Parliamentary questions

Mary Scanlon

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

17 Mar 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what additional IT benefits for patient care will arise from the replacement of the Gpass system.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: In addition to the benefits of more modern IT systems being provided to GP practices, the replacement of GPASS is intended to produce savings that will allow NHS boards to invest in other areas of IT to support shifting the balance of care. For patient care t…

17 Mar 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what action is being taken to increase the number and availability of diagnostic tests in GP surgeries.

Answer · Shona Robison: This is part of the work programme of Shifting the Balance of Care, under the Better Health, Better Care Action Plan, with the aim of delivering services as locally as possible.

17 Mar 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive when responsibility for routine repeat prescribing will be transferred to pharmacists.

Answer · Shona Robison: The Scottish Government has no plans to transfer routine repeat prescribing to community pharmacists. Trained pharmacists can prescribe under supplementary and/or independent prescribing arrangements. These arrangements can include repeat prescribing. <p…

17 Mar 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive which NHS boards allow patients to self-refer for physiotherapy treatment.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: Self-referral for physiotherapy is available in some areas of NHS Borders, NHS Dumfries and Galloway, NHS Fife, NHS Forth Valley, NHS Grampian, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, NHS Highland, NHS Lothian, NHS Tayside and NHS Western Isles. This service will also…

17 Mar 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether provision of occupational therapy and speech therapy is included in HM Inspectorate of Education inspections for special schools for pupils with additional support needs.

Answer · Keith Brown: The impact of the work of a range of therapists, including occupational and speech and language therapists, is included in the inspection of special schools by HM Inspectorate of Education (HMIE). Where appropriate, an HMIE report on a special schoo…

13 Mar 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-21604 by Kenny MacAskill on 10 March 2009, what progress has been made to select and acquire a suitable site for HMP Highland.

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: I have asked Mike Ewart, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows: The Scottish Prison Service, working in conjunction with Highland Council, has identified possible sites for the proposed HMP Highland and…

12 Mar 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what progress has been made on reducing the number of re-admissions to psychiatric hospitals.

Answer · Shona Robison: Excellent progress is being made, with most Boards on course to exceed this target; those finding the target challenging are receiving extra support from The Scottish Government Mental Health Collaborative. Progress on reducing the number of readmis…

12 Mar 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what action has been taken to achieve the health improvement, efficiency, access and treatment (HEAT) target to achieve agreed completion rates for child weight intervention programmes by 2010-2011.

Answer · Shona Robison: All 14 territorial health boards have developed healthy weight intervention programmes to meet this HEAT target. They are supported in delivering the target by guidance from NHS Health Scotland.

12 Mar 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether access to physical activity and physical education facilities and to facilities to promote physical literacy for three and four-year-olds at each nursery school is inspected by HM Inspectorate of Education and included in all inspection reports.

Answer · Adam Ingram: HMIE look at the experiences children have for physical development indoors and outside on every pre-school inspection, and often focus in particular on monitoring daily energetic activity. Most pre-school inspection reports will include a comment about physi…

12 Mar 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how much physical activity, physical education and activity to promote physical literacy must be provided to each three and four-year-old in nursery schools.

Answer · Keith Brown: Building the Curriculum 3: A framework for learning and teaching sets out the government''s expectation that children and young people are entitled to two hours of quality physical education per week. This is in addition to physical activity and sport…

9 Mar 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what is being done to encourage the installation of water meters in all new homes.

Answer · Stewart Stevenson: At present, the focus of our policy, and the most cost-effective way of reducing water use, is through leakage reduction “ which is being vigorously pursued by Scottish Water.

9 Mar 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what is being done to encourage consumers to reduce their use of water.

Answer · Stewart Stevenson: Scottish Water and Scottish Water Business Stream have a range of programmes which aim to encourage consumers to use water efficiently. These include raising awareness to reduce their use of water and building regulations guidance which provides advice on rai…

9 Mar 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-20693 by Shona Robison on 4 March 2009, how obesity services and support for children can be planned given that data are not available for NHS Grampian, the former NHS Greater Glasgow, NHS Highland, NHS Orkney and NHS Shetland.

Answer · Shona Robison: National data on levels of childhood obesity are available from the Scottish Health Survey and new data will be available later in 2009. We have used data from the most recent Scottish Health Survey (2003) to determine the HEAT targets for each health board i…

9 Mar 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what ratio of debt to fixed assets is considered to be acceptable by each local authority.

Answer · John Swinney: Legislation places local authorities under a duty to determine and keep under review the maximum amount it can afford to allocate to capital expenditure. This requires them to consider the amount of borrowing it will need to undertake, and in doing so local a…

9 Mar 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive by how much each local authority increased its borrowing debt, including Housing Revenue Account debt, in each of the last 10 years.

Answer · John Swinney: The following tables show the year on-year change in total outstanding debt as at the end of each year from 1999 onwards for all local authorities in Scotland. This information is drawn from information provided by local authorities in their annual returns.</…

9 Mar 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has concerns about the level of local authority debt.

Answer · John Swinney: Legislation places local authorities under a duty to determine and keep under review the maximum amount it can afford to allocate to capital expenditure, and hence the amount of borrowing it will need to undertake, and requires that in doing so local authorit…

5 Mar 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether information is held centrally on the (a) longest and (b) average waiting times to see (i) psychologists, (ii) psychiatrists and (iii) cognitive behavioural therapists in each NHS board area.

Answer · Shona Robison: Centrally collected information is not available. In most cases those requiring access to mental health services already receive treatment well within 18 weeks. However, for those areas where delays occur, we have been considering a new waiting time …

5 Mar 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what is being done to increase recovery rates for people with schizophrenia.

Answer · Shona Robison: The NHS in Scotland works with local government and voluntary sector partners as well as patients and their carers to offer care and treatment which is in accordance with clinical evidence of effectiveness. NHS Quality Improvement Scotland (QIS) has…

5 Mar 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what reports it has received from the audit sub-committee of the board of the Care Commission, which was established to review its performance against published performance targets.

Answer · Shona Robison: The Audit Committee of the Board of the Scottish Commission for the Regulation of Care (the Care Commission) does not report to the Scottish Government but to the full Board of the Care Commission. The terms of reference of the Care Commission''s Au…

5 Mar 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-20864 by Kenny MacAskill on 4 March 2009, what the anticipated timescale is for the opening of the proposed HMP Highland.

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: I have asked Mike Ewart, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows: Before the proposed HMP Highland opens, the Scottish Prison Service needs to select and acquire a suitable site, obtain planning permissio…

5 Mar 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive to what extent physical education is measured by HM Inspectorate of Education in (a) nursery, (b) primary and (c) secondary schools.

Answer · Keith Brown: Consideration of physical education is an integral part of inspections of all early years establishments, primary and secondary schools. Each inspection of a nursery focuses on children''s experiences in physical development and movement. Inspectors discuss t…

5 Mar 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive when the target of two hours of PE per week for each school pupil per week will be achieved.

Answer · Keith Brown: We are using the concordat with local government to take forward delivery of Scottish Government policies including the development and delivery of Curriculum for Excellence within which the two hours PE target is embedded. I expect the final versio…

5 Mar 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive which local authorities include two hours of PE per week in their single outcome agreements.

Answer · Keith Brown: Of the 32 single outcome agreements (SOAs) agreed between Councils and the Scottish Government by 30 June 2008, six mention two hours PE. These are: Western Isles; Edinburgh; North Ayrshire; Angus; Clackmannanshire, and Dundee. We are currently in t…

5 Mar 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive which local authorities provide two hours of PE per week to each child in primary and secondary school education.

Answer · Keith Brown: We do not hold this information, but physical education is an integral part of all school inspections. HM Inspectorate of Education (HMIE) has been gathering data on the two hour target since October 2006 and inspecting physical education in every school it h…

5 Mar 2009 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it considers that the consultation carried out on the National Planning Framework for Scotland 2 was adequate.

Answer · Stewart Stevenson: This question was answered in the Chamber. The answer can be viewed in the Official Report using the following link: <a href="http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/business/officialReports/meetingsParliament/or-09/sor0305-01.htm">http://www.scott…

2 Mar 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what financial assistance will be given to podiatrists to assist with investment in the decontamination of podiatry instruments in line with the recommendations in Sterile Services Provision Review Group: First Report - The Glennie Framework.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: The provision of NHS services including podiatry services, is a matter for NHS boards. NHS boards have a responsibility for allocating resources for NHS services in line with local and national priorities.

2 Mar 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many people have been admitted to NHS hospitals for weight loss surgery in each year of the last 10 years.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: The following table shows the number of patients admitted to Scottish NHS hospitals for weight loss surgery for the calendar years 1998-2007: <table border=0 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 > <thead> <tr > <td nowrap > Year …

2 Mar 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what health risks are associated with hormone replacement therapies provided by the NHS.

Answer · Shona Robison: The safety of medicines is reserved and is the responsibility of the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA). The MHRA and its independent advisory committee the commission on Human Medicines keep the safety of all licensed medicines, inclu…

27 Feb 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, in light of the findings by the Scottish Commission for the Regulation of Care in the Involving People Plan that 7% of older people in care homes and 37% people who use the services generally are aware of the national care standards, what action is being taken to address the levels of aw…

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-21511 on 10 March 2009. 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/Apps2/…

27 Feb 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, in light of findings by the Scottish Commission for the Regulation of Care in the Involving People Plan that 7% of older people in care homes and 38% of people using services generally are aware of the national care standards, whether it is content with the levels of awareness among olde…

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: Awareness of the National Care Standards was measured at 15% in a survey of the general population in November 2004. The Scottish Government launched a campaign to raise awareness of the National Care Standards on 30 June 2008. This included television, radio…