- Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 12 February 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Neil Gray on 4 March 2025
To ask the Scottish Government, further to its news release of 1 December 2017, 800 more GPs for Scotland, and the commitment set out in it that it would "aim to increase the number of GPs in Scotland by at least 800 over the next decade", how many GPs each NHS board will receive as a result of this.
Answer
The Scottish Government commitment to increase the number of GPs by 800 does not include commitments at Health Board level.
NHS Education of Scotland (NES) are responsible for the publication of GP workforce data. The most recent data including a breakdown of GP numbers by Health Board can be found here. NHS Scotland workforce | Turas Data Intelligence
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 12 February 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Jenni Minto on 4 March 2025
To ask the Scottish Government what progress it has made towards its commitment in the Respiratory Care Action Plan to improve and simplify access to appropriate diagnostic tests for respiratory conditions and explore the use of high quality, consistent spirometry testing and chest and lung CT scans.
Answer
Improved access to diagnostic tests remains a wider commitment for the Scottish Government and we are working closely with Primary Care colleagues to determine ways to improve spirometry.
The Scottish Government has established a Scottish Expert Advisory Group to support the work of the UK National Screening Committee Lung Task Group and inform the implementation of a targeted lung cancer screening programme for Scotland.
Introducing a new screening programme such as Chest and Lung CT scanning is inherently complex, and the required evidence and information must be fully developed before implementation begins. This is likely to take several years for each UK nation.
The Scottish Government-funded LungScot study, led by the University of Edinburgh, provided further information on the feasibility of lung screening and the influences of sociodemographic and other patient characteristics. The Scottish Expert Advisory Group is incorporating these findings into their business case which will inform the next steps towards implementation.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 12 February 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Jenni Minto on 4 March 2025
To ask the Scottish Government what progress it has made towards its commitment in the Respiratory Care Action Plan to work in partnership with key stakeholders including the third sector and the Digital Health and Care Institute (DHI) to ensure that people with respiratory conditions have access to tools, resources and information that support them to manage their own condition.
Answer
We continue to support a digital first, but not digital only approach across many of our respiratory programmes. Recommendations within the pulmonary rehab work have suggested widening access to online self-management tools and this is something we are actively considering.
NHS Inform provides information about respiratory conditions and other long-term conditions. The service offers information, advice and self-management tools on how to live well with their condition as well as including links to additional support and information provided by third sector partners.
Our updated Quality Prescribing Guide for Improvement keeps the person with respiratory conditions at the centre of their treatment and disease management and offers practical advice and options for tailoring care to the needs and preferences of individuals. A core component of this has been to create user friendly digital tools for both people living with lung conditions and healthcare professionals.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 12 February 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Jenni Minto on 4 March 2025
To ask the Scottish Government what progress it has made towards its commitment in the Respiratory Care Action Plan to ensure that people with respiratory conditions have access to tools, resources and information that support them to manage their own condition.
Answer
We have recently published the Quality Prescribing Guide for Improvement that aims to keep people at the centre of their treatment, and promote safe, evidenced based, sustainable prescribing.
The guide was developed by a wide range of stakeholders including experts in the field and lived experiences. The guide is intended to support clinicians across the multidisciplinary team and people living with respiratory conditions in shared decision-making and the effective use of medicines and offers practical advice and options for tailoring care to the needs and preferences of individuals
- Asked by: Jackie Dunbar, MSP for Aberdeen Donside, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 12 February 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Jenni Minto on 4 March 2025
To ask the Scottish Government what information it has regarding the percentage of staff in (a) the NHS, (b) care homes and (c) childcare settings who have received the winter 2024-25 influenza vaccine.
Answer
The publicly available data on NHS workers who have received the flu vaccine is available via Public Health Scotland’s (PHS) surveillance website PHS Vaccination Surveillance.
This is detailed as 'All Healthcare Workers' and uptake currently sits at 35.6% as of 26 January 2025.
The uptake for NHS, care home and childcare staff are not further categorised, therefore that data is not available.
PHS’s vaccination surveillance dashboard is updated monthly.
- Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 12 February 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Neil Gray on 4 March 2025
To ask the Scottish Government, further to its news release of 1 December 2017, 800 more GPs for Scotland, and the commitment set out in it that it would "aim to increase the number of GPs in Scotland by at least 800 over the next decade", how many GPs have been permanently recruited to date, broken down by NHS board.
Answer
NHS Education Scotland (NES) are responsible for the publication of GP data in Scotland.
The most recent data from 30 September 2024 that was published on 3 December 2024 includes a breakdown of GP numbers by Health Board and can be found here. NHS Scotland workforce | Turas Data Intelligence
- Asked by: Pam Gosal, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 20 February 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 4 March 2025
To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to review teacher employment practices to address any misuse of short-term and supply contracts, and how it will ensure fair, stable and sustainable employment conditions for teachers.
Answer
It is for individual local authorities, as employers, to manage their own practices regarding the employment of teachers and provision of individual employment contracts.
In December 2024 the Scottish Government reached an agreement with local government to restore teacher numbers to 2023 levels and we are providing £186.5 million in the 2025-26 Financial Year for this purpose and to give local authorities the support they have requested to increase the number of teaching jobs. In addition we are also providing Local Authorities with £28 million to support ASN provision in schools, which may be used for measures such as the employment of ASN teachers.
As part of our joint agreement Scottish Government and CoSLA will also work together on the establishment of an Education Assurance Board. Improving employment opportunities for Scotland’s teaching workforce will be a key feature of the Education Assurance Board. The board will allow us to work together to review national employment practices, highlight best practice and use this to work in partnership with our councils to improve the availability of permanent teaching contracts nationally.
- Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Thursday, 20 February 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Paul McLennan on 4 March 2025
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will (a) review its position that reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) and the presence of it in any buildings should be addressed in the same way that other building maintenance issues are and (b) update any guidance that it provides for public bodies on what action to take when the presence of RAAC is identified.
Answer
The Scottish Government continues to consider that a) responsibility for building maintenance, including in respect of reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC), is a matter for property owners, supported by appropriate professionals and b) building owners should continue to follow the guidance of organisations such as the Institution of Structural Engineers.
- Asked by: Lorna Slater, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Green Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 20 February 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Gillian Martin on 4 March 2025
To ask the Scottish Government what conditions it sets on renewable energy supply chains to invest in Scottish content where possible.
Answer
Maximising the economic opportunity for the Scottish supply chain from our renewable potential is a key focus for our Green Industrial Strategy, published in September 2024.
We are investing up to £500 million over five years in the offshore wind supply chain, which is expected to leverage additional private investment of £1.5 billion in the infrastructure and manufacturing facilities critical to growing the sector. This investment will support thousands of new jobs and maximise economic value to Scotland.
Through the Supply Chain Development Statements process, offshore wind developers have made commitments to invest an average of £1.5bn per project across the 20 ScotWind developments in the Scottish supply chain. These commitments are an integral part of the leasing process and are intended to drive developer engagement with the supply chain from the very outset of project development.
The UK Government’s Clean Industry Bonus will provide extra revenue support to offshore wind developers who choose to invest in cleaner supply chains, and in supply chains in the UK’s most deprived areas. We expect both Scottish offshore wind projects and supply chain to benefit from this new initiative.
Through the Onshore Wind Sector Deal we are continuing to see positive engagement with industry on publishing data on the percentage of local content in the supply chain, which will help to illustrate the economic impact developments for communities and Scotland’s regional and national economies.
- Asked by: Pam Gosal, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 20 February 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 4 March 2025
To ask the Scottish Government how it will ensure that (a) it and (b) local authorities are accountable for ensuring that all qualified teachers who wish to work in the profession can find suitable employment opportunities, and what mechanisms it plans to introduce to monitor and report on employment practices for teachers.
Answer
Individual Local Authorities, as employers, are responsible for managing teaching vacancies and providing job opportunities across Scotland.
Teaching vacancies are advertised across Scotland, throughout the year, through a process of fair and open recruitment. Local authorities must balance the teaching jobs they advertise with their local needs and contexts.
The Scottish Government collects and publishes annual data on the number of teachers employed across Scotland’s 32 Local Authorities through the Annual Teacher Census. This data can be accessed at: School education statistics - gov.scot.
The Establishment of an Education Assurance Board, which was part of Scottish Government and local government’s joint agreement published in December 2024, will provide a forum by which we can carry out joint monitoring of employment practices, share best practice and ensure that teacher numbers return to 2023 levels; while understanding and considering local needs and geographical and subject recruitment challenges.