Questions and answers

Question reference: S6O-01651

Asked by: Bob Doris, MSP for Glasgow Maryhill and Springburn, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 30 November 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 7 December 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on how it is supporting Ukrainians in Scotland, in light of the war with Russia entering the winter months.

Question reference: S6W-12733

Asked by: Bob Doris, MSP for Glasgow Maryhill and Springburn, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 29 November 2022
Current Status: Initiated by the Scottish Government. Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 29 November 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has reached a decision on the future location of the accreditation and regulation functions currently undertaken by the SQA.

The Scottish Government has decided that these functions are best located in the new qualifications body.

In reaching this conclusion we considered a range of options, including the establishment of a new small non-departmental public body solely responsible for these functions and Professor Muir’s recommendation to locate the functions within the new national agency for Scottish education.

We have sought the views of a range of organisations including nine standard setting organisations, twenty-five Awarding Bodies and a number of other public bodies including the Scottish Funding Council and the SCQF Partnership. Officials also met with other UK regulation and accreditation bodies including Ofqual and Qualifications Wales and discussed options with colleagues across the Learning, Education Reform and Advanced Learning and Science Directorates. We have also drawn on the expertise of the staff who provide those services through discussions with the SQA’s Chief Executive, staff in the Accreditation Team and members of the SQA Accreditation Committee.

On balance, it is clear that there are significant benefits to locating the functions in the new Qualifications Body, as an NDPB, providing a greater degree of independence than within the new national agency. The creation of the new Qualifications Body itself presents an opportunity to make significant changes to the relationship between the awarding and accreditation functions which will further strengthen their independence from one another. We will develop these as part of the Education Reform Bill to be introduced to Parliament next year and as part of the Target Operating Model for the new body.

This decision will ensure the continued provision of a service which is of vital importance across a wide range of sectors of the Scottish economy.

Question reference: S6O-01440

Asked by: Bob Doris, MSP for Glasgow Maryhill and Springburn, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 28 September 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 6 October 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what contribution colleges make to widening access to higher education for students living in the most deprived areas.

Question reference: S6O-01407

Asked by: Bob Doris, MSP for Glasgow Maryhill and Springburn, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 21 September 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 29 September 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how it will work in partnership with landlords in the social rented sector to keep rents as affordable as possible for tenants.

Question reference: S6O-01358

Asked by: Bob Doris, MSP for Glasgow Maryhill and Springburn, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 07 September 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 21 September 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what its latest engagement has been with the UK Government regarding the funding that is being provided to mitigate the impacts of the cost of living crisis.

Question reference: S6W-10798

Asked by: Bob Doris, MSP for Glasgow Maryhill and Springburn, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 30 August 2022
Current Status: Initiated by the Scottish Government. Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 31 August 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what actions it will take to ensure that the skills delivery landscape is set up to deliver the ambitions for skills in Scotland's National Strategy for Economic Transformation.

The National Strategy for Economic Transformation, published in March 2022, sets out our ambitions for a skills and education system that meets the demands of an ever-changing economy and society, provides people with the skills they need at every stage of life to have rewarding careers, and encourages employers to invest in the skills they need to grow their businesses.

Key priority projects will support the commitments as set out in NSET to adapt the education and skills system to make it more agile and responsive to our economic needs and ambitions, support and incentivise people and their employers to invest in skills and training throughout their working lives; and expand Scotland’s available talent pool, at all skills levels, to give employers the skills pipeline they need to take advantage of opportunities.

To ensure that the skills system is optimised to deliver these ambitions, Ministers will initiate an independent review of the skills delivery landscape, focusing on the functions and remit of Skills Development Scotland, and its interface with – and role within – the wider skills delivery landscape.

The Review will be led by an independent advisor and will commence in September 2022, reporting to Ministers in Spring 2023. The Independent Advisor will engage with a wide range of stakeholders, including the staff and Board of Skills Development Scotland, to inform their recommendations.

Ministers will provide further details of the remit for the Independent Advisor and the Terms of Reference for the Review in a statement to Parliament in due course.

Question reference: S6O-01255

Asked by: Bob Doris, MSP for Glasgow Maryhill and Springburn, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 June 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 22 June 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what support and advice is available to veterans in appealing to the Upper Tribunal for Scotland regarding war pensions.

Question reference: S6O-01124

Asked by: Bob Doris, MSP for Glasgow Maryhill and Springburn, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 May 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 25 May 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what provision exists to provide an in-patient specialist dermatology service for patients within NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde.

Question reference: S6W-08249

Asked by: Bob Doris, MSP for Glasgow Maryhill and Springburn, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 28 April 2022
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 12 May 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what the current average length of waiting time is for patients to receive (a) cataract, (b) knee and (c) hip surgery, broken down by NHS board.

Public Health Scotland (PHS) uses the national waiting times warehouse to collect electronic patient records covering the waits that patients experience waiting for treatment as an inpatient or day case under the Treatment Time Guarantee. This data source can be used routinely to identify the specialty of treatment. However, although the records are designed to collect coded information on the procedure that is planned for the patient, this information is often either incomplete, lacking in essential detail and/or its accuracy cannot be assured. In addition, for patients who have completed their wait, the procedure(s) that was planned may not always reflect that actually performed after they were admitted for treatment. The latter is not captured through the warehouse. Consequently, PHS is not currently able to report accurately on waiting times to this level of detail. More detailed information on the procedure(s) that is planned or undertaken for a patient will be held locally by NHS Boards.

Statistics relating to the waits patients experience for inpatient or day case treatment at specialty level are published up to 31 December 2021 and can be found using the link below:

https://publichealthscotland.scot/media/11657/ipdc_feb22.xlsx .

Question reference: S6W-08247

Asked by: Bob Doris, MSP for Glasgow Maryhill and Springburn, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 28 April 2022
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 11 May 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what actions have been taken to reduce waiting times for (a) surgical assessments and (b) surgery for (i) cataract, (ii) knee and (iii) hip procedures as part of the NHS Scotland recovery plan (2021-2026), and what targets have been set for (A) waiting times and (B) timescales for delivery in relation to this.

The Scottish Government is focussed on delivering the commitments set out in our NHS Recovery Plan, published in August 2021.

With regard to cataracts, the Scottish Government is working with Health Boards to undertake additional pre-assessment clinics to assess those patients referred for consideration of surgery. In tandem, Boards are implementing new and more efficient ways of working, including virtual appointments and via telephone to prevent unnecessary visits and travel to hospitals.

The independent sector is also supporting additional cataract surgeries across a number of Health Board areas. In particular, over 3,500 additional surgeries were undertaken by the Independent Sector at NHS Golden Jubilee (NHSGJ) in 21-22, and will continue to deliver an additional 1,000 surgeries in 22-23. Plans are also in place to enable a number of Boards to utilise available capacity at NHSGJ using their own surgeons, who will undertake cataract surgery at the facility. This will allow patients access to treatment more quickly, as well as offering opportunities for training junior surgeons.

The Centre of Sustainable Delivery has been commissioned to support surgical teams across NHSScotland to implement the guidance issued by the Royal College of Ophthalmologists. This will increase efficiency and productivity across cataract-only surgical sessions, and high-volume surgery in cataract treatment centres.

We are working closely with Boards to finalise planned care activity plans, including for orthopaedics, for 2022-23 which will be critical to stabilising and improving our health and social care system in the medium term.

The National Treatment Centre (NTC) Programme will deliver the single biggest increase in protected planned care capacity ever created in NHS Scotland. The network of 10 NTCs, will deliver capacity for over 40,000 additional planned procedures and diagnostic care across 12 specialities. Within the next 18 months, NTCs will open in NHS Fife, NHS Forth Valley, NHS Highland and at NHS Golden Jubilee specialising in orthopaedic surgery. On 13 April, we also announced £1.8m of funding to purchase a private hospital in Ayrshire (Carrick Glen) to be developed into a new National Treatment Centre specialising in orthopaedics.

As well as significant investment in new infrastructure, the new NHSScotland Centre for Sustainable Delivery is also leading work to explore new and innovative ideas to reduce In Patient / Day Case and Outpatient waiting times. Examples include:

The rollout of Active Clinical Referral Triage, to provide patients with information about non-surgical interventions and self-management options;
Patient Initiated Reviews, enabling patients to be escalated if their condition deteriorates and reduces routine appointments while supporting patients in a safe and clinically appropriate manner; and
Enhanced Recovery after Surgery pathways, designed to support patients achieve faster recovery after surgery.

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