Chamber and committees

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.

Find out more about parliamentary questions

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Question reference: S5W-00858

Asked by: Elaine Smith, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 17 June 2016
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 30 June 2016

To ask the Scottish Government how many pharmacy graduates have received NHS Pre-Registration Pharmacist Scheme funding in each of the last 10 years.

Question reference: S5W-00314

Asked by: Elaine Smith, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 31 May 2016
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 14 June 2016

To ask the Scottish Government, how many (a) public and (b) private sector bids it is hoping to receive when the next contracts to operate (i) Gourock-Dunoon and (ii) Northern Isles ferry services are put out to tender.

Question reference: S5W-00313

Asked by: Elaine Smith, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 31 May 2016
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 14 June 2016

To ask the Scottish Government when it expects to publish the invitations to tender for the (a) Gourock-Dunoon and (b) Northern Isles ferry services contracts.

Question reference: S5O-00001

Asked by: Elaine Smith, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 June 2016
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 8 June 2016

To ask the Scottish Government when it last met NHS Lanarkshire and what matters were discussed.

Question reference: S4W-30514

Asked by: Elaine Smith, MSP for Coatbridge and Chryston, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 10 March 2016
Current Status: Answered by Maureen Watt on 23 March 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what sanctions it will place on NHS boards that have not met the 18 weeks referral to treatment guarantee on first treatments at chronic pain clinics.

Question reference: S4W-30515

Asked by: Elaine Smith, MSP for Coatbridge and Chryston, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 10 March 2016
Current Status: Answered by Maureen Watt on 23 March 2016

To ask the Scottish Government how it and the Ministerial Steering Group on Chronic Pain plan to ensure delivery of equality in chronic pain services, in light of Information Services Division figures published on 8 March 2016 showing some NHS boards breaching the 18-week referral to treatment guarantee and two boards not returning any figures.

Question reference: S4W-30518

Asked by: Elaine Smith, MSP for Coatbridge and Chryston, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 10 March 2016
Current Status: Answered by Maureen Watt on 23 March 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the proposal to build a wing on the NHS Centre for Integrative Care in Glasgow to accommodate the new Scottish residential chronic pain facility.

The Scottish Government continues to work with NHS National Services Scotland’s National Services Division and NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde on the design of the permanent facility of the Scottish National Chronic Pain Management Programme (SNCPMP).

It should be made clear that the permanent build for the SNCPMP may be located adjacent to the Centre for Integrative Care (CIC) building on the Gartnavel campus, but should not be considered a 'wing' of the existing centre. The CIC and the SNCPMP deliver different models of care, although we are ensuring that the on-going design work for the latter explores options for sharing facilities.

Question reference: S4W-30517

Asked by: Elaine Smith, MSP for Coatbridge and Chryston, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 10 March 2016
Current Status: Answered by Maureen Watt on 23 March 2016

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will impose a moratorium on NHS boards not referring patients to the NHS Centre for Integrative Care (CIC), ensure that NHS Lanarkshire does not close the CIC clinic in Coatbridge and undertake a national review of the service.

The Scottish Government recognises that complementary and alternative therapies, such as those provided by the Centre for Integrative Care (CIC) and elsewhere, may offer relief to some people living with a variety of conditions, including chronic pain. It is, however, the responsibility of individual NHS boards to decide what therapies they make available, and whether to do so locally or via referral.

The CIC is a facility that all boards across Scotland have the option of referring patients to for services not available locally, but decisions to do so remain with each board. These decisions will be made based on the assessed needs of their resident populations and in line with national guidance, as well as individual clinical decisions in each case.

Question reference: S4W-30516

Asked by: Elaine Smith, MSP for Coatbridge and Chryston, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 10 March 2016
Current Status: Answered by Maureen Watt on 23 March 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what action it will take to ensure that there is no further depletion of staffing and resources at the NHS Centre for Integrative Care in Glasgow, which the Minister for Public Health described as "a national resource" on 4 March 2015 (Official Report, c. 12).

Question reference: S4W-30538

Asked by: Elaine Smith, MSP for Coatbridge and Chryston, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 09 March 2016
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 21 March 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on NHS boards paying for service-level agreements under which patients are not offered referrals to the other board.

The role of the Scottish Government is to provide policies, frameworks and resources to NHS boards in order that they can deliver services that meet the needs of their local population. Within this context, it is a matter for individual health boards to plan and provide the services to meet the needs of their local population. All boards are expected to ensure that resources are spent in a way that improves the health and wellbeing of the community and that delivers best value for tax payers.