- Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 17 January 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Humza Yousaf on 31 January 2023
To ask the Scottish Government how many patients and residents currently being cared for by health and social care services (a) do and (b) do not have access to free Wi-Fi (i) at their bedside and (ii) in public areas within their healthcare setting, broken down by NHS board.
Answer
The Scottish Government does not hold this information centrally.
All Health Boards have a responsibility to ensure that that Wi-Fi is of a sufficient standard to support both patients and staff to have access to connectivity.
In 2019, Scotland undertook its first digital maturity assessment across health and social care which helped to prioritise key areas for investment. A further assessment is due to take place later this year which will include consideration of availability of Wi-Fi that we expect to inform further priorities.
There is no centrally held resource providing information about the Wi-Fi provision for residents in care homes. However, data obtained from participating care homes on the programme of work to fulfil the Digital Approaches in Care Homes Action Plan has indicated that an estimated 55% of care homes have Wi-Fi access throughout the premises, 38% have only partial Wi-Fi coverage, and 9% have no Wi-Fi access for residents.
Our digital in care homes programme was launched to complement the Connecting Scotland digital inclusion programme. It saw over 75% of all adult and children's care homes in Scotland take up the offer of digital devices, data packages, connectivity improvements and skills. This included providing increased Wi-Fi/MiFi capabilities for those who required this. The homes who took up this offer cover over 90% of all care home residents in Scotland with devices being used to help residents to remain connected to friends and family and to access key services such as the NHS.
- Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 17 January 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Humza Yousaf on 31 January 2023
To ask the Scottish Government how much it has spent in each year since 2007 on the provision of access to free Wi-Fi for patients and residents currently being cared for by health and social care services (a) at their bedside and (b) in public areas within their healthcare setting.
Answer
The Scottish Government does not hold this information centrally.
- Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 17 January 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 31 January 2023
To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with Network Rail about ensuring that its infrastructure does not curtail or hold back renewable energy development infrastructure.
Answer
Interaction of utility and rail infrastructure is a commercial issue that is managed through contracts between those parties involved. The Scottish Government has no role in those commercial discussions, although if concerns are brought to our attention Scottish Government officials will seek to understand the basis of those concerns and reach out to relevant parties to encourage a swift solution.
- Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 17 January 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Humza Yousaf on 31 January 2023
To ask the Scottish Government how many patients have accessed health and social care services via asynchronous communication in the last year, broken down by NHS board.
Answer
The Scottish Government does not hold this information.
- Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 17 January 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Humza Yousaf on 31 January 2023
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the commitment in its Digital Health and Care Strategy, what rights and responsibilities people have for using digital means to access information and services.
Answer
The “Health and Social Care Standards: my support, my life” set out a range of standards on what people should expect when using health, social care or social work services in Scotland. These include the use of technology to support independence and having more control over their own health and wellbeing, and for those in 24 hour care that they are connected to the internet. The Standards also set out an expectation that people can access the right information at the right time, and patients rights and responsibilities in relation to their information is further enhanced by the Charter of Patient Rights and Responsibilities which sets out expectations around confidentiality and handling of medical information.
- Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 17 January 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Ivan McKee on 31 January 2023
To ask the Scottish Government on how many occasions (a) ministers and (b) its staff have flown (i) out of and (ii) in to Prestwick Airport since 2013, broken down by year.
Answer
There have been five flights out of Prestwick since 2013:
Calendar year | Ministers | Officials |
2013 | 0 | 2 |
2014 | 1 | 1 |
2015 | 0 | 1 |
2016 | 0 | 0 |
2017 | 0 | 0 |
2018 | 0 | 0 |
2019 | 0 | 0 |
2020 | 0 | 0 |
2021 | 0 | 0 |
2022 | 0 | 0 |
and six flights into Prestwick since 2013:
Calendar year | Ministers | Officials |
2013 | 1 | 2 |
2014 | 0 | 0 |
2015 | 0 | 0 |
2016 | 0 | 1 |
2017 | 0 | 0 |
2018 | 1 | 1 |
2019 | 0 | 0 |
2020 | 0 | 0 |
2021 | 0 | 0 |
2022 | 0 | 0 |
- Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 17 January 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Humza Yousaf on 31 January 2023
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the commitment in its Digital Health and Care Strategy to develop a fully interactive "Front Door", how many health and care services, both digital and physical services, across the statutory, third and independent sectors, are currently available on this system.
Answer
I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-13979 on 30 January 2023. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers
- Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 19 January 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Humza Yousaf on 31 January 2023
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the commitment in its Digital Health and Care Strategy, how much it has spent on providing a single and secure way for health and care staff to sign in to clinical and care systems and data.
Answer
At a national level, the Scottish Government continues to support and prioritise the full use of the capabilities offered by the Microsoft 365 platform, under the national NHS-wide tenancy including secure access to systems. The responsibility for managing individual access to clinical and care systems is a matter for individual employers.
Since October 2021, Scottish Government has contributed £2.4 million to the Microsoft 365 Programme for NHS Scotland. As part of this investment, we are continuing to develop identity solutions for health and social care staff.
- Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 19 January 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Maree Todd on 31 January 2023
To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the Health Foundation report, The state of health and health inequalities in Scotland.
Answer
We welcome this report which confirms that persistent inequalities can be attributed to the accumulation of disadvantage, a stagnation in wages and living standards, and the impact of austerity on public services.
That is why we are using all the powers and resources available to us to create a fairer Scotland. We are doing that by ensuring health services are accessible to all, committing £19bn to public services over the next year; committing £4 billion in social security and welfare payments over the next financial year; and extending the Scottish Child Payment to families with eligible under 16s – increasing it to £25 per week per child.
The actions we are taking include the delivery of our new Getting it Right Together approach across health and social care, improving access to mental health services, strengthening the Universal Health Visiting Pathway and expanding our Welfare Advice and Health Partnerships – placing money advisors in 180 GP practices in some of Scotland’s most deprived areas.
We agree with the Health Foundation that a collaborative approach is needed and we will continue to work closely with key stakeholders to drive forward progress in reducing health inequalities.
- Asked by: Alexander Stewart, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Submitting member has a registered interest.
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 January 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Maree Todd on 31 January 2023
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a breakdown of progress made regarding each of the commitments of the Respiratory Care Action Plan according to those (a) achieved, (b) in progress and (c) not yet started.
Answer
We are currently drafting a summary of progress on the implementation of the Respiratory Care Action Plan that will include proposals for next steps. The summary will then be taken to the Scottish Respiratory Advisory Committee (SRAC) in the Spring for consideration and sign off.