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: S5W-29405

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 27 May 2020
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 10 June 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what legal advice it sought regarding DNR (do not resuscitate) forms put in place for individual patients during the COVID-19 outbreak.

There has been no change to the guidance on the use of Do Not Attempt Cardiopulmonary (DNACPR) forms during the Covid 19 outbreak. As such, the Scottish Government has not sought legal advice on the existing DNACPR guidance during the Covid 19 outbreak.

In 2016, the DNACPR policy was reviewed to reflect feedback and changes in the national good practice guidance which remains current (Decisions Relating to Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation - guidance from the British Medical Association, Royal College of Nursing and the Resuscitation Council ( UK) - 2016). This policy also takes into account relevant legal changes resulting from case law and therefore specialist legal advice was provided as part of the formation of the policy.

Question reference: S5W-29404

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 27 May 2020
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 10 June 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what consultation it had with professional representational organisations regarding the guidelines for DNR (do not resuscitate) forms put in place for individual patients during the COVID-19 outbreak.

There has been no change to the guidance on the use of Do Not Attempt Cardiopulmonary (DNACPR) forms during the Covid 19 outbreak. As such, the Scottish Government has not formally consulted with professional representational organisations on the existing DNACPR guidance during the Covid 19 outbreak.

The Scottish Government continues to work closely with a wide variety of professional groups and organisations in responding to the challenges posed by the Covid 19 outbreak.

Question reference: S5W-29402

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 27 May 2020
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 10 June 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what advice it has provided on DNR (do not resuscitate) forms put in place for individual patients during the COVID-19 outbreak.

On the 10 April, the Chief Medical Officer, Chair of the Scottish General Practitioners Committee of the BMA and Chair of the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) wrote to GPs to provide advice and support on having anticipatory care planning conversations and to make clear that there is no requirement for health professionals to have a DNACPR discussion as part of this conversation, unless the patient wishes to discuss it or clinician feels strongly it is necessary to raise in conversation for the patient’s wellbeing. On the 17 April, a further joint letter from the Scottish Government’s Chief Medical Officer, BMA and RCGP was sent to GPs to reinforce the advice already provided.

Question reference: S5W-28773

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 April 2020
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 10 June 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reported concerns regarding the accuracy of some of the COVID-19 testing kits that it has procured from overseas, and how it ensures that all such kits fully comply with safety standards.

The type of tests being used in Scotland (real time PCR assays) ar e widely used for the detection of respiratory viruses, as well as a range of other viral pathogens, owing to their speed and versatility.

Scottish laboratories are working in collaboration with the Scottish Microbiology & Virology Network (SMVN), National Laboratories Programme (NLP) and Health Protection Scotland, as well as linking in with Public Health England, to ensure that all tests are quality checked and validated for use.

Based on work by NHS Lothian on symptomatic cases the accuracy of tests for clinical diagnosis is 98%. This was presented in a Royal College of Pathologists webinar - available online .

Question reference: S5W-28302

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 April 2020
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 10 June 2020

To ask the Scottish Government how many of the 1,000 ventilators that have been ordered in response to the COVID-19 outbreak have been delivered.

Question reference: S5W-29135

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 26 May 2020
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 10 June 2020

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason it took over 15 months for action to be taken by the Care Inspectorate regarding Home Farm Care Home on Skye.

Question reference: S5W-29408

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 27 May 2020
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 10 June 2020

To ask the Scottish Government how many retired medics have expressed an interest in returning to support the NHS during the COVID-19 outbreak.

There have been 441 retired medics who have expressed an interest in returning to support the NHS as a doctor during the COVID-19 outbreak through the Accelerated Recruitment Portal.

This information is based on self-declarations and may be subject to revision as formal pre-employment checks are carried out.

This figure does not include retired medics who may have expressed their interest directly with an NHS Board, as these figures are not held centrally. This also does not include retired medics who expressed an interest in non patient clinical roles.

Question reference: S5T-02243

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 08 June 2020
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 9 June 2020

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason it did not immediately publish details of the number of patients who have contracted COVID-19 in hospital.

Question reference: S5W-29398

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 27 May 2020
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 8 June 2020

To ask the Scottish Government how many expectant mothers have attended pregnancy scans in each week in 2019 and 2020.

Question reference: S5W-29459

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 27 May 2020
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 8 June 2020

To ask the Scottish Government whether the NHS Louisa Jordan will be used as part of the phased reopening of NHS services and, if so, on what date it will be made operational for such services.

The NHS Louisa Jordan will provide extra capacity as part of NHS Scotland’s response to COVID-19. It will initially create capacity for 300 extra hospital beds, with the ability to expand to over 1,000, if required. Although NHS Louisa Jordan will have ICU provision, our intention is to continue to provide critical care within the existing NHS Scotland estate, where possible. All health boards have been undertaking extensive work across Scotland to maximise the capacity available to manage expected rise in demand due to COVID-19 and this includes supporting patients who have conditions that are not related to COVID-19. This work is expected to provide sufficient treatment capacity to meet the rise in demand at this point. The NHS Louisa Jordan will remain an important part of our COVID-19 response and provides reassurance that we have measures in place to help treat people during this crisis. We are considering how the NHS Louisa Jordan bests contributes to that response in the future.