- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 07 January 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Humza Yousaf on 31 January 2022
To ask the Scottish Government which NHS boards have stroke units, and which hospitals these are located in.
Answer
All 14 NHS Boards have hospitals providing acute stroke care. A map showing all hospitals that contribute data on stroke unit admission to the Scottish Stroke Care Audit can be found in the Scottish Stroke Improvement Programme report at: https://www.strokeaudit.scot.nhs.uk/index.html . Of those sites shown on the map, Stracathro, Stobhill, Vale of Leven, Queen Margaret, Falkirk Community Hospital and Stirling Community Hospital are shown because they contributed data solely on stroke rehabilitation.
The remaining hospitals provide acute beds for stroke patients, either in a unit which has solely acute beds with offsite stroke rehabilitation units for ongoing care, within an integrated stroke unit (combining acute and rehabilitation beds) or in a hyperacute unit. The seven smallest general hospitals define stroke unit admission as gaining access to the appropriate acute medical ward.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 07 January 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Humza Yousaf on 31 January 2022
To ask the Scottish Government whether standards for stroke care extend to rehabilitation, and, if not, what proposals are in place to monitor the whole stroke pathway.
Answer
The current Scottish Stroke Care Standards are available at the following link ( https://www.strokeaudit.scot.nhs.uk/index.html)x . At present, they largely relate to acute stroke care.
However, the Scottish Stroke Improvement Programme also includes performance targets which reflect access to rehabilitation in inpatient settings, intensity of provision in stroke units and access to stroke specialist Early Supported Discharge and community teams. The Rehabilitation Sub-Group of the Stroke National Advisory Committee is currently considering future updates to measure rehabilitation service delivery, patient outcomes and experiences within the Scottish Stroke Improvement Programme report.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 07 January 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Humza Yousaf on 31 January 2022
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-04701 by Humza Yousaf on 23 December 2021, what specialities are covered by the seven clinicians undertaking the review.
Answer
Further to the answer given to question S6W-04701 I can confirm that the team of reviewers in NHS Lothian were made up of clinical staff at consultant and senior nurse level who are all suitably qualified in their fields and span across various disciplines including Haematology, Microbiology, Infection Prevention and Control and Critical Care.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 07 January 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Humza Yousaf on 31 January 2022
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-04701 by Humza Yousaf on 23 December 2021, whether any of the seven clinicians are haemotologists with a special interest in mantle cell lymphoma.
Answer
Further to the answer given to question S6W-04701, I can confirm that one of the seven clinicians who undertook the peer review was an experienced Haematology consultant who has expertise in the care of haematological malignancies and the associated protocols.
- Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 06 January 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Michael Matheson on 31 January 2022
To ask the Scottish Government from where specifically it will source energy that is currently generated by the Torness nuclear power station, following its closure.
Answer
Security of electricity supply is a reserved matter and is delivered by National Grid ESO across the whole of Great Britain under regulation from Ofgem. NGESO is also responsible for sourcing generation to meet demand.
Scottish electricity supplies are currently considered secure with around 9GW’s of secure supply to meet peak demand of around 5GW’s. National Grid ESO has conducted a study of the effects of the earlier than expected closure of nuclear generation in Scotland which concludes that the system will remain secure with any potential operational issues and risks being identified and mitigations put in place.
Scotland is a net electricity exporter and in 2020 exported 20.4 TWh of electricity, equivalent to powering every household in Scotland for 26 months. It only imported a little over 1 TWh of electricity, meaning that net exports of electricity were 19.3 TWh in 2020, its highest year on record.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 06 January 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Humza Yousaf on 31 January 2022
To ask the Scottish Government whether employers using agency staff are responsible for providing COVID-19 tests for such staff, or whether this is the responsibility of the agency staff themselves.
Answer
Employers with ten or more staff are eligible to participate in the workplace asymptomatic testing programme. The programme allows participating organisations to offer COVID-19 testing to any individuals who work at the location, including employees, volunteers, contractors and agency staff. Agencies which meet the criteria can also enrol in the programme to provide their staff with tests. This includes agencies providing staff to the health and social care sectors.
If an employer or agency does not provide workplace testing, lateral flow device test kits are widely available to individuals through the universally accessible testing offer. Kits can be collected from test sites, pharmacies and local authority collection points, or ordered online for home delivery.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 06 January 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Humza Yousaf on 31 January 2022
To ask the Scottish Government how many transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) procedures have been carried out at the (a) Golden Jubilee hospital, (b) Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh and (c) Aberdeen Royal Infirmary in each year since 2018-19, including the current year to date.
Answer
Information on TAVI procedures in Scotland for 2018-19 and 2019-20 was submitted by sites to the UK National Cardiac Audit Programme. Published data is available from the British Cardiovascular Interventional Society (BCIS) - Audit Results - British Cardiovascular Intervention Society (bcis.org.uk) .
The published reports indicate that in 2018-19 there were 310 TAVI procedures, and in 2019-20 there were 400 TAVI procedures carried out in Scotland. The reports do not break down the number of cases per Scottish site.
The Scottish Cardiac Audit Programme is currently working with TAVI sites across Scotland to collate data for 2020-21 onwards.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 06 January 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Humza Yousaf on 31 January 2022
To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to improve awareness of heart valve disease among (a) primary care professionals and (b) the public.
Answer
Primary care professionals have access to multiple sources of education and update regarding heart valve disease and management both at undergraduate and postgraduate level. Through local interface groups local pathways to support diagnosis and management have been developed at board level with opportunities for specialist advice and rapid referral where required.
Scottish Government has no current plans to carry out a public awareness campaign on heart valve disease.
- Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 05 January 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Patrick Harvie on 31 January 2022
To ask the Scottish Government what due diligence is expected of a local authority when it is applying for retrofit and energy efficiency projects in its area.
Answer
Councils must give due regard to the statutory guidance published by the Scottish Government in contracting for retrofit and energy efficiency projects. We would expect councils to apply relevant and proportionate selection criteria to establish the suitability of bidders as part of their procurement. These are the minimum standards or requirements that bidders must meet in order to progress. For example by establishing their suitability; financial standing; and their technical and professional ability to undertake the necessary works.
Councils must clearly target fuel poor areas as part of projects funded through our Area Based Schemes (ABS). For example by showing that a project is located in one of the most deprived 25% of areas by SIMD classification. Councils are expected to obtain the necessary information to confirm that relevant households and properties are also eligible for grant-in-aid based upon the guidance provided by the Scottish Government.
When applying for support through the Social Housing Net Zero Heat Fund projects are required to provide a variety of information including a financial model, a feasibility study, project programme and risk register.
- Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 05 January 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Humza Yousaf on 31 January 2022
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will commit to putting guidance in place to ensure that there are suitable access arrangements at COVID-19 vaccination centres for people with unseen impairments.
Answer
The Scottish Government meets with health boards on a regular basis to discuss the vaccination programme. Ensuring it is as accessible as possible for everyone is a key priority. As individual requirements are different, anyone who has concerns about access arrangements should contact their local health board to discuss any additional support needs they have so that adjustments can be made to accommodate them.
The NHS Inform website provides a breakdown of support available by local health board, including help finding transport to your vaccination appointment.