Questions and answers

Question reference: S6W-26206

Asked by: Finlay Carson, MSP for Galloway and West Dumfries, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 15 March 2024
Current Status: Answer expected on 15 April 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with (a) NHS Scotland and (b) the relevant NHS boards regarding the provision of recurrent funding for (i) existing and (ii) future Rapid Cancer Diagnostic Services.

Question reference: S6W-26208

Asked by: Finlay Carson, MSP for Galloway and West Dumfries, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 15 March 2024
Current Status: Answer expected on 15 April 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of research published by the University of Aberdeen, which reports that cancer patients living in rural areas experience poorer outcomes, and what action it is taking to ensure equitable cancer care across all of Scotland's geography.

Question reference: S6W-26205

Asked by: Finlay Carson, MSP for Galloway and West Dumfries, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 15 March 2024
Current Status: Answer expected on 15 April 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what consideration it has given to allowing potential cancer patients to self-refer to Rapid Cancer Diagnostic Services.

Question reference: S6O-03220

Asked by: Finlay Carson, MSP for Galloway and West Dumfries, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 13 March 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 20 March 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what assistance it is providing to the arts sector in Dumfries and Galloway.

Question reference: S6W-25688

Asked by: Finlay Carson, MSP for Galloway and West Dumfries, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 22 February 2024
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 4 March 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what measures are in place to ensure that data for all cancer types, including haematological cancers, is collected in each of Scotland's 14 NHS boards as part of the 2024 Scottish Cancer Patient Experience Survey.

The Scottish Cancer Patient Experience Survey is designed to collect information on experiences of all cancer types involving an inpatient stay or day case, where it is appropriate to do so. 10% of responses to the 2018 Cancer Patient Experience Survey were from patients with haematological cancers.

To ensure a sufficiently large response to the Scottish Cancer Patient Experience Survey, a census approach was taken. This means that surveys were sent to all eligible patients, rather than just a restricted sample of them. Just under 8,800 people were invited to participate in the 2024 Scottish Cancer Patient Experience Survey.

To maximise the survey response and make the survey as accessible as possible, so that we collect information on the experiences of as many people as possible, the survey can be completed online, on paper or over the phone. A language line is available for those who do not speak English and the online questionnaire contains a number of accessibility features including the ability to change font size, the option to switch to a high-contrast colour scheme and screen-reader compatibility.

The sample was selected from a national dataset containing records of acute hospital activity (SMR01) to identify people aged 16 or over with an inpatient or day case record with any mention of cancer and a discharge date between 10 October 2022 and the 30 June 2023.

In order to confirm the diagnosis of cancer, and to minimise the risk of sending surveys to patients who did not have cancer, the Scottish Cancer Registry (SMR06) was used to quality assure the survey sample. Individuals who were identified from the hospital records, but did not have a confirmed Scottish Cancer Registry diagnosis were excluded from the sample.

It's critical that we minimise the risk of causing distress to the survey recipients when carrying out the survey. To minimise the risk of distress, some patients are excluded from the survey because the patient may not recognise their diagnosis as cancer or the cancer has complex clinical definitions. These include:

Patients whose tumour morphology is defined within the Scottish Cancer Registry (SMR06) as benign, uncertain or in situ.
Patients with non-melanoma skin cancers (ICD10 code C44).
Patients with rare haematological cancers with complex clinical definitions (ICD10 code of C84).
Patients with Carcinoma in situ of breast (ICD10 code of D05).
Patients with insulinoma (ICD03 code of 81513).

An analysis of 2024 Cancer Patient Experience Survey results by cancer type will be one of the outputs of the survey.

Question reference: S6W-25689

Asked by: Finlay Carson, MSP for Galloway and West Dumfries, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 22 February 2024
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 4 March 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to complete the Scottish Cancer Patient Experience Survey on a yearly basis.

Question reference: S6W-25685

Asked by: Finlay Carson, MSP for Galloway and West Dumfries, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 22 February 2024
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 4 March 2024

To ask the Scottish Government when it will publish the results from the 2024 Scottish Cancer Patient Experience Survey.

Question reference: S6W-25691

Asked by: Finlay Carson, MSP for Galloway and West Dumfries, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 22 February 2024
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 4 March 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on whether it remains committed to expanding the number of Rapid Cancer Diagnostic Services to ensure population-based coverage.

As reflected in Scotland’s Cancer Strategy for Scotland, published June 2023, we are committed to “expanding and evaluating Rapid Cancer Diagnostic Services to ensure population-based coverage”.

The University of Strathclyde published a final evaluation report on 29 February 2024 reflecting on the successful first two years of RCDSs operating in NHS Scotland. This work was commissioned to inform roll-out, including optimal components. Following its release, we’ll work with Boards across Scotland to consider the findings and ensure learning is embedded.

Question reference: S6W-25690

Asked by: Finlay Carson, MSP for Galloway and West Dumfries, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 22 February 2024
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 4 March 2024

To ask the Scottish Government when it will publish its final evaluation of Rapid Cancer Diagnostic Services.

Question reference: S6W-25583

Asked by: Finlay Carson, MSP for Galloway and West Dumfries, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 16 February 2024
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 1 March 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what sources of funding for new woodland creation, other than the Forestry Grant Scheme, it expects to become available for the 2024-25 planting season, and for each subsequent planting season.

The Forestry Grant Scheme will remain the principal source of funding from the Scottish Government for woodland creation in the 2024-5 planting season. The scheme will continue beyond that date but no budget has been set at this stage.

The Woodland Carbon Code has been attracting additional funding for woodland creation and this is expected to rise further. The level of funding will depend on the number of carbon credits generated in future and the price paid for them.

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