Questions and answers

Question reference: S6W-00474

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 03 June 2021
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 22 June 2021

To ask the Scottish Government how many young people aged (a) under 12, (b) 12 to 15 and (c) 16 to 17 have been in hospital with COVID-19 each week in 2021.

This data is available on the Public Health Scotland Education Surveillance Dashboard which provides a three-weekly rolling average of hospital admissions for 2-17 years olds - COVID-19 Education Surveillance dashboard - Enhanced surveillance of COVID-19 in education settings - COVID-19 data and intelligence - COVID-19 - Our areas of work - Public Health Scotland

Equivalent weekly data for children under 2 years is not currently published however, data on Cumulative COVID-19 Hospital Admissions since the start of the pandemic is available and shows that as of 26 May 2021, 238 children between 0-4 years have been admitted to hospital with COVID-19 since March 2020. The full set of data can be found here - https://www.opendata.nhs.scot/dataset/weekly-covid-19-statistical-data-in-scotland/resource/bd8a865f-10e6-47d2-a461-8633c61693fe .

Question reference: S6F-00144

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 21 June 2021
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 24 June 2021

To ask the First Minister how the Scottish Government is supporting the NHS, in light of reports of wards being full and an increase in patients with serious and complex conditions.

Question reference: S6W-00475

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 03 June 2021
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 18 June 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on providing COVID-19 vaccinations for under 16-year-olds.

We are not currently vaccinating children under 16 years old, except for those seriously at risk. As COVID-19 vaccines are currently unlicensed for those under 16, vaccines can only be offered on an exceptional case by case basis by a prescriber based on a risk assessment of an individual.

Clinical trials are currently underway for vaccination of children and young people, and the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) is currently reviewing vaccinations for 12-15 year olds.

The Scottish Government continues to engage with vaccine developers and the JCVI so that if trials are successful we are ready to vaccinate younger age groups, if that is what the clinical and scientific evidence supports.

Question reference: S6W-00456

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 03 June 2021
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 18 June 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what medicines or other products are unavailable from the free prescription service due to shortages of supply, broken down by (a) the reason for each shortage, (b) when it expects each shortage to be resolved and (c) whether it will allow a substitution option for each medicine or product until supplies resume.

Shortages of medicines are an ongoing part of the day to day management of the NHS. The pricing and supply of medicines are reserved to the UK Government. The Scottish Government have regular engagement with the UK Government regarding the management medicine shortages as part of the UK Medicine Shortage Response Group.

Medicine shortages can occur for a range of reasons including supplier difficulty in sourcing core ingredients, removal of drugs from pharmaceutical provider lists and international supply issues. Most shortages are short in nature. Shortages are ameliorated by prescribing alternative medicines or therapeutics until a shortage is over. Information on current and ongoing supply issues relating to individual drugs or devices is shared by NHS Scotland via Medicine Supply Alert Notices (MSAN) with the relevant networks within the service to help prescribers and dispensers meet patients’ on-going medical needs. MSANs are published at SHOW - SGHSC - Scottish Government Health and Social Care Directorates . The NHS Scotland Prescribing Advisers’ Network provides support to prescribers on the use of alternative products.

Question reference: S6W-00313

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 01 June 2021
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 17 June 2021

To ask the Scottish Government how many radiotherapists worked for NHS Scotland at the end of each financial year since 2015-16.

The number of Allied Health Professionals with a specialty of Therapeutic Radiography working for NHS Scotland at the end of each financial year since 2015-16 can be found in the following table:

NHSScotland Allied Health Professionals with a specialty of Therapeutic Radiography (Bands 5-9), Staff in post (Whole Time Equivalent) For the period March 2016 to March 2021.

Staff In Post	Mar-16	Mar-17	Mar-18	Mar-19	Mar-20	Mar-21
Therapeutic Radiography	250.7	260.5	272.4	264.4	272.2	283.1

Source: Scottish Workforce Information Standard System (SWISS)

Question reference: S6W-00310

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 01 June 2021
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 17 June 2021

To ask the Scottish Government by what date its fast-track cancer diagnostic centres will be open in (a) NHS Fife (b) NHS Ayrshire and Arran, and (c) all other health boards.

Question reference: S6W-00454

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 03 June 2021
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 17 June 2021

To ask the Scottish Government how much has been spent on the minor ailments scheme in each of the last five years, and how many people have received support from the service.

Table 1 shows the Number of Items dispensed, Gross Ingredient Cost (GIC) of dispensed items, remuneration cost for provision of the service, and patient registration numbers for the Minor Ailment Service (MAS) in each of the last five financial years.

MAS data for April to June 2020, is due for publication by Public Health Scotland in the Dispenser Payments and Prescription Cost Analysis report, due for release on 21st September 2021. From 29 July 2020, MAS was replaced by NHS Pharmacy First Scotland.

Table 1. Minor Ailment Service, Items, GIC, Remuneration, and Registration Numbers by Financial Year

Year

Number of items

Gross Ingredient Cost (£)

Remuneration (Service Cost) (£)

Registration Numbers

2015-16

2,157,603

5,133,874

15,114,295

946,804

2016-17

2,036,677

4,882,579

15,077,548

879,628

2017-18

1,940,276

4,657,780

14,449,870

814,501

2018-19

1,877,902

4,600,135

14,218,011

795,965

2019-20

1,831,041

4,500,504

14,056,579

771,283

Source: Public Health Scotland

Question reference: S6W-00270

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 27 May 2021
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 16 June 2021

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will introduce a Test and Release programme, similar to that introduced by the UK Government, for people with a COVID-19 vaccination certificate.

No, in summer 2021 our current vaccination status letters will be replaced by fully digital Covid Status Certificates to be used for outbound international travel. There are no plans at this stage to also use these certificates to introduce Test and Release for inbound international travellers from amber list countries. We are working across the 4 nations to consider the role of Covid Status Certificates for inbound travel .

Question reference: S6W-00311

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 01 June 2021
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 15 June 2021

To ask the Scottish Government how many women (a) have received private mesh-removal surgery and (b) would be eligible for reimbursement under its proposed legislation.

The Scottish Government does not hold any official information about the number of persons who may have undergone mesh removal surgery privately in the past and as a consequence, cannot confirm how many people may be eligible for reimbursement under the proposed legislation. The Government believes at the moment that there may be a very limited number of persons who have arranged such surgery in the past. If the Parliament approves the legislation that the Government plans to propose, arrangements will be made and publicised to allow for potentially eligible persons to apply for reimbursement.

Question reference: S6W-00308

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 01 June 2021
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 14 June 2021

To ask the Scottish Government how many social care providers have access to PPE distribution hubs, and how this will change following its review of eligibility.

The PPE Hubs provide top up and emergency PPE to social care providers across Scotland if their existing supply routes fail. Those eligible to access the Hubs include staff in care homes, care home visitors, care at home providers, unpaid carers, personal assistants, day services, sheltered housing services, supported housing and housing support, children’s homes and hospices across all sectors (public, voluntary and private).

Work is currently being taken forward with Health and Social Care Partnerships and representatives from the adult social care sector to examine whether providers would benefit from expanding the eligibility criteria further and what impact this might have on the broader operation of the Hubs and for PPE support to the sector as a whole.

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