Parliamentary questions
Jackie Baillie
9,397 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.
12 Mar 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to S3W-20799 by Nicola Sturgeon on 6 March 2009, whether it intends to distinguish between samples taken from patients in acute hospitals, non-acute hospitals and community settings in determining the presence of Clostridium difficile.
Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: Health Protection Scotland (HPS) advise there is no intention to distinguish between samples taken in hospitals, community settings or nursing homes for the national surveillance of Clostridium difficile Associated Disease (CDAD).</p> <p >HPS will carry out …
5 Mar 2009 · General Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what projects the Scottish Futures Trust plans to deliver in 2009.
Answer · John Swinney: <i > This question was answered in the Chamber. The answer can be viewed in the Official Report using the following link:</i></p> <p ><a href="http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/business/officialReports/meetingsParliament/or-09/sor0305-01.htm">http://www.scot…
3 Mar 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it provides toilets designed to the Changing Places standard in any of its offices.
Answer · Alex Neil: The toilet facilities in Scottish Government buildings are fully compliant with the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) standards that apply to existing properties. As the core Scottish Government does not have any buildings to which the public have a general…
3 Mar 2009 · SPCB Written Question
To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body whether it provides toilets designed to the Changing Places standard and accessible to visitors in the Holyrood complex.
Answer · Alex Johnstone: The SPCB provides a Changing Places facility which is accessible to all passholders and visitors in the Holyrood complex. In 2007, the SPCB received a national award under the Changing Places Category for Scotland for achieving this standard. It is located i…
3 Mar 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what action it has taken to support the Changing Places campaign for accessible toilets for people with more profound disabilities since signing up to support the campaign.
Answer · Stewart Stevenson: The Scottish Government was involved in the review of the UK good practice document, BS 8300: 2009, which addresses delivery of inclusive buildings, to provide design guidance on Changing Places toilets.</p> <p >The presence of this information within a well…
3 Mar 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to review current planning regulations, including the Building Regulations: Technical Standards Part M: Drainage And Sanitary Facilities, to include provision for toilets designed to the Changing Places standard.
Answer · Stewart Stevenson: There are no proposals at present to amend the accessibility standards within Scottish building regulations.</p> <p >Toilet provision is addressed under Standard 3.12 (sanitary facilities) of the Building (Scotland) Regulations 2004. This requires that Every…
3 Mar 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what powers it has to review current planning regulations to include provision for toilets designed to the Changing Places standard.
Answer · Stewart Stevenson: Land use planning guides the future development and use of land. It is about where development should happen, where it should not and how it interacts with its surroundings. Issues relating to the internal design of buildings, including facilities such as toi…
3 Mar 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what powers it has in relation to the provision of toilet facilities for disabled people in town centres, retail shopping centres and leisure facilities.
Answer · Stewart Stevenson: Scottish building regulations address the provision of sanitary accommodation within new, altered, extended or converted buildings.</p> <p >Standard 3.12 (sanitary facilities) of the Building (Scotland) Regulations 2004, as amended, requires that Every build…
25 Feb 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-19730 by Shona Robison on 21 January 2009, who it has consulted on the detail of the The Same As You research proposal.
Answer · Shona Robison: I refer the member to the question S3W-21384 on 11 March 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/Apps2/Business/P…
25 Feb 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-19730 by Shona Robison on 21 January 2009, whether it will outline the scope and remit of the The Same As You research proposal.
Answer · Shona Robison: The Scottish Government will consult members of <i >The same as you?</i> Implementation Group, the Users and Carers Group and other interested stakeholders later this year to inform the scope and remit of the research proposal.</p>
25 Feb 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether all patients transferring between hospitals or entering hospitals from a community setting are routinely tested for healthcare associated infections and, if so, how this is carried out in each hospital.
Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: There is currently no national routine testing of patients for healthcare associated infections when transferring between hospitals or on admission from the community. Boards do have screening protocols for those being admitted to certain specialties and thes…
25 Feb 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what records are kept of the transmission of Clostridium difficile in patients being transferred between hospitals.
Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: This information is not routinely collected and but would be considered in the context of an investigation into an incident/outbreak of Clostridium difficile.</p>
25 Feb 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is undertaking research into the mechanism of transmission of Clostridium difficile.
Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: Research already undertaken has shown that direct (patient to patient) and indirect (via contaminated environment or third party) contact represents the main routes of transmission of Clostridium difficile.</p>
25 Feb 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-20033 by Nicola Sturgeon on 21 January 2009, whether it will collect and publish the information on which hospitals have reported the 078 strain of Clostridium difficile since 2007.
Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: Discussions are on-going with Health Protection Scotland (HPS) about the future publishing of the detail for all strains of Clostridium difficile identified from samples sent to the National Reference Laboratory for typing.</p>
25 Feb 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-20032 by Nicola Sturgeon on 29 January 2009, whether it will list those laboratories that test for hospital-acquired infections and specifically Clostridium difficile.
Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: All of the laboratories listed in the answer to S3W-20032 test for both Clostridium difficile and Staphylococcus Aureus Bacteraemias.</p>
25 Feb 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-20031 by Nicola Sturgeon on 29 January 2009, whether it will collect data on the (a) minimum, (b) maximum and (c) average turnaround time for medical laboratories testing samples from patients with suspected hospital-acquired infections.
Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: This data is not collected and there are no plans to do so.</p> <p >Turnaround times, set by local laboratories in conjunction with their clinical users, are usually between 24 and 48 hours and are dependent on the organism being cultural.</p>
25 Feb 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many people were tested negative for Clostridium difficile but subsequently died of the infection at (a) the Vale of Leven Hospital and (b) other hospitals in each year since 2007.
Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: This information is not collected.</p>
25 Feb 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is concerned about the number of patients with catheters who contract urinary tract infections and what action it is taking to address this.
Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-21375 on 6 March 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/Apps2/B…
25 Feb 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many urinary tract infections have occurred in hospital patients in each year since 2007.
Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: This information is not collected centrally. The Healthcare Associated Infection Task Force has identified targeted incidence surveillance of Catheter Associated Urinary Tract Infection (CAUTI) as a priority area.</p> <p >A protocol for CAUTI has been develo…
25 Feb 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, in light of the economic downturn, what additional measures are being taken to prevent homelessness and rough sleeping.
Answer · Alex Neil: Preventing homelessness is a key aspect of the four-point plan agreed between the Scottish Government and COSLA for moving towards the 2012 homelessness target. The Scottish Government and COSLA are developing joint guidance on preventing homelessness which w…
25 Feb 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many people were sleeping rough in (a ) Argyll and Bute and (b) West Dunbartonshire in the last quarter for which information is available.
Answer · Alex Neil: The last quarter for which published data is available is January “ March 2008. There were six homelessness applications in Argyll and Bute and three in West Dunbartonshire during this quarter where a household member reported having slept rough the previous …
25 Feb 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many people have registered as homeless in (a) Argyll and Bute and (b) West Dunbartonshire in the last quarter for which information is available.
Answer · Alex Neil: The last quarter for which published data is available is January “ March 2008. There were 267 homelessness applications in Argyll and Bute during this quarter and 203 cases assessed as homeless. In West Dunbartonshire, 587 applications were made and 243 case…
25 Feb 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it considers that it is on track to achieve the 2012 homelessness target.
Answer · Alex Neil: The Scottish Government acknowledges that the 2012 target is a challenging one for some local authorities. Progress will be measured against the interim targets set for 2008-09 during the course of this year - this will include a qualitative analysis of facto…
25 Feb 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what the level of rough sleeping was for the last quarter for which information is available and how this compares with the (a) previous quarter and (b) same quarter in 2008.
Answer · Alex Neil: The last quarter for which published data is available is January to March 2008. There were 798 applications during this quarter where a member of the household reported having slept rough the previous night, compared to 717 in the previous quarter and 891 in…
25 Feb 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what the level of homelessness was for the last quarter for which information is available and how this compares with the (a) previous quarter and (b) same quarter in 2008.
Answer · Alex Neil: The last quarter for which published data is available is January to March 2008. There were 10,798 applications assessed as homelessness in Scotland during this quarter, compared to 9,580 in the previous quarter and 11,153 in the same quarter in 2007.</p> <p…
10 Feb 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will carry out an independent evaluation of the National Debtline and publish the results.
Answer · Alex Neil: National Debtline is already regularly evaluated. The Money Advice Trust commissioned the most recent evaluation in 2008 from Illuminas, an independent market research company. The full report has been published and is available at:</p> <p ><a href="http://w…
10 Feb 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what outcomes have been achieved by the National Debtline.
Answer · Alex Neil: National Debtline is highly effective in helping clients to resolve their debt problems and to avoid further difficulties with debt.</p> <p >In their 2008 evaluation, 80% of clients reported that they were able to reach an adviser on the first attempt. 95% o…
10 Feb 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many calls were received by the National Debtline and how many were signposted to other organisations.
Answer · Alex Neil: During 2008, National Debtline received 256,173 calls. 171,647 were answered by an adviser and a further 2,476 calls were dealt with on their literature order line. In addition, they handled 7,971 email enquiries. Some 3% of clients were signposted on for deb…
10 Feb 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what the cost is of the National Debtline and what its period of operation is expected to be.
Answer · Alex Neil: The Scottish Government is providing £100,000 a year until 2010-11 to the Money Advice Trust, which runs National Debtline. This funding is to ensure that advisors are appropriately trained to provide advice on, for example, the different debt solutions avail…
10 Feb 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what guidance is issued to GPs about prescribing antibiotics, in particular to treat healthcare associated infections (HAI).
Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: The following guidance has been issued to NHS boards:<b></b></p> <p ><i>Antimicrobial Resistance Strategy and Scottish Action Plan,</i> <i>2002</i>.</p> <p >Scottish Medicines Consortium published <i>Antimicrobial Prescribing Policy and Practice in </i><i…