- Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 March 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Kevin Stewart on 25 April 2022
To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the Life at age 14: initial findings from the Growing Up in Scotland study findings that 42.7% of young people asked, admitted that they had a period in their life, lasting several days or longer, when they felt depressed, and 13.9% said they had sought help from a mental health professional.
Answer
The Scottish Government acknowledges the importance of the Growing Up in Scotland Study (GUS) longitudinal study which allows us to track the health and wellbeing of Scotland’s children and young people over an extended period of time. We also note with concern the initial findings from the most recent GUS ‘Life at Age 14’ report published on 15 February 2022.
The report, which is based on data collected in 2019/20, aligns with our understanding of the need to ensure that all children and young people are able to access the right support for their mental health and wellbeing as early as possible, without stigma.
That is why we continue to prioritise building and improving mental health and wellbeing support services for children and young people and continue to invest significantly in supporting the mental health and wellbeing of our children and young people. In the 2021-22 financial year this included: Investing £40 million in improving Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services, £16 million on our commitment for all secondary schools in Scotland to have access to a mental health counsellor, £15 million on provided to local authorities to fund over 230 new and enhanced community supports and services for children and young people and over £160 thousand to provide enhanced digital resources on mental health and wellbeing available via the Young Scot 'Aye Feel’ website, Scottish Youth Parliament ‘Mind Yer Time’ websites.
In addition we have invested in a range of resources to support parents, cares and adults working with children and young people to ensure they are fully equipped with the tools and knowledge needed to make a difference to children and young peoples lives. This includes investing in a suite of resources for all school staff , developed by our Mental Health in Schools National Working Group, and providing a range of advice and resources for parents and carers, available through ParentClub.scot , including specific resources for parents of teenage children .
- Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 March 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 22 April 2022
To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of South Lanarkshire reportedly having the lowest percentage of young people (4.81%) applying for free bus passes through the Young Persons’ (Under 22s) Free Bus Travel Scheme.
Answer
We are aware that the percentage of eligible young people holding cards providing free bus travel under the new Young Persons’ Scheme varies between local authorities. There will be a variety of reasons for this, including different levels of local awareness and interest in the scheme and also variations in how different local authorities handle applications which come to them rather than through the national online portal, getyournec.scot, and Transport Scotland’s Pass Collect app (for people between 16 and 21 who already possess an active NEC or Young Scot NEC card). We estimate that the number of cards produced and dispatched for South Lanarkshire as of 19 April 2022 represented 14% of the eligible population.
We are working with our delivery partners, including the Improvement Service and local authorities, to identify and support improvements to both online and offline processes to maximise the uptake of scheme and get cards issued faster. One such measure, which we are encouraging, is to coordinate applications through schools on behalf of pupils. Some authorities are already doing this, including – we understand – South Lanarkshire for pupils moving up to secondary school.
- Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 March 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Humza Yousaf on 21 April 2022
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-05334 by Humza Yousaf on 10 January 2022, whether it plans to make sapropterin available for routine use in the NHS for patients with phenylketonuria (PKU), and, if so, when will this take place.
Answer
I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-07156 on 28 March 2022. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers
- Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 March 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Maree Todd on 21 April 2022
To ask the Scottish Government whether free COVID-19 lateral flow tests will be retained for (a) unpaid carers, (b) caregivers and (c) visitors entering (i) care homes and (ii) other healthcare settings.
Answer
We published our Test and Protect Transition Plan on 15 March 2022. This states that from mid-April in place of a population wide approach, we will use asymptomatic testing for COVID-19 on a targeted basis. This includes testing to support patient care and protect higher risk settings.
Regular asymptomatic testing will continue for parts of the health and care workforce primarily in settings which are still considered high risk and/or where those using services are deemed to be at a higher risk of hospitalisation from COVID-19.
In social care, the priority will continue to be testing in long stay settings and services for elderly people such as residential care homes, care at home and adult day care. There will also be a continuing priority to support testing for hospital based staff to reduce the risk of infection spread in our hospitals.
LFD tests will continue to be made available for eligible unpaid carers, personal assistants and anyone visiting a care home or hospital, this will be kept under regular clinical review.
For any purpose for which COVID-19 testing (PCR or LFD) continues to be advised we will ensure that these tests remain available free of charge.
- Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 12 April 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Michael Matheson on 20 April 2022
To ask the Scottish Government how many active (a) onshore and (b) offshore wind energy projects there are in Scotland.
Answer
Data from the Renewable Energy Planning Database shows that there are 322 operational wind onshore projects and 7 operational wind offshore projects over 150kW in Scotland. Projects under this threshold are not captured.
- Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 March 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Mairi McAllan on 12 April 2022
To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to monitor perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) chemical levels in drinking water, and whether it will provide details of the circumstances under which people are offered blood tests for these.
Answer
There is currently no requirement to monitor drinking water for Perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS).However, such monitoring will become mandatory once new Regulations take effect in early 2023 to align with the requirements of the EU’s recast Drinking Water Directive. There are currently no plans to offer blood tests for PFAS.
- Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 24 March 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Mairi McAllan on 12 April 2022
To ask the Scottish Government whether perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) chemicals exceeding (a) 2.2, (b) 10 and (c) 100 nanograms per litre (ng/l) have been found in drinking water in the last 10 years.
Answer
There is currently no requirement to monitor drinking water for Perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). However, such monitoring will become mandatory once new Regulations take effect in early 2023 to align with the requirements of the EU’s recast Drinking Water Directive.
- Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 17 March 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Humza Yousaf on 8 April 2022
To ask the Scottish Government what recent action it has taken to (a) improve awareness of the symptoms and (b) reduce late diagnoses of ovarian cancer.
Answer
In order to raise awareness of the early signs and symptoms of cancer, including ovarian cancer, a symptom-checker tool is included on our public facing website, getcheckedearly.org. An ovarian cancer survivor’s story and a link to the ovarian cancer page on Detect Cancer Early’s (DCE) website will be shared on our wee c social media pages, as part of Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month.
The NHS Recovery Plan – published August 2021 – commits an additional £20m for the DCE Programme, to provide greater public awareness of possible signs and symptoms of cancer and supporting the development of optimal cancer pathways to improve earlier diagnosis rates. Research is currently being undertaken to better understand the possible barriers and levers to early diagnosis that any new DCE campaigns should focus on.
- Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 March 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Maree Todd on 7 April 2022
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will name the chronic pain specialist services and treatments that it considers “demonstrate limited health outcomes”, as referred to on page 69 of its Programme for Government 2020-21.
Answer
Through the development of the Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network (SIGN) guidelines on chronic pain in adults and children and young people , Scotland has been a world-leader in promoting evidence-based approaches for healthcare professionals to improve standards of care and management of chronic pain.
The Programme for Government 2020-21 committed to developing and publishing a new Framework for Chronic Pain Service Delivery. A draft Framework was published for public consultation and the responses are currently being analysed. We will publish our response to the findings, including how these views have been used to shape the final Framework, later this year.
The draft Framework sets out the Scottish Government’s aim to ensure that people have a choice of treatments for chronic pain, where there is evidence they are effective, underpinned by commitments to support patients and healthcare professionals to better understand and agree effective options to manage pain. This is intended to lead to less variation in the quality and availability of services for people with chronic pain.
As part of implementation of the Framework, we will explore opportunities to update the existing guidelines to ensure they reflect the most recent evidence and best practice, including offering new treatments where there is evidence that they are effective.
- Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 17 March 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Kevin Stewart on 1 April 2022
To ask the Scottish Government when the (a) First Minister, (b) Deputy First Minister, (c) Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care, (d) Minister for Mental Wellbeing and Social Care, (e) National Clinical Director, (f) Chief Medical Officer and (g) Chief Social Work Adviser last made an official visit to a care home (i) prior to and (ii) since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Answer
Ministers have not visited any care homes in their official capacity during the COVID-19 pandemic, but have closely monitored the situation throughout. Both the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care and myself took office in May 2021, partway through the pandemic.
I was previously scheduled to undertake two care home visits, however these had to be postponed for safety reasons due to a COVID outbreak and the emergence of the SARS-CoV-2 variant Omicron. The safety and protection of residents and staff is paramount in such situations. In my role as lead for Social Care policy, I have regularly spoken to a range of stakeholders from the sector including family and sector representatives. I have also spoken to care home staff and managers. I will be rescheduling care home visits in due course.
Of the professional advisers:
- the National Clinical Director, last visited a Glasgow Care Home on 21 st February 2021 and prior to the pandemic made a visit to a care home in October 2019;
- the Chief Social Work Adviser has not visited any care homes in her official capacity during the pandemic. Prior to the pandemic she visited David Walker Gardens care home in Rutherglen on 5 th August 2019;
- the Chief Medical Officer, who was appointed in December 2020, has not visited any care homes in his official capacity during the pandemic.