Questions and answers

Question reference: S6F-03266

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 24 June 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 27 June 2024

To ask the First Minister when the Cabinet will next meet.

Question reference: S6W-28022

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 06 June 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 14 June 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of any impact of the reported long-term disruptions to the supply of the pancreatic enzyme replacement therapy, Creon, on the health of people with cystic fibrosis.

The Scottish Government recognises the impact of these global medicine shortages on people living with cystic fibrosis. The supply of medicines and associated legislation are a reserved matter for the UK Government, and we continue to engage with them on this supply issue and other medicine shortages. The Chief Pharmaceutical Officer (CPO) for Scotland is a member of a UK-wide Medicines Shortage Response Group (MSRG), set up to identify and co-ordinate responses to medicines shortages across the UK and provide advice to prescribers on alternative therapeutic options.

In May, the Scottish Government issued a Medicine Supply Alert Notice (MSAN) and a National Patient Safety Alert (NatPSA) which outline actions to be taken by prescribers, who are best-placed to determine the impact of this shortage on each individual person, and offer an alternative treatment, where appropriate. We also issued a Serious Shortage Protocol (SSP) for Creon ® 25000 gastro-resistant capsules which allows community pharmacists to restrict the total quantity of Creon ® supplied to one month’s supply to help conserve stocks of Creon ® .

Question reference: S6W-28021

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 06 June 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 14 June 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what plans are in place to address and minimise any disruptions to the supply of (a) Creon and (b) other medicines for people with cystic fibrosis.

The Scottish Government is aware that there are global supply issues with Pancreatic Enzyme Replacement Therapy (PERT) medicines, including Creon ® , which are licensed for the treatment of pancreatic exocrine insufficiency for those with cystic fibrosis.

While the supply of medicines and the associated legislation are a reserved matter for the UK Government, Scottish Government officials continue to engage with them on this supply issue and other medicine shortages. The Chief Pharmaceutical Officer (CPO) for Scotland is a member of a UK-wide Medicines Shortage Response Group (MSRG), set up to identify and co-ordinate responses to medicines shortages across the UK and provide advice to prescribers on alternative therapeutic options.

In May, the Scottish Government issued a Medicine Supply Alert Notice (MSAN) and National Patient Safety Alert (NatPSA) which outline actions to be taken by prescribers to ensure patients are moved onto alternative treatments and measures to help conserve stocks of PERT medicines, including Creon ® .

Question reference: S6W-28030

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 05 June 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 14 June 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has had or is planning to have discussions with manufacturers of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) medication in order to address any shortages.

The Scottish Government is aware that supplies of various ADHD medicines continue to be intermittent. At present, market data and information provided by the UK Government indicates that some of these supply issues will continue into Autumn 2024. Scottish Government officials continue to monitor the situation for any further developments and are maintaining a close dialogue with all Health Boards to help manage these medicine supply disruptions and provide support when needed.

The supply of medicines and associated legislation are a reserved matter for the UK Government, and we continue to engage with them on this supply issue and other medicine shortages. The Chief Pharmaceutical Officer for Scotland is a member of a UK-wide Medicines Shortage Response Group, set up to identify and co-ordinate responses to medicines shortages across the UK and provide advice to prescribers on alternative therapeutic options.

The UK Government’s Department of Health and Social Care, on behalf of all four nations, regularly meets with the manufacturers of ADHD medicines to discuss their supply chains challenges and any issues where they may require assistance, including providing an overview of current and forecasted demand to assist manufacturers with planning to increase production forecasts. T he Scottish Government has not had any separate engagement with the manufacturers of ADHD medicines.

Question reference: S6W-27865

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 30 May 2024
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 13 June 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-16651 by Maree Todd on 21 April 2023, whether it will provide an update on whether it has commenced the recruitment for the additional roles to ensure that every GP practice has access to a mental health and wellbeing service, and, if so, how many have been recruited, and what training is in place for them.

The recruitment of the 1,000 additional roles to support community mental health resilience, ensuring every GP Practice has access to a mental health and wellbeing service has not yet commenced. The economic conditions for the 2024-25 Scottish Budget remain challenging which means that recruitment for this programme continues to be paused in 2024-25. We have already prioritised significant investment to build mental health capacity in primary care through Action 15 of the Mental Health Strategy 2017-2027 and the Primary Care Improvement Fund, with funding for posts continuing in 2024-25.

We continue to focus on delivery of our mental health and wellbeing strategy and delivery plan, which includes commitments around mental health in primary care, with a view to reporting on progress by November 2024.

Question reference: S6F-03197

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 03 June 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 6 June 2024

To ask the First Minister when the Cabinet will next meet.

Question reference: S6O-03548

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 23 May 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 29 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government test

Question reference: S6O-03503

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 23 May 2024
Current Status: Awaiting answer

To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body sdfasdfdasfads

Question reference: S6W-26764

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 16 May 2024
Current Status: Answer expected on 3 June 2024

To ask the Scottish Government test a batch 3

Question reference: S6W-26769

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 16 May 2024
Current Status: Answer expected on 3 June 2024

To ask the Scottish Government test a batch 8

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