General Question Time – in the Scottish Parliament at on 23 May 2024.
Jamie Greene
Conservative
To ask the Scottish Government whether it can intervene, in light of concerns following NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde’s decision to permanently reduce Inverclyde’s GP out-of-hours service, reportedly leaving Inverclyde Royal hospital as the only GP out-of-hours site in the national health service board area not to operate a full seven days a week and overnight service. (S6O-03483)
Neil Gray
Scottish National Party
Decisions about local service provision are the responsibility of health boards, based on their population needs. However, Scottish ministers expect boards to ensure that they deliver a safe and sustainable service to the communities that they serve. I understand that the board underwent a full service change consultation exercise, supported by Healthcare Improvement Scotland, which led to the decision. The board reviewed the results of the public consultation, and current performance, capacity and demand, as well as the overall sustainability and safety of the board-wide out-of-hours service, before determining the position.
Jamie Greene
Conservative
People who are served by Inverclyde Royal hospital will now not have access to the same level of locally delivered out-of-hours general practitioner care as before. Instead, they will have to take a 50-mile round trip to Paisley or, as many fear, will simply present at the accident and emergency department, adding another burden on an already strained hospital. That flies in the face of the Government’s commitment of parity across Scotland in relation to locally delivered healthcare.
Eighty per cent of local residents oppose the reduction, as do most local politicians. Will the Cabinet secretary please tell the people of Inverclyde why they do not deserve the levels of local out-of-hours GP care that people elsewhere in Scotland enjoy?
Neil Gray
Scottish National Party
I will stress a couple of points. To ensure the on-going accessibility of the service irrespective of patient location, the board has formalised a process for offering patient transport for patients who require to receive care at the primary care centre, and a home visiting service is available across the board area if patients are clinically assessed as requiring that level of care.
I have previously referred to the demand that partly drove the decision, but—in the interests of brevity, Presiding Officer—I would be more than happy to meet Jamie Greene to discuss his concerns and the actions of NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde to support patients in that area.
Alison Johnstone
Presiding Officer
That concludes general Question Time.
Question Time is an opportunity for MPs and Members of the House of Lords to ask Government Ministers questions. These questions are asked in the Chamber itself and are known as Oral Questions. Members may also put down Written Questions. In the House of Commons, Question Time takes place for an hour on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays after Prayers. The different Government Departments answer questions according to a rota and the questions asked must relate to the responsibilities of the Government Department concerned. In the House of Lords up to four questions may be asked of the Government at the beginning of each day's business. They are known as 'starred questions' because they are marked with a star on the Order Paper. Questions may also be asked at the end of each day's business and these may include a short debate. They are known as 'unstarred questions' and are less frequent. Questions in both Houses must be written down in advance and put on the agenda and both Houses have methods for selecting the questions that will be asked. Further information can be obtained from factsheet P1 at the UK Parliament site.
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War cabinets have sometimes been formed with a much smaller membership than the full cabinet.
From time to time the prime minister will reorganise the cabinet in order to bring in new members, or to move existing members around. This reorganisation is known as a cabinet re-shuffle.
The cabinet normally meets once a week in the cabinet room at Downing Street.
Question Time is an opportunity for MPs and Members of the House of Lords to ask Government Ministers questions. These questions are asked in the Chamber itself and are known as Oral Questions. Members may also put down Written Questions. In the House of Commons, Question Time takes place for an hour on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays after Prayers. The different Government Departments answer questions according to a rota and the questions asked must relate to the responsibilities of the Government Department concerned. In the House of Lords up to four questions may be asked of the Government at the beginning of each day's business. They are known as 'starred questions' because they are marked with a star on the Order Paper. Questions may also be asked at the end of each day's business and these may include a short debate. They are known as 'unstarred questions' and are less frequent. Questions in both Houses must be written down in advance and put on the agenda and both Houses have methods for selecting the questions that will be asked. Further information can be obtained from factsheet P1 at the UK Parliament site.
