliative care, it would be challenging to efficiently and effectively gather this data centrally.

Question reference: S6W-37726

Asked by: Jamie Halcro Johnston, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 19 May 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 2 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how it is supporting NHS boards to maintain palliative care provision in the context of any wider reported workforce pressures, particularly in remote and rural areas.

Question reference: S6W-37728

Asked by: Jamie Halcro Johnston, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 19 May 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 2 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many patients died while waiting to access specialist palliative care services in each of the last five years, broken down by NHS board.

Question reference: S6W-37719

Asked by: Jamie Halcro Johnston, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 19 May 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 2 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what the average waiting time has been for access to palliative care services in each of the last five years, broken down by NHS board.

This information is not held centrally.

Referral to specialist palliative care services for people living with serious health conditions and/or those who require specialist palliative care when they are dying is based on individualised needs assessments. As a wide range of specialist and generalist staff in hospitals, care homes, primary care, social care, hospices and the third sector are involved in providing palliative care to individuals and their families, and could all be considered as delivering palliative care, it would be challenging to efficiently and effectively gather this data centrally.

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