Parliamentary questions
Christine Grahame
3,532 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.
1 Dec 2003 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many clinical psychologists who specialise in the care of elderly people there were in each year since 1999, broken down by NHS board area.
Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The following tables show wholetime equivalent (WTE) and headcount of clinical psychologists with a targetclient age group covering older adults (age >65 years) by NHS board area for2001 and 2002. The WTE figures adjust the headcount figures to take account o…
1 Dec 2003 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive which NHS trusts comprise (a) the 68% who have not put in place targets for food wastage reduction and (b) the 44% who do not regularly monitor their wastage levels and what steps will be taken to introduce a 10% food wastage reduction target, as referred to in Audit Scotland's report Cat…
Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: Details of the report are amatter for Audit Scotland. The Health Department will write to NHS boards and trustsrequesting them to respond positively to the recommendations of the AuditScotland report.</p>
1 Dec 2003 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what measures will be taken to address malnutrition among hospital patients, in particular the 40% found to be either malnourished on admission or who became malnourished during their stay in hospital, as referred to in Audit Scotland's report Catering for Patients.
Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The new NHS QualityImprovement Scotland (NHSQIS) Standards on Food, Fluid and Nutritional Care inHospitals (September 2003) require all patients to be screened on admission forthe risk of malnutrition and that care plans are prepared which reflect theirnutrit…
1 Dec 2003 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive which NHS trusts comprise the 30% that do not have a validated nutritional screening tool, as referred to in Audit Scotland's report Catering for Patients.
Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: Details of the report are amatter for Audit Scotland.</p><p>The Malnutrition UniversalScreening Tool (MUST) was launched on 19 November 2003 by the British Association for Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition(BAPEN). MUST is the first universal screening tool for…
27 Nov 2003 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what assessment will be made of the progress of local authorities in making their streets and services more suitable and accessible to people with disabilities.
Answer · Nicol Stephen: The interests of disabledpeople are an extremely high priority for the Scottish Executive and it is ouraim that they have the same opportunities to travel as other members of societyAlthough there are presently no plans for any formal assessment to be made of…
27 Nov 2003 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether guidelines are in place for local authorities for provision of street furnishing, such as lamp-posts and signs, to be marked with contrasting bandings in order that people with visual impairment can identify them more clearly and, if not, what steps will be taken to introduce suc…
Answer · Nicol Stephen: The Scottish Executive is inthe process of preparing revised guidance to help local authorities to preparelocal transport strategies which the Scottish Executive would expect to addressissues of accessibility. Local transportstrategies are produced voluntaril…
27 Nov 2003 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how much has been (a) allocated and (b) spent in each local authority on the grading of pavements in public areas to improve access for disabled people to shops and other public amenities, in each year since 1999.
Answer · Andy Kerr: It is up to each localauthority how it allocates its funding, taking account of national prioritiesas well as local needs and priorities.</p><p>Information on the amountspent by each local authority on the grading of pavements is not held centrally.</p>
19 Nov 2003 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, with reference to recommendation 19 of NHS Audiology Services in Scotland, what other professionals are being considered for further training to enable them to provide care to people in need of audiology services but unable to access them due to any shortage of audiologists in their area.
Answer · Tom McCabe: The modernisation actionplans, which NHS boards have been asked to prepare in relation to audiologyservices, will identify the functions and areas in which the training of otherstaff suggested in recommendation 19 might be appropriate. In rural areas, forexam…
19 Nov 2003 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will advise local authorities and NHS boards to support services that provide financial advice and support to people affected by cancer such as the partnership between Macmillan Cancer Relief and Airdrie Citi'ens Advice Bureau.
Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: I refer the member to the answer given to question S2W-3559 on 17 November 2003. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at <ahref="http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/…
19 Nov 2003 · General Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is satisfied that Care Commission reports are readily accessible to the public.
Answer · Tom McCabe: Yes.Providers of regulated services are expected to make inspection reportsavailable, and they can also be obtained from the Care Commission on request.</p>
17 Nov 2003 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, with reference to Your Local Care: A survey of diabetes services in primary care organisations, what steps will be taken to bring access to specialist obstetrics services for pregnant women with diabetes or those who develop gestational diabetes up to and beyond the 90% level in England.
Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The Scottish Audit ofPregnancies in Women with Diabetes reports that all consultant-led maternity units in Scotlandprovide ante-natal care for women with diabetes through multi-disciplinaryclinics led by designated obstetricians and physicians. The Dr Foster …
17 Nov 2003 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, with reference to Your Local Care: A survey of diabetes services in primary care organisations, what steps will be taken to encourage NHS boards that do not provide designated diabetes clinics to do so.
Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The Scottish DiabetesFramework encourages all providers of services for people with diabetes toimprove the care they provide. The Scottish Primary Care Collaborative whichwas launched earlier this year provides support to primary care to redesign anddevelop d…
17 Nov 2003 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, with reference to Your Local Care: A survey of diabetes services in primary care organisations, what steps will be taken to increase the number of NHS boards establishing a strategy for early identification of diabetes from 25% to over 50%.
Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: I refer to the answer whichwas given to S2W-3995 on 24 November 2003. All answers to written parliamentaryquestions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility forwhich can be found at <a href="http://scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/search_wa…
10 Nov 2003 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether the current police station at Peebles can be made compliant with access requirements under the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 and what additional funding is being made available to Lothian and Borders Police for the purposes of compliance with the act.
Answer · Cathy Jamieson: Compliance with the act is amatter for Lothian and Borders Police. The Executive provides all police authoritieswith both recurrent funding and consents for capital expenditure, and eitherbudget may be used for the purposes of making adjustments to buildings …
10 Nov 2003 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether the Social Work Services Inspectorate has any power to enforce the findings of its reports against either individuals or local authorities.
Answer · Euan Robson: The Social Work (Scotland)Act 1968 sets out the statutory basis on which local authorities are requiredto deliver social work services in their area. Recommendations from inspectionreports are incorporated in the statutory guidance, and by operation of sectio…
7 Nov 2003 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether the Scottish Association of Community Hospitals currently receives funding from the Chief Medical Officer and, if not, whether it will provide funding to enable the association to continue.
Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The Scottish Association ofCommunity Hospitals does not currently receive funding from the Chief MedicalOfficer. Proposals by the association for national funding would be givenappropriate consideration.</p>
28 Oct 2003 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive which parties have underwritten any losses occurring through the default of any of the partners in the East Lothian public private partnership schools project consortium “Innovate East Lothian”.
Answer · Peter Peacock: This is entirely a matterfor the consortium.</p>
28 Oct 2003 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how much of the #43 million East Lothian public private partnership schools contract has been paid to Ballast plc.
Answer · Peter Peacock: The normal procedure is fora council to make payments to the consortium with whom it has contracted.Payments made to parties or sub-contractors are matters for the consortium.</p>
28 Oct 2003 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what the implications are for the East Lothian public private partnership schools project of Ballast plc being placed into administration and what the implications would be should the company go into receivership or liquidation.
Answer · Peter Peacock: In this public private partnershipproject, the private sector consortium has contracted to provide a service tostandards set out in the contract. If circumstances relating to one of theparties or sub-contractors change, it remains a matter for the consortium …
28 Oct 2003 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether any party will incur compensation costs arising from any delay to the East Lothian public private partnership schools project.
Answer · Peter Peacock: Details of the contract,including any penalty provisions associated with delays in delivery, arematters for East Lothian Council and the consortium with whom it hascontracted.</p>
28 Oct 2003 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what the current position is with regard to any delay to the contractual completion date of August 2004 of the East Lothian public private partnership schools project.
Answer · Peter Peacock: Details of the contract arematters for East Lothian Council and the consortium with whom it has contracted.</p>
28 Oct 2003 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what concerns it has regarding the public private partnership contracts undertaken by East Lothian Council for schools refurbishment and build, given recent events regarding Ballast plc.
Answer · Peter Peacock: This is a matter betweenEast Lothian Council and the consortium with whom it has contracted. It is forthe consortium to determine how best to meet its contractual obligations.</p>
28 Oct 2003 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, with regard to workforce planning in the NHS for psychology services, what steps will be taken to expand access to psychology services in the clinical priority areas of cancer, coronary heart disease and stroke.
Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The Chief Medical Officer’sJune 2003 report, <i>Recent Psychological Research of Significance to theDelivery of Healthcare in Scotland</i>, (which is available in the Parliament’sReference Centre, Bib. number. 29821) promotes the extension of psychologicalint…
28 Oct 2003 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, with regard to the proposals for workforce planning in the NHS for psychology services, when the code of practice in respect of the assessment, treatment and risk assessment of mentally disordered offenders as a result of changes being introduced by the Mental Health (Care and Treatment)…
Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: We plan to issue a finalversion of the code of practice in good time to allow it to be used for implementationpurposes, including training. Assuming an implementation date of April 2005 (onwhich we are consulting at present), we envisage a final version by au…
28 Oct 2003 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, with regard to the proposals for workforce planning in the NHS for psychology services, what information it has on what progress has been made with the Leonardo da Vinci project to create a European diploma in psychology and what discussions will be held to include Scotland in the list o…
Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: We understand that theBritish Psychological Society (UK) has been involved in discussingharmonisation of training and the content of the proposed European diploma inpsychology. In respect of the pilot of this project, we understand that thispart of the proces…
28 Oct 2003 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what the average waiting time has been for access to psychology services in each NHS board area in each year since 1999.
Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The information requested isnot available centrally.</p>
28 Oct 2003 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, with regard to proposals for workforce planning in the NHS for psychology services, what steps will be taken to introduce an integrated approach to strategic planning for psychology services within the NHS framework at local, regional and national levels and to review current experience …
Answer · Tom McCabe: Nationally the availabilityof psychological interventions services needs to be improved. NHS EducationScotland has commissioned a major expansion of training capacity for clinicalpsychologists while also working to develop greater flexibility in trainingpathw…
27 Oct 2003 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-1500 by Malcolm Chisholm on 19 August 2003, whether the responses to the consultation paper on the reform of the NHS complaints procedure have now been published and, if so, whether they are publicly available and whether the minister's response to t…
Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The responses to the consultationpaper on the reform of the NHS complaints procedure have now been published onthe Scottish Health on the Web site. The URL is as follows <ahref="http://www.show.scot.nhs.uk/complaints/">http://www.show.scot.nhs.uk/complaints/<…
27 Oct 2003 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how tests for resource use and energy consumption as key indicators of progress in the development of transport on a sustainable basis, as referred to in paragraph 24 of its consultation paper Scotland's Transport - Proposals for a New Approach to Transport in Scotland, are being applied…
Answer · Nicol Stephen: The Borders railway businesscase, will be appraised in accordance with the Scottish Transport AppraisalGuidance (STAG). The guidance considers a range of sustainability issues,including the impact of proposals on the environment and energy consumption.</p>
27 Oct 2003 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how it will evaluate whether local authorities meet community needs in respect of transport issues, as referred to in paragraph 22 of its consultation paper Scotland's Transport - Proposals for a New Approach to Transport in Scotland.
Answer · Nicol Stephen: <i>Scotland</i><i>’s Transport – Proposals for a New Approach toTransport in </i><i>Scotland</i> seeks comments on the best way of widening publicinvolvement in the planning of transport services in Scotland. Thepaper suggests that a community planning approa…