Parliamentary questions
Margaret Jamieson
534 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.
21 Jun 2000 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what the total expenditure has been on surgery required by patients who have experienced side effects from prescribed drugs in each of the last five years.
Answer · Susan Deacon: This information is not held centrally.
21 Jun 2000 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what the total expenditure has been on corrective medicines for patients who have experienced side effects from prescribed drugs in each of the last five years.
Answer · Susan Deacon: This information is not held centrally. The NHS prescription form does not record the medical diagnosis for which a medicine has been prescribed and there is no information held centrally on medicines dispensed over-the-counter without a prescription.
6 Jun 2000 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to ensure that all patients are provided with product information for drugs prescribed and dispensed.
Answer · Susan Deacon: The Executive supports the aim of providing all patients with full and useful information about prescribed and over-the-counter medicines. UK law requires medicines to be supplied to consumers with specified information on the label and with an accompanying l…
6 Jun 2000 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to compensate patients who have suffered adverse effects of corticosteroids.
Answer · Susan Deacon: The Scottish Executive has no plans to compensate patients who have suffered adverse effects of corticosteroids. The position is that where people have been harmed by clinical treatment they have the right to establish whether there was negligence or defect i…
6 Jun 2000 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what the incidence is of prolonged side effects following the use of corticosteroids.
Answer · Susan Deacon: This information is not held by the Executive. Suspected adverse reactions to medicinal products are reported to the Committee on Safety of Medicines and to the Medicines Control Agency, who are jointly responsible for monitoring drug safety in the UK.
25 May 2000 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what mechanisms or incentives are in place to allow joint funding by health and education authorities to provide innovative visual aids to young people with visual impairment.
Answer · Sam Galbraith: Health boards have a statutory duty to comply with requests for help from local authorities to assist them in fulfilling their duties under the Children (Scotland) Act 1995. This includes assisting local authorities to meet their statutory duty to provide ser…
25 May 2000 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will reconsider its guidance to local authorities to allow easier access to children requesting assessment of educational needs.
Answer · Sam Galbraith: The Special Education Needs Advisory Forum will as a priority review all aspects of the Records of Needs process and will advise on revisions to the guidance.
25 May 2000 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will publish its plans for the administration of the recently announced expanded flu vaccine programme.
Answer · Susan Deacon: I shall make a further announcement later this year.
25 May 2000 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it plans to publish the outcome of accountability reviews of health boards and health trusts.
Answer · Susan Deacon: I expect health boards and NHS Trusts to hold full and open discussions about the outcome of Accountability Reviews at public sessions of their board meetings. It is important that key messages given and actions agreed at the reviews are promulgated locally i…
25 May 2000 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many prisoners escaped whilst in transit (a) between court and prison and (b) between prisons in each of the last three years broken down by (i) police force area and (ii) local authority area.
Answer · Jim Wallace: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service, to respond. His response is as follows:<P ALIGN="JUSTIFY">Only one prisoner has escaped from Scottish Prison Service custody while in transit between court and prison in the last three…
11 May 2000 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to bring forward a strategy to sustain and develop the textile industry.
Answer · Henry McLeish: The textile sector is a vital part of many local economies in Scotland. Given the intense global competitive pressures on this sector, we are determined to do all we can to support it. I have therefore set up a Textiles Forum, bringing together the full range…
11 May 2000 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions were held with Jaeger Tailoring, Kilmarnock prior to the announcement of 180 redundancies on 9 May 2000.
Answer · Henry McLeish: Jaeger Tailoring, Kilmarnock did not contact the Scottish Executive prior to this announcement. However, Scottish Enterprise Ayrshire has been in close touch with the company in recent months. This contact will continue in order to support future operations a…
11 May 2000 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any plans to review the procedures relating to the award of ill health pensions to teachers.
Answer · Sam Galbraith: The conclusions of a UK inter-departmental review group on ill health pensions will be published shortly and the Scottish Executive plans to review its procedures in the light of the conclusions of that review.
11 May 2000 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive when it last reviewed the procedures for awarding ill-health pensions to teachers.
Answer · Sam Galbraith: The procedures for awarding ill-health pensions to teachers were last fully reviewed in 1997 when the current contract for the provision of medical advice to the Scottish Public Pensions Agency was awarded.
11 May 2000 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of all new teacher pensioners have been awarded an ill-health pension in each of the last five years.
Answer · Sam Galbraith: Figures for the numbers of ill health retirements and for the percentage of all retirements to have been ill health retirements are given in the table below. They are distorted by changes in the numbers of other early retirements, particularly in 1997-98.<TAB…
11 May 2000 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how long, on average, it has taken to award an ill-health pension to teachers with myalgic encephalomyelitis over the last five years.
Answer · Sam Galbraith: Separate statistics are not kept for the processing times to award pensions to teachers with different conditions.<P ALIGN="JUSTIFY">Teachers with myalgic encephalomylitis (ME) whose claims are initially rejected are encouraged to reapply should their conditi…
11 May 2000 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many sufferers of myalgic encephalomyelitis have (a) applied for and (b) been awarded teachers' ill-health pensions in each of the last five years.
Answer · Sam Galbraith: Statistics specifically relating to suffers from myalgic encepalomyelitis have not been kept for the full period requested. The figures available are given in the table below.<TABLE BORDER CELLSPACING=1 CELLPADDING=7 WIDTH=616><TR><TD WIDTH="33%" VALIGN="TOP"…
11 May 2000 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how long, on average, the Scottish Public Pensions Agency takes to award an ill-health pension.
Answer · Sam Galbraith: The average period from receipt of the request to the issue of the decision is currently around five weeks.
11 May 2000 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive which illnesses are deemed to be permanent by the Scottish Public Pensions Agency for the purposes of ill-health pensions.
Answer · Sam Galbraith: It would be inappropriate to have a list of illnesses which were automatically considered permanent for the purposes of ill health pensions. The decision is made, following medical advice, on an individual basis and depends on the severity of the condition in…
26 Apr 2000 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many qualified specialist teachers of visually impaired pupils are employed in mainstream education in each local authority.
Answer · Sam Galbraith: Figures for each local authority cannot be given due to the limited data available. The latest information however shows that, as at September 1998, there were an estimated 33 full-time equivalent (FTE) publicly funded teachers in the pre-school, primary and …
26 Apr 2000 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive on what grounds the Scottish Qualifications Authority identifies medical conditions as constituting "learning difficulties".
Answer · Sam Galbraith: I refer the member to my answer to question S1W-6354.
26 Apr 2000 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will list the medical conditions which are classed by the Scottish Qualifications Authority as constituting "learning difficulties".
Answer · Sam Galbraith: The Scottish Qualifications Authority has no set list of specific medical conditions which constitute learning difficulties and the related special assessment arrangements. Candidates with a medical problem are treated on an individual basis according to the …
26 Apr 2000 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what research it has funded into Meares-Irlen syndrome and whether it proposes to fund any further research.
Answer · Susan Deacon: The Chief Scientist Office (CSO) within The Scottish Executive Health Department has responsibility for encouraging and supporting research into health services and patient care within the NHS in Scotland. Although CSO has received no research proposals of a …
26 Apr 2000 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it intends to review the provision of orthoptic education as a result of the projected closure of the current degree course at Glasgow Caledonian University.
Answer · Susan Deacon: The Scottish Executive has written recently to a number of Scottish Universities, including Glasgow Caledonian University, inviting them to consider launching a new course in orthoptics. We are awaiting replies.
26 Apr 2000 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether any health boards refer patients to orthoptists outside the NHS and what the cost is of such referrals by each health board.
Answer · Susan Deacon: This information is not held centrally.
26 Apr 2000 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what the current caseload is per orthoptist in each health board.
Answer · Susan Deacon: The tables below show the available information on (a) patient attendances and (b) orthoptists, but the two tables are not directly comparable and should therefore be interpreted with caution.<P ALIGN="JUSTIFY">Numbers of attendances of patients seen by ortho…
26 Apr 2000 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether cases can be referred directly to orthoptists within the health service without having to go through general practitioners.
Answer · Susan Deacon: Local practices regarding referral arrangements will vary and may be subject to relevant local protocols.<P ALIGN="JUSTIFY">The Statement of Conduct issued by the Orthoptists Board at the Council for Professions Supplementary to Medicine states: "An orth…
26 Apr 2000 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many orthoptists are employed by each health board and how many this represents per 100,000 population.
Answer · Susan Deacon: The latest available information is shown in the table below.<P>Orthoptists employed in the NHS in Scotland by Health Board<P>Headcount and Whole Time Equivalent: at 30 September 1999<SUP>p</SUP><TABLE BORDER CELLSPACING=1 CELLPADDING=7 WIDTH=356><TR><TD WIDT…
26 Apr 2000 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many cases of Meares-Irlen Syndrome have been diagnosed in each health board area.
Answer · Susan Deacon: The Scottish Executive does not collect information about the incidence of Meares-Irlen Syndrome, nor does the NHS. Statistics on this condition are not collected separately from other related visual disorders.
26 Apr 2000 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many colorimeters are available within the health service and what are their locations.
Answer · Susan Deacon: This information is not held centrally.