Questions and answers

Question reference: S6W-08392

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 05 May 2022
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 17 May 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how much was spent on the campaign to raise awareness of deep vein thrombosis in 2011, and what this was spent on.

Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network (SIGN) Guideline 122 on the prevention and management of venous thromboembolism (VTE) was first published in December 2010. Healthcare Improvement Scotland (HIS), of which SIGN is a part, carried out awareness raising activity following publication which included the following:

As an aid to standardising the information provided to patients on VTE across Scotland, the text of the model patient advice leaflets on DVT, which the Chief Medical Officer sent to all NHS Boards in January 2008, was included in appendices to the guideline.
In April 2011 an information leaflet on deep vein thrombosis (DVT) for the general public was made available for download from the SIGN website. Distribution of paper copies was led by the SIGN Patient Involvement Officer.
Work with its partners to embed the Guideline’s recommendations into general practice decision-making software.

Subsequently, Healthcare Improvement Scotland took forward work on VTE as part of the Scottish Patient Safety Programme.

The Scottish Government does not hold information on spend relating to the above work.

Question reference: S6W-08403

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 06 May 2022
Current Status: Answered by Christina McKelvie on 17 May 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what progress has been made on arranging a meeting with Hourglass to discuss funding for its elder abuse helpline, in light of the commitment by the First Minister on 24 March 2022 to do so.

Question reference: S6W-08410

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 06 May 2022
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 17 May 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether NHS Ayrshire and Arran is seeking properties for the purpose of housing doctors.

Question reference: S6W-08397

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 06 May 2022
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 17 May 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how many volunteer first responders have been available to support the Scottish Ambulance Service in each of the last five years.

Question reference: S6F-01125

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 16 May 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 19 May 2022

To ask the First Minister what her response is to recent reports estimating that around 10,000 people with advanced dementia are paying over £50 million a year to cover their residential social care costs.

Question reference: S6W-07916

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 07 April 2022
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 16 May 2022

To ask the Scottish Government which NHS boards pay district nurses at band 6.

Question reference: S6W-08405

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 06 May 2022
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 16 May 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what additional funding it is providing for mental health services to help people impacted by the cost-of-living crisis.

Poverty is the single biggest driver of poor mental health and there is a structural relationship between wider socio-economic inequality and mental health. The Scottish Government is aware that many people across Scotland will experience financial hardship as a result of the economic downturn and we know that heightened stress can be a risk factor in relation to suicide.

This is why in our mental health Transition & Recovery Plan we have committed to strengthening alignment of mental health policy with work to tackle poverty and reduce inequality and we have committed to further develop a response to those whose mental health has been affected by issues relating to debt, working closely with a range of advice organisations including Citizen’s Advice Scotland to better understand and tackle these issues.

Our Transition & Recovery Plan, is backed by our £120m Recovery and Renewal Fund, is transforming mental health services, with a renewed focus on prevention and early intervention and funding allocated since it was introduced in 2021-22 includes:

? £9m to enhance Psychological Therapies, including £5m to address waiting times.

? £15m to improve the mental health estate and physical environment for both service users and staff.

? Nearly £5m to support the NHS 24 Mental Health Hub, ensuring a 24/7 response.

? Almost £2m to roll out digital innovations, including online access to Cognitive Behavioural Therapy.

? Funding to improve mental health care for children and young people, including £40m for Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services.

The Scottish budget confirmed the direct programme budget for mental health in 2022-23 at over £290m – a 6% increase on the current year, and 139% more than in 2020-21.

Question reference: S6W-08183

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 28 April 2022
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 12 May 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide free N95 face masks to severely immunosuppressed people to help to protect them from catching COVID-19.

N95 face masks are not used in the UK. The Scottish Government has considered the use of Respiratory Protective Equipment (FFP3) for those on the Highest risk list in community settings, including those who are immunosuppressed and there isn’t sufficient evidence to confirm the benefits as well as possible disadvantages. Care is needed to ensure that people don’t use wrongly or misunderstand the protection they provide in different settings.

Question reference: S6W-08181

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 27 April 2022
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 12 May 2022

Question reference: S6W-08180

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 27 April 2022
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 12 May 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how many undergraduate nursing students it anticipates will be admitted to Scottish universities in (a) 2022, (b) 2023, (c) 2024 and (d) 2025, and, of these, how many it anticipates will be Scottish funded entrants.

Student nurses entering Scottish Government funded degree programmes will increase by 9% in 2022-23, to a total recommended intake of 4536 students. This will be the 10 th successive increase in recommended student numbers, with the intake doubling over the last decade. We anticipate most of these students will be eligible for the Paramedic, Nursing and Midwifery Student Bursary.

Every year, the Scottish Government undertakes a robust nursing student intake planning process to determine the target number of pre-registration students to which Scottish universities should recruit to in the following academic year to meet estimated future nursing workforce demands.

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