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.

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Question reference: S6W-29918

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 16 September 2024
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 20 September 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to ensure the sustainability of Rapid Diagnostic Cancer Services, in light of reported uncertainty around future funding, as highlighted in the final evaluation report by the University of Strathclyde.

As reflected in Scotland’s Cancer Strategy for Scotland, published June 2023, we are committed to “expanding and evaluating Rapid Cancer Diagnostic Services (RCDS) to ensure population-based coverage”.

To date, we have five fully operational RCDSs across NHS Scotland, with our Programme for Government committing to establish a sixth service in 2024/25.

The University of Strathclyde’s independent evaluation provided an incredibly positive assessment of the Rapid Cancer Diagnostic Service innovation, as they are finding cancer faster.

The Scottish Government and the whole of the public sector faces a financial position that is extremely challenging. The utmost importance is placed on balancing the Scottish Government’s budget each financial year, and it is always necessary to ensure resources are used economically, efficiently, and effectively, and increased additional scrutiny is being applied to expenditure.

Despite financial pressures, colleagues in the Centre for Sustainable Delivery (CfSD) continue to work with territorial health boards and regional networks across Scotland to embed the learning from the University of Strathclyde’s evaluation report and support them to develop full business cases.

Question reference: S6W-29919

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 16 September 2024
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 19 September 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with NHS (a) Fife, (b) Dumfries and Galloway, (c) Ayrshire and Arran, (d) Lanarkshire and (e) Borders regarding the future funding of Rapid Diagnostic Cancer Services.

Question reference: S6W-29154

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 September 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 19 September 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how many thrombectomy patients have been treated at each of the thrombectomy hub centres in each of the last five years, also broken down by the number of patients who have been transferred in as part of the hub and spoke model.

The number of thrombectomy patients treated at each thrombectomy hub is shown in the following table.

Year	East of Scotland (Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh)	North of Scotland (Ninewells)	West of Scotland (Queen Elizabeth University Hospital)	NHS Scotland Total
2020	0	3	0	3
2021	15	14	0	29
2022	44	43	25	112
2023	62	46	20	128
2024	29	35	49	113

This data, provided by Public Health Scotland, reflects the position in the East and West of Scotland as of 31st July 2024 and the North of Scotland as of 31st August 2024.

Since 2020, 35 patients have been transferred to hub hospitals for thrombectomy.

Question reference: S6W-29158

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 September 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 17 September 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, on average, what proportion of patients who survive a stroke are eligible for rehabilitation within NHS Scotland.

The information requested is not held by the Scottish Government.

A tool for collection of empirical data relating to stroke rehabilitation provision - including time to rehabilitation assessment, creation of rehabilitation plans, commencement of rehabilitation, input from various Allied Health Professional specialities and time to commencing community rehabilitation - has been developed. This tool is currently being trialled in two NHS Boards, with the aim of using this across Scotland and including this in the Scottish Stroke Care Audit once data collection has been assessed.

Question reference: S6W-29162

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 September 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 17 September 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how NHS boards match demand for funded stroke beds with the flow of patients, and how many patients have been impacted by not having a fully funded stroke bed during their stay in each month in the last five years.

Question reference: S6F-03350

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 12 September 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 12 September 2024

Question to be taken in Chamber.

Question reference: S6W-29156

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 16 August 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 12 September 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what the projected savings will be as a result of thrombectomy being made available to all eligible patients, and how any savings will be used.

Question reference: S6W-29160

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 16 August 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 12 September 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what obligations are currently placed on NHS boards to deliver stroke rehabilitation.

As part of the Scottish Stroke Improvement Programme Board review process, Boards are expected to demonstrate rehabilitation provision in a variety of settings, and at a range of intensities, as well as outlining a robust rehab assessment process and the availability of symptom-specific rehabilitation pathways.

Boards must also demonstrate that there is a clear pathway for people who have had strokes to re-engage with stroke rehabilitation services as appropriate.

Where rehabilitation provision is found not to fully align with these criteria, the Scottish Stroke Improvement Programme works with stroke services to develop action plans for improvement.

Question reference: S6W-29157

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 16 August 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 12 September 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will routinely provide details of stroke outcomes for stroke patients, in light of reported concerns that only information relating to mortality levels is provided in the Scottish Stroke Care Audit report.

The Scottish Government does not currently plan to provide overall outcome information beyond mortality.

A tool for collection of empirical data relating to stroke rehabilitation provision - including time to rehabilitation assessment, creation of rehabilitation plans, commencement of rehabilitation, input from various Allied Health Professional specialities and time to commencing community rehabilitation - has been developed. Data collection with this tool is currently being trialled in two NHS Boards, with the aim of using this across Scotland and including this in the Scottish Stroke Care Audit once data collection has been assessed.

Question reference: S6W-29155

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 16 August 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 12 September 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what projected savings through thrombectomy provision have been made to date as a result of reduced length of stay and reduced care costs due to associated better health outcomes.