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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-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-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: S6F-04495

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 01 December 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 4 December 2025

Question to be taken in Chamber.

Question reference: S6W-42014

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 1 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what specific measures are in place to ensure continuity of care for social care service users whose care package is cancelled during hospital admissions, and how these measures are monitored.

The Scottish Government recognises the value of social care support to all who require additional support in living independently at home or in the community and appreciate the concerns that may arise following changes to this support.

Under the Social Work (Scotland) Act 1968, local authorities and Health and Social Care Partnerships have a duty to assess the social care support needs of people both in hospital and the community, and decide in light of that assessment, to arrange or re-instate suitable services, if required.

While the Scottish Government has overall responsibility for health and social care support policy in Scotland, it is Local Government who have the statutory responsibility to record and share decisions affecting a person’s choices and support, and to ensure that any decisions are made in line with the Self-directed Support (SDS) principles and duties set out in the statutory guidance.

Local Government will operate local eligibility criteria to prioritise responses to changes in care packages and reassessments based on risk and complexity of need. The eligibility criteria will usually prescribe standard waiting times for assessments, reassessment and reviews, including for exceptional and urgent circumstances, such as hospital admissions, individuals at risk and additional support for unpaid carers.

Question reference: S6W-42005

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 1 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many patients were assessed through the NHS 24 111 service and subsequently not referred for further clinical care in each of the last five years.

Question reference: S6W-42003

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 1 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what analysis it has carried out on the impact of delayed NHS 24 callbacks on patient outcomes.

NHS 24 have robust practices in place to ensure patient safety is paramount and that the appropriate procedures are in place for assessing risk.

Scottish Government monitor the performance of NHS 24 and regularly engage with the service to discuss performance related issues. NHS 24 is required to escalate any concerns about patient safety to the Scottish Government immediately, in line with agreed protocols.

Question reference: S6W-41987

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 November 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 1 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many patients in Argyll & Bute have had to travel outside their own NHS board for treatment in each of the last three years, and what the longest distance has been for a patient to travel.

Question reference: S6W-42004

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 1 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many NHS 24 111 telephone calls resulted in patients being referred to (a) A&E, (b) a GP and (c) other urgent care pathways in each of the last five years.

Question reference: S6W-42010

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 1 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many adult social care packages have been (a) initiated and (b) cancelled within each (i) NHS board and (ii) local authority area in each of the last five years.

(a) Data on the number of adult social care packages which have been initiated is not held centrally.

Numbers of new personal care clients were previously collected and published annually until 2022-23. Data was based on one quarter of data (January to March), each year and was available at local authority (LA) level, although not all LAs were able to provide the information:

Social care: eligibility criteria and waiting times Scotland 2022-2023 - gov.scot.

Due to difficulties faced by LAs in providing the data requested, including issues with consistency and comprehensiveness, this data collection has been paused while SG work with Public Health Scotland to explore ways to obtain more robust data.

(b) Data on adult social care packages which have been cancelled is not held centrally.