- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 27 January 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Humza Yousaf on 8 February 2022
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the flu vaccination programme in (a) general and (b) NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, and what the latest guidance is on when eligible members of the public can book appointments.
Answer
Flu vaccinations were paused in December 2021 to allow the NHS to address the immediate challenge of the Omicron variant of COVID-19. Local health boards are now offering flu vaccinations to those who are eligible, with uptake of flu vaccines among over 65s at 90.1%, which is already higher than the previous year.
Those who are aged 70 years or over will be contacted by their health board about their appointment by letter or telephone call. Those aged 65 to 69 years will be contacted by their health board by letter about their appointment.
Our focus remains on protecting people based on clinical need, medical advice, and evidence. On that basis, other healthy people aged 50 to 64 years generally will no longer receive the flu vaccine this season. Anyone unsure whether they are eligible should check with their local health board, and can find more information about flu vaccination on NHS Inform The flu vaccine (nhsinform.scot) .
Anyone who is eligible and would like to receive a flu vaccine can do so by checking How to get your flu vaccine | The flu vaccine (nhsinform.scot) . If the appointment received is not suitable, individuals can rearrange their appointment at Rearrange your flu vaccine appointment | The flu vaccine (nhsinform.scot) .
NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde advise that those eligible can get vaccinated at participating NHS community pharmacies.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 07 February 2022
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Current Status:
Taken in the Chamber on 10 February 2022
To ask the First Minister what action the Scottish Government is taking to reduce delayed discharge from hospitals, in light of reports that it is at the highest recorded level since the COVID-19 pandemic began.
Answer
Taken in the Chamber on 10 February 2022
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 28 January 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Humza Yousaf on 7 February 2022
To ask the Scottish Government whether women who need transvaginal mesh removal surgery will still be eligible for surgery cost reimbursement if their surgery is booked prior to the Transvaginal Mesh Removal (Cost Reimbursement) (Scotland) Bill receiving Royal Assent, but with the surgery taking place after Royal Assent has been received.
Answer
Following the successful conclusion of stage 3 of Parliament’s consideration of the Bill, the Government will now take steps to put in place a scheme in which it will specify a cut-off date. There is no requirement under the Bill, however, for surgery to have taken place before the date that will be specified, only that the mesh removal surgery must have been arranged by that date. The Bill mandates that the date specified in the scheme must not be a date earlier than that of Royal Assent.
- 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 Kate Forbes on 4 February 2022
To ask the Scottish Government how much COVID-19 funding it plans to carry forward to 2022-23, broken down by portfolio.
Answer
The 2022-23 Scottish Budget as published on 9 December assumed no specific carry-forward for resource funding through the Scotland Reserve. £179 million of capital and financial transactions was assumed as the estimated Scotland Reserve availability for 2022-23, but this is not linked to specific portfolio underspends.
The 2022-23 Scottish Budget did include £620 million of other anticipated funding, calculated on a risk-based assessment of availability across a range of sources. This assessment included an estimate of £145 million of funding related to future consequentials associated with changes to UK non-domestic rates legislation, which HM Treasury has now confirmed is included in the £440 million guaranteed additional funding for 2021-22. This £145m will therefore now have to be factored into overall budget management in the final months of the current financial year, with the remaining balance considered as part of the Scotland Reserve carry-forward.
- 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 Kate Forbes on 4 February 2022
To ask the Scottish Government how much of the health resource Barnett consequentials received for 2021-22 remain unallocated.
Answer
None of the health resource Barnett consequentials received for 2021-22 remain unallocated.
- 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 Kate Forbes on 4 February 2022
To ask the Scottish Government whether it has reallocated £45 million from the health budget to the Business Support Fund, and, if so, from which part of the health budget this contribution was taken.
Answer
The Scottish Government had expected to receive £120 million of additional Health consequential funding in respect of additional allocations to the UK Department of Health and Social Care for testing and vaccination costs.
Whilst we have yet to see the final consequential breakdown for UK Supplementary Estimates, indications were in December that this figure was revised down to £75m.
Rather than a reallocation of £45 million within Scottish Budgets to support business, this figure actually represents the shortfall in Health funding against previous expectations – a reduction of £45 million.
However the financial position has moved considerably since then and full details of all budget transfers supporting the recently announced measures will be set out in the forthcoming Spring Budget Revision.
- 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 John Swinney on 3 February 2022
To ask the Scottish Government who attended each COBR meeting on its behalf during 2021.
Answer
COBR is shorthand for the UK Government Civil Contingencies Committee that is convened to handle matters of UK national emergency or major disruption. COBR ministerial meetings are described as COBR (M).
The Scottish Government can only report on COBR meetings we are invited to attend by the UK Government. The following table sets out the COBR meetings that the Scottish Government was invited to and which Scottish Ministers attended during 2021.
Meeting | Subject | Date | SG representative(s) |
COBR (M) | Winter resilience | 01-01-2021 | Deputy First Minister |
COBR (M) | Storm Christoph | 19-01-2021 | Cabinet Secretary for Environment, Climate Change, and Land Reform |
COBR (M) | Storm Christoph | 20-01-2021 | First Minister |
COBR (M) | Storm Christoph | 21-01-2021 | Cabinet Secretary for Environment, Climate Change, and Land Reform |
COBR (M) | Covid-19 | 10-12-2021 | First Minister Chief Medical Officer Director General, Constitution and External Affairs |
COBR (M) | Covid-19 | 15-12-2021 | First Minister Chief Medical Officer Director of COVID Coordination |
COBR (M) | Covid-19 | 19-12-2021 | First Minister Chief Medical Officer Director General, Constitution and External Affairs |
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 February 2022
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Current Status:
Taken in the Chamber on 9 February 2022
To ask the Scottish Government whether it anticipates that the lifting of the eviction ban, in place during the COVID-19 pandemic, will result in increased homelessness.
Answer
Taken in the Chamber on 9 February 2022
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 17 January 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Humza Yousaf on 1 February 2022
To ask the Scottish Government what progress is being made in the development of the NHS Recovery and Rehabilitation Framework, and when the National Advisory Board for Rehabilitation last met.
Answer
The Framework for supporting people through Recovery and Rehabilitation during and after the COVID-19 was published in August 2020. We then undertook a significant scoping exercise to understand the current status of rehabilitation services in Scotland, from the perspective of the staff working in them. This was done using a self-assessment tool and the report on the findings ( Rehabilitation Framework Self-Assessment Tool: Analysis of Survey Responses ) was published on 9th December 2021.
The findings from the self-assessment tool, along with demand and capacity data, will inform the development of a national programme of improvement work which we will work with NHS Boards, Health and Social Care Partnerships and the third sector to implement. This will deliver a ‘Once for Scotland’ rehabilitation pathway that will ensure everyone who requires rehabilitation will be able to access it.
The National Advisory Board for Rehabilitation last met in October 2021, and it is expected it will meet again in early 2022 now that the report on the self-assessment tool had been published.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 17 January 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Humza Yousaf on 1 February 2022
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on implementation of the recommendation made in the National Stoma Quality Improvement Group Short Life Working Group's final report, published in November 2019, that NHS boards should review future stoma nurse workforce requirements, in line with the Chief Nursing Officer Directorate's Transforming Roles Programme and the findings of the Short Life Working Group, and whether an implementation lead has been appointed.
Answer
The National Stoma Quality Improvement Group’s Short Life Working Group’s final report of November 2019 recommended that NHS Boards review their future Stoma Nurse workforce. I expect NHS Boards to plan their workforce, including stoma clinical nurse specialists, to meet the needs of their population. At this present time, the recommendations from the National Stoma Quality Improvement Group Short Life Working Group and the Scottish Government are not considering the appointment of an implementation lead.