Parliamentary questions
Helen Eadie
919 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.
24 Oct 2012 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how NHS boards (a) have provided information on inflammatory arthritis to GPs in the last year and (b) plan to provide such information in the next year.
Answer · Alex Neil: The specific information requested in relation to points (a) and (b) is not held centrally. However, a Health Care Needs Assessment (HCNA) on Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) has recently been published. It was conducted by the Scottish Public Health Network at the…
24 Oct 2012 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will run a campaign in the next 12 months to raise people's awareness of the symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis, with particular reference to the seeking of prompt medical attention.
Answer · Michael Matheson: The Scottish Government has good working relationships with stakeholders involved in the care and support of people living with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). In collaboration with stakeholders we were able to contribute to the recent public awareness campaign le…
24 Oct 2012 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what guidance it has issued to NHS boards on assessing what services are required for people with rheumatoid arthritis.
Answer · Michael Matheson: The Scottish Government has not issued any specific guidance to NHS boards regarding the assessment of services required for people living with rheumatoid arthritis. The role of the Scottish Government is to provide policies, frameworks and resources to NHS …
24 Oct 2012 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what progress it has made in reviewing evidence on the need for better access to flare-up and pain management services for people with rheumatoid arthritis and when it will produce an action plan.
Answer · Michael Matheson: A Health Care Needs Assessment (HCNA) on Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) has recently been published. This was conducted by the Scottish Public Health Network at the request of Scottish Government and outlines current RA service provision across Scotland. It also m…
24 Oct 2012 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what (a) steps it is taking to increase arthritis awareness in the workplace and (b) representations it has received on (i) rheumatoid arthritis and (ii) osteo-arthritis in the workplace.
Answer · Michael Matheson: The Scottish Centre for Healthy Working Lives is funded to provide advice to employers to promote health, safety and wellbeing in the workplace. The Centre is able to advise employers on the measures they can take to support employees with a range of health c…
24 Oct 2012 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what information it has on how many people under the age of 16 in (a) the Cowdenbeath constituency, (b) NHS Fife area, (c) Scotland and (d) the UK have died from the juvenile form of rheumatoid arthritis in each year since 2007.
Answer · Michael Matheson: In the years from 2007 to 2011, inclusive, no such deaths were registered anywhere in Scotland. Statistics of deaths in other parts of the United Kingdom are produced by the Office for National Statistics (England and Wales) and the Northern Ireland Statist…
24 Oct 2012 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what proportion of patients with rheumatoid arthritis is expected in the next two years to receive a second anti-tumour necrosis factor (anti-TNF) treatment used sequentially after the failure of a first anti-TNF treatment; how many patients with rheumatoid arthritis will not be provided…
Answer · Alex Neil: This information is not held centrally.
24 Oct 2012 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what (a) its most recent assessment is of progress made toward meeting the 18-week waiting time target for access to rheumatoid arthritis services and (b) assessment it has made of the effect of the waiting time target on the provision of rheumatology services.
Answer · Alex Neil: Waiting time information is not available centrally for access to rheumatoid arthritis services, as data is collected at specialty level. Published waiting times information for the specialty of rheumatology showed that in June 2012, 95.7% of patients were s…
24 Oct 2012 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to improve the training provided to GPs in respect of rheumatoid arthritis; what funding it provides to support this training, and when educational material that supports this will be provided.
Answer · Michael Matheson: A Health Care Needs Assessment (HCNA) on Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) was recently published. It was conducted by the Scottish Public Health Network at the request of Scottish Government and makes a number of recommendations that aim to assist NHS boards to plan…
24 Oct 2012 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what (a) recent assessment it has made of the effectiveness of rheumatoid arthritis services and (b) steps it (i) is taking and (ii) plans to take to encourage NHS boards to deliver services in line with this assessment in the next six months.
Answer · Michael Matheson: The recently published Health Care Needs Assessment (HCNA) on Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) was conducted by the Scottish Public Health Network at the request of Scottish Government. The HCNA outlines current RA service provision across Scotland and makes a numbe…
24 Oct 2012 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the effects of (a) surgery and (b) medicinal drugs on the life expectancy of people who have rheumatoid arthritis.
Answer · Alex Neil: (a) A Health Care Needs Assessment (HCNA) on Rheumatoid Arthritis has recently been published. This was requested by the Scottish Government and undertaken by the Scottish Public Health Network (SPHN). The SPHN’s HCNA identified the role of orthopaedic surger…
24 Oct 2012 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to ensure that GPs have the appropriate skills and knowledge to develop the ability of people diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis to self-care and manage pain.
Answer · Michael Matheson: The Scottish Government is taking a range of work forward to ensure GPs have appropriate knowledge and skills in supporting self management across all conditions. This agenda has been taken forward through the appointment of the Scottish Government’s Clinical…
24 Oct 2012 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will host a summit on rheumatoid arthritis involving key stakeholders in the NHS and local authorities to highlight the importance that it gives to tackling this condition.
Answer · Michael Matheson: The Scottish Government has no plans to hold a summit on rheumatoid arthritis at this time. We have good working relationships with key stakeholders and are in regular contact with them to discuss any concerns regarding care and support for people living wit…
24 Oct 2012 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to encourage the sharing of good practice among health professionals in treating rheumatoid arthritis.
Answer · Michael Matheson: A Health Care Needs Assessment (HCNA) on Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) has recently been published. It was conducted by the Scottish Public Health Network at the request of Scottish Government and outlines current RA service provision across Scotland.It makes a n…
24 Oct 2012 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will ensure that people diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis are referred to a specialist at an appropriate time in respect of diagnosis and follow-up appointments and during flare-ups.
Answer · Alex Neil: A Health Care Needs Assessment (HCNA) on Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) has recently been published. This was conducted by the Scottish Public Health Network at the request of Scottish Government and outlines current RA service provision across Scotland. It also m…
24 Oct 2012 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of (a) regional variations in the availability of treatment for rheumatoid arthritis approved by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) and (b) the implementation of NICE clinical guideline 79 in each NHS board area.
Answer · Michael Matheson: A Health Care Needs Assessment (HCNA) on Rheumatoid Arthritis has recently been published. This was conducted by the Scottish Public Health Network at the request of Scottish Government and outlines current RA service provision across Scotland. It also makes …
24 Oct 2012 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what the average waiting time was for people with rheumatoid arthritis for follow-up consultations with a rheumatology specialist in (a) NHS Fife and (b) Scotland in the last year for which information is available.
Answer · Alex Neil: The information requested is not available centrally. The timing of any second or subsequent outpatient appointment would be a matter for the consultant to determine based on the individual patient’s clinical need.
24 Oct 2012 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government (a) how much it cost (i) the NHS and (ii) social services to provide services to people diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis, (b) how many new cases of rheumatoid arthritis were diagnosed and (c) how many people were recorded as having rheumatoid arthritis in each NHS board area, in the m…
Answer · Alex Neil: The information is not collected or held centrally to the level of detail requested.
24 Oct 2012 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how it will ensure that GPs make information on rheumatoid arthritis available to the public.
Answer · Michael Matheson: A Health Care Needs Assessment (HCNA) on Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) has recently been published. This was conducted by the Scottish Public Health Network at the request of Scottish Government and outlines current RA service provision across Scotland. It makes …
24 Oct 2012 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how it will ensure that GPs have greater awareness of rheumatoid arthritis to enable earlier identification of the disease.
Answer · Michael Matheson: A Health Care Needs Assessment (HCNA) on Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) has recently been published. This was conducted by the Scottish Public Health Network at the request of Scottish Government and outlines current RA service provision across Scotland. It also m…
24 Oct 2012 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with the European Commission about the level of priority given to rheumatoid arthritis under EU framework programmes and the expected impact on NHS Scotland; whether it will list the EU funding areas for medical research that affect (a) Scotland and (b) rheuma…
Answer · Alex Neil: The Scottish Government has fed into the discussion at the UK level on the future framework programmes and the shape that these will take. These discussions are led by the Department of Health and do not generally extend to the level of particular diseases. T…
24 Oct 2012 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government which NHS boards have not yet made treatment approved by the Scottish Medicines Consortium or the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) for use in rheumatoid arthritis available to people with a clinical need and what assessment it has made of the potential impact …
Answer · Alex Neil: NHS boards and clinicians are expected to take full account of advice from the Scottish Medicines Consortium and Healthcare Improvement Scotland in the planning and provision of NHS services. Information on which NHS boards have not yet made treatment approv…
24 Oct 2012 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how it tackles non-compliance with National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) guidelines on the treatment of severe rheumatoid arthritis.
Answer · Michael Matheson: The Scottish Government is fully committed to ensuring that the NHS in Scotland delivers high quality, safe and effective person centred care. The Scottish Government has overall responsibility for healthcare policy; however, it is for healthcare providers an…
24 Oct 2012 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many finished episodes of care there have been for patients with a (a) primary and (b) secondary diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis in each year since 2007.
Answer · Michael Matheson: Figures for hospital stays for rheumatoid arthritis are shown in Table 1 and for “juvenile arthritis” in Table 2, as follows: Table 1 - Number of rheumatoid arthritis hospital stays by financial years 2007-08 –2011-12, by (a) primary and (b) secondary diagno…
24 Oct 2012 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many nurses with specialist qualifications in rheumatoid arthritis work in the NHS, also expressed per head of population.
Answer · Alex Neil: The number (headcount) of Clinical Nurse Specialists within the specialty of Rheumatology as at 30 September 2011 is detailed in the following table: Clinical Nurse Specialty Headcount Population Rate (per 100,000) Rheumatology 33.0 5,254,800 0.6
24 Oct 2012 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many numbered training places have been available for trainee consultants specialising in rheumatoid arthritis in each of the last five years.
Answer · Michael Matheson: The information for those in rheumatology specialty training is in the following table, by NHS Education for Scotland Deanery: Rheumatology WTE Training Grade Establishment 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 West 11 11 13 13 13 South East …
24 Oct 2012 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what percentage of patients with rheumatoid arthritis is being managed by multidisciplinary teams; in what percentage of NHS boards rheumatoid arthritis patients are managed by multidisciplinary teams throughout their care; which NHS boards do not review new patients with rheumatoid arth…
Answer · Michael Matheson: The information requested is not held centrally. The recently published Health Care Needs Assessment (HCNA) on Rheumatoid Arthritis was conducted by the Scottish Public Health Network at the request of Scottish Government. The HCNA outlines current RA servic…
24 Oct 2012 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the need for coordination between local authorities, the NHS and social care services to ensure that services for people diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis are fully integrated.
Answer · Michael Matheson: The recently published Health Care Needs Assessment (HCNA) on Rheumatoid Arthritis was conducted by the Scottish Public Health Network at the request of Scottish Government. The HCNA outlines current RA service provision across Scotland and makes a number of …
24 Oct 2012 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what recent assessment it has made of the effectiveness of the management by multidisciplinary teams of (a) rheumatoid arthritis, (b) ankylosing spondylitis and (c) psoriatic arthritis.
Answer · Michael Matheson: The role of the Scottish Government is to provide policies frameworks and resources to NHS boards in order that they can deliver services that meet the needs of their local population. It is for NHS boards to plan and provide services in accordance with nati…
24 Oct 2012 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many deaths of (a) males and (b) females aged (i) 10 to 16, (ii) 17 to 24, (iii) 25 to 30, (iv) 31 to 35, (v) 36 to 40 and (vi) over 40 in each NHS board area have been attributed to rheumatoid arthritis in each year since 2007.
Answer · Michael Matheson: The information requested is available from the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 54426). The table covers all deaths, registered in Scotland, for which the underlying cause was classified as adult rheumatoid arthritis. The figures in the t…