Questions and answers

Question reference: S5W-05908

Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 22 December 2016
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 17 January 2017

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the review of the Scottish Capital Investment Manual.

Question reference: S5W-05906

Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 22 December 2016
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 17 January 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what guidance it has produced on the options appraisal process used by NHS boards to analyse infrastructure investment.

Question reference: S5W-05907

Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 22 December 2016
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 17 January 2017

To ask the Scottish Government whether NHS boards must follow the guidance in the Treasury's Green Book when carrying out an options appraisal of infrastructure investment.

The Scottish Capital Investment Manual (SCIM) provides guidance in a NHS context on the sector-specific processes and techniques to be applied in the development of infrastructure and investment programmes and projects within NHSScotland.

Within the SCIM, the Option Appraisal Guide builds on the HM Treasury Green Book guidance and specific Scottish Government guidance issued on assessing Value for Money. The guidance is mandatory for all NHSScotland Bodies taking forward infrastructure investment proposals. The Option Appraisal Guide is the primary guide for information regarding investment appraisal in NHSScotland and it should be read in conjunction with both the Green Book, which remains an authoritative guide to the principles of appraisal and evaluation, and the SCIM Business Case Guide.

Question reference: S5O-00558

Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 January 2017
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 18 January 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to reduce teacher workload.

Question reference: S5W-05225

Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 30 November 2016
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 15 December 2016

To ask the Scottish Government how it will support NHS boards during the winter months, in light of (a) reports that there has been a reduction in the number of hospital beds and (b) Information Services Division (ISD) figures that suggest that the number of delayed discharges has been rising since April 2016.

The Scottish Government will support NHS boards and their partners throughout the winter.

Winter Guidance was issued to NHS boards early, to ensure early action is taken to minimise disruption to patients during the winter period. In line with the guidance, NHS boards and their partners are working to increase the number of patients being discharged earlier in day, increase the number of discharges at weekends and public holidays, and strengthen community capacity to reduce delayed discharges.

The Scottish Government has invested an additional £3 million in 2016 to support unscheduled care over the winter. Funding of £9 million for unscheduled care essential actions was also announced by the First Minister in September.

In addition, we are investing £30 million a year to help health and social care partnerships tackle delayed discharges. This money has been used to open intermediate care beds, assess people in more appropriate settings and to focus on caring for people at home by investing in home care, reablement and new technology.

Integration is introducing new ways of working which will drive longer term improvements, with single accountability and joint budgets making better use of resources and improve outcomes for people by reducing unnecessary stays in hospital beds.

Question reference: S5W-05226

Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 30 November 2016
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 15 December 2016

To ask the Scottish Government how it will support NHS boards to manage anticipated high levels of staff absences resulting from sickness during the winter months.

The Scottish Government will support NHS boards and their partners throughout the winter.

Winter Guidance was issued to NHS boards early, to ensure early action is taken to minimise disruption to patients during the winter period. In line with the guidance, NHS boards and their partners are working to increase the number of patients being discharged earlier in day, increase the number of discharges at weekends and public holidays, and strengthen community capacity to reduce delayed discharges. All Health boards have robust business continuity plans and processes in place to ensure that they can continue to provide services in the event of major disruptions.

The Chief Medical Officer for Scotland strongly recommends that all health and social care staff consider the flu vaccine. Vaccination of health and social care staff remains voluntary, although NHS employers are encouraged to offer the vaccine to staff, and to make it easy for those who wish to take up the offer of the vaccine to do so.

Question reference: S5W-05128

Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 28 November 2016
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 13 December 2016

To ask the Scottish Government how much each NHS board has allocated from its budget to support winter resilience for the 2016-17 season.

The Scottish Government provides baseline funding to NHS Boards to deliver services that meet the needs of their local population. Within this context, it is for Boards to determine how best to utilise resources including their application towards winter resilience.

However, in addition to baseline funding, the Scottish Government specifically allocated £3 million to NHS Boards during 2016-17 to help ease pressure on Scotland's NHS across the winter months. In addition, other funding allocated during 2016-17 to assist with winter pressures will include:

£9 million investment during 2016-17 from the Unscheduled Care Fund which boards are using to continue to implement the SixEssential Actions Programme to improving unscheduled care. £30 million investment specifically to reduce delayed discharges in 2016-17.Over £10 million will be allocated to health boards during 2016-17 to support improvements in first outpatient waiting times. The investment will allow the NHS to see thousands of patients that are waiting for an appointment more quickly, as well as helping to build additional capacity into the system ahead of winter. It will fund an estimated 40,000 additional outpatient appointments across Scotland over the next few months, in areas such as orthopedics, ophthalmology and gastroenterology.

This brings the total investment by the Scottish Government for winter resilience to around £52 million in 2016-17.

Question reference: S5W-05123

Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 28 November 2016
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 13 December 2016

To ask the Scottish Government which NHS boards attended the national unscheduled care event on 8 September 2016.

The following table lists the NHS Health boards and representatives that attended the 'Six Essential Actions to Improving Unscheduled Care Programme Learning Workshop 4 (Partnership and Winter Planning)' national event held in Stirling on 8 September 2016:

Territorial Health Boards

Ayrshire and Arran

Borders

Dumfries and Galloway

Fife

Forth Valley

Grampian

Greater Glasgow and Clyde

Highland

Lanarkshire

Lothian

Orkney

Shetland

Tayside

Western Isles

Special Health Boards

Golden Jubilee Foundation

National Services Scotland

NHS24

Scottish Ambulance Service

Stakeholders

Health and Social Care Alliance Scotland

Health and Social Care Partnerships

Local Authorities

Royal College of Nursing

Royal College of Physicians (Edinburgh)

University of the West of Scotland

Question reference: S5W-05127

Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 28 November 2016
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 13 December 2016

To ask the Scottish Government how much each NHS board allocated from its budget to support winter resilience for the 2015-16 season.

The Scottish Government provides baseline funding to NHS boards to deliver services that meet the needs of their local population. Within this context, it is for boards to determine how best to utilise resources including their application towards winter resilience.

However, in addition to baseline funding, the Scottish Government specifically allocated £9.8 million to NHS boards during 2015-16 to help ease pressure on Scotland's NHS across the winter months. In addition, other funding allocated during 2015-16 assisted with winter pressures, including:

more than £30 million from the £100 million investment over three years to tackle delays in patients being discharged from hospital.

£9 million from the £50 million Unscheduled Care Fund which boards are using to implement the Six Essential Actions Programme to improving unscheduled care.

£5 million to NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde to support resilience and capacity over the first winter (2015-16) following the opening of the new Queen Elizabeth University Hospital and other linked acute services changes.

This brings the total investment by the Scottish Government for winter resilience to around £54 million for 2015-16.

Question reference: S5W-05129

Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 28 November 2016
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 13 December 2016

To ask the Scottish Government whether the winter plans submitted by NHS boards are based on previous years' events or worst case scenarios.

NHS boards and local partners are asked to plan capacity and demand levels for this winter, including a review of activity levels and improvements in patient flow. boards were asked to consider trends over the last three to five years and to take variation in demand into account. Boards also have business continuity and contingency arrangements to deal with greater demands and disruptions. The Scottish Government is committed to supporting NHS boards.

Chamber and committees