- Asked by: Lewis Macdonald, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 06 July 2020
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Current Status:
Answered by Joe FitzPatrick on 27 July 2020
To ask the Scottish Government what steps are being taken to understand the causes of long-term ill-health in people of working age following apparent recovery from the immediate effects of COVID-19.
Answer
I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-30128 on 7 July 2020. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx .
- Asked by: Lewis Macdonald, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 06 July 2020
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Current Status:
Answered by John Swinney on 20 July 2020
To ask the Scottish Government what provisions it will put in place to enable access to online learning for children and young people in rural areas of the North East Scotland region that do not have reliable broadband connections.
Answer
The Scottish Government has committed to investing £25m to combat digital exclusion amongst children and young people. Funding offers have now been made to every Scottish local authority. That funding is to be targeted at the provision of devices and connectivity solutions such as mobile broadband through 4G MiFi routers and associated data plans. Local authorities are developing plans to ensure the funding is invested to best effect in their local areas.
- Asked by: Lewis Macdonald, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 06 July 2020
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Current Status:
Answered by John Swinney on 17 July 2020
To ask the Scottish Government when the results of Public Health Scotland evaluation of the shielding programme will be published, and how the information from this will be used to inform policy and decisions for providing targeted support for the people who are shielding.
Answer
Public Health Scotland’s evaluation of the shielding programme is underway and has already informed the approach to shielding. One part of this work is a survey of shielding individuals and their carers, which received over 12,000 responses. A report on this survey work will be published later in the summer.
The main report on the evaluation of the shielding programme is intended to be published in 6-9 months’ time. We recognise that there may be impacts of shielding beyond the pause in the advice to shield – we are considering further evaluation work to capture these experiences and could update on a timescale for publication of such work later this year.
The evaluation will help us understand what support people need to enable them to shield, should we have to advise them to do so again in the future.
- Asked by: Lewis Macdonald, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 29 June 2020
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Current Status:
Answered by Jeane Freeman on 16 July 2020
To ask the Scottish Government what the rates of (a) vacancies and (b) sickness absence for care home staff have been in each of the last six months in the (i) private, (ii) voluntary and (iii) public sector.
Answer
(a) The Scottish Government does not hold this level of information. The Care Inspectorate and Scottish Social Services Council jointly publish an annual report on staff vacancies in registered care services which uses information provided by services in their annual return to the Care Inspectorate:
https://www.careinspectorate.com/images/documents/5532/Staff%20vacancies%20in%20care%20services%202018.pdf
(b) The Scottish Government does not hold this level of information. Since 21 April 2020, the Scottish Government has published data weekly on Covid-19 related staff absence rates in adult care homes. This data is provided by the Care Inspectorate:
https://www.gov.scot/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-trends-in-daily-data/
The Care Inspectorate does not routinely collect data on staff absence rates from registered services.
- Asked by: Lewis Macdonald, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 29 June 2020
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Current Status:
Answered by Jeane Freeman on 16 July 2020
To ask the Scottish Government how many pandemic management exercises have been run in Scotland relating to (a) influenza, (b) coronaviruses and (c) other diseases, and whether it has published the reports and recommendations from each of these.
Answer
Since the H1N1 pandemic in 2009-10, Exercise Silver Swan was organised by the Scottish Government in 2015 and related to an influenza pandemic. The exercise report and recommendations are available on the Scottish Government website https://www.gov.scot/publications/foi-202000026935/ . Other exercises, which have involved consideration of a coronavirus or other diseases have not related to a pandemic event. There is no central record of local exercises.
- Asked by: Lewis Macdonald, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 29 June 2020
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Current Status:
Answered by Jeane Freeman on 16 July 2020
To ask the Scottish Government whether any of its pandemic management exercises tested the pandemic preparedness of care homes, and, if so, whether it will (a) list all the aspects that were tested as part of each exercise and (b) publish the assessment reports and recommendations from each.
Answer
In 2015, the Scottish Government and other keys partners participated in Exercise Silver Swan. The aim of the exercise was to assess the preparedness and response of Scotland’s local and national arrangements for an influenza pandemic over a prolonged period. Health and social care were considered as part of this exercise.
The overall exercise report is available on the Scottish Government’s website:
https://www.gov.scot/publications/foi-202000026935/ .
- Asked by: Lewis Macdonald, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 29 June 2020
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Current Status:
Answered by Jeane Freeman on 16 July 2020
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the British Neuroscience Association’s recent survey into the challenges facing researchers as a result of COVID-19, what efforts it is making to mitigate the impact of the pandemic on the neuroscience research sector.
Answer
The Scottish Government has established strategic and operational groups focussed on enabling health research studies which were paused due to Covid-19 to reopen as quickly and safely as possible. In respect to funding of research staff in NHS Scotland, as well as providing additional service support and generic infrastructure funding to meet the pressure of Covid-19 the Scottish Government is allocating the normal level of funding to support research infrastructure. In addition the Scottish Government has moved to support researchers funded by Chief Scientist Office (CSO) grants and fellowships paused due to Covid-19 by putting in place a system of funded and no-cost extensions and by publishing this advice on the CSO website
https://www.cso.scot.nhs.uk/grantupdate/
- Asked by: Lewis Macdonald, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 29 June 2020
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Current Status:
Answered by Jeane Freeman on 16 July 2020
To ask the Scottish Government what level of sick pay is provided in the event of sickness absence to care home staff in the (a) private, (b) voluntary and (c) public sector.
Answer
Scottish Government does not hold this data. Social care workers are employed by local authorities, third and independent sector providers or by the people they support directly. We are aware that, while some employers offer employment contracts closer to the Scottish Government’s fair work principles, some employers do not have occupational sick pay policies. In recognition of these current exceptional circumstances and in order to ensure that social care workers do not suffer financial hardship, the Scottish Government introduced the Social Care Staff Support Fund on 25 June. The Fund will ensure that social care workers will receive their expected income when ill or self-isolating due to coronavirus and is backdated to 23 March 2020.
- Asked by: Lewis Macdonald, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 29 June 2020
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Current Status:
Answered by Jeane Freeman on 16 July 2020
To ask the Scottish Government whether assessing the pandemic preparedness of care homes is part of the Care Inspectorate’s remit, and, if so, how many care homes it has inspected for pandemic preparedness in each of the last five years.
Answer
Assessing a care home’s pandemic preparedness is not part of the Care Inspectorate’s remit. However, the Care Inspectorate assess the ability of a care home service to provide high quality care and support to residents. The Care Inspectorate recently introduced a new key question to its quality frameworks for care homes for older people and care homes for adults. This asks “How good is our care and support during the Covid-19 pandemic?” Evaluations against this question are published in the Care Inspectorate’s fortnightly report to the Scottish Parliament.
- Asked by: Lewis Macdonald, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 29 June 2020
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Current Status:
Answered by Jeane Freeman on 16 July 2020
To ask the Scottish Government whether it has received any thematic reports from the Care Inspectorate dealing with pandemic preparedness in care homes, and if so, whether it will publish such reports.
Answer
The Care Inspectorate has not undertaken thematic inspections dealing with pandemic preparedness in care homes. However, to support inspections being undertaken during this pandemic, the Care Inspectorate recently introduced a new key question to its quality frameworks for care homes for older people and care homes for adults. This asks “How good is our care and support during the Covid-19 pandemic?” To answer this question the Care Inspectorate considers quality indicators relating to supporting and safeguarding residents’ health and wellbeing, infection control practices and staffing. Evaluations against the key question and quality indicators are published in the Care Inspectorate’s fortnightly report to the Scottish Parliament. All inspection reports are published on the Care Inspectorate’s website.
