Mary Scanlon

11 Nov 1999 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it intends to routinely invite women aged 65 and over for breast screening and, if not, why not.

Answer · Susan Deacon: refer the Member to the answer given to question S1W-2173.

11 Nov 1999 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many NHS trusts have turned down offers of major diagnostic equipment such as CT scanners due to a lack of future funding and what action it intends to take where this situation has occurred.

Answer · Susan Deacon: I am only aware of one NHS Trust, which has turned down the offer of a CT scanner from the private sector due to the annual revenue costs associated with the equipment. It is for individual NHS Trusts to determine local priorities and how they should be addre…

10 Nov 1999 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the rights are of separated parents to access to their children's clinical notes.

Answer · Susan Deacon: The Access to Health Records Act 1990 gives individuals the right of access, subject to certain specific exemptions, to health records containing information about themselves. Parents may also be entitled to access to their children's health records. The Act …

10 Nov 1999 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what action it can take to ensure that all imported pig meat has been produced to the same health and welfare standards as that produced in the United Kingdom.

Answer · Ross Finnie: Food produced within the EU must be produced to minimum common hygiene standards. Similarly, imports from outside the EU must meet the same, or equivalent standards.<P ALIGN="JUSTIFY">It is illegal to ban imports of meat on animal welfare grounds. However, a …

10 Nov 1999 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the projected overspend is in the current financial year for acute hospitals, broken down by hospital.

Answer · Susan Deacon: The latest figures available as at 30 September 1999, indicate that nine acute NHS Trusts are forecasting a year end deficit. It is not possible to present the information on a hospital by hospital basis as NHS Trusts are managed on an overall Trust basis and…

10 Nov 1999 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether there is a national policy to refuse heart transplants to patients beyond a certain age and, if so, what age that is.

Answer · Susan Deacon: There is no national policy in Scotland imposing an age limit on access to heart transplantation. Each patient is considered as an individual. Although capacity to benefit from transplantation diminishes with age, the determining factor is the overall likelih…

10 Nov 1999 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what its policy is on visits to schools by school dentists and health visitors and in particular on the recommended frequency of such visits.

Answer · Susan Deacon: The policy on dental screening is that children in local education authority schools should have a minimum of three dental checks during their school career.<FONT FACE="Arial" SIZE=2><P>Health visitors are not normally expected to visit schools, although they…

4 Nov 1999 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what involvement it had in the recent resignation of Mrs Charlotte Stenhouse JP as chairman of Fife Health Board.

Answer · Susan Deacon: Mrs Stenhouse wrote to me on 2 November to tender her resignation as the Chairman of Fife Health Board.

3 Nov 1999 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what involvement it had in the recent resignation of Mrs Charlotte Stenhouse JP as chairman of Fife Health Board.

Answer · Susan Deacon: Mrs Stenhouse wrote to me on 2 November to tender her resignation as the Chairman of Fife Health Board.

20 Oct 1999 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it supports future higher education students seeking scholarship or sponsorship income.

Answer · Henry McLeish: Eligible Scottish domiciled students entering higher education in session 1999/2000 who are in receipt of scholarship or sponsorship income can apply for means-tested help with their tuition fees and living costs from the Student Awards Agency for Scotland. A…

19 Oct 1999 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what action is being taken to ensure that the 11% of established radiology posts in Scotland currently unfilled will be filled.

Answer · Susan Deacon: Scottish Executive Health Department officials met with representatives of the Royal College of Radiologists and of the Scottish Council for Postgraduate Medical and Dental Education (SCPMDE) in May of this year to discuss planning for the radiology workforce…

19 Oct 1999 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what action is being taken to replace outdated radiology equipment in the NHS in Scotland.

Answer · Susan Deacon: As part of the implementation of the Acute Services Review, the Chief Medical Officer invited the Scottish Medical and Scientific Advisory Committee (SMASAC) to set up a multidisciplinary Working Group to develop a framework for the procurement of clinical ra…

14 Oct 1999 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what assessment has been made as to the morbidity and mortality from ischaemic heart disease in Scotland, and how this compares to the corresponding figures for England.

Answer · Susan Deacon: It is generally believed that CHD in Scotland is a mass disease, which affects some 500,000 people. As far as mortality is concerned, the most recent figure for Scotland is that in 1998 there were 13,419 deaths from CHD. The latest year for which the informat…

13 Oct 1999 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to upgrade the last 70 miles of the A9 ending in Thurso.

Answer · Sarah Boyack: Improvements to Golspie Main Street have recently been completed at a cost of £500,000 and the £800,000 replacement of the Ord Bridge is nearing completion. Following my announcement of the outcome of the Strategic Roads Review on 4 November, consideration wi…

13 Oct 1999 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will allow the flu drug Relen'a to be prescribed in Scotland.

Answer · Susan Deacon: Zanamivir (Relenza) is authorised as a prescription only medicine for the treatment of influenza A and B in adults and adolescents, 12 years of age and over.<FONT FACE="Arial" SIZE=2><P>In Scotland, arrangements exist within each Health Board area whereby Dru…

13 Oct 1999 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will create a National Institute for Clinical Excellence in Scotland to serve the Scottish health service.

Answer · Susan Deacon: I refer to the answer to question S1W-2593, given to Kenneth MacIntosh MSP.

8 Oct 1999 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, in the light of the recent reports that a number of French producers were feeding their pigs and poultry on sewage, what action it intends to take to ensure that the meat from any animals fed in this way does not reach the Scottish consumer.

Answer · Ross Finnie: The reports referred to are misleading. Following an inspection programme in late 1998, the French Government reported in April this year isolated instances of waste material being illegally used in four animal feed plants. French officials have provided assu…

30 Sep 1999 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether any element of the #750 million funding gap for care of the elderly identified by Sir Stewart Sutherland, Chairman of the Royal Commission for the long-term care of the elderly applies to Scotland, and if so, what action it is taking to address it.

Answer · Iain Gray: The central government allocation of resources to local authorities for community care is unhypothecated. The Grant Aided Expenditure (GAE) allocations for individual client groups are assessments of the relative need to spend to enable overall GAE levels to …

29 Sep 1999 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how much money was spent on compensation payments by the NHS in Scotland in 1998-99.

Answer · Susan Deacon: The current estimate of the spend on compensation payments by the NHS in Scotland in 1998-99 is £6.6m (of which £6.3m has been made under legal obligation). This figure represents payments made by the Health Boards, NHS Trusts, Common Services Agency, and th…

29 Sep 1999 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether there is sufficient diphtheria and tetanus vaccines to satisfy the level of demand in Scotland.

Answer · Susan Deacon: I refer the Member to my answer to parliamentary question number S1W-1740.

29 Sep 1999 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many NHS beds are currently 'blocked' in Scotland.

Answer · Iain Gray: A pilot exercise involving local authorities and health boards was announced in April, based on a national definition that a delay has occurred where two days have passed after the clinician has agreed that a transfer is appropriate.<P ALIGN="JUSTIFY">On the …

29 Sep 1999 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether any element of the #750 million funding gap for care of the elderly identified by Sir Stewart Sutherland, Chairman of the Royal Commission for the long-term care of the elderly applies to Scotland, and if so, what action it is taking to address it.

Answer · Iain Gray: The central government allocation of resources to local authorities for community care is unhypothecated. The Grant Aided Expenditure (GAE) allocations for individual client groups are assessments of the relative need to spend to enable overall GAE levels to …

17 Sep 1999 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to Iain Gray's statement during the debate on the Food Standards Agency on 15 September 1999 that the Scottish Executive will be able to overrule recommendations made by the Food Standards Agency (FSA), whether it can envisage circumstances in which it would overrule an FSA recom…

Answer · Susan Deacon: The Food Standards Agency will work in an open and transparent way and be empowered to make public the advice it gives to Ministers. It will be for Ministers to consider this advice, and the views expressed by the Scottish Parliament on the Agency's recommend…

10 Sep 1999 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what research is currently being undertaken to prevent sudden unexpected death in epilepsy.

Answer · Susan Deacon: The causes of Sudden Unexpected Death in Epilepsy (SUDEP) are not well defined, which handicaps research into ways of preventing it. The Scottish Executive has recently agreed to fund a bid by the charity Epilepsy Bereaved, which has a particular interest in …

10 Sep 1999 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many cases of sudden unexpected death in epilepsy occurred in Scotland in 1998-1999.

Answer · Susan Deacon: The figures for deaths where epilepsy has been recorded on the death certificates are as follows:<TABLE BORDER CELLSPACING=1 CELLPADDING=7 WIDTH=616><TR><TD WIDTH="59%" VALIGN="TOP">&nbsp;</TD><TD WIDTH="18%" VALIGN="TOP"><P ALIGN="CENTER">1998</TD><TD WIDTH=…

10 Sep 1999 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether a sufficient quantity of meningitis A and C vaccine is available to meet current and projected needs, including the needs of the new intake of students into Scottish Universities.

Answer · Susan Deacon: Yes, although in some cases the level of demand may exceed the amount of vaccine immediately available to general practitioners. My Department's letter inviting first-time students to be immunised made it clear that any not immunised before starting their cou…

9 Sep 1999 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of each NHS Scotland Primary Care and Acute Hospitals Trust's total budget was attributable to management costs in the financial years 1997-98 and 1998-99, and what the projected percentage is for the years 1999-2000 and 2000-01.

Answer · Susan Deacon: The percentage of total income attributable to management costs as reported by each NHS Trust for 1997-98 and 1998-99 is given in the table below. The data relates to NHS Trusts prior to reconfiguration at April 1999. The definition of management cost upon wh…

9 Sep 1999 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what resources the NHS in Scotland anticipates will be made available for the development of primary care services in financial years 1999-2000 and 2000-01 as a result of savings achieved by the cessation of funding and trust management restructuring.

Answer · Susan Deacon: A total of £13.5 million, formerly paid as GP Fundholding Management Allowances has been redistributed on a weighted capitation basis to support the work of LHCCs in 1999-2000. In future years this funding will form part of Health Boards' unified budgets.<P A…

27 Aug 1999 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what funding has been allocated by Health Boards to primary care and acute NHS Trusts to relieve bed blocking in 1997-1998, 1998-1999 and 1999-2000.

Answer · Susan Deacon: The information requested can not be identified separately. A wide range of expenditure and action by Health Boards and NHS Trusts contributes to relieving bed blocking. This includes effective discharge planning, improving rehabilitation services and other d…

27 Aug 1999 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what funding has been allocated to each Health Board in Scotland to relieve bed blocking in 1997-98, 1998-99 and 1999-2000.

Answer · Susan Deacon: No funding has been allocated to Health Boards specifically to relieve bed blocking. Health Boards are given an annual general allocation to meet the health care needs of their resident populations. It is for Health Boards to determine, within the funds avail…