Parliamentary questions
Helen Eadie
919 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.
20 Feb 2008 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it plans to take to ensure that providers and patients are informed of any new lower charges for wigs, hair units and other non-pharmacy items resulting from reductions in the prescription charges for such items.
Answer · Shona Robison: A circular to accompany the new NHS (Charges for Drugs and Appliances) (Scotland) Regulations 2008, which will apply from 1 April 2008, will be distributed to the NHS. It will advise staff on any appropriate reduction in costs, for wigs, and other non-pharmac…
20 Feb 2008 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it plans to take to review the collection of data across local authorities and other agencies to ensure that it has the data that establishes benchmarks to provide effective tools for managing future budgets at local and national level.
Answer · John Swinney: As part of the on-going review of statistical collections, the Scottish Government will review all data collections to ensure they meet the needs of the National Performance Framework and to continue to develop the evidence base around outcomes and the effect…
20 Feb 2008 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what assessment it has made of the impact on patients in Fife awaiting treatment who have been prevented from admission to hospital as a consequence of delayed discharges.
Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: The Scottish Government recognises the impact that delayed discharges can have on patients awaiting access to hospital services. The January 2008 census shows that the number of patients delayed outwith the agreed six week discharge planning period in Fife ha…
20 Feb 2008 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has made an assessment of the impact on all NHS board budgets of local authority decisions to cap social work expenditure for care in the community packages.
Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: Practice on capping the cost of packages varies from area to area. This is an issue to be resolved at local level through partnership working. It is the responsibility of local authorities to allocate the total financial resources available to them on the bas…
20 Feb 2008 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what its strategies are for supporting people with dementia to live independently at home.
Answer · Shona Robison: Supporting people at home where this is safe and appropriate is a continuing care objective shared by all agencies and has been carried forward most recently through <i >Better Health, Better Care</i>. We invest £50 million annually to underpin this objective…
20 Feb 2008 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what the average waiting times are for the provision of hearing aids in (a) NHS Fife, (b) NHS Lothian, (c) NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, (d) NHS Ayrshire and Arran and (e) NHS Highland.
Answer · Shona Robison: This information is not held centrally. However, work is currently taking place with Information Services Division of National Services Scotland to gather and validate audiology waiting time information from health boards with a view to future publication of …
20 Feb 2008 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what the most recent figures are for wheelchair provision for children in (a) the Dunfermline East parliamentary constituency, (b) Fife and (c) Scotland.
Answer · Shona Robison: This information is not held centrally. It is for NHS boards to commission and provide services, including wheelchair and seating services for children, that best meet the needs of their local communities.</p>
20 Feb 2008 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what the most recent (a) obesity and (b) smoking rates were in (i) the Dunfermline East parliamentary constituency, (ii) Fife and (iii) Scotland.
Answer · Shona Robison: (a) The most recent figures available on obesity are from the Scottish Health Survey 2003.</p> <p >(i) Figures on obesity at parliamentary constituency level are not available.</p> <p >(ii) Figures on obesity are not available at NHS board level, because th…
20 Feb 2008 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what assessment has been made of the effect of NHS board budgets on the provision of drug rehabilitation programmes.
Answer · Fergus Ewing: The government is not aware of any assessment of the effect of NHS board budgets on the provision of drug treatment and rehabilitation programmes.</p> <p >The government has asked Audit Scotland to undertake, as a matter of urgency, a report on the scale and…
20 Feb 2008 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what evaluation has been made of dental health for under five-year-olds in (a) the Dunfermline East parliamentary constituency, (b) Fife and (c) Scotland.
Answer · Shona Robison: The National Dental Inspection Programme (NDIP) provides an essential source of information for tracking changes in the dental health of Scottish Children. Key age groups are targeted: at entry into school in primary one (P1) and in primary seven (P7) before…
20 Feb 2008 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to ensure that every NHS board provides timely treatment for age-related macular degeneration.
Answer · Shona Robison: The planning and provision of services is a matter for NHS boards. The Scottish Medicines Consortium has made recommendations regarding certain treatments for age-related macular degeneration. NHS boards are required to take full account of these recommendati…
20 Feb 2008 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to provide details of inpatient and outpatient waiting times for treatment for glaucoma and cataracts in each of the last three years, broken down by NHS board.
Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: On 31 December 2007, no patient waited more than 18 weeks for a first out-patient consultation, or for in-patient and day case treatment. Also on that date NHSScotland effectively delivered a 18 weeks total journey waiting time from General Medical Practition…
20 Feb 2008 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to ensure that parents understand the importance of eye examinations for children.
Answer · Shona Robison: A leaflet to help raise awareness of free NHS eye examinations in Scotland was issued in October 2007. Supplies of the leaflet were issued to GP and optical practices and also to Community Health Partnerships to target distribution appropriately in their area…
20 Feb 2008 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what advice it has received on the legality under EU law of the French Government’s decision to change its rules regarding access to healthcare for citizens of Scotland.
Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: Reciprocal health care agreements within the European Economic Area form part of the European Treaty and are therefore a reserved issue. The UK Government has held discussions with the French Government about their proposals, and details of the outcome are to…
20 Feb 2008 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many women suffering from total hair loss were prescribed (a) real hair wigs and (b) acrylic wigs in each of the last three years.
Answer · Shona Robison: This information is not held centrally. I refer the member to the question S3W-10047, answered on 29 February 2008, in particular with regard to the future monitoring of such data. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament…
20 Feb 2008 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many children suffering from total hair loss were prescribed (a) real hair wigs and (b) acrylic wigs in each of the last three years.
Answer · Shona Robison: This information is not held centrally. It is for NHS boards to commission and provide services, including the provision of wigs for children, which best meet the needs of their local communities. However, procedures are to be introduced to ensure more accura…
20 Feb 2008 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many prescriptions of (a) benzodiazepines and (b) antidepressants were dispensed in each of the last three years.
Answer · Shona Robison: The table shows the number of prescribed items for benzodiazepines and antidepressants dispensed in the last three financial years in the community by community pharmacists and dispensing doctors. These data do not include medicines dispensed by hospitals or …
20 Feb 2008 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive when it expects that cardiac rehabilitation will be offered to at least 85% of heart attack and revascularisation patients.
Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: The target referred to in the question forms part of the National Service Framework for CHD (2000), which applies only to England. The position in Scotland is governed by SIGN Guideline 57 (2002) and the CHD and Stroke Strategy (2002, revised 2004). The cardi…
20 Feb 2008 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many visiting surgeons from EU member states have carried out operations in NHS Scotland since May 2007; how much they were paid, and how many operations they performed.
Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: The information requested is not held centrally.</p>
20 Feb 2008 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how much NHS Scotland has spent on commissioning public opinion research since May 2007.
Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: This information is not held centrally by the Scottish Government.</p>
20 Feb 2008 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of patients on outpatient waiting lists were seen within 13 weeks in each year since 1993.
Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: The percentage of patients seen within 13 weeks for a first out-patient consultation following referral for the years ending 31 December 1998 to 2007 is provided as follows. Similar information for 1995 to 1997 is available only for the years ending 31 March …
20 Feb 2008 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what safeguards are being considered to protect those whose behaviour is considered to be nuisance behaviour on NHS healthcare premises but which is symptomatic of a medical condition or due to a disability.
Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: I am not aware of national work on safeguards or guidance in relation to people whose behaviour on NHS health care premises is considered to be nuisance behaviour but who may have a medical condition. I would expect NHS boards to deal with such issues appropr…
20 Feb 2008 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many incidents of nuisance behaviour have been reported on NHS healthcare premises in each of the last five years.
Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: There is no national return made on incidents of nuisance behaviour.</p>
20 Feb 2008 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what steps NHS Scotland is taking to improve data on cancer, monitor the quality of service given to skin cancer patients and raise public awareness of the health impact of excessive ultraviolet B rays on members of the public and schoolchildren
Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: Information on cancer incidence is held by Scottish Cancer Registry, a comprehensive national registry of new cancer cases annually.</p> <p ><i>Data on cancer incidence in </i><i>Scotland</i><i> are also </i>available by age group and year (1980 to 2004) on …
15 Jan 2008 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive when it last had discussions with other EU regional legislatures on matters related to the environment.
Answer · Michael Russell: The Scottish Government is engagingwith national governments to place Scotland as a nation rather than a region, but we will continueto cooperate with EU regions in areas where there is sufficient interest, goodwilland mutual benefit. Ministers are currently …
15 Jan 2008 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive when it last had discussions with other EU regional legislatures on matters related to tourism.
Answer · Jim Mather: Tourism is not an EU competence.However, officials keep in touch with developments affecting tourism across Europe, includingon the subject of funding for tourism projects involving other member states. TheEU organises an annual conference on tourism issues, …
15 Jan 2008 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive when it last had discussions with other EU regional legislatures on matters related to transport.
Answer · Stewart Stevenson: Since May 2007, no formal transportrelated discussions have been held with EU regional legislatures. However, in thecourse of day-to-day business, Brussels based Scottish Government officials may have had informaldiscussions with representatives of such legis…
15 Jan 2008 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive when it last had discussions with other EU regional legislatures on matters related to health.
Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: There have been no such discussionsat ministerial level. The Scottish Governmentwill be looking to engage with national governments to place Scotland as anation rather than a region, but we will continue to cooperate with EU regions inareas where there is suf…
15 Jan 2008 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to train procurement officials on issues related to Article 19 of the EU public procurement directive.
Answer · John Swinney: There are currently no plansto run training courses specifically related to Article 19 of the EU procurementdirective.</p><p>However, guidance on “reservedcontracts” was made available to public bodies in March 2006 and in October lastyear, the Scottish Gover…
15 Jan 2008 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive when it last met the UK Permanent Representative in Brussels.
Answer · Linda Fabiani: The Scottish Government’s EUDirector, Michael Aron, meets with the UK Permanent Representative to the EuropeanUnion on a regular basis. They last met on 23 January. The EU Director has a standinginvitation to the Permanent Representative’s weekly senior manag…