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-01934

Asked by: Anas Sarwar, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 15 August 2016
Current Status: Answered by Aileen Campbell on 7 September 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to improve awareness and prevention of stroke.

We are committed to ensuring that people who have had a stroke have access to the best possible care as quickly as possible. Our Stroke Improvement Plan published in 2014; http://www.gov.scot/Publications/2014/08/9114 continues to support the FAST (Face, Arm, Speech, Time) test in Scotland. The FAST test aims to raise public awareness of the signs and symptoms of stroke to encourage people to dial 999 if they think someone is having a stroke. Further details can be found at; http://www.thinkfast.org.uk/.

The Stroke Improvement Plan, published in 2014 also reaffirms our commitment to improve stroke treatment and care in Scotland. The plan is underpinned by a commitment to improving data collection and the Scottish Government continues to fund the Scottish Stroke Care Audit (SSCA), carried out annually by Information Services Division. The Scottish Government provided funding for the SSCA of £167,000 in 2015-16 and is a key focus for raising awareness of stroke as well as driving improvements in stroke care, prevention, skills and knowledge across the whole of Scotland; http://www.strokeaudit.scot.nhs.uk/Publications/Main.html.

Question reference: S5O-00096

Asked by: Anas Sarwar, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 31 August 2016
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 7 September 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what impact its spending plans for 2016-17 will have on Glasgow and Renfrewshire.

Question reference: S5W-01759

Asked by: Anas Sarwar, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 03 August 2016
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 31 August 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what estimate it makes of the number of citizens from the rest of the UK working in NHSScotland based on information from the Office for National Statistics.

Question reference: S5W-01758

Asked by: Anas Sarwar, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 03 August 2016
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 31 August 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what information it has on the number and nation of origin of NHS Scotland staff from the rest of the UK in each year since 2007.

Question reference: S5W-01544

Asked by: Anas Sarwar, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 15 July 2016
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 9 August 2016

To ask the Scottish Government how many of the new posts announced by the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Sport on 7 June 2016 (Official Report, c. 8) will (a) represent additional staff and (b) be reallocation from existing positions.

The Scottish Government has committed to increasing the number of training places for Doctors, Nurses and Midwives and Paramedics across the NHS in Scotland. This includes an extra 50 places which have been allocated to Scottish medical schools for new entrants from 2016 onwards which will result in an additional 250 medical trainees created by 2020-21.100 new GP training places will be advertised in a further recruitment round opening at the end of July. This will take the total number of GP training posts advertised across Scotland in 2016 to 439, an increase of 134 on 2015, and beyond the First Minister’s commitment to increase the numbers to 400. Trainees will start in these posts in February 2017.The Scottish Government has committed to providing an extra 1,000 new Nursing and Midwifery training places in addition to the commitment to train 500 additional Advanced Nurse Practitioners. A proportion of these Advanced Nurse Practitioners will be existing staff along with new posts. The numbers will be confirmed when NHS Boards undertake service and training needs analysis.In addition, the Scottish Ambulance Service (SAS) will train 1,000 new paramedics over the next five years, enhancing the clinical skill mix of staff and introducing new ways of working to better meet the needs of patients in all communities. As part of the “Towards 2020: Taking Care to the Patient” strategy, the Scottish Government has invested £5m in SAS for 2016-17. This investment will allow these new paramedics to be recruited from the current cohort of ambulance technicians, supported by the recruitment and training of 200 new technicians to backfill those posts.

Question reference: S5W-01543

Asked by: Anas Sarwar, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 15 July 2016
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 9 August 2016

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a list of all NHS (a) targets and (b) treatment guarantees.

Question reference: S5W-01546

Asked by: Anas Sarwar, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 15 July 2016
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 9 August 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what engagement it has had with the Royal College of General Practitioners on the new GP contract.

The Scottish Government has ensured opportunities for engagement, particularly as part of a wider debate on the future of general practice, and are grateful for the contribution that the Royal College General Practitioners has already made and look forward to continuing to engage with them, as well as with other stakeholders who share our common desire to further improve the quality of primary care services for the benefit of patients.The profession's representative body for contract negotiations is the Scottish General Practitioners Committee of the British Medical Association, however there is a shared commitment around the future vision for the delivery of primary care services, and the Scottish Government fully recognises the important contribution of all key stakeholders in taking this agenda forward.

Question reference: S5W-01230

Asked by: Anas Sarwar, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 05 July 2016
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 29 July 2016

To ask the Scottish Government when its Policy Priorities scheme for grant funding via the Chief Scientist Office will be launched.

Question reference: S5W-01228

Asked by: Anas Sarwar, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 05 July 2016
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 29 July 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what the value has been of its medical research budget in each year since 2007.

Question reference: S5W-01226

Asked by: Anas Sarwar, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 05 July 2016
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 29 July 2016

To ask the Scottish Government whether priorities for its Policy Priorities scheme for grant funding via the Chief Scientist Office have been identified and, if so, whether it will publish these.