Parliamentary questions
Jackie Baillie
9,397 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.
25 Apr 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government when the Minister for Housing and Welfare last met a UK Government minister regarding welfare reform and what was discussed.
Answer · Margaret Burgess: The Minister for Housing and Welfare met with Lord Freud, the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Welfare Reform, on 6 March 2013. The discussion focused on the under-occupancy deductions to housing benefit for social sector tenants.
25 Apr 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with (a) Shelter, (b) the Scottish Federation of Housing Associations and (c) COSLA on implementing the underoccupancy penalty and when.
Answer · Margaret Burgess: Shelter and the Scottish Federation of Housing Associations are members of the joint Scottish Government COSLA Housing Benefit Reform Stakeholder Advisory Group. The under occupancy penalty has been a focus of the work of the Group which has met 14 times sinc…
24 Apr 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what action it will take to ensure that every graduate dentist has access to a vocational training place.
Answer · Alex Neil: We are aware of a potential mismatch between Scottish dental school graduates and availability of vocational training (VT) placements, and are actively exploring through NHS Education for Scotland several options to increase VT capacity in Scotland, including…
24 Apr 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether a graduate dentist who is unable to secure a vocational training place is required to repay their dental bursary.
Answer · Alex Neil: Dentists in receipt of the dental bursary and unable to secure a vocational training (VT) place on graduation have a number of options, including deferring NHS dental work in Scotland for a year following graduation, or securing employment as an assistant in …
24 Apr 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many dentistry vocational trainers are available for graduates in 2013.
Answer · Alex Neil: There are currently 140 dentistry vocational training (DVT) places available in Scotland, and NHS Education for Scotland is in the process of seeking additional dental practices willing to provide DVT in 2013.
24 Apr 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many dentistry students are expected to graduate in 2013.
Answer · Alex Neil: It is anticipated that up to 175 students are expected to graduate from Scottish dental schools.
24 Apr 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether there is a shortfall in vocational training places for dentists graduating in 2013-14 and, if so, of how many places.
Answer · Michael Matheson: As the final number of Scottish dental school graduates will not be known until 28 May 2013, it remains uncertain how many dental vocational training places (DVT) will be required to meet our commitment to match DVT places to Scottish dental school graduate o…
24 Apr 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether vocational training for dentists following graduation is compulsory for employment in the NHS.
Answer · Alex Neil: There are several ways that a graduate dentist may gain employment within the NHSScotland without having to undertake vocational training (VT). Individuals can work within the NHSScotland as an assistant in the delivery of NHS General Dental Services (GDS) fo…
23 Apr 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what the annual cost is of providing the chronic medication service.
Answer · Alex Neil: It is not possible to identify the discrete cost of providing the chronic medication service. The chronic medication service is operationally integrated within the way in which community pharmacists deliver NHS pharmaceutical services.
23 Apr 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many pharmacists are trained to offer the chronic medication service, broken down by NHS board.
Answer · Alex Neil: The Chronic Medication Service (CMS) is offered in some 1,240 community pharmacies across the 14 territorial health boards in Scotland. All qualified pharmacists in Scotland are trained to provide the key aspects of pharmaceutical care that underpin the CMS.…
23 Apr 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many people who are registered with the chronic medication service have asthma, broken down by NHS board.
Answer · Alex Neil: Disease-specific information is not recorded for registration purposes.
23 Apr 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many people are registered with the chronic medication service, broken down by NHS board.
Answer · Alex Neil: The number of people registered with the Chronic Medication Service (CMS), by NHS board, is set out in the following table: CMS registrations by board, as at 29 April 2013: NHS Board Total NHS Ayrshire and Arran 24,773 NHS Borders 6,122 NHS Dumfries a…
23 Apr 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of NHS staff in England and Wales receiving their pay rise in April 2013, for what reason NHS workers in Scotland will not receive their 1% pay rise until May 2013.
Answer · Alex Neil: Although the NHS Pay Circular covering Agenda for Change staff in England has been issued, there are many staff there who will not receive their pay award until May or even June. The NHS Scotland pay award is different from that in England. We are protecting…
22 Apr 2013 · First Minister's Question
To ask the First Minister what the Scottish Government’s position is on reports that nurses spend around 279,000 hours a week on non-essential paperwork.
18 Apr 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4W-13807 by Alex Neil on 15 April 2013, in what way the Healthcare Environment Inspectorate, as part of a special health board, can be considered to be independent of the Scottish Government.
Answer · Alex Neil: Healthcare Improvement Scotland (HIS) is not a special health board. HIS was set up under the terms of the Public Services Reform Act (2010) as a health body, independent of the organisations it inspects (both NHS and non NHS) and reports independently of Sco…
18 Apr 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4W-13803 by Alex Neil on 15 April 2013, how many of the 14 advertised roles were for inspectors and when the vacancies arose.
Answer · Alex Neil: There were nine Inspector roles advertised in financial year 1 April 2012 to 31 March 2013. Three were advertised in June 2012 and six advertised in March 2013. All were advertised internally and externally.
18 Apr 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4W-13802 by Alex Neil on 15 April 2013, how many inspectors in the Healthcare Environment Inspectorate have the Regulation of Care Award.
Answer · Alex Neil: There are no inspectors in the Healthcare Environment Inspectorate with the Regulation of Care Award. The Regulation of Care Award is a qualification required by inspectors regulating social care services. This qualification is not required for inspectors wor…
18 Apr 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4W-13804 by Alex Neil on 15 April 2013, whether recommendations in reports have been amended prior to publication following input from NHS boards in the areas inspected.
Answer · Alex Neil: All inspection reports produced by the Healthcare Environment Inspectorate may have requirements and recommendations. NHS boards are invited to review draft inspection reports to check for factual accuracy. Any factual accuracy amendments that are accepted wi…
18 Apr 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it considers it appropriate for directors of quangos to tweet ministers about confidential discussions that they are having with civil servants.
Answer · John Swinney: Scottish Ministers encourage and welcome all forms of communication with them, including from board members and staff of public bodies. Public body board members are required to act, at all times with integrity and propriety, in accordance with the Ethical St…
18 Apr 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many voluntary redundancy packages have been agreed with NHS Health Scotland staff in the last two years.
Answer · Alex Neil: In 2011-12, 11 people left NHS Health Scotland via voluntary redundancy and 6 via early retirement, which they applied for via the open voluntary redundancy scheme. In 2012-13, 4 people left NHS Health Scotland via voluntary redundancy.
18 Apr 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it has received complaints about the Director of Delivery of NHS Health Scotland and, if so, how many.
Answer · Alex Neil: The Scottish Government has no records of having received a complaint about the Director of Delivery of NHS Health Scotland.
17 Apr 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many patient transport vehicles are not in use and awaiting repair.
Answer · Alex Neil: This is an operational matter for the Scottish Ambulance Service, the information requested is not held centrally.
17 Apr 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether the Scottish Ambulance Service plans to reduce the number of patient transport (a) vehicles and (b) staff.
Answer · Alex Neil: As part of their Patient Transport Service Improvement Programme - which includes investment in new technology, training and staff development - the Scottish Ambulance Service expect that staff numbers are likely to reduce by around 60 and the Patient Transpo…
17 Apr 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) patient transport and (b) ambulance journeys have been made in each year since 2007.
Answer · Alex Neil: Ambulance Service activity is published annually in the Information Services Division (ISD) Scotland Cost Book and this can be found at: http://www.isdscotland.org/Health-Topics/Finance/Costs/
17 Apr 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether (a) any NHS board and (b) the Scottish Ambulance Service has contracts with community transport providers and, if so, what (i) the value of those contracts are and (ii) services are provided.
Answer · Alex Neil: The information requested is not held centrally.
17 Apr 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether the Scottish Ambulance Service has used (a) private and (b) voluntary sector transport in place of ambulances or patient transport since 2011.
Answer · Alex Neil: The Scottish Ambulance Service have advised that they do not use private ambulance services, or other private sector transport (including taxis), in place of ambulances or patient transport. The Scottish Ambulance Service has a Memorandum of Understanding wi…
17 Apr 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what the known side-effects are of transvaginal mesh implants and how many women have been affected by such side-effects in each year since 1999.
Answer · Alex Neil: The most frequently reported side effects have included mesh exposure, pain, sexual problems, mesh erosion and occasionally injury to nearby organs such as the bladder or bowel. Information is not held centrally on the number of women who have been affected …
17 Apr 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it has received a medical alert about transvaginal mesh products.
Answer · Alex Neil: The Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Authority (MHRA) has not issued any medical device alert on transvaginal mesh products. However, MHRA commissioned the University of York Health Economics Consortium to conduct a systematic review of the availa…
17 Apr 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what information it has on how many clinicians working in Scotland have complained to (a) it and (b) the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency about transvaginal mesh products.
Answer · Alex Neil: Two clinicians working in Scotland have reported adverse incidents about transvaginal mesh products to the Incident Reporting and Investigation Centre of Health Facilities Scotland, which is part of NHS National Services Scotland. No information is held on t…
17 Apr 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it has met or had discussions or correspondence with the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency about transvaginal mesh products and, if so, when.
Answer · Alex Neil: Officials are in regular contact with colleagues in the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA’s) about a range of issues including transvaginal meshes. This topic has been the subject of discussions at the MHRA’s Committee on the Safety of…