Jackie Baillie

17 Jul 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, in the event that insufficient junior doctors are recruited to cover vacancies at the Vale of Leven Hospital, what action it will take to ensure that there is no impact on services.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: At this time in the national trainee recruitment cycle, NHS Education for Scotland advise that there are projected to be 6 trainee vacancies in placements rotating through Inverclyde Royal and 5 trainee vacancies at the Royal Alexandra. As is usual practice, …

17 Jul 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether the full complement of junior doctors will be starting at each hospital in the Clyde area of NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde in August 2018 and, if not, how many vacancies there are.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-17753 on 2 August 2018. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/…

17 Jul 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many junior doctor places there are at the (a) Vale of Leven (b) Inverclyde Royal and (c) the Royal Alexandra Hospital; how many vacancies have been advertised, and how many junior doctors have been recruited at each hospital.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: The number of trainee doctor posts within individual locations and units depends fundamentally on the extent to which a location can (a) meet the General Medical Council(GMC) training standards and (b) deliver all or part of an approved curriculum. These are …

17 Jul 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will ensure that NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde considers the cumulative effect of service changes on individual hospitals, such as the Vale of Leven and Inverclyde Royal, before changes are agreed.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: Health Boards should take all the available information into account when reviewing and developing healthcare services, in line with national policy and clinical best practice. We also expect Boards to inform this work through the meaningful engagement of loc…

17 Jul 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason no equality impact assessment has been completed in respect of NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde's breast strategy for Clyde.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: Whilst it is important to note that no decisions have been made in respect of this review, NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde advise that equality impact assessments have been carried out and published on its website. These can be accessed at: www.nhsggc.org.uk/med…

17 Jul 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Sport or any health ministers were consulted about NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde's breast strategy and, if so, when.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: No. The local review is still underway and NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde are continuing to engage with the Scottish Health Council on the appropriate level of ongoing stakeholder engagement, including the view as to whether the Board's emerging proposals might …

17 Jul 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde consulted the Scottish Health Council about its breast strategy and the adequacy of its consultation and, if so, when this was done.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-17741 on 31 July 2018. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/2…

17 Jul 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what consultation was carried out by NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde on its breast strategy; when this was undertaken, and with which members of the public in the (a) Vale of Leven and (b) Inverclyde Royal Hospital catchment area.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde has been reviewing local breast services since late 2016 to ensure that they are consistent with national policy and clinical best practice. The Health Board has confirmed that the early work in this review was informed by engaging…

17 Jul 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde's breast strategy, which will remove services from the Vale of Leven Hospital and Inverclyde Royal Hospital to be centralised in Paisley.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: This review is still underway and no service change decisions have been made. NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde has assured the Government that they have been liaising with the Scottish Health Council throughout the review to ensure that the development of their p…

17 Jul 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what information it has on whether women from disadvantaged areas access breast screening services at the same level as women from more affluent areas and if so, what the difference is.

Answer · Joe FitzPatrick: Two reports on breast screening uptake by deprivation have been produced by the Information Services Division (ISD) of NHS National Services Scotland and are available on the ISD website, http://www.isdscotland.org/Health-Topics/Cancer/Breast-Screening/ . U…

13 Jul 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to improve and increase respite services for young adults.

Answer · Joe FitzPatrick: Within the wider context of integration and health and social care, it is the responsibility of Integration Authorities to commission and plan respite care services and support to meet the needs of their local population. Respite care is a service intended t…

13 Jul 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has any plans to create a stakeholder working group on appropriate hospice and respite provision for young disabled adults.

Answer · Joe FitzPatrick: As outlined in my response to S5W-17339 on 10 July 2018, the Scottish Government has worked with Children’s Hospices Across Scotland to address concerns around the introduction of an upper age limit for their services. The Scottish Government published the S…

13 Jul 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what activities are undertaken by Scottish Enterprise to support spin-out enterprises from Scottish universities.

Answer · John Swinney: I have asked Steve Dunlop, Chief Executive of Scottish Enterprise to respond. His response is as follows: Scottish Enterprise provides support for University Spinouts via the High-Growth Spinout Programme and the Enterprise Fellowships Programme. The High-Gr…

13 Jul 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much funding has been provided by Scottish Enterprise to supporting spin-out enterprises from Scottish universities in each year since 2011.

Answer · John Swinney: I have asked Steve Dunlop, Chief Executive of Scottish Enterprise to respond. His response is as follows: Over the period covered by the financial years 2011-12 to 2017-18, Scottish Enterprise has spent an average of £1,969,981 per annum on the High Growth S…

13 Jul 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-17330 by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 12 July 2018, how many payments (a) have been made in each week since 4 June 2018 and (b) are scheduled to be made in each week up to 31 August 2018.

Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: As Social Security Scotland is not yet operational, no payments have been made.  

13 Jul 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-17330 by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 12 July 2018, whether it will publish the Special Customer Records policy.

Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: The security of Special Customer Records is paramount. For that reason our policy on this will not be published.  

11 Jul 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many NHS forensic units there are, and where they are located.

Answer · Clare Haughey: There is no consistent definition of a ‘forensic unit’ as some health boards use intensive psychiatric care units (IPCUs), mixed purpose rehabilitative facilities or General Adult Psychiatry(GAP) facilities to accommodate patients being managed primarily by f…

11 Jul 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much is spent on the provision of NHS forensic units.

Answer · Clare Haughey: This information is not available centrally. Funding for mental health services, including forensic mental health services and the provision of NHS forensic units, will continue to be drawn from the overall funds allocated to NHS Scotland by the Scottish Gove…

11 Jul 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to increase the number of places available in NHS forensic units and, if so, by (a) how many and (b) when.

Answer · Clare Haughey: With reference to the answer provided for S5W-17659, it is the responsibility of NHS boards to regularly review spending decisions to ensure they deliver fit for purpose services which respond to the needs of their local population. This includes decisions ab…

11 Jul 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many people are waiting to be referred to an NHS forensic unit, and what the maximum waiting time currently is.

Answer · Clare Haughey: This information is not held centrally. This is due to there being no consistent definition of a ‘forensic unit’, with NHS Boards using intensive psychiatric care units (IPCUs), mixed purpose rehabilitative facilities or General Adult Psychiatry (GAP) facilit…

11 Jul 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many places have been provided in each NHS forensic unit in each of the last three years.

Answer · Clare Haughey: Information in relation to the number of patients in forensic services by NHS Board can be found at Table 9 of the Inpatient Census, 2017 - Part 1: Mental Health & Learning Disability Inpatient Bed Census - Part 2: Out of Scotland NHS Placements; http://www.…

11 Jul 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what the occupancy rate of each NHS forensic unit has been in each of the last three years.

Answer · Clare Haughey: We do not hold information centrally on the occupancy rate for specific NHS Forensic Units. This is due to there being no consistent definition of a 'forensic unit', with NHS Boards using a variety of mental health services to manage patients who require to b…

28 Jun 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what meetings it has had, or plans to have, with the company Vertex to consider how patients in Scotland can access the next generation of drugs that can effectively cure cystic fibrosis.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: Scottish Government officials have met with Vertex Pharmaceuticals twice this year to discuss Vertex’s proposals for their medicines designed to treat cystic fibrosis. Further to these meetings, officials have encouraged the company to discuss a possible appl…

28 Jun 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what drug trials are taking place in relation to cystic fibrosis in the NHS, also broken down by NHS board.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: Four Cystic Fibrosis drug trials are currently ongoing in Scotland. Two are in NHS Lothian and two in NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde. In addition to the drug trials, NHS Research Scotland also supports a basic science study involving patients at NHS Lothian t…

28 Jun 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what the average life expectancy is for someone with cystic fibrosis in Scotland, and what information it has on average life expectancy in England.

Answer · Joe FitzPatrick: The median life expectancy for someone living with Cystic Fibrosis in Scotland is 47 years. Data on life expectancy in Scotland and the UK is publicly available online from the UK Cystic Fibrosis Registry which can be viewed on the following link: https://w…

28 Jun 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many people (a) under and (b) over 18 have cystic fibrosis.

Answer · Joe FitzPatrick: The 2017-18 NHS National Services Scotland (NSS) annual report refers to paediatric patients under 16 years. In Scotland the transition age from paediatric to adult care centres varies between? 15 and 19 years within the 3 specialist centres. Therefore patie…

28 Jun 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions the previous Cabinet Secretary for Health and Sport had with NHS boards regarding the availability of Orkambi for people with cystic fibrosis and what the outcome was.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: The former Cabinet Secretary for Health and Sport did not hold discussions with NHS boards about Orkambi. This reflects the policy of the Scottish Government, which is that decisions about the availability of medicines on the NHS are taken independently of Mi…

28 Jun 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions the previous Cabinet Secretary for Health and Sport had with NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde regarding the delivery of out of hours services, and when these took place.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: The previous Cabinet Secretary for Health and Sport discussed with Greater Glasgow and Clyde on several occasions the delivery of out of hours services.

28 Jun 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what action will it take to improve measurement of the incidence of rough sleeping.

Answer · Kevin Stewart: The Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Action Group and the Local Government and Communities Committee have both made recommendations around improving the measurement of rough sleeping. We have accepted these in principle and are committed to considering how to …

28 Jun 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what funding it will make available to tackle rough sleeping in 2018-19, and how much it has made available in each year since 2007.

Answer · Kevin Stewart: Local Authorities have the statutory responsibility for the delivery of homelessness services in their area. The vast majority of the funding which the Scottish Government provides to tackle rough sleeping is included, but not separately identifiable, within …