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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-42146

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 25 November 2025
Current Status: Answered by Kaukab Stewart on 5 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to ensure that accessible public toilets are able to be used by people with a stoma.

The Scottish Government is committed to improving inclusion and accessibility for everyone who needs to use public toilets. To achieve this, we are investing £10 million through the Changing Places Toilets Scotland Fund, launched in August 2025, to deliver up to 150 additional Changing Places Toilets (CPTs) across Scotland. These facilities are larger, fully accessible toilets equipped with specialist equipment to meet the needs of people with complex disabilities and health conditions, including those who require carer support. CPTs ensure that individuals can have their personal care needs met safely and with dignity, a fundamental human right.

Since 2012, the number of CPTs in Scotland has grown from 25 to around 270, including a 30% increase since 2019, when we amended Scottish Building Regulations to require CPTs in all larger new public buildings. This legislative change, supported by Planning Circular 1/2020, has driven significant progress, and the new Fund will further expand provision, prioritising areas with the greatest need.

Responsibility for public toilet provision often lies with local authorities and individual businesses, which are required under the Equality Act 2010 to make reasonable adjustments for disabled people. The Scottish Government encourages all relevant organisations to meet their responsibilities under the Equality Act 2010 and to follow guidance from the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC).

The Scottish Government has published a Changing Places Toilets Planning Guide, created in partnership with Promoting A More Inclusive Society (PAMIS), along with an easy-read version. These resources are designed to help organisations plan and install Changing Places Toilets in both new and existing buildings.

Through these measures, the Scottish Government is working proactively to ensure that people with a stoma, and all those with complex needs, can access facilities that uphold dignity, equality, and inclusion.

Question reference: S6W-42007

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 01 December 2025
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 4 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many patients who were not referred for care by the NHS 24 111 service subsequently required emergency treatment in each of the last five years.

Question reference: S6W-42151

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 25 November 2025
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 4 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on what support is available for people with (a) Down’s syndrome and (b) other disabilities.

The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring that the human rights of disabled people are protected and respected, and that they are empowered to live their lives, the same as everyone else.

We are putting disabled people at the heart of our priorities, investing £3 million in the Disability Equality Plan - including a new £1.5 million Improving Access Fund, co-designed with Disabled People’s Organisations and others, to enhance access to vital services and support that disabled people rely on. We are also providing £20 million this year via the Independent Living Fund, £10 million in 2025-26 and 2026-27 to provide more Changing Places Toilets for people with profound and multiple disabilities and £2 million a year to deliver Annual Health Checks to people with learning disabilities aged sixteen and over.

Third sector organisations also play a vital role in providing support and improving outcomes for disabled people and the Scottish Government provides a range of funding to a number of these organisations. This includes Down’s Syndrome Scotland, which currently receives £382,500 in core funding from the Scottish Government.

Furthermore, Under the public sector equality duty, all Scottish public authorities must have 'due regard' to the need to:

eliminate unlawful discrimination
advance equality of opportunity
foster good relations

In 2012 Scottish Ministers made regulations that placed specific duties on Scottish public bodies to help them meet the general duty.

Question reference: S6W-41984

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 November 2025
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 4 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what steps are being taken to address the reported shortage of care workers in rural communities in the South of Scotland, and what impact it considers that this is having on hospital discharge times.

Whilst the Scottish Government is not a social care provider or employer, we work closely with partners across the sector to provide support that employers can access, that will allow them to attract and retain staff within the social care sector.

The Scottish Government funds the caretocare.scot website, which provides information and tools on careers in the adult social care sector.

The Scottish Government have also continued funding to enable all social care providers to advertise vacancies on the MyJobScotland recruitment website at no cost.

We have worked with partners to establish the Centre for Workforce Supply (CWSS), which helps to support ethical and sustainable international recruitment across the sector and have just announced the opening of a £500,000 scheme to support employers to recruit displaced international care workers into jobs in Scotland.

We do not hold any information on the extent that staff shortages affect hospital discharge times. Whist the Scottish Government has overall responsibility for health and social care support policy in Scotland, it is for local Integration Joint Boards (IJBs) to ensure that social care support services are in place to provide their population with the appropriate support in the right place and at the right time.

Question reference: S6W-42015

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 November 2025
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 4 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the impact of frequent cancellation and reassignment of care packages on social care workforce stability, retention and continuity of carers for service users.

The Scottish Government values our dedicated, caring and professional social care workforce.

The Scottish Government has not made any assessments on the impact of any issues involving care packages on the social care workforce. Whilst the Scottish Government has overall responsibility for health and social care support policy in Scotland, it is for local Integration Joint Boards (IJBs) to ensure that social care support services are in place to provide their population with the appropriate support in the right place and at the right time.

Question reference: S6W-42305

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 03 December 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 17 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what consideration it has given to introducing publicly accessible bleed control kits in high-footfall locations, as is done with defibrillators, to help save the lives of victims of knife crime or other traumatic injuries.

Question reference: S6W-42148

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 25 November 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 3 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with NHS England, NHS Wales and HSC Northern Ireland in relation to a joint response to evidence regarding the risks for people affected by exposure to diethylstilbestrol (DES) as a result of their mother using the drug during pregnancy.

The Scottish Government has the utmost sympathy for the women who may have been harmed by stilbestrol. However, Scottish Ministers have had no discussions with NHS England, NHS Wales and HSC Northern Ireland on this issue as the regulation for the licensing, safety and efficacy of medicines is reserved to the UK Government and is the responsibility of the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA).

Question reference: S6W-41986

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 November 2025
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 2 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reports that health services in Argyll & Bute have been relocated to Glasgow.

There is an existing and established Orthopaedic pathway in place for patients in Argyll & Bute to receive treatment in NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde. This has been the position for some time and we understand from Health Boards that patient feedback on this arrangement is largely positive.

More recently, the Haematology service was redesigned and repatriated to NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde due to the sub specialist nature of the many blood cancers and treatments now available, ensuring patients can continue to be treated safely. Patients are also supported through consultant consultations via NearMe within NHS Highland’s McMillan Suite with specialist nursing support.

To deliver case closer to home, many services across Argyll & Bute are also provided via an outreach service level agreement (SLA) which allows local access to consultant clinics.

As part of my plan to reform the NHS, I have announced that Health Boards will plan on a sub-national basis in 2026-27. This will ensure NHS Boards work together in the East and West of Scotland, allowing teams to work across their boundaries and share resources to ensure capacity is maximised and that long waiting patients can access treatment more quickly.

I expect all Health Boards to support across boundaries to deliver for their patient population ensuring timely access treatment.

Question reference: S6W-42013

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 01 December 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 15 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many bed days have been lost in each year since 2020 due to patients being unable to be discharged while waiting for a new care package after their existing package was cancelled.

Question reference: S6W-42009

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 01 December 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 15 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether the automatic cancellation of care packages after short hospital admissions is consistent with best practice; whether this is the current practice, and, if so, whether it plans to end this practice.