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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: S5W-05470

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 12 December 2016
Current Status: Answered by Aileen Campbell on 22 December 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to ensure that people with diabetes who require an insulin pump have timely and appropriate access to them, as outlined in the 2014 Diabetes Improvement Plan.

In February 2012, the Chief Executive Letter (CEL 04 (2012)) required Health Boards to increase insulin pump therapy in line with national clinical guidance.

The commitment to provide insulin pump therapy to 25% of under 18s and for people of all ages with type 1 diabetes to more than 2,000 was met by 1^st April 2015 supported by £7.5m of Scottish Government funding.

Since the CEL, the number of people with insulin pumps has increased to over 3,200.

Following the achievement of CEL 04 (2012) the Minister for Public Health, Maureen Watt, wrote individually to all NHS Boards in June 2015.

The letter highlighted the importance of consistent delivery of insulin pump therapy as part of diabetes management. It also asked NHS Boards to make sure that people who are clinically suitable are identified and initiated onto pump therapy at the earliest opportunity.

The additional investment of £10m recently announced will support NHS Boards in meeting those expectations.

Question reference: S5W-05472

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 12 December 2016
Current Status: Answered by Aileen Campbell on 22 December 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the success of the Diabetes - think, check, act initiative.

The Scottish Government works closely with the Scottish Diabetes Group (SDG), our national advisory group, to oversee and drive implementation of our Diabetes Improvement Plan (2014) to improve care and treatment for people living with diabetes in Scotland. The Plan includes Inpatient Diabetes as a priority. Supporting this priority, the development of “Diabetes - Think, Check, Act” has been led by Healthcare Improvement Scotland.

The Scottish Government and SDG have followed progress closely. Monitoring of the project across pilot sites in NHS Lothian and NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde has demonstrated success with a reduction in the rate of hypoglycaemia and an increase in the rate of hypoglycaemia resolution. This has led to reductions in length of stay, improved patient experience and safer care.

Based on this success, completion of the project is ongoing, with development of a toolkit which includes a range of resources, including e-learning modules for healthcare professionals, to be used to spread the initiative across Scotland.

Question reference: S5W-05463

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 12 December 2016
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 22 December 2016

To ask the Scottish Government how many deep brain stimulation procedures have been performed at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in 2016.

Question reference: S5W-05468

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 12 December 2016
Current Status: Answered by Aileen Campbell on 22 December 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what progress there has been in implementing a national improvement programme to increase the proportion of people with type 1 diabetes with optimal glycaemic control, as outlined in its 2014 Diabetes Improvement Plan.

The Scottish Diabetes Group (SDG), our national advisory group and its subgroups have agreed national glycaemic levels and have been holding quality improvement meetings to promote and share good practice throughout our diabetes communities in order to achieve these.

Further to this, work is progressing to develop early intensification strategies and new national structured education packages for people newly diagnosed with type 1 diabetes.

The Scottish Government has increased the number of insulin pumps to over 3,200 since 2010 supported by funding of £7.5m. This represents an almost fourfold increase against the baseline figure of 696 in December 2010.

The First Minister Nicola Sturgeon MSP recently announced that the Scottish Government would invest £10m during the lifetime of this Parliament, to further increase the provision of insulin pump therapy and Continuous Glucose Monitoring (CGM).

Question reference: S5W-05413

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 08 December 2016
Current Status: Answered by Maureen Watt on 21 December 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what proportion of maternal mortality has been recorded as suicide since 2011, broken down by NHS board.

Question reference: S5W-05471

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 12 December 2016
Current Status: Answered by Maureen Watt on 21 December 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what mental health support is available to people with diabetes.

Question reference: S5W-05303

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 05 December 2016
Current Status: Answered by Maureen Watt on 21 December 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the merits of extending registered medical practitioners to include psychologists.

I met with representatives of the British Psychological Society (BPS) on 8 September this year to discuss among other matters the merits of extending registered medical practitioners for the purposes of section 47 of the Adults with Incapacity (Scotland) Act 2000. A further meeting between Scottish Government officials and BPS representatives took place on 10th October and officials are awaiting further information from the BPS about the training clinical psychologists receive in respect of assessing capacity of patients before deciding the most appropriate way to proceed with this matter. In any event the merits of extending registered medical practitioners to include clinical psychologists will be considered within the consultation on Adults with Incapacity legislation in 2017.

Question reference: S5W-05235

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 30 November 2016
Current Status: Answered by Maureen Watt on 15 December 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on reports that there are no education opportunities in Scotland to become a practitioner in applied behavioural analysis to assist children who have been diagnosed with autistic spectrum disorder.

Universities are autonomous bodies and as such they have responsibility for their own staffing, admission, subject provision, curriculum, degree awarding and research. Course provision is therefore a matter for each individual institution.

The Scottish Government expects each agency (health, education and social care) to consider their staff training and competence. It is important that services maintain staff competences in line with the SIGN Guidance and evidence. The published Autism Training Framework allows services to target their training to the needs of the individuals they are supporting.

The framework is available from the following link: http://elearning.scot.nhs.uk:8080/intralibrary/open_virtual_file_path/i1923n4027869t/NESD0350ASDTrainingFramework-WEB.pdf

Question reference: S5O-00499

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 14 December 2016
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 21 December 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what is being done to provide access to fibre broadband in areas where there is an insufficiency of hardware to meet demand.

Question reference: S5W-05046

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 25 November 2016
Current Status: Answered by Aileen Campbell on 14 December 2016

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-04549 by Aileen Campbell on 22 November 2016, what analysis it has carried out to determine the reason for the fall in the number of hepatitis C diagnoses in 2015; what estimate it has made of the current number of undiagnosed cases, and what steps it is taking to ensure that each NHS board has the capacity to exceed its treatment target for the condition.

Health Protection Scotland have investigated the reduction in the number of diagnosis in 2015 but has not identified a particular trend to explain this. HPS has specifically examined whether or not there has been a reduction in the volume of testing undertaken, but based on an analysis of the four largest NHS boards, this appears not to be the case. Rather this has demonstrated a 40% increase in hepatitis C tests carried out during 2015 compared to the annual average for the 2010-2014 period. Over 65,000 people were tested in 2015 compared with an average of 46,546 tests per year over the prior five years).

It is estimated that the number of people chronically infected with hepatitis C in Scotland is 35,900 of which 21,500 (60%) have been diagnosed. This equates to a 50% increase in the proportion of infected people being diagnosed since the launch of the Hepatitis C Action plan in 2008. The proportion of the infected population being diagnosed is continuing to increase each year.

The annual treatment target is a national minimum target. Each NHS Board is responsible for managing its own population and the disease within its locality. NHS Boards are currently on track to exceed the national target for 2015-16 of 1,500.