Jackie Baillie

9 Feb 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what its position is on the view of the Vale of Leven Hospital Inquiry that 60 people were affected during the outbreak and that 38 people subsequently died

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: The inquiry''s investigations are ongoing and I understand that they are currently investigating the treatment of 60 patients at the Vale of Leven Hospital, including 38 deaths. That does not mean that the inquiry has concluded that the outbreak caused 38 dea…

9 Feb 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether the number of people affected by Clostridium difficile at the Vale of Leven hospital has changed since originally reported

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-39515 on 23 February 2011. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament''s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/Apps2/busine…

9 Feb 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive when the Vale of Leven Hospital Inquiry will be concluded

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: Lord MacLean, Chairman of the Vale of Leven Hospital Inquiry, has written to me requesting an extension to the Inquiry as he considers that it will not be possible for him to produce a comprehensive and robust report within the current timescales. </p> <p >…

9 Feb 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive which NHS boards are negotiating compromise agreements with staff

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: This information is not held centrally.</p>

9 Feb 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will require NHS boards to use nationally agreed nursing workforce and workload planning tools and produce detailed clinical assessment plans before plans are agreed and implemented

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: We will continue to encourage NHS boards to use workforce and workload planning tools when undertaking workforce planning to produce detailed clinical assessment plans. The boards then use this information to decide the service provision required to deliver h…

9 Feb 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it plans to suspend pay increments for NHS staff

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: No.</p>

9 Feb 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many people have accessed the minor ailments scheme in each year since its inception, also broken down by NHS board

Answer · Shona Robison: The number of people who access the Minor Ailment Service (MAS) is not available centrally, however, the number of registrations can be found in the following table.</p> <p >Total Number of Minor Ailment Service Patients Registered by Health Board in March 2…

9 Feb 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the cost of the minor ailments scheme has been in each year since its inception, also broken down by NHS board

Answer · Shona Robison: Total remuneration and reimbursement costs relating to the Minor Ailment Service (MAS) are provided in the following table:</p> <p >Total Cost for Minor Ailment Service, by Health Board and Financial Year (£)</p> <table border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0…

9 Feb 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether territorial health boards will be responsible for the funding of the minor ailments scheme

Answer · Shona Robison: No changes to the current arrangements are proposed. Remuneration to community pharmacies for providing the Minor Ailment Service (MAS) will continue to be funded by the Community Pharmacy Global Sum. Reimbursement for products dispensed under MAS will contin…

9 Feb 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how it will provide health services in the Scottish Prison Service and where the funding will come from

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: Health boards already provide specialist services to prisoners. Responsibility for providing primary healthcare to prisoner''s healthcare will transfer from the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) to the health boards. The planned date for the transfer is the end o…

9 Feb 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive How many NHS hospital beds there were in (a) 2007-08, (b) 2008-09, (c) 2009-10 and have been in 2010-11, broken down by NHS board

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: Data on the average number of available staffed beds for all acute specialities since the 1985-86 financial year is shown in table 1. Data on available staffed beds by NHS board is available from the 2000-01 financial year onwards. This information is shown i…

9 Feb 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many readmissions to hospital there were in the NHS in 2009-10 and have been in 2010-11, broken down by NHS board

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: Table 1 shows the 28-day hospital emergency readmission rate in the financial years ending 31 March 2009 and 2010, broken down by NHS board of residence. Data for the financial year ending 31March 2011 will be available in September 2011.</b></p> …

9 Feb 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many operations were cancelled by the NHS in 2009-10 and have been cancelled in 2010-11, broken down by NHS board

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: The specific information requested is not available centrally.</p> <p >Information, although limited, is available on the number of hospital stays where operation or procedures were not carried out following admission to hospital. The latest yearly published…

9 Feb 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive for what reason the amount announced for the reshaping care Change Fund was reduced from the planned £140 million to £70 million

Answer · Shona Robison: In early discussions, amounts ranged from £20 million to £140 million over the spending review period. The agreed position is £70 million for 2011-12, and subject to parliamentary approval over the spending review period, for this to be sustained for the foll…

9 Feb 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the social care spend has been in each year from 2007-08, broken down by (a) local authority and (b) NHS board

Answer · Shona Robison: Copies of <i >social work net expenditure 2007-08 “ 2009-10</i> are available from the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 52531).</p>

9 Feb 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what its position is on the Audit Scotland report that notes a £400 million reduction in social care spending from 2007-08 to 2009-10

Answer · Shona Robison: The Cabinet Secretary for Health and Wellbeing wrote to you on 10 February 2011 pointing out that rather than a £400 million reduction in social care spending over this period there was in fact a £400 million increase.</p>

27 Jan 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many more local mini-centres co-located with out-of-hours services there are in each NHS board area since May 2007.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: The following table provides details of progress against this action.</p> <table border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 width=625 > <thead> <tr > <td width=172 valign=top > <p >NHS Board Area</p> </td> <td width=453 valign=top > <p align=c…

27 Jan 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what steps in has taken to incentivise NHS staff to (a) train and (b) commit to working in rural areas since 2007.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-36596 on 11 October 2010. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament''s website, the search facility for which can be found at:</p> <p >http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/App…

27 Jan 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what steps in has taken to support the model of rural general hospitals since 2007.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: Following the publication of the report <i >Delivering for Remote and Rural Healthcare</i> in May 2008, the Scottish Government established the Remote and Rural Implementation Group (RRIG) to take forward the commitments and forward issues identified; includi…

27 Jan 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many generalist doctors have been trained in each year since 1999.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: Information on the number of general practitioners that have gained Completed Certificate of Training is only available from the year 2000, as detailed in the following table:</p> <table border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 > <tr > <td width=67 valign=t…

27 Jan 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what steps in has taken to introduce a presumption against centralisation of core hospital services.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: The Scottish Government is committed to a service that works in serving the best interests of NHS patients. The first step of this government was to reverse the decision to close accident and emergency departments in Ayr and Monklands Hospitals. Since then, t…

27 Jan 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many pupils receive annual fitness checks in school.

Answer · Michael Russell: This information is not held centrally.</p>

27 Jan 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many school nurses there are; how this compares with the number in May 2007, and whether it expects the number to have doubled during the current parliamentary session.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: Information for May 2007 is not available. Information is collected as at 30 September each year. National statistics show that the number of school nurses has increased substantially since 30 September 2007, from 385 then to 456 as at 30 September 2010. This…

27 Jan 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it has taken to solve dental service recruitment and retention problems since 2007.

Answer · Shona Robison: In the period from 31 March 2007 to 31 March 2010 the number of dentists working in NHS general dental services has increased from 2,474 to 2,847.</b></p> <p >Access to NHS general dental services in Scotland has increased, and 85% of general dental practice…

27 Jan 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it has taken to reintroduce school-based dental services since 2007 and how many (a) schools and (b) pupils are covered.

Answer · Shona Robison: Since 2007, the Scottish Government has been working on a number of ways to tackle poor oral health in children. We have launched a number of successful government funded projects across Scotland. One such project is the Childsmile Schools Programme, a school…

27 Jan 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what provision there is for (a) annual health checks and (b) individual health plans for school pupils and how many receive them.

Answer · Shona Robison: All NHS boards in Scotland provide a child health programme. The universal programme for child health screening and surveillance is set out in <i >Health for all Children 4: Guidance on Implementation in Scotland</i>. This details the health checks that shoul…

27 Jan 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it has taken since 2007 to support (a) measures to improve access to independent sexual health information and advice services in rural and urban areas and (b) the role of secondary school nurses in delivering a sexual health strategy and what the outcomes have been.

Answer · Shona Robison: In line with our manifesto commitment, the Scottish Government has increased access to sexual health information and advice services across Scotland. Additional funding of £1 million over the years 2008-09 to 2009-10 was provided to help achieve this. As agre…

27 Jan 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it has taken since 2007 to support access to alternative therapies and with what outcomes.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: The Scottish Government recognises that complementary and alternative medicines may offer relief to some people suffering from a wide variety of conditions and leaves it open to NHS boards to provide these therapies based on their assessment of needs in their…

27 Jan 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it has taken since 2007 to review public transport links to hospitals and with what outcomes.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: This is a matter for NHS boards to review as part of their travel planning process.</b></p> <p >NHS boards are required to follow Health Facilities Scotland guidance document <i >SHTM 07-03:</i> <i >Transport management and car parking</i> which advises NHS…

27 Jan 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what guidance has been issued to NHS boards regarding reducing excessive charges for (a) car parking and (b) other services.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: <i >NHS Circular CEL 38 (2008)</i> confirmed that charges for car parking at NHSScotland operated car parks were abolished with effect from 31 December 2008.</b></p>