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-14905

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 27 February 2018
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 13 March 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what the average number of hours per year is that NHS staff dedicate to revalidation to demonstrate that they continue to be fit to practice, broken down by specialism.

The nine health professions regulators have each established their own systems for ensuring continuing professional development and fitness to practise. In each case, the responsibility for meeting the conditions for continued registration lies with the individual practitioner rather than their employer. The Scottish Government has no statutory function in monitoring or collating revalidation compliance data.

Question reference: S5W-14908

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 27 February 2018
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 13 March 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the impact on NHS staff of the revalidation requirements that they must meet to demonstrate that they continue to be fit to practice, including the impact of this on retention, broken down by specialism.

Requirements for revalidation vary between the nine regulatory bodies; however, the introduction of formal revalidation processes has been relatively recently introduced by the General Medical Council (GMC), Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) and General Dental Council (GDC). NHS Healthcare Improvement Scotland undertakes a formal annual report in relation Medical Designated Bodies appraisal and revalidation completion rates and these are formally published. The NMC introduced revalidation in March 2016 with a three year rolling programme to ensure that all registered nurses and midwives on the NMC register have complied with the first tranche of revalidation. The Scottish Government is currently working together with the NMC, Department of Health and Social Security and the other devolved administrations to ensure that formal, independent evaluation of the progress of revalidation and its impact is monitored and measured.

Question reference: S5W-14873

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 26 February 2018
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 7 March 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the GP contract proposal that was submitted by the Rural GP Association of Scotland in November 2017.

The Scottish Government welcomes the commitment made by the Rural GP Association of Scotland, in their November 2017 publication, to engage with the aspirations of the proposed 2018 GP contract, and their agreement that the themes of workload, recruitment and sustainability were core elements to address through the new contract and transformation of primary care.

The Scottish Government will continue to work to promote rural general practice through the remote and rural incentive scheme and through the Short Life Working Group on Rural General Practice which will help to ensure that the contract is delivered in a way that works well for rural areas, and will also look for additional ways in which rural general practice can be supported.

Question reference: S5W-14872

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 26 February 2018
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 7 March 2018

To ask the Scottish Government whether the Rural Short Life Working Group on GP contracts has been established and, if not, by what date it will be.

Question reference: S5W-14769

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 20 February 2018
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 6 March 2018

To ask the Scottish Government how many consultant medical staff in each NHS board are currently suspended, broken down by length of time that they have been suspended for.

This information is not held centrally.

The management of Employee Conduct PIN Policy sets out the rights and responsibilities of boards, managers, employees and trade unionists/professional organisations in respect of employees who are subject to any disciplinary action and includes guidance on the suspension of staff. Decisions relating to disciplinary actions and how any related statistics are collated is a matter for each individual health board within the framework of their conduct policies and procedures.

Question reference: S5W-14691

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 16 February 2018
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 6 March 2018

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5O-01775 by Humza Yousaf on 8 February 2018 (Official Report, c. 3), when it expects the Edinburgh Tram Inquiry to report its findings.

The Inquiry has yet to complete the Oral Hearings that are currently taking place and details of the order of events, documents and transcripts of the oral hearings are published on the Inquiry website at http://www.edinburghtraminquiry.org/ .

The Inquiry will then need to review the information obtained and consider further responses from witnesses who are subject to criticism before Lord Hardie can publish the report. The Inquiry must remain independent of Scottish Ministers, as it would be inappropriate for us to intervene with its investigations, particularly as Transport Scotland is cited as a Core Participant in the Inquiry.

Question reference: S5O-01861

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 28 February 2018
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 7 March 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what impact its most recent teacher recruitment campaign has had.

Question reference: S5W-14546

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 08 February 2018
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 28 February 2018

To ask the Scottish Government how many people in each local authority area (a) with and (b) without an inherited bleeding disorder who have received support from the Scottish Infected Blood Support Scheme were alive on 11 July 2017, and how many have since died.

159 infected people with inherited bleeding disorders, 295 infected people without an inherited bleeding disorder, and 54 widows, widowers or partners of the deceased were registered with the Scottish Infected Blood Support Scheme (SIBSS) and alive as at 11 July 2017. According to their records as at 16 February 2018, 11 individuals who were registered with SIBSS have died since 11 July 2017. The information held by the SIBSS database does not record addresses by local authority area, nor is it possible to guarantee that beneficiaries' address details are up to date; therefore it is not possible to provide an accurate breakdown of those beneficiaries currently resident in each local authority area with or without an inherited bleeding disorder.

Question reference: S5W-14692

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 16 February 2018
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 28 February 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what progress has been made by the Edinburgh Tram Inquiry since it was set up.

The Inquiry has considered a substantial volume of material running to millions of documents. It has also been necessary to speak to and then take formal evidence from a large number of people who were involved in the Project. Locating a number of them has proved to be a challenge. Some organisations and individuals involved have been reluctant to co-operate hence the need to convert the Inquiry to a statutory Inquiry in order to secure their assistance.

I refer the member to the answer to question S5O-01775 on 8 February 2018 which is available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/ormain.aspx

The Oral Hearings are currently taking place and details of the order of events, documents and transcripts of the oral hearings are published on the Inquiry website at http://www.edinburghtraminquiry.org/ .

Question reference: S5W-13710

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 09 January 2018
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 20 February 2018

To ask the Scottish Government how many people are on the waiting list for sacral nerve stimulation procedures, broken down by NHS board.