Parliamentary questions
Mary Scanlon
4,514 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.
13 Mar 2001 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether consideration will be given to providing direct funding for local health care co-operatives.
Answer · Susan Deacon: We have stated in <I>Our National Health: A plan for action, a plan for change</I> that we intend to develop primary care services and strengthen the role of LHCCs. We intend to build on the successes of LHCCs and, within the next few months, set out the next…
13 Mar 2001 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what the remit, funding and objectives are of the Scottish School of Primary Care.
Answer · Susan Deacon: The remit of the Scottish School of Primary Care is to promote and co-ordinate primary care research activity and to increase research capacity, in order to provide the high quality research evidence needed to inform decisions made by practitioners, managers …
13 Mar 2001 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether the Health Education Board for Scotland and the Scottish Centre for Infection and Environmental Health have any plans to review the advice given on HIV to people planning overseas travel.
Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The HIV Health Promotion Strategy, published by the Executive in January this year, recommended that the Scottish Centre for Infection and Environmental Health and the Health Education Board for Scotland should review current arrangements for advice on HIV to…
13 Mar 2001 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether all health boards provide access to anti-retroviral therapy for those tested as HIV positive.
13 Mar 2001 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what support is being given to the Scottish Prison Service to reduce the potential for HIV transmission in prisons.
Answer · Jim Wallace: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service, to respond. His response is as follows:<P>We are grateful to the Scottish Centre for Infection and Environmental Health, the Chief Medical Officer, Chief Nursing Officer, Health Educat…
12 Mar 2001 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how community land buy-out schemes will be able to address the estimated annual average financial loss of over #70,000 in respect of the management of each estate in the Upper Findhorn Valley, Inverness-shire, as outlined in the Rural Economic Survey, published by the Scottish Gamekeepers…
Answer · Jim Wallace: It would be for any individual community body to consider the viability of any land purchase. Community bodies applying for community right to buy under the draft Land Reform (Scotland) Bill will be required to present to Ministers, at the right to buy stage,…
12 Mar 2001 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many junior doctors are working in jobs which do not currently comply with the 56 hours a week target outlined in the New Deal for Junior Doctors.
Answer · Susan Deacon: I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-13853.
7 Mar 2001 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any plans to encourage the expansion of the private health care sector as recommended in the British Medical Association Report Healthcare funding review, and, if so, how this will be done.
Answer · Susan Deacon: We have no plans to do so.
7 Mar 2001 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what action it plans to take to address the reductions in 1999-2000 of the numbers of clients receiving home care of (a) up to two hours per week, (b) two to four hours per week and (c) more than 10 hours a week, as set out in Table 2A of the Audit Scotland Performance Indicators 1999-200…
Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The Scottish Executive has committed substantial additional resources to extending and improving on the provision of care to people in their own homes. In each of the next three years respectively, the allocation of resources for Community Care is set to incr…
7 Mar 2001 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive who is ultimately responsible at both management and NHS Trust level for cleanliness in hospitals and hospital wards.
Answer · Susan Deacon: Ultimate responsibility for hospital hygiene rests with the Chief Executives of the NHS Trusts which operate the hospitals.
7 Mar 2001 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what guidance is available to people to allow them to make informed choices on types of vitamin, mineral and other supplements.
Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: I am advised by the Food Standards Agency Scotland, who have responsibility for policy on dietary supplements sold as foods (i.e. not medicines), that, as there are also significant interests in this issue within the Scottish Executive, the information to ans…
7 Mar 2001 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will provide a breakdown of the drugs budget according to category of treatment for specific illness and disease, broken down by health board, for each of the last two financial years.
Answer · Susan Deacon: Information on drug costs is provided routinely in a number of reports including Scottish Prescribing Analysis (SPA) and financial schedules. These relate to British National Formulary chapters and sub-sections. Information relating to the last two financial …
7 Mar 2001 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any plans to issue guidance to the 12 local authorities who currently carry out less than two inspections a year on residential homes, as set out in Table 5b of the Audit Scotland Performance Indicators 1999-2000, Social Work: Comparing the performance of Scottish councils.
Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: Scottish Executive guidance, issued under section 5(1) of the Social Work (Scotland) Act 1968, indicates that, while it is for local authorities to determine the number of inspections per establishment, two inspections per year is the normal minimum requireme…
7 Mar 2001 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any plans to issue guidance to Glasgow City Council on their inspection rates for private residential homes which are almost twice as high as the rates for local authority and voluntary sector homes, as set out in Table 5b of the Audit Scotland Performance Indicators 1999-…
Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: Scottish Executive guidance, issued under section 5(1) of the Social Work (Scotland) Act 1968, indicates that it is for local authorities to determine the frequency of inspections on any establishment. Authorities are expected to undertake at least two inspec…
7 Mar 2001 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how much the NHSiS spent on the use of bank and agency nurses in each of the last three years.
Answer · Susan Deacon: This information is not available.
7 Mar 2001 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive which its main priorities are from the 258 action points contained in Our National Health: A plan for action, a plan for change.
Answer · Susan Deacon: The Executive's priorities are for healthier people in Scotland and for a modern, responsive NHS which puts the patient at the centre of everything it does. The specific actions set out in <I>Our National Health: A plan for action, a plan for change</I> will …
7 Mar 2001 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what evidence exists to show what improvements have been made in the care and service delivery through Local Health Care Co-operatives and how the cost of delivering such care and services compares with the previous structure.
Answer · Susan Deacon: The work of the LHCC Best Practice Group has identified a substantial range of service improvements. Audit Scotland has also carried out an evaluation of LHCCs' range of activities. Reports from both pieces of work are expected shortly and will, together with…
7 Mar 2001 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-12337 by Susan Deacon on 8 February 2001, how many patients are being given medication for the treatment of attention deficiency disorder and/or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and what type of medication is being administered.
Answer · Susan Deacon: This information is not held centrally.
7 Mar 2001 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to develop smart cards or a database containing patients' genetic information to enable electronic prescribing of treatment.
Answer · Susan Deacon: Genetic (DNA) typing has the potential to allow drug treatments to be more accurately tailored to individual patients and help identify those patients most likely to respond to treatment or those most at risk of side effects. Although it is already in use for…
7 Mar 2001 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what action is being taken to tackle any excess prescribing of drugs and treatments in the NHS.
Answer · Susan Deacon: Health boards and NHS Trusts work closely with prescribers to ensure that patients are only prescribed drugs where clinically appropriate. There is a range of measures being taken nationally and locally to support this. These include:<UL><LI>feedback and anal…
7 Mar 2001 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether asylum seekers who have settled in Scotland are being given advice, support and access to all vaccination and screening programmes available to other NHS patients.
Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: Asylum seekers have access to health care services in the same way as any other resident of a health board area. In addition special arrangements are in place to screen asylum seekers for active infectious diseases, such as tuberculosis.
7 Mar 2001 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any plans to increase access to NHS chiropody treatment and provide additional services in this area.
Answer · Susan Deacon: This is a matter for NHS Trusts responsible for primary care, if necessary in consultation with health boards. These bodies are responsible for assessing health service requirements in their area and for deciding on priorities within the increased resources w…
7 Mar 2001 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how it plans to gather information on levels of any unmet need for community care for the elderly, people with mental illness and disabled people.
Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: Information on levels of unmet need are not currently collected by the Scottish Executive. However, the Social Work Information Review Group indentified this as a requirement in their publication, <I>Local and National Information Requirements for Social Work…
7 Mar 2001 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what advice it will give to NHS Trusts on reducing financial deficits prior to the new financial year commencing on 1 April 2001.
Answer · Susan Deacon: Sound financial management is a core requirement of every NHS organisation. Each NHS Trust is expected to work to attain financial balance by the year end.
7 Mar 2001 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how it will ensure that increased NHS expenditure will result in improved outcomes which benefit patient health.
Answer · Susan Deacon: The Scottish Executive's Scottish Health Plan, <I>Our National Health:</I> <I>A plan for action, a plan for change</I>, sets out a comprehensive series of actions to help ensure that our record investment in health achieves our aims of improving the health of…
7 Mar 2001 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether any research has been carried out regarding the harmful effects of selenium deficiency in humans and animals.
Answer · Rhona Brankin: A large amount of research has been carried out in the UK and in many other countries on the effects of selenium deficiency on humans and animals. SERAD currently funds a small amount of work on the effects of selenium on thyroid function.
7 Mar 2001 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how much of the NHS drugs budget was spent on (a) baldness, (b) obesity and (c) impotence, in each of the last three years.
Answer · Susan Deacon: Information about drugs used in the treatment of obesity and impotence is given in the table. Drugs used in the treatment of male-pattern baldness are not prescribable on the NHS by GPs.<P>The amounts shown in the table relate to the cost of drugs dispensed b…
7 Mar 2001 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what information it holds on the number of people who have lost their jobs as a result of waiting for diagnosis, assessment and treatment from the NHS.
Answer · Susan Deacon: This information is not available.
7 Mar 2001 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how community land buy-out projects will raise the required capital resources necessary for good stewardship and efficient management of land.
Answer · Jim Wallace: It is for individual community bodies to decide how they will raise the required capital. There are sources of financial assistance and advice available to community bodies contemplating land purchases e.g. the New Opportunity Fund's recently launched Scottis…
7 Mar 2001 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether there is any strategy to link research into brain development, brain functions and learning.
Answer · Susan Deacon: The Scottish Executive does not have a formal strategy on research into brain development, brain functions and learning. However, it is generally recognised that developments in research related to the human brain have an important contribution to raising awa…