Parliamentary questions

Mary Scanlon

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

2 Mar 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many women have been vaccinated against human papilloma virus (HPV), broken down by age, in each of the last five years.

Answer · Shona Robison: The HPV Immunisation Programme in Scotland started on 1 September 2008. The latest statistics showing uptake rates for girls eligible for vaccination in year one (September 2008 to August 2009) and year two (September 2009 to August 2010) of the prog…

2 Mar 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many women have presented for a smear test for cervical cancer in each of the last five years.

Answer · Shona Robison: Data on the number of cervical screening tests processed by the Scottish Cervical Screening Programme for each of the last five years can be found on the Information Services Division website at: http://www.isdscotland.org/isd/servlet/FileBuffer?name…

2 Mar 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will recommend the provision of complementary and alternative medicine through the Complementary and Natural Health Council for the treatment of chronic pain.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: The Complementary and Natural Healthcare Council (CNHC) is a non-statutory project, funded and assessed by the Department of Health in London. There is no duly appointed Scottish representative on the CNHC, and no endorsement or funding has been sought from t…

2 Mar 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will recommend sequential therapies for the treatment of persistent non-specific low back pain.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) Clinical Guideline on Early Management of Persistent Non-specific Low Back Pain (May 2009) refers to the use of sequential therapies, in the section dealing with research recommendations. It sug…

1 Mar 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive for what reason there is no national strategy for equal access to counselling in schools.

Answer · Adam Ingram: There is no national strategy for equal access to counselling in schools as there is already a comprehensive framework in place to make sure learners with additional support needs including social, emotional or mental health needs, short or long-term, access …

1 Mar 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what progress has been made in implementing the guidance identified in the 2005 report, The Mental Health of Children and Young People: A Framework for Promotion, Prevention, and Care.

Answer · Shona Robison: Since The Mental Health of Children and Young People: A framework for Promotion, Prevention and Care was published, delivery partners in NHS boards, local authorities and the voluntary sector have made significant progress. Awareness …

1 Mar 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what is being done to identify and support schoolchildren known to be self-harming.

Answer · Shona Robison: The Scottish Government, through the implementation of the 2005 Children and Young People''s Mental Health Framework for Promotion, Prevention and Care have been encouraging NHS boards and partners to improve the networks between professionals within the chil…

1 Mar 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will ensure that counselling in schools is integrated as a support system into the referral pathway to access psychological therapies.

Answer · Adam Ingram: Under Curriculum for Excellence, every learner is entitled to support, from universal support which starts with ethos, climate and relationships within a learning environment which is inclusive and fair, to targeted support. Support and health and wellbeing a…

1 Mar 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what is being done to ensure that all school pupils have access to counselling in schools.

Answer · Adam Ingram: It is for local authorities and NHS boards to determine and design services in response to local priorities and clinical need. Under the Additional Support for Learning (Scotland) Act 2004 as amended, education authorities are required to identify, m…

17 Feb 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the timeframe is for the Nairn bypass.

Answer · Keith Brown: This project, which is included within Intervention 22 of the Strategic Transport Projects Review (STPR), will require many stages to be undertaken, including detailed design and development work before we can finalise the timescales for delivery. <p…

11 Feb 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what health professional will undertake the proposed health and development check for children between 24 and 30 months under the universal child health surveillance programme.

Answer · Shona Robison: The review needs to be flexible to meet the needs of the child and family. Although it is anticipated that a registered Public Health Nurse “ Health Visitor will lead the review process, it is for NHS boards to decide locally how the reviews can be carried ou…

11 Feb 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what health and development checks will be undertaken in the proposed 24 to 30 month review under the universal child health surveillance programme.

Answer · Shona Robison: As a minimum, the 24 to 30 month review should cover: speech, language and communication; personal, social and emotional development (including behavioural issues); nutrition, growth and weight; immunisations; parental concerns and issues; vision, hearing and…

11 Feb 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what guidance it has issued to NHS boards regarding the (a) criteria, (b) recording and (c) use of the Health Plan Indicator for children under five.

Answer · Shona Robison: Guidance regarding the Health Plan Indicator (HPI) was contained in A New Look at Hall 4, The Early Years, Good Health for Every Child, launched on 18 January 2011. The criteria for allocation of the HPI should be based on the assessed need o…

9 Feb 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what its position is on the level of consultation carried out by Highland Council regarding the possible effect on pupils’ education arising from the loss of classroom assistants.

Answer · Michael Russell: Highland Council is responsible for the delivery of education in its area. The employment and deployment of their staff in the delivery of that duty is a matter for the local authority. I understand that following the council meeting on 10 February 2011 Highl…

2 Feb 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many vacancies in consultant psychologist posts there are in each NHS board.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: Information on vacancies for consultant psychologists posts in each NHS board is available from the Information Services Division website under workforce information at: http://www.isdscotland.org/isd/5899.html.

2 Feb 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many psychologists have been employed in each discipline in each year since 2007.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: Information for 2010 on the number of psychologists employed in NHSScotland is published on the NHS National Services Scotland, Information Services Division (ISD) website at: http://www.isdscotland.org/isd/5381.html. Previous years can be f…

2 Feb 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many patients are offered a multidisciplinary pain management programme after attending a local pain clinic, broken down by NHS board.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: This information is not held centrally.

2 Feb 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive which NHS boards have sent patients to pain management programmes outside Scotland and how much this cost each board.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: The number of people referred to pain management programmes outside Scotland, during the period 1 April 2010 to 4 February 2011, and the cost to each NHS board, are given in the following table: <table border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 > <thead…

2 Feb 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what pain management services there are in each NHS board.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: This information is not held centrally. NHS Quality Improvement Scotland (NHS QIS) has however asked each NHS board to provide information about its pain management services for inclusion on the chronic pain community website that will be launche…

2 Feb 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how it is monitoring the implementation by each NHS board of the report, Getting to GRIPS with Chronic Pain in Scotland.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: Taking forward the recommendations in the GRIPS (Getting Relevant Information on Pain Services) report forms the basis of the work of the steering group on chronic pain, which we have set up with NHS Quality Improvement Scotland and which is chaired b…

26 Jan 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how patients requiring diagnosis and treatment for (a) infertility, (b) mental health issues and (c) drug addiction will be assisted by the EU directive on cross-border healthcare

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: The Cross-border Healthcare Directive codifies existing European case-law, established over the last 10 years or so, which has determined that EU citizens'' have the right to travel in the European Economic Area (EEA) to receive healthcare services that are t…

21 Jan 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how the funding that it provides to local authorities for flood prevention schemes compares with the 80% of eligible costs provided by the previous administration.

Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: The Scottish Government provides grants to local authorities to fund capital investment as a General Capital Grant. Local authorities have the flexibility and freedom to determine how this grant is used to address local needs and priorities. The distribution …

21 Jan 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what funding commitment it will provide to local authorities for schemes where a flood prevention order is granted.

Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: Under the Flood Prevention (Scotland) Act 1961, which was revoked on 24 December 2010 with the coming into force of Part 4 of the Flood Risk Management Act 2009, flood prevention schemes became eligible for flood prevention grant on confirmation by Ministers …

21 Jan 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive for what reason Moray Council’s grant allocation has reduced from 1.629% of the Scottish budget in 2010-11 to 1.601% in 2011-12.

Answer · John Swinney: The present needs-based distribution formula for local government funding is one which has been in place for many years. The formula was reviewed jointly, by the Scottish government and COSLA, in 2009, and it concluded that the existing indicators were reason…

20 Jan 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will reappraise the guidance on infant feeding regarding the introduction of other foods.

Answer · Shona Robison: The Scottish Government endorses, and adopts as policy, the World Health Organization''s guidance recommending exclusively breastfeeding for an infant''s first six months, and the introduction of solids, for all infants, at around six months. Thi…

19 Jan 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-21939 by Kenny MacAskill on 13 March 2009, what progress has been made on the evaluation of the suitability of the identified sites for the proposed HMP Highland.

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: I have asked John Ewing, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service, to respond. His response is as follows: The Scottish Prison Service (SPS) announced in October 2008 that it planned to replace HMP Inverness with a new prison, HMP Highland.…

19 Jan 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it plans to build a new sheriff court in Inverness.

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: This question relates to operational matters that are the responsibility of the Scottish Court Service (SCS) corporate body. The question has been passed to the Chief Executive of the SCS who will reply in writing.

14 Jan 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what action it takes to ensure that pharmacists visit care homes for older people to improve knowledge and understanding of medication management.

Answer · Shona Robison: Care home operators are responsible, as part of the package of care provided to residents, for medication supervision and support. It is the responsibility of each patient''s GP to ensure that medicines prescribed for each patient are appropriate. There is a …

14 Jan 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what action it takes to ensure that older people in care homes are not given medication covertly.

Answer · Shona Robison: Under the Adults with Incapacity (Scotland) Act 2000, it is incumbent on the medical practitioner primarily responsible for the medical treatment of an adult to complete a section 47 certificate once they have established that the adult is incapable in relati…

13 Jan 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how much money has been targeted at sports clubs and governing bodies through the Sports Facilities Fund and what facilities have been improved as a result.

Answer · Shona Robison: Sportscotland''s Sports Facilities Fund is an application based funding programme designed to support the development, refurbishment and improvement of the stock of Scotland''s sports facilities. This information is not held centrally by the Scottish…