Parliamentary questions

Mary Scanlon

4,514 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.

15 May 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what protection and support will be given to any doctor accused of negligence who had been required to work excessive hours.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The New Deal is a contractual agreement between the trusts and junior doctors, designed to protect staff and patients. The Scottish Executive fully supports the New Deal, and our role is to encourage trusts to meet their contractual obligations.The Scottis…

15 May 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what plans there are to ensure that sufficient staff are recruited to enable compliance with the 56-hour week rule for junior doctors.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The move to full, and sustainable, compliance requires more imaginative solutions than are been applied at present and a greater degree of urgency. The answer involves staff working in teams and thinking more creatively about new roles and responsibilities as…

15 May 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many NHS trusts are on course to meet the proposed 56-hour week for junior doctors by August 2003.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The latest compliance figures are shown in the following table:August 2002 - Compliance Figures (Scotland)<TABLE BORDER CELLSPACING=1 CELLPADDING=2 WIDTH=623><TR><TD WIDTH="14%" VALIGN="TOP" COLSPAN=2 ROWSPAN=2>Trust</TD><TD WIDTH="15%" VALIGN="TOP" COL…

15 May 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether any brains have been removed from people with mental illness following their deaths in the last 10 years.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: This information is not available. Where a post-mortem examination is carried out to establish the cause of death the removal of the brain may be necessary for diagnostic purposes. This would happen whether or not someone was suffering from a mental illness. …

15 May 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how it will respond to the rise in cases of measles, mumps and rubella (MMR).

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: As a result of increases in the reported cases of measles, mumps and rubella in 2002 the Executive will continue to work with health professionals to reinforce the importance of vaccination, and the protection it provides to individuals and the population as …

15 May 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether education and training in dermatology that reflect the workload of GPs in respect of that condition is offered by the NHS.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: Education and training in dermatology is currently offered by the NHS to GPs. At present, general practitioners are expected to identify their own personal learning needs to better provide the health needs of their patients and to seek training accordingly. G…

15 May 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will consider providing core dermatology education for all medical and nursing undergraduates.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The responsibility for determining the educational requirements for all medical and nursing undergraduates rests with the General Medical Council (GMC) for medical undergraduates and the Nursing and Midwifery Council for nursing undergraduates.These profes…

15 May 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether the number of specialist training places in dermatology is being reviewed and, if so, whether any consideration is being given to increasing the number of such places to provide qualified candidates for any existing consultant vacancies and for any future consultant posts that may…

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The numbers of higher specialist training posts (i.e. Specialist Registrars) in all specialties are regularly reviewed and adjusted. In 2000 there were 15.3 (whole-time equivalent) Specialist Registrars in dermatology; in 2002 there were 19.8. Decisions on th…

12 May 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether appropriate guidelines and procedures are now in place to ensure early identification, assessment, diagnosis and access to early interventions for pre-school and primary school-age children with an autistic spectrum disorder.

Answer · Peter Peacock: Guidance on special educational needs, including autistic spectrum disorder (ASD), is contained in the Manual of Good Practice for all staff and professionals involved with children and young people with special educational needs (SEN), Effective Pr…

12 May 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will ensure that potential tourists are given the full details of all tourism providers, including telephone numbers and e-mail addresses, on the VisitScotland website.

Answer · Mike Watson: While this is an operational matter for visitscotland.com, I understand that the full contact details of tourism businesses that have subscribed to visitscotland.com are included on its website.

12 May 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how it will ensure that GPs and primary care professionals are aware of the possible indicators that a patient may have an autistic spectrum disorder.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: Highland NHS Board is piloting a pro-forma for the assessment of suspected autistic spectrum disorder in children, for use by a range of community paediatricians. This is one of a range of initiatives across Scotland that aim to improve assessment and diagnos…

12 May 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what commitment it has to the future inclusion of voluntary firefighters in the firefighter service in the Highlands and Islands.

Answer · Hugh Henry: I refer the member to the answers given to questions S2W-2 today and S2W-3 on 20 May 2003. 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.par…

12 May 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it supports the retention of auxiliary fire stations in the Highlands and Islands and, if so, what support is planned for them.

12 May 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to recruit volunteers into the Scottish Ambulance Service and what standard of training such volunteers would require to be eligible for recruitment.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The Scottish Ambulance Service is targeting its efforts to recruit volunteers in the remote and rural areas of Scotland where the life saving interventions they can provide will bring the greatest benefit. They will be used to enhance the level of immediate c…

12 May 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what input it will seek from the Parliament on decisions relating to the forthcoming European legislation to restrict food supplements.

Answer · Tom McCabe: EC Directive 2002/46/EC, which was adopted into European Law on 30 May 2002, will follow the normal parliamentary process for transposition into Scottish law.

13 Mar 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what guidelines there are for (a) nurses and (b) NHS boards to ensure a consistent approach to clinical placement for nursing students.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The Nursing and Midwifery Council have set advisory standards for the preparation of mentors who support, educate and assess student nurses and midwives in practice placements. All higher education institutions run in-house mentorship preparation programmes t…

13 Mar 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive which NHS boards offer career pathway packages to qualified nurses.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The development of career packages is a matter for NHS boards and trusts to consider as part of their local recruitment and retention strategies. All trusts have continuing professional development funding (CPD) for nurses and midwives which they use for a va…

13 Mar 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many patients have received a daily dose in excess of (a) 500 mls, (b) 300 mls, (c) 200 mls and (d) 110 mls of methadone in each of the last five years, broken down by hospital, and what the clinical rationale and research base are for each level of dosage.

Answer · Hugh Henry: The information requested is not held centrally.There is a great deal of international and national research to support the use of methadone as an effective treatment for opiate misuse. Dosages of methadone and the duration of treatment are matters for ind…

12 Mar 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many women have (a) received and (b) been refused fertility treatment in each of the last five years, broken down by NHS board area.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The information requested is not held centrally. Only the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) holds information, UK-wide, to minimise the possibility of patient identification.

12 Mar 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many hospital-acquired infections there have been in each hospital in each of the last five years.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The information requested is not held centrally.

11 Mar 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what action people can take when care provided by local authorities is less than that outlined in their care plans.

Answer · Frank McAveety: Local authorities have a duty under the Social Work (Scotland) 1968 Act to assess the needs of and provide appropriate services to people who appear to need them. Any decision taken about care needs by social work departments should be based on a detailed ass…

11 Mar 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many graduate nurses have entered the one-year guarantee scheme and how many have subsequently gained full-time employment.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The one-year guarantee scheme administered by NHS Education for Scotland was set up to find a place in the NHS for newly qualified nurses and midwives who had failed to find a post through the normal recruitment process. Twenty-two nurses and midwives entered…

3 Mar 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether there are any potentially harmful effects arising from the cumulative effect of botox injections and, if so, what the evidence is for this position.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: Information about the medicinal use of botox is contained in the Botox Summary of Product Characteristics (SPC). The Botox SPC includes a report of peripheral neuropathy in a patient after receiving four sets of botox injections over an 11-week period.

3 Mar 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is appropriate and safe for botox injections to be administered by a non-medical person in a non-medical setting.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: Prescription Only Medicines (POMs), like Botox, are on the whole prescribed for individuals by a medical practitioner to be administered by the individual or to that individual by a third party who might be a nurse, carer, relative or other "lay" person. In t…

27 Feb 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether all parents will be given information relating to mercury levels, side effects, potential long-term effects and efficacy of the diptheria, pertussis and whooping cough childhood vaccines to ensure that an informed choice can be made.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The Deputy Chief Medical Officer wrote to health professionals in NHS Scotland on 14 January 2003 to confirm that parents are entitled to know if thiomersal is contained in the diphtheria, tetanus and whooping cough vaccine available to them, the reasons for …

27 Feb 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it would give full indemnity to Scottish Water against any legal actions arising from fluoridation of the water supply.

Answer · Ross Finnie: Under section 172 of the Water Act 1989, the Scottish ministers' may grant indemnities to Scottish Water in respect of:liabilities incurred by Scottish Water in connection with anything done by them to increase fluoride in water supplied;costs or expens…

20 Feb 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether any studies have been concluded into the harmful effects of fluoride accumulation in the body.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-30193 on 16 October 2002. 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…

20 Feb 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether there is any potential harm to breast-fed babies if their mothers drink large quantities of fluoridated water.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: There is no evidence of any potential harm to mothers who breast-feed babies after consuming fluoridated water.

19 Feb 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what concerns it has with regard to the EC directive on food supplements, given the impact on availability and choice for consumers and on the trading environment for businesses.

Answer · Mary Mulligan: I have been advised by the Food Standards Agency that the directive will not immediately outlaw any products already on the UK market. Its future impact on consumer choice and on businesses will depend on developments on additions to the permitted lists of vi…

19 Feb 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many adverse reactions to vitamin and mineral supplements have been reported in each of the last 10 years.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The regulation and safety of medicines is reserved and is the responsibility of the Medicines Control Agency (MCA).The MCA/Committee on Safety of Medicines (CSM) Yellow Card Scheme collates reports of suspected adverse reactions to medicines. The Yellow Ca…