- Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 07 January 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Humza Yousaf on 31 January 2022
To ask the Scottish Government whether it is considering data from other parts of the UK in the development of its COVID-19-related policies.
Answer
The Scottish Government considers a range of data to support policy development. Current data on how Scotland compares to the rest of the UK is considered in the weekly state of the epidemic paper, available on the Scottish Government website. This report ( Coronavirus (COVID-19): state of the epidemic - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) ) brings together the different sources of evidence and data about the COVID epidemic to summarise the current situation, and incorporates data from the UK COVID Dashboard on cases, hospital occupancy and deaths across the four nations. The Scottish Government also refers to the latest data for the four nations from the ONS Covid-19 Infection Survey, which includes estimates of positivity, estimates of the number of people testing positive for antibodies to COVID and long COVID, and has done since the first results were published for Scotland in October 2020.
The evidence and data which informs the Scottish Government is drawn from academic institutions based across the UK which inform SAGE (including via its sub-groups), the UK Health Security Agency and scientific literature from across the world. SAGE includes experts from within government and leading specialists from the fields of healthcare and academia. During the response to the COVID-19 pandemic the SAGE sub groups include:
- New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threats Advisory Group (NERVTAG)
- Scientific Pandemic Influenza Group on Modelling (SPI-M)
- Independent Scientific Pandemic insights Group on Behaviours (SPI-B)
- COVID-19 Genomics UK (COG-UK)
- Health Data Research UK (HDR UK)
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 07 January 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Humza Yousaf on 31 January 2022
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-04701 by Humza Yousaf on 23 December 2021, what specialities are covered by the seven clinicians undertaking the review.
Answer
Further to the answer given to question S6W-04701 I can confirm that the team of reviewers in NHS Lothian were made up of clinical staff at consultant and senior nurse level who are all suitably qualified in their fields and span across various disciplines including Haematology, Microbiology, Infection Prevention and Control and Critical Care.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 07 January 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Humza Yousaf on 31 January 2022
To ask the Scottish Government which NHS boards have stroke units, and which hospitals these are located in.
Answer
All 14 NHS Boards have hospitals providing acute stroke care. A map showing all hospitals that contribute data on stroke unit admission to the Scottish Stroke Care Audit can be found in the Scottish Stroke Improvement Programme report at: https://www.strokeaudit.scot.nhs.uk/index.html . Of those sites shown on the map, Stracathro, Stobhill, Vale of Leven, Queen Margaret, Falkirk Community Hospital and Stirling Community Hospital are shown because they contributed data solely on stroke rehabilitation.
The remaining hospitals provide acute beds for stroke patients, either in a unit which has solely acute beds with offsite stroke rehabilitation units for ongoing care, within an integrated stroke unit (combining acute and rehabilitation beds) or in a hyperacute unit. The seven smallest general hospitals define stroke unit admission as gaining access to the appropriate acute medical ward.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 07 January 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Humza Yousaf on 31 January 2022
To ask the Scottish Government whether standards for stroke care extend to rehabilitation, and, if not, what proposals are in place to monitor the whole stroke pathway.
Answer
The current Scottish Stroke Care Standards are available at the following link ( https://www.strokeaudit.scot.nhs.uk/index.html)x . At present, they largely relate to acute stroke care.
However, the Scottish Stroke Improvement Programme also includes performance targets which reflect access to rehabilitation in inpatient settings, intensity of provision in stroke units and access to stroke specialist Early Supported Discharge and community teams. The Rehabilitation Sub-Group of the Stroke National Advisory Committee is currently considering future updates to measure rehabilitation service delivery, patient outcomes and experiences within the Scottish Stroke Improvement Programme report.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 07 January 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Humza Yousaf on 31 January 2022
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will reduce the target time for a brain scan in the event of stroke to less than 12 hours.
Answer
The Scottish Stroke Care Standards can be found here: ( https://www.strokeaudit.scot.nhs.uk/index.html ). The current standard relating to brain imaging already sets out that 90% of patients should receive this within 12 hours of arrival at first hospital, unless there is a documented contraindication.
The Scottish Stroke Care Standards are regularly reviewed in line with current evidence and updated guidelines. We monitor the implementation of these standards through the Scottish Stroke Care Audit to ensure that stroke patients in Scotland are receiving high quality care.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 07 January 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Humza Yousaf on 31 January 2022
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-04701 by Humza Yousaf on 23 December 2021, on what basis the peer review is independent, in light of NHS Lothian reportedly treating Andrew Slorance for five years.
Answer
Further to the answer to question S6W-04701 I can confirm that the case review was undertaken by a small number of NHS Lothian clinicians who are all suitably qualified and experienced in their relevant fields. As none of the clinicians who undertook the review had previously looked after Mr Slorance there was no conflict of interest in undertaking the review.
- Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 06 January 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 31 January 2022
To ask the Scottish Government how many class 43 HSTs train sets are in the ScotRail fleet; how many of these sets were in use on 3 January 2022 on the Inter7City network, and, if any of these sets were not being used on the Inter7City network on 3 January 2022, for what reason.
Answer
There are 25 HSTs in the Abellio ScotRail fleet which are formed from 52 locos (power cars) and 117 coaches into 4 and 5 car formations but not all of these are planned to run in daily service.
Abellio ScotRail has been providing appropriate capacity on these routes that is better matched to the period of reduced demand, down around 50% compared with early 2019.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 06 January 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Humza Yousaf on 31 January 2022
To ask the Scottish Government how many people have been admitted to hospital since 23 December 2021, and, of these, how many were admitted with the primary condition being COVID-19.
Answer
Information on hospital admissions for all causes for this date range is not held by the Scottish Government. Information on hospital admissions is published daily by Public Health Scotland (PHS), however, this is only available on a quarterly basis.
Between 23 December 2021 and 16 January 2022 there were 3,360 COVID-19 related hospital admissions.
A breakdown of this figure by primary condition is not available.
However, a recent clinical audit performed by Public Health Scotland has shown that as of 4 January 2022 in NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, 9 January 2022 in NHS Dumfries and Galloway and 11 January 2022 in NHS Grampian, 63% of acute hospital admissions were determined to be ‘because of’ COVID-19 (assuming either a definite or probable attribution) as opposed to coincidental ‘with’ COVID-19. These findings relate to analyses by PHS in their COVID-19 and Winter Statistical Report published on 19 January 2022.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 06 January 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Humza Yousaf on 31 January 2022
To ask the Scottish Government whether digital stethoscopes are available for primary care practitioners to assist with the detection of heart disease during virtual consultations.
Answer
Digital stethoscopes can be purchased by any clinician.
- Asked by: Tess White, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 21 January 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 31 January 2022
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the explanation provided in the 2022-23 Level 4 Budget data, whether it will provide further details of the reasons for the budget allocation to Skills Development Scotland being reduced by £5.8 million in its draft Budget 2022-23, and what assessment has been made of the impact of this reduction on (a) upskilling and (b) reskilling workers.
Answer
This was one of the most fiscally challenging Scottish Budgets to date, with efficiencies having to be found across a number of portfolios. The budget allocation to Skills Development Scotland (SDS) should be seen in that context.
The SDS budget allocation includes Grant in-Aid for programme delivery and programme liabilities, which fluctuate depending on the numbers of people in training. The allocation also covers operational and staffing costs.
In 2021-22, the SDS budget allocation included around £8m for the continued delivery of programmes created as a response to COVID-19 which we do not expect will be continuing at the same levels in 2022/23.
We are working with SDS to finalise the details of their budget approach in 2022-23. This will ensure continued provision against Ministerial priorities and prioritise the delivery of training and learning opportunities.