Questions and answers

Question reference: S5W-33134

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 10 November 2020
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 3 December 2020

To ask the Scottish Government how it is assessing what impact service changes such as virtual GP consultations are having on cancer diagnoses.

The use of Near Me has grown rapidly since March, with over 18,000 consultations now taking place each week. This has grown from around 300 per week pre-covid. Near Me was a Programme for Government commitment and we want to continue to build on this success. We also recently undertook a public engagement exercise on the use of Near Me where we had important patient views as well as positive engagement with MacMillan, Marie Curie and Hospices across Scotland who gave helpful insights into where video consultations worked very well and also where face to face or phone was preferable. The summary report can be found here - https://www.gov.scot/publications/public-clinician-views-
video-consultation-executive-summary/pages/1/

Continued engagement with key partners and with the public will continue to be important on how we deliver this service.

Near Me was developed with patients and clinicians so that it is as easy to use as possible for as many people as possible, though it won’t be for everyone and we will always ensure that a face to face or telephone appointment is available to those who need them. It also offers other benefits including reducing the need to travel and therefore helping the environment.

Question reference: S5O-04843

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 December 2020
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 10 December 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to upgrade the Edinburgh City Bypass.

Question reference: S5W-33187

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 November 2020
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 2 December 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to recruit retired (a) nurses, (b) doctors and (c) other NHS workers to help with the forthcoming COVID-19 vaccination delivery programme.

We are actively identifying doctors, nurses, allied health professionals and support services staff, who had expressed their interest in returning to service via the NHS Scotland Accelerated Recruitment Portal, to assist with the forthcoming Covid-19 vaccinations programme.

Additionally the Chief Medical Officer and Chief Nursing Officer have written jointly to professional regulators to seek assistance with identifying further suitably qualified personnel who may be on the temporary or emergency registers. We remain in active dialogue with both the regulators and with health boards, in order that they can now take forward appropriate additional recruitment from within these pools.

We will take a sustainable approach to assessing the ongoing workforce and workload requirements associated with the programme. This includes supporting boards to take forward new temporary and permanent recruitment, and working with primary care, pharmacy, dentistry and optometry colleagues who all have a significant contribution to make. Further we are working across the public sector, with local authority partners and with the military, to ensure we have the right end-to-end logistics and delivery infrastructure, as we take forward the largest vaccination programme ever delivered in Scotland.

Question reference: S5W-33135

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 10 November 2020
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 2 December 2020

To ask the Scottish Government whether its National Cancer Treatment Response Group will provide an update on the estimated number of people affected by any backlog in cancer services.

Question reference: S5O-04823

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 25 November 2020
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 3 December 2020

To ask the Scottish Government how much funding it plans to allocate to projects in Lothian that will help support people and jobs.

Question reference: S5W-33089

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 06 November 2020
Current Status: Answered by Joe FitzPatrick on 25 November 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of data from Japan and Sweden that reportedly suggests there is a link between vitamin D deficiency and higher mortality and respiratory infection rates in care homes.

Question reference: S5W-33090

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 06 November 2020
Current Status: Answered by Joe FitzPatrick on 25 November 2020

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason (a) people shielding are and (b) care home residents are not being provided with free vitamin D supplements.

Question reference: S5W-33087

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 06 November 2020
Current Status: Answered by Joe FitzPatrick on 25 November 2020

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the policy in New Zealand to provide vitamin D supplements for all care home residents, what assessment it has made of the impact of this practice on that country's rate of deaths in care homes due to COVID-19, and whether it plans to introduce the same policy in Scotland.

Decisions on whether to prescribe vitamin D for people in care homes will be made on an individual basis taking account of residents’ needs and any contraindications with other medication that care home residents are taking. Where individuals are likely to benefit, it is recommended vitamin D should be prescribed.

We note the position being currently taken in New Zealand and the recent studies from France, Japan and Sweden in relation to vitamin D and care homes. In June, the UK Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition (SACN) and the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), published the outcome of their reviews on vitamin D and COVID-19. Both found that the evidence at that time did not support the contention that vitamin D supplementation could improve COVID-19 outcomes.

SACN concluded that evidence at that time did not support vitamin D supplementation to prevent acute respiratory tract infection in the general UK population. Its review reiterated the importance of vitamin D for bone and muscle health. SACN’s statement is at: https://app.box.com/s/g0ldpth1upfd7fw763ew3aqa3c0pyvky .

NICE conducted a rapid evidence summary on vitamin D in the context of COVID-19 which concluded that there was no evidence at that time to support taking vitamin D supplements to specifically prevent or treat COVID-19. NICE also reiterated that people should continue to follow advice on daily vitamin D supplementation to maintain bone and muscle health. The summary of NICE’s review is at: https://www.nice.org.uk/advice/es28/chapter/Key-messages

We are aware that evidence around vitamin D is constantly evolving and we will continue to look to SACN for advice as that evidence develops.

In addition, the Scottish Government will work with stakeholders including NHS Boards, professional bodies and care home providers along with the UK Government and devolved administrations to consider and review emerging evidence for care home residents and guidance will be developed as appropriate.

Question reference: S5W-33085

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 06 November 2020
Current Status: Answered by Joe FitzPatrick on 25 November 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with NHS boards regarding providing vitamin D supplements for all care home residents.

Decisions on whether to prescribe vitamin D for people in care homes are made on an individual basis taking account of residents’ needs and any contraindications with other medication that care home residents are taking . Where individuals are likely to benefit, it is recommended vitamin D should be prescribed.

The Scottish Government will work with stakeholders including NHS Boards, professional bodies and care home providers along with the UK Government and devolved administrations to consider and review emerging evidence for care home residents and guidance will be developed as appropriate.

Question reference: S5W-33088

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 06 November 2020
Current Status: Answered by Joe FitzPatrick on 25 November 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the recent study in France that states that vitamin D supplementation can reduce mortality by 89% for care home residents with COVID-19.

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