Asked by: Ewing, Fergus (Independent - Inverness and Nairn)
Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will propose a ministerial statement for after the summer recess 2025 on vaccination policy and any need for action to prevent deaths in relation to this matter.
Answered by Gray, Neil - Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care
There are currently no plans for a Ministerial statement on vaccination.
The 5-year Scottish Vaccination and Immunisation Framework and Delivery Plan was published in November 2024. This lays out our vision, mission, goals and priorities for the Programme, with a key goal being to reduce morbidity and mortality from vaccine preventable diseases in the most vulnerable members of our communities.
Vaccination policy on our free NHS Programmes is also communicated regularly, and as required through the dissemination of Chief Medical Officer (CMO) letters.
Asked by: Ewing, Fergus (Independent - Inverness and Nairn)
Question
To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether the provision of a centralised vaccination service, such as that in NHS Highland, is safe, in light of reports that NHS Highland is not able to share data with GPs on the vaccinations being provided.
Answered by Gray, Neil - Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care
Since April 2022, Health Boards have been responsible for delivering vaccines. The vast majority of adult vaccinations, including flu, Covid, RSV, shingles and pneumococcal are visible to GPs via their GP-IT system.
Currently, childhood and non-routine vaccinations do not automatically flow into GP-IT from the separate systems that record them, but this pre-dates the move from GP to Health Board delivery.
Any associated patient risk is mitigated by Health Boards providing GPs with a list of childhood and non-routine vaccinations they have administered. The Scottish Government funds GPs to manually input these into their GP systems.
Asked by: Ewing, Fergus (Independent - Inverness and Nairn)
Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it is aware of any fatal accident inquiries being undertaken in relation to any infant deaths due to whooping cough, and, if so, whether it will (a) publish details of these and (b) propose a ministerial statement on the matter.
Answered by Gray, Neil - Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care
The Lord Advocate has responsibility for the investigation of all sudden, suspicious, accidental and unexplained deaths in Scotland, including the deaths of children. Such investigations are conducted by the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service on behalf of the Lord Advocate and these investigations are carried out independently from Government.
Asked by: Mountain, Edward (Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party - Highlands and Islands)
Question
To ask the Scottish Government how it ensures that Police Scotland, NHS boards and local authorities work together to support vulnerable people.
Answered by Constance, Angela - Cabinet Secretary for Justice and Home Affairs
The Scottish Government ensures that Police Scotland, NHS Boards, and local authorities work together to support our most vulnerable adults through the framework established by the Adult Support and Protection (Scotland) Act 2007. This legislation sets out the criteria for identifying an adult at risk and requires public bodies to work together and share information when they believe an adult may be at risk of harm. Where action is needed to support and protect the person, the case must be referred to the local council for the area where the adult is located.
Additionally, in respect of supporting people in distress the Scottish Government has worked with the Partnership Delivery Group (PDG) to publish the Framework for Collaboration and the Collaborative Commitments Action Plan to strengthen multi-agency working between Police Scotland, NHS Boards, and local authorities. These initiatives are designed to ensure that individuals experiencing distress or crisis receive timely, appropriate, and compassionate care and support.
Asked by: Ewing, Fergus (Independent - Inverness and Nairn)
Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether NHS Highland informed it that it could not share data on vaccinations with it prior to the board taking over responsibility for vaccinations from GPs, and whether it will publish any documentation on this matter.
Answered by Gray, Neil - Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care
I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-39383 on 28 July 2025. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers.
Asked by: Mochan, Carol (Scottish Labour - South Scotland)
Question
To ask the Scottish Government when it last met Healthcare Improvement Scotland to discuss the development and implementation of the national framework for reviewing and learning from adverse events.
Answered by Gray, Neil - Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care
Scottish Government officials meet with Healthcare Improvement Scotland on a regular basis to discuss the ongoing work surrounding adverse events. The most recent meeting took place on Monday 21 July.
Asked by:
Question
To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to increase capacity across NHS dermatology services.
Answered by Gray, Neil - Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care
In addition to the previously announced £106 million investment to address long waits for planned care, the Government has committed a further £4 million to deliver extra dermatology activity. This will help to increase capacity for dermatology services and reduce long waits, and will primarily be focused on introducing additional workforce, extra clinics in evenings and weekends.
This will support a planned:
4,100 new outpatient appointments; and
1,500 ‘see and treat’ appointments.
This funding will also provide photo-triage of up to 8,300 digital images, allowing clinicians to triage, diagnose and assess some skin conditions, leading to a better and quicker service for patients.
This builds on our investment of £1.8m for our national digital dermatology programme which helps reduce long waits for outpatient appointments in dermatology.
All Territorial Boards can now provide their GPs with access to the new Digital Dermatology Pathway. Supplier data suggests that as of Friday 18th July, 627 GP practices (71%) across 13 Territorial Boards have access to the pathway, of which 423 have used this to capture images as part of a referral to secondary care. The remaining Territorial Board has an existing pathway in place.
Asked by: Burnett, Alexander (Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party - Aberdeenshire West)
Question
To ask the Scottish Government how it holds to account any local authorities that breach their statutory duties under the Education (Additional Support for Learning) (Scotland) Act 2004.
Answered by Gilruth, Jenny - Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills
The Education (Scotland) Act 1980 places statutory responsibility for the provision of education in Scotland with individual local authorities. Under section 70 of the 1980 Act any interested party can make a reference to the Scottish Ministers that a responsible body (the managers of a school or education establishment, an education authority or other persons) has failed to discharge a duty imposed on them by or for the purposes of any enactment relating to education. This includes duties imposed by the Education (Additional Support for Learning) (Scotland) Act 2004.
Furthermore, where families are concerned that education authorities may not be fulfilling their duties under the Education (Additional Support for Learning) (Scotland) Act 2004, there is a range of dispute resolution mechanisms available to them. These mechanisms include mediation, independent adjudication, and referral to the First-tier Tribunal for Scotland.
Asked by: Mochan, Carol (Scottish Labour - South Scotland)
Question
To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to (a) assess the way that Significant Adverse Event Reviews are recorded in the NHS and (b) consider whether a change in the format of recording practices is required.
Answered by Gray, Neil - Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care
Healthcare Improvement Scotland (HIS) recently reviewed and published an updated version of A national framework for reviewing and learning from adverse events in NHS Scotland in February this year. This provides updated templates to support NHS Health Boards to consistently report and learn from Significant Adverse Event Reviews (SAER). Work is ongoing by HIS to standardise the terminology and definitions for recording SAERs.
Asked by:
Question
To ask the Scottish Government what consideration is given to dermatology services in the development of NHS workforce planning.
Answered by Gray, Neil - Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care
Whilst the Scottish Government sets the strategic policy direction for the NHS in Scotland, operational matters including staffing to dermatology services are in the first instance the responsibility of the relevant NHS board.
NHS Boards are required to undertake workforce planning to ensure a full range of services are provided, including dermatology. These plans should align with the National Workforce Strategy.
In addition, they are asked to provide findings to us with regards to particular workforce shortages, where dermatology was identified.
In response, and as part of the £200 million additional funding announced as part of the Programme for Government to deliver reductions to waiting lists and improve patient flow through hospitals, we have allocated an additional £4 million funding to Health Boards to increase capacity for dermatology services, improving access to services and helping to reduce long waits. We are also implementing digital innovations such as image-based referrals to reduce face-to-face demand.