Questions · Mary Scanlon

16 Sep 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether the provision in the proposed Health Bill to keep GP practices in the NHS will be extended to commercial companies providing NHS dental services.

Answer · Shona Robison: No. The Dentists Act 1984 already restricts the business of dentistry to dentists and dental bodies corporate and, at present, only individual general dental practitioners can be listed with NHS boards to provide NHS general dental services. Provisions in the…

16 Sep 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what financial support can be given to dental bodies corporate to assist in the setting up and provision of NHS dental services.

Answer · Shona Robison: Currently, only individual general dental practitioners can be listed with NHS boards in order to provide NHS general dental services (GDS) and be eligible for financial support in their own right. Dentists employed by dental bodies corporate can apply indivi…

16 Sep 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what financial support can be given to commercial companies to assist in the setting up and provision of NHS dental services.

Answer · Shona Robison: The Dentists Act 1984 restricts the business of dentistry to dentists and dental bodies corporate so the question does not arise in relation to commercial companies in general. The position of dental bodies corporate in particular is set out in my answer to S…

11 Sep 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what national guidance it provides to local authorities on the standards of care that should be provided for people living with multiple sclerosis and their carers.

Answer · Shona Robison: National care standards set out the quality of care for the range of care services available to people in need of such support. Our short breaks guidance is intended to support the development of personalised and preventative short breaks and will sup…

11 Sep 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what it is doing to support the improvement of social care services for people with multiple sclerosis and other disabling neurological conditions.

Answer · Shona Robison: We are working closely with COSLA to promote a community care outcomes framework which offers a carefully designed suite of 16 measures which community care partnerships can use to evidence the improvement of outcomes for people who use community care service…

11 Sep 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how it monitors the provision of neurological services by NHS boards.

Answer · Shona Robison: NHS Quality Improvement Scotland are preparing clinical standards for neurological services. Once these have been published, NHS boards will be expected to provide services in line with the standards.

11 Sep 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what national guidance is currently provided to NHS boards for the provision of neurological services.

Answer · Shona Robison: NHS boards are responsible for the provision of services for those of their resident populations living with a neurological condition. Better Health, Better Care indicates the priority which we give to the development of Managed Clinical Netw…

9 Sep 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many unannounced visits have been carried out by the Care Commission for each category of care provision in the last year.

Answer · Shona Robison: I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-16139 on 23 September 2008. 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/we…

9 Sep 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether compliance with all national care standards are checked at each care inspection.

Answer · Shona Robison: I refer the member to the question S3W-16140 on 17 September 2008. 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.parliamanet.uk/webapp/wa.s…

9 Sep 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of care providers in each category failed to meet all the regulations in each of the last three years.

Answer · Shona Robison: This is an operational matter for the Care Commission under the regulatory framework set out in the Regulation of Care (Scotland) Act 2001, and its associated regulations. The information requested is not held centrally. You can contact the Chief Exe…

9 Sep 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it intends to review the system for registering and investigating complaints against care providers.

Answer · Shona Robison: I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-16146 on 17 September 2008. 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/we…

9 Sep 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how the outcomes of inquiries into complaints are made known to those inquiring about access to specific care services.

Answer · Shona Robison: I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-16146 on 17 September 2008. 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/we…

9 Sep 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how it will ensure that the complaints procedure relating to national care standards is known to all.

Answer · Shona Robison: The operation of its complaints procedure is an operational matter for the Care Commission. The Care Commission is required under section 6 of the Regulation of Care (Scotland) Act 2001 (the Act) to establish a complaints procedure and to investigate…

9 Sep 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what is being done to ensure that people using care services and their carers, relatives and friends are aware of the national care standards they should expect.

Answer · Shona Robison: The national care standards are published by Scottish ministers. The standards set out what people using care services, either now or in the future, can expect from care services, and how to raise any concerns they may have. The Scottish Government i…

9 Sep 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is committed to continuing the self-financing of the Care Commission.

Answer · Shona Robison: The work of the Care Commission is being considered as part of the Scottish Government''s response to the Independent Review of Regulation Audit, Inspection and Complaints Handling of Public Services in Scotland undertaken by Professor Lorne…

9 Sep 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what actions are taken in all sectors of care provision to address non-compliance of care providers with national care standards.

Answer · Shona Robison: Under the Regulation of Care (Scotland) Act 2001, the Care Commission has a wide range of enforcement powers at its disposal if a care service fails to provide the quality of care which is expected. These powers include: making recommendations on a service du…

9 Sep 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what time period is given for care providers in each category to conform to national care standards, following recommendations by the Care Commission.

Answer · Shona Robison: I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-16140 on 17 September 2008. 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.parliamanet.uk/w…

9 Sep 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many care providers have been closed down as a result of not complying with national care standards following inspection by the Care Commission.

Answer · Shona Robison: I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-16143 on 17 September 2008. 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/we…

9 Sep 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what action is taken by the Care Commission when a care provider has not complied with the national care standards and this has resulted in recommendations being made.

Answer · Shona Robison: The Care Commission inspects care services against the requirements of the Regulation of Care (Scotland) Act 2001 (the Act), its associated regulations, and taking account of the national care standards. The commission takes a proportionate approach …

9 Sep 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of each category of care service was visited (a) once, (b) twice and (c) more than twice by the Care Commission and what percentage of each category of care service was never visited in each of the last five years.

Answer · Shona Robison: Inspection of registered care services is an operational matter for the Care Commission within the requirements of the Regulation of Care (Scotland) Act 2001. The information requested is not held centrally. Section 25 of the act, as amended by the R…

9 Sep 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many pre-school nurseries received unannounced visits from the Care Commission in each of the last five years.

Answer · Shona Robison: I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-16139 on 23 September 2008. 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/we…

8 Sep 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many (a) announced and (b) unannounced visits have been carried out by the Care Commission to each care home for the elderly in each of the last five years.

Answer · Shona Robison: Inspection of registered care services is an operational matter for the Care Commission within the requirements of the Regulation of Care (Scotland) Act 2001 (the Act). The information requested is not held centrally. The Care Commission is required,…

3 Sep 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what is being done to reduce the 6% sickness absence rate in the Scottish Ambulance Service.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: The Scottish Ambulance Service has been running programmes to improve the wellbeing of its workforce and control sickness absence for a number of years. These include a range of working well initiatives together with stringent application of the management of…

3 Sep 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what benefits have been achieved by the introduction of Community Health Partnerships in terms of costs and patient care.

Answer · Shona Robison: Community Health Partnerships were established to enable the delivery of better services for local people and to help to improve the health of local communities. Patient benefits have been delivered by Community Health Partnerships (CHPs) including better man…

3 Sep 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the costs and benefits are of pay modernisation contracts for consultants, GPs and NHS staff affected by Agenda for Change.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: In relation to the costs of the new contracts it should be noted that costings were produced around the additional finance required for these new initiatives when they were introduced, and are detailed below. Now that these new terms and conditions have been …

3 Sep 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how patient care will be improved as a result of direct elections to NHS boards.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: The responses to the consultation that informed the development of the Health Boards (Membership and Elections) (Scotland) Bill revealed a widespread concern about the need to re-establish public confidence in the decision-making of health boards. Th…

3 Sep 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive when it will end the single crewing of ambulances in response to 999 calls.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-15377 on 11 August 2008. 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/webap…

3 Sep 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how much money has been saved by abolishing NHS trusts and setting up community health partnerships.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-15956 on 9 September 2008. 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/web…

3 Sep 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the cost is of administration of community health partnerships in each NHS board.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-15956 on 9 September 2008. 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/web…

3 Sep 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether the provision in the proposed Health Bill to keep GP practices in the NHS will be extended to general dental practitioners working in private practice.

Answer · Shona Robison: General dental practitioners working in private practice are delivering private dentistry rather than NHS dentistry. This is not analogous to commercial companies providing NHS primary medical services. Most independent general dental practitioners c…