Questions and answers

Question reference: S6W-04351

Asked by: Sue Webber, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 16 November 2021
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 25 November 2021

To ask the Scottish Government how it is working with (a) NHS Scotland, (b) NHS Education for Scotland and (c) other relevant partners to develop a coherent workforce strategy that incorporates psychologists across the public sector.

As announced in the NHS Recovery Plan, by the end of 2021 the Scottish Government will publish a National Workforce Strategy that supports the remobilisation, recovery and renewal of Health and Social Care Services. The strategy is being developed in collaboration with NHS Health Boards, COSLA and a wide range of partners, through cross-sectoral reference groups that include NHS Education for Scotland. The strategy establishes a framework and sets out principles which will guide the design and implementation of service-specific workforce plans.

The Scottish Government has committed to develop a long-term Mental Health Workforce Plan in the first half of this Parliament. The Plan will take a system-wide approach to workforce planning for mental health workers, including psychologists, across sectors.

The Scottish Government is working with NHS Education for Scotland to grow the Psychological Therapies workforce, as demand for Psychological Therapies continues to increase.

Question reference: S6W-04349

Asked by: Sue Webber, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 15 November 2021
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 25 November 2021

To ask the Scottish Government how it is supporting (a) NHS services, (b) social care providers and (c) others who employ frontline staff to increase (i) access to and (ii) support for evidence-based psychological employee wellbeing services.

Throughout the pandemic, the Scottish Government has emphasised to Boards, Health and Social Care Partnerships and Local Authorities the on-going need to promote both the physical and the psychological wellbeing of everyone working in health and social care.

This year the Scottish Government has made available £12 million to support the wellbeing of the health and social care workforce. This includes £8 million from the NHS Recovery Plan to provide ongoing wellbeing support alongside an additional £4 million for practical, emotional and evidence-based psychological support to help staff as they respond to winter pressures.

The Scottish Government’s national resources complement the range of support measures that are available across health and social care organisations: the 24/7 National Wellbeing Helpline, the National Wellbeing Hub, Coaching for Wellbeing, the Workforce Specialist Service and additional funding for psychological interventions and therapies specifically for the workforce.

We are working with partners to develop further support measures and additional resources for Boards, social care providers and others who employ frontline staff as they respond to winter pressures.

Question reference: S6O-00431

Asked by: Sue Webber, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 17 November 2021
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 24 November 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to help tackle the reported affordable housing crisis in Edinburgh.

Question reference: S6O-00253

Asked by: Sue Webber, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 September 2021
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 7 October 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to ensure the future workforce can have access to vocational skills training, in light of the current staff shortages in certain sectors.

Question reference: S6T-00184

Asked by: Sue Webber, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 27 September 2021
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 28 September 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reports of staffing shortages at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital leading to health professionals warning about patient safety.

Question reference: S6O-00165

Asked by: Sue Webber, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 September 2021
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 16 September 2021

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason Scotland's Mental Health First Aid is reportedly not running any training courses at present.

Scotland’s Mental Health First Aid programme is delivered as a face-to-face training event. In order to comply with the Scottish Government’s COVID-19 guidance and to protect public health, the delivery of these training courses was paused by Public Health Scotland (PHS), which holds the licence for this training to operate in Scotland. A range of online resources was made available by PHS and NHS Education for Scotland throughout the pandemic. In recognition of the changing context, PHS is working to ensure that the delivery of the Mental Health First Aid programme can resume safely. These courses will restart in November 2021.

Question reference: S6W-02481

Asked by: Sue Webber, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 25 August 2021
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 13 September 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to reimburse payments made by local authorities and assessment centres to the SQA for exam-related services that were not provided in academic year 2020-21.

Charges for National Qualifications have remained unchanged since 2012-13 despite changes in costs. While charges contribute towards the cost of awarding National Qualifications they do not cover the full costs. In addition, 2020 and 2021 late entry fees have been waived and there have been no charges for appeals. There are therefore no plans to reimburse National Qualifications payments.

For 2021, SQA estimates that the costs of providing certification for national qualifications was £41.7m, while income from local authorities, colleges and independent schools is expected to be £30.5m. The remaining cost is covered by SQA’s grant in aid budget from the Scottish Government.

Question reference: S6T-00139

Asked by: Sue Webber, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 06 September 2021
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 7 September 2021

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the use of face-to-face GP appointments.

Question reference: S6W-01822

Asked by: Sue Webber, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 05 August 2021
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 25 August 2021

To ask the Scottish Government how many patients have had a genomic profile carried out on their tumour in each of the last five years, broken down by NHS board.

The Scottish Genetic Laboratory Consortium is commissioned by NHS Services Scotland National Services Division (NSD) through four Laboratory sites in Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh, Glasgow.

Genetic services are a matter for NSD and local Health Boards therefore the information requested is not held centrally by the Scottish Government.

However we can advise that the Scottish Genetic Laboratory Consortium use a number of testing methodologies for accurate tumour profiling.

Next generation sequencing (NGS) for the most common cancers is now available across all four Scottish Consortium Laboratory sites. The application of NGS means that several clinically important genetic variants can be tested for simultaneously. Such testing expedites rapid and accurate diagnosis of the particular cancer and informs the most appropriate treatment for patients based on the genetic profile of their tumour which can also be referred to as Precision Medicine.

NGS testing is being delivered by the Consortium laboratories for colorectal cancer, lung cancer and melanoma as well as a number of less common solid tumours.

Question reference: S6W-02100

Asked by: Sue Webber, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 10 August 2021
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 25 August 2021

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide details of the (a) assessment criteria used, and (b) weighting of the submitted bids, in relation to the process to determine the new contract for the provision of Scottish National Standardised Assessments.

The Evaluation Guide and Award Criteria published as part of the Invitation to Tender determined the Quality: Price ratio for the evaluation process as 75:25. The emphasis placed on quality reflects the importance the Scottish Government attaches to delivering a high quality assessment resource to schools, and recognises the requirement for a range of technical, educational and psychometric expertise to deliver the complex and multi-faceted Services associated with the Contract.

The Award criteria for the Quality Analysis element of the evaluation identified a series of questions across a range of areas, including Assessments and Reporting; Technical; Service Management; Security; and Transition, Implementation and Business as Usual. Some of these questions were identified as mandatory, requiring a minimum score of 2 in order for the tender to progress to the Price Analysis. The rationale for this approach is that if suppliers are unable to fulfil particular aspects of the service, the service would not be viable, irrespective of cost. Mandatory items are clearly identified within the published Evaluation and Award Criteria.

The Procurement Reform (Scotland) Act 2014 Statutory Guidance (amended 2021) states that regulated contracts must be awarded to the most economically advantageous tender. The Guidance clarifies that this means contracts cannot be awarded on the basis of lowest price or lowest cost alone.

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