Parliamentary questions
Mary Scanlon
4,514 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.
20 May 2014 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what improvements to journey times on the Highland mainline between Perth and Inverness there will be in the next two years.
Answer · Keith Brown: Network Rail are currently working on timetable development for phase two of the Highland Main Line improvements project which will help to determine the infrastructure interventions necessary to support an hourly service and achieve the further average journ…
20 May 2014 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the recommendation in the report, Future of Residential Care for Older People in Scotland, that it should review free personal and nursing care contributions to more accurately reflect the costs of personal and nursing care in a residential setting.
Answer · Alex Neil: The Scottish Government has accepted in principle the main recommendations of the Task Force on the Future of Residential Care for Older People in Scotland. We will continue to work with our partners in the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities and other …
20 May 2014 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how it is responding to the recommendation by the Task Force for the Future of Residential Care for Older People in Scotland that "work is undertaken to fully explore the opportunities and costs of amending the capital limits in a Scottish context."
Answer · Alex Neil: The Scottish Government has accepted in principle the main recommendations of the Task Force on the Future of Residential Care for Older People in Scotland. We will continue to work with our partners in the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities and other …
20 May 2014 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many families have been forced to sell homes in order to pay for care, as referenced in the report, Recommendations for the Future of Residential Care for Older People in Scotland.
Answer · Alex Neil: The information requested is not held centrally.
20 May 2014 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what is being done to address the cross-subsidy by self-funding residents to publicly funded residents in care homes, as noted in the report, Recommendations for the Future of Residential Care for Older People in Scotland.
Answer · Alex Neil: The Scottish Government has accepted in principle the main recommendations of the Task Force on the Future of Residential Care for Older People in Scotland. We will continue to work with our partners in the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities and other …
20 May 2014 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what is being done to address the lack of funding for investment in the home care sector as noted in the report, Recommendations for the Future of Residential Care for Older People in Scotland.
Answer · Alex Neil: The Scottish Government has accepted in principle the main recommendations of the Task Force on the Future of Residential Care for Older People in Scotland. We will continue to work with our partners in the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities and other …
7 May 2014 · General Question
To ask the Scottish Government what progress has been made toward meeting accident and emergency waiting times targets.
29 Apr 2014 · Portfolio Question
To ask the Scottish Government when it last met representatives of CalMac and what issues were discussed.
15 Apr 2014 · Portfolio Question
To ask the Scottish Government how the Trunk Road Patrol Group has performed since it was established.
1 Apr 2014 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many children in the Highland Council area have been given a (a) single agency and (b) multi-agency child’s plan prepared by their named person since the full implementation of the named person role in 2010.
Answer · Aileen Campbell: This is a matter for Highland Council. The information requested is not held centrally.
18 Mar 2014 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what (a) average, (b) longest and (c) shortest time has been taken to process an application for registration to the General Teaching Council for Scotland in each of the last five years.
Answer · Michael Russell: The General Teaching Council for Scotland (GTCS) has been an independent body since April 2012. These, therefore, are matters for the GTCS.
13 Mar 2014 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the impact on freshwater pearl mussel and salmon numbers of additional demand for water from the River Spey for housing developments in the Aviemore area.
Answer · Paul Wheelhouse: Any abstraction from the water environment requires an authorisation from the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) under the Water Environment (Controlled Activities) (Scotland) Regulations 2011. The water abstraction licence currently held by Scotti…
6 Mar 2014 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4W-19658 by Keith Brown on 20 February 2014, whether the length of the A9 proposed for dualling between Kincraig and Dalraddy will be considered for green bridges, given the wildlife present in the area.
Answer · Keith Brown: A full environmental impact assessment has been carried out as part of the Kincraig scheme including habitat surveys. No requirement for a green bridge was identified through that work. The safety of species crossing the road will be enhanced through the prov…
28 Feb 2014 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many mental health officers are employed in each local authority and what each officer's average caseload is.
Answer · Michael Matheson: The most recent information on the number of mental health officers (MHOs) employed in each local authority was published by the Scottish Social Services Council on 29 May 2013 in its Mental Health Officers Report 2012. The report is available online at: http…
26 Feb 2014 · Portfolio Question
To ask the Scottish Government what progress it has made on implementing the recommendations of the Scottish Dairy Review: "Ambition 2025".
19 Feb 2014 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to improve specialist mental health services for people with a range of neurodevelopmental disorders.
Answer · Michael Matheson: Initial developments, led by a consultant psychiatrist from NHS Lothian, is underway and includes: Developing advice on mainstreaming models of treatment of ADHD within general adult mental health services; Drawing on professional and academic networks to i…
19 Feb 2014 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how it is working with health and justice services to increase the effective use of community payback orders for people with a mental health condition where appropriate.
Answer · Kenny MacAskill: We are working with the Association of Directors of Social Work to develop training materials to support criminal justice social workers to identify offenders with a mental illness who could be subject to a community payback order (CPO) with a mental health c…
19 Feb 2014 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what it has done to develop a national standard for monitoring the physical health of people being treated with clozapine.
Answer · Michael Matheson: The national standard for monitoring the physical health of people treated with clozapine was published on 12 July 2013. The standards and covering letter from the Chief Medical Officer are available at: http://www.sehd.scot.nhs.uk/cmo/CMO(2013)12.pdf The d…
19 Feb 2014 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what progress it has made on developing (a) mental health benchmarking information and (b) indicators of quality in community services.
Answer · Michael Matheson: The first release of the adult mental health benchmarking toolkit and dashboard is available on the Information Services Division website and can be found at: http://www.isdscotland.org/Health-Topics/Quality-Indicators/National-Benchmarking-Project/Mental-H…
19 Feb 2014 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what progress it has made on enabling early intervention services to respond to first episode psychosis.
Answer · Michael Matheson: Initial work to support implementation of this commitment will be exploring with NHS boards how they are responding to the needs of people experiencing a first episode of psychosis. We have had initial discussions with the Royal College of Psychiatrists Medic…
19 Feb 2014 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what progress it has made on delivering the Scottish Patient Safety Programme in Mental Health.
Answer · Michael Matheson: The Scottish Patient Safety Programme-Mental Health (SPSP-MH) has seen a successful Phase 1 with broad engagement and some excellent pieces of work which show considerable promise in making mental health services in Scotland safer for patients. Phase 2 of SP…
19 Feb 2014 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to more effectively link the work on alcohol consumption, depression and other common mental health problems to improve identification and treatment.
Answer · Michael Matheson: The Scottish Government is aware that people may use alcohol as a means of coping when they are in distress or depressed. Discussions have been held with specialist services, Royal College of General Practitioners and primary care partners. These discussions …
19 Feb 2014 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what progress has been made in the use of Steps for Stress as an early intervention approach to address common mental health problems.
Answer · Michael Matheson: NHS Health Scotland have been distributing the Steps for Stress resource and keeping the website up to date. The Scottish Government, with NHS Health Scotland, have identified challenges in tracking where Steps for Stress resources are going to and how effect…
19 Feb 2014 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many children have been admitted to adult psychiatric wards in each of the last five years.
Answer · Michael Matheson: The number of children admitted to adult psychiatric wards are: 2008-2009 138 2009-2010 147 2010-2011 128 2011-2012 115 2012-2013 148* *Please note the figures from the Mental Welfare Commission for 2012-13 are provisional. The latest figures fro…
19 Feb 2014 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many additional trainees were recruited to child psychology courses in 2013 and how many additional trainees are planned for the next five years.
Answer · Alex Neil: There were 16 MSc in applied psychology for children and young people and 35 clinical trainees aligned to Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) in training as at 31 December 2013. In 2013 there were 27 trainees who commenced child psychology co…
19 Feb 2014 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what it has done to make training in basic infant mental health more widely available to professionals in the children's services workforce.
Answer · Michael Matheson: NHS Health Education Scotland are rolling out training in the Solihull Approach. Phase 1 which is due to complete in March 2014 will see 60 Health visitors being trained and with 12 train the trainers training being delivered simultaneously. Phase 2 of the p…
19 Feb 2014 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what progress it has made on improving mental health through new technology in collaboration with NHS 24.
Answer · Michael Matheson: NHS 24 participated on behalf of Scotland, in a joint bid for the European Commission ICT PSP seventh call for proposals in 2013. A bid was submitted for the ‘Management of Mental Health Disorders Through Advanced technology and Services-Telehealth for the MI…
19 Feb 2014 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government when it will publish the 10 year on follow up to the Sandra Grant Report as per commitment 1 in the Mental Health Strategy for Scotland: 2012-2015.
Answer · Michael Matheson: The Scottish Government has commissioned the Mental Health Foundation (MHF) and Voices of Experience to undertake the review. The MHF research team has been gathering the information required for the first two stages of the review and is beginning to move to …
7 Feb 2014 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what consideration it has given to the construction of so-called green bridges over the A9 as part of the dualling programme.
Answer · Keith Brown: Green bridges are being considered for the wider A9 dualling programme where a need is identified and will be considered on a location by location basis.
29 Jan 2014 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what the benefit to stroke patients is of being admitted to a stroke unit on the day of diagnosis or the day following presentation.
Answer · Alex Neil: Access to a stroke unit care is known to be associated with a reduced risk of disability as well as death. This is evidenced in the Scottish Intercollegiate Guideline Network (SIGN) 108 and the clinical standards for stroke services which emphasise the import…