Parliamentary questions

Jackie Baillie

9,397 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.

11 Nov 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what mechanisms it will use to ensure the implementation of its forthcoming carers strategy.

Answer · Shona Robison: The Carers Strategy for Scotland (including a lift-out section on young carers) is being developed in partnership with the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA). As such, and in line with the principles of our concordat with local governmen…

11 Nov 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what action it will take to ensure that future single outcome agreements include specific measures for carers.

Answer · Shona Robison: I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-28882 on 19 November 2009. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament''s website, the search facility for which can be found at <a href="http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/App…

11 Nov 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many single outcome agreements include a specific outcome for carers.

Answer · Shona Robison: It is not the purpose of single outcome agreements (SOAs) to provide a comprehensive list of outcomes across all services. The SOAs reflect the priorities and agreed outcomes for each Community Planning Partnership, and include relevant supporting indicators …

11 Nov 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what funding was allocated to the development of carer information strategies and how that money has been spent.

Answer · Shona Robison: Within the Scottish budget, a total of £9 million has been allocated to NHS boards and to the Scottish Ambulance Service over a three year period from 2008-09 to 2010-11. The breakdown of funding is £1 million in 2008-09, £3 million in 2009-10 and £5 million …

11 Nov 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many unpaid carers there are in each local authority area.

Answer · Shona Robison: The information is provided in the following table: <table border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 > <tr > <td valign=top > Local Authority </td> <td valign=top > Number of Unpaid Carers </td> </tr…

11 Nov 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how it will ensure lay representation at every level of the NHS.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: There are no planned changes to the current arrangements. NHS boards will continue to plan on the basis of ensuring appropriate lay representation at every level.

11 Nov 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive for what reason it is reviewing the lay membership of managed clinical networks.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: Our Long Term Conditions Action Plan, published in June this year, asks NHS boards and the Long Term Conditions Alliance Scotland to review the structure of each managed clinical network to ensure that people with long-term conditions, their carers an…

11 Nov 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive for what reason it is reviewing the lay membership of the Scottish Health Council.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: The Scottish Health Council is committed to developing and improving its volunteer and public participation structures and, following the independent review of its organisational functions and structure, is now in the process of reviewing these elements. The …

11 Nov 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will cap the level at which care charges can be set by local authorities.

Answer · Shona Robison: The Community Care and Health (Scotland) Act 2002 gave ministers powers to regulate charges for social care. However, the Scottish Government made clear at the time that it would support self-regulation by the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA) …

11 Nov 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is aware that local authorities, such as West Dunbartonshire Council, are planning to increase care charges before 2010-11 and what its position is on this matter.

Answer · Shona Robison: The issue of charging for non-personal care services is addressed in legislation. Under Section 87 (1A) of the Social Work (Scotland) Act 1968, a local authority may charge for certain adult non-residential and domiciliary services it provides. Therefore, thi…

11 Nov 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what overspends are anticipated for each NHS board in 2009-10.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: All NHS Scotland health boards are anticipating to either break even or underspend in 2009‘10. No board is anticipating an overspend.

9 Nov 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executivewhat information it has on waiting times for private IVF treatment, broken down by NHS board area.

Answer · Shona Robison: This information is not collected or held centrally. di

9 Nov 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what its position is on the principle of couples requiring IVF treatment being referred to other NHS boards.

Answer · Shona Robison: This is a matter for individual NHS boards.

9 Nov 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what its position is on the principle of patient choice in accessing IVF treatment.

Answer · Shona Robison: Whilst it is a matter for individual NHS boards whether patients can be referred to other NHS boards for infertility treatment, Infertility Network Scotland are working directly with NHS boards to ensure that that the voices of patients are heard at a local l…

9 Nov 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive which NHS boards are not complying with national guidance on IVF treatment.

Answer · Shona Robison: In response to the recent questionnaire from Infertility Network Scotland, the following NHS boards consider they are partially complying with national guidance on IVF treatment and are continuing to work towards full compliance: NHS Fife, N…

9 Nov 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive when in 2009 the Minister for Public Health and Sport has written to NHS boards about IVF treatment and whether it will publish that correspondence.

Answer · Shona Robison: I wrote to Chairs of NHS boards on 8 September 2009 informing them that I had asked Infertility Network Scotland to work directly with health boards to ensure that the voices of patients are heard at a local level in the planning of infertility services in Sc…

4 Nov 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what action it has taken since the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Wellbeing’s statement in the chamber on 29 October 2009 to accelerate the delivery of the influenza A (H1N1) vaccination programme.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: As announced on 21 October and 29 October 2009, there will be a phased roll out of the influenza A (H1N1) vaccination programme as more vaccine supplies become available from the manufacturers. NHS Scotland is distributing vaccine supplies as soon as they are…

4 Nov 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many doses of the influenza A (H1N1) vaccine will be available to GPs for each week until Christmas 2009.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: This information depends on deliveries from the manufacturers. As announced on 21 October 2009, there will be a phased introduction as vaccine supplies become available from the manufacturers. Supplies are being sent to GP practices on a weekly basis…

4 Nov 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many doses of the influenza A (H1N1) vaccine were provided by GPs to priority categories of patients before the start of the predicted peak period of the virus, from end October to mid-November 2009.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: Vaccine deliveries to GP practices began from 26 October 2009, and all GP practices now have an initial supply of vaccine to enable vaccination of patients who are in the priority groups. As announced on 21 October 2009, there will be a phased roll o…

4 Nov 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will amend the priority categories for the influenza A (H1N1) vaccination programme to include nought to four-year-olds.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: The decision about who should be included in the priority groups was taken on the basis of advice from independent experts, who advised the Scottish Government and other UK administrations on the risk groups who should be offered vaccination first and foremos…

4 Nov 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many doses of the influenza A (H1N1) vaccine have been provided to (a) NHS and social care staff and (b) identified at-risk categories in each week since the start of the vaccination programme.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: This information is not yet available. As of 18 November 2009, NHS Scotland have received just under 720,000 doses of Pandemrix vaccine “ around 55% of the total required for the 1.3 million priority groups as announced on 13 August. The majority of…

21 Oct 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many people have died in psychiatric hospitals in each year since 1999 as a result of suicide and how many of those were known problem drug users.

Answer · Shona Robison: This information from 1998 to 2005, which is the most recent published, can be found in the National Confidential Inquiry into Suicide and Homicide by People with Mental Illness: Lessons for mental health care in Scotland. This repor…

21 Oct 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many people have died in prison in each year since 1999 as a result of suicide and how many of those were known problem drug users.

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: I have asked Mike Ewart, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service, to respond. His response is as follows: The following table sets out the number of self-inflicted deaths in the past 10 years within Scottish prisons. Our database does not reco…

21 Oct 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many people have died in police custody in each year since 1999 as a result of suicide and how many of those were known problem drug users.

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: Information on cause of death and whether those who died in police custody were known problem drug users is not held centrally. The responsibility for maintaining such records lies with individual Scottish police forces.

20 Oct 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what proportion of the deaths in police custody in the last five years was as a result of suicide and how many of the individuals concerned had been seen by forensic medical examiners.

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: Information on cause of death and whether individuals who died in police custody were seen by forensic medical examiners is not held centrally. The responsibility for maintaining such records lies with individual Scottish police forces.

7 Oct 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive when it will issue the planned guidance note on the procurement of community care services.

Answer · Shona Robison: The Scottish Government intends to publish draft guidance on social care procurement for consultation in November 2009. We intend to publish the final guidance in February 2010.

7 Oct 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-27333 by John Swinney on 30 September 2009, for what reason it has not included the pre-Budget report consequentials of £5.2 million in the figure of a £496 million reduction in the planned departmental expenditure limit budget for 2010-11.

Answer · John Swinney: Our published Departmental Expenditure Limit (DEL) figure in the Draft Budget for 2010-11 includes all relevant movements in spending power as a result of consequentials and other changes advised by and agreed with HM Treasury. The figures can therefore be re…

7 Oct 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many babies were (a) born and (b) born between the hours of 9 am and 5 pm at the Vale of Leven Hospital Community Maternity Unit, in each of the last three years.

Answer · Shona Robison: The information requested is set out in the following tables. Number of Babies Born in the Vale of Leven Hospital <table border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 > <tr > <td valign=top > 2006 </td> <td valign=top > …

7 Oct 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how often the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Sustainable Growth has attended meetings of the Joint Strategic Review of Public Spending.

Answer · John Swinney: I have chaired both meetings of the Joint Strategic Review held to date and have written to all members to propose that further meetings should be held over the autumn.

7 Oct 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many times the Joint Strategic Review of Public Spending has met.

Answer · John Swinney: The Joint Strategic Review of Public Spending has met twice and I wrote to the members of the review group in August to propose that further meetings should be held following the publication of the draft 2010-11 Budget document on 17 September 2009.