Questions and answers

Question reference: S5W-32417

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 09 October 2020
Current Status: Answered by Joe FitzPatrick on 6 November 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what advice it will provide for the public regarding taking vitamin D supplements over the winter months.

The Scottish Government is taking forward a range of actions to raise awareness of current advice on vitamin D supplementation.

Current advice on vitamin D was updated on 21 October 2020 to emphasise the importance of supplementation during the autumn and winter months. This is available at:

https://www.gov.scot/publications/vitamin-d-advice-for-all-age-groups/

Food Standards Scotland has launched a social media messaging campaign to remind the public of the current advice on vitamin D intake and supplementation during winter months. This will run from end October 2020 – March 2021.

Advice on the importance of vitamin D supplements has been provided to those on the shielding list through Chief Medical Officer letters and Scottish Government websites. Everyone on the shielding list has been offered a free four month supply of vitamin D from December 2020 – March 2021 to support their health and wellbeing.

We have also raised awareness of vitamin D amongst Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic populations. Leaflets highlighting the importance of vitamin D and supplements are available in a range of languages. Healthy Start vitamins, which contain Vitamin D, are provided free to all pregnant women in Scotland and have been since April 2017. Healthy Start vitamins are also available for all babies up to the age of one.

Further action to raise awareness of current vitamin D advice, particularly amongst at risk groups, is being considered and the need for this will be kept under regular review.

Question reference: S5W-32420

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 09 October 2020
Current Status: Answered by Kate Forbes on 6 November 2020

To ask the Scottish Government on how many occasions in each of the last five years non-ministerial MSPs have travelled with Ministers using the ministerial vehicle fleet, broken down by date.

Question reference: S5W-33062

Current Status: Withdrawn

Question reference: S5W-33061

Current Status: Withdrawn

Question reference: S5W-32419

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 09 October 2020
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 5 November 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what additional support it has provided to help parents of autistic children with home learning.

We recognise that children and young people with additional support needs, including those with autism may be finding this difficult time particularly challenging.

The Scottish Government has developed a range of information and guidance, to help support all children and young people, including those with autism when learning at home. This includes: comprehensive guidance to help support continuity for children and young people’s learning for the term ahead; updating the Autism Toolbox to include a section on coronavirus, which provides information and signposting on supporting autistic learners at home, information on the Parent Club website specifically for parents and carers and guidance on the re-opening of schools.

Local authorities developed a range of creative ways to support children and young people with a wide range of needs during this challenging time. This includes creating opportunities for distance and online learning and the use of a range of learning resources which can be adapted to meet the learning needs of all children and young people.

Question reference: S5W-32647

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 19 October 2020
Current Status: Answered by Clare Haughey on 3 November 2020

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-26493 by Clare Haughey on 9 December 2019, whether it will provide the same information for 2019-20.

Question reference: S5W-32414

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 09 October 2020
Current Status: Answered by Joe FitzPatrick on 3 November 2020

To ask the Scottish Government how many people have been able to access a rehab bed in each month between January and September 2020.

Drug & Alcohol Waiting Times data gathers information on the type of treatment provided. Table 1 provides monthly data on numbers receiving residential treatment. Latest available data is until June 2020.

Table 1 Residential Rehabilitation treatments started in 2020, by month during which treatment commenced, Scotland, January to June 2020

Month	Number of Treatment Episodes
Jan	22
Feb	33
Mar	20
Apr	19
May	18
Jun	20

Source: Drug & Alcohol Treatment Waiting Times database, Public Health Scotland

Ref: IR2020-00925

Question reference: S5W-32426

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 09 October 2020
Current Status: Answered by Joe FitzPatrick on 3 November 2020

To ask the Scottish Government how many dentists have stopped providing NHS services in each month since April 2019, broken down by NHS board area.

Question reference: S5W-32430

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 09 October 2020
Current Status: Answered by Joe FitzPatrick on 3 November 2020

To ask the Scottish Government how many people have been prescribed on a methadone programme in each month since January 2019.

The Scottish Public Health Observatory publish details on their website on prescribing for opioid dependency and on methadone patient estimates. This information can be found here - https://www.scotpho.org.uk/behaviour/drugs/data/treatment-for-drug-misuse/ .

With regards methadone prescribing, the information published is recorded in terms of dispensed items and is broken down by year rather than calendar month.

Table 3 from the attached link provides information on dispensed items. This was last updated in September 2020.

https://www.scotpho.org.uk/media/2010/201920-prescribing-for-opioid-dependence-in-scotland.xls

Question reference: S5W-32428

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 09 October 2020
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 30 October 2020

To ask the Scottish Government how many complaints it has received regarding the human rights of care home residents in each month since April 2019.

The Scottish Government has received a considerable amount of correspondence concerning care homes since April 2019 . Most of the correspondence has come from care home relatives who have raised a range of issues, mostly relating to the impact of the pandemic on care homes. Some people have referred to the human rights of their relatives.

We have clear standards regarding the quality of care that everyone should be entitled to across our health and social care services and these may be viewed at: https://www.gov.scot/publications/health-social-care-standards-support-life/pages/1/ . The Health and Social Care Standards set out what we should expect when using health, social care or social work services in Scotland and these seek to provide better outcomes for everyone and to ensure that individuals are treated with respect and dignity and that the human rights we are all entitled to are upheld.

A framework of legislation protects the rights of individuals receiving care. The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring that any person who has COVID—whether they are in a care home or their own home—should be treated as an individual with their human rights fully respected, protected and fulfilled.

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