Questions and answers

Question reference: S6W-25562

Asked by: Sandesh Gulhane, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Date lodged: Thursday, 15 February 2024
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 14 March 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reports that long COVID patients in Scotland have been refused ill health retirement pensions because they have not attended a long COVID clinic.

We are not aware of reports that any long COVID patients have been refused ill health retirement from a public service pension scheme in Scotland solely because they have not attended a long COVID clinic. Each ill health retirement application should be assessed on a case-by-case basis and the medical decision-making process takes into account the available treatment options for an individual.

In assessing an ill health retirement application, the scheme manager must assess whether the individual is permanently incapable of carrying out the duties of their existing employment (lower-tier) or any regular employment of like duration (upper-tier) until their normal pension age. One of the factors which must be considered in making that assessment is whether the individual has received appropriate medical treatment. Where the member has not received appropriate medical treatment, permanent incapacity cannot be established. However, if a long COVID service was not available, according to the general principles of an ill-health retirement assessment, it would not be considered an appropriate treatment option for that individual.

Question reference: S6W-25699

Asked by: Sandesh Gulhane, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Date lodged: Friday, 23 February 2024
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 8 March 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to deliver a new Monklands Hospital.

The UK Government did not inflation-proof its capital budget which has resulted in nearly a 10% real-terms cut in the Scottish Government’s capital funding over the medium-term between 2023-24 and 2027-28.

The result of this cut is that new health capital projects have currently been paused. Our emphasis for the immediate future will be on addressing backlog maintenance and essential equipment replacement. However we are in active discussions with NHS Lanarkshire on the impact of this budget settlement on the proposal to replace University Hospital Monklands and therefore no final decision has yet been made.

Question reference: S6W-25700

Asked by: Sandesh Gulhane, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Date lodged: Friday, 23 February 2024
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 5 March 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how much it has invested in the NHS estate in each year of the current parliamentary session.

Question reference: S6W-25703

Asked by: Sandesh Gulhane, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Date lodged: Friday, 23 February 2024
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 4 March 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to end all non-residential social care charges in the current parliamentary session.

Question reference: S6W-25701

Asked by: Sandesh Gulhane, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Date lodged: Friday, 23 February 2024
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 4 March 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what consideration it has given to implementing fully digitalised booking for primary care appointments.

With the ever-growing pressures on General Practice, practices are continually looking for ways to improve access to meet demand and allocate correctly the type of service or advice to meet the needs of each patient.

Digitalised appointment booking and triage products for General Practice have increased in popularity and there are notable examples of individual practices using these technologies to improve practice efficiency and productivity.

Such products are not currently being rolled out nationally and the purchase of these services is a decision for individual practices and/or health boards.

Question reference: S6W-25702

Asked by: Sandesh Gulhane, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Date lodged: Friday, 23 February 2024
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 29 February 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what methodology it uses to evaluate the sufficiency of current primary care provision.

Question reference: S6W-25327

Asked by: Sandesh Gulhane, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Date lodged: Wednesday, 07 February 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 29 February 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the new payments system that has been introduced in Scottish pharmacy services.

The Scottish Government is aware that following the introduction of the new Data Capture and Validation Pricing (nDCVP) system by NHS National Services Scotland (NSS), there have been some issues regarding payments being made to community pharmacy contractors. The Scottish Government has been assured by NSS that any incorrect payments are being rectified and Scottish Government officials are monitoring the situation, with all parties seeking a full resolution as swiftly as possible.

Question reference: S6O-03175

Asked by: Sandesh Gulhane, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Date lodged: Wednesday, 28 February 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 7 March 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has intervened to direct NHS Fife and the relevant education authorities to permit schools to issue basic medication, such as paracetamol and ibuprofen, without the need for a GP prescription, in light of reports that primary care is struggling in NHS Fife.

Question reference: S6W-25404

Asked by: Sandesh Gulhane, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Date lodged: Thursday, 08 February 2024
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 27 February 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to address cardiology waiting lists, in light of reported statistics showing that waiting lists for outpatient cardiology appointments are the longest on record.

We recognise the scale and impact of heart disease across Scotland and have set out our strategic direction to address this in our 2021 Heart Disease Action Plan. This includes actions to ensure that people with suspected heart disease have timely and equitable access to diagnosis, treatment and care.

We are making progress in the delivery of these actions including the development of nationally agreed pathways and ensuring the effective use of data to drive improvements.

We expect Health Boards’ 2024-25 annual delivery plans (due March) to clearly set out how they will increase productivity and reduce waiting times across all inpatient, day-case, outpatient specialities.

Question reference: S6W-25403

Asked by: Sandesh Gulhane, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Date lodged: Thursday, 08 February 2024
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 27 February 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what the current vacancy rate is for cardiac physiologists in NHS Scotland.

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