Mary Scanlon

24 Jul 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the recommended distance is between electricity pylons and homes or schools.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: The operators of overhead powerlines are required to maintain safe conditions in compliance with the ElectricitySafety, Quality and Continuity (Amendment) Regulations 2006. Provisionsfor ensuring the necessary clearances from overhead conductors are in Electr…

24 Jul 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-1464 by Nicola Sturgeon on 19 July 2007, why information on waiting times for alcohol detoxification and rehabilitation is not held centrally and what action will be taken to ensure that this information is available in future.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: The varied range of alcoholdetoxification and rehabilitation services and the different ways of accessingthese services has meant it is not possible to collect waiting timeinformation. </p><p>We will give furtherconsideration to the feasibility of collecting …

24 Jul 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive why no more than one-third of the resources allocated to drug and alcohol detoxification and rehabilitation programmes is spent on alcohol addiction, given the number of individuals and families affected by alcohol problems.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: NHS boards receive aspecific allocation to help provide alcohol treatment services. However, fundingfor these services could also be made available from the general allocationreceived by boards for the provision of services to their local communities.</p>

23 Jul 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will outline the procedure and consultation process for the Cairngorms National Park Authority review in 2008.

Answer · Michael Russell: I refer the member to the questionS3W-2332 answered on 10 August 2007. All answers to written parliamentary questions areavailable on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can befound at:</p><p><ahref="http://.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/w…

23 Jul 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive who will be included in the consultation process for the Cairngorms National Park review in 2008.

Answer · Michael Russell: I refer the member to the answerto question S3W-2332 on 10 August 2007. All answers to written parliamentary questions areavailable on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can befound at:</p><p><ahref="http://.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/…

23 Jul 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how people living in or near the Cairngorms National Park will be consulted during the park’s review in 2008.

Answer · Michael Russell: I refer the member to the questionS3W-2332 answered on 10 August 2007. All answers to written parliamentary questions areavailable on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be foundat: <a href="http://.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.sea…

23 Jul 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what aspects of the Cairngorms National Park will be reviewed in 2008.

Answer · Michael Russell: I expect to initiate areview covering both National Parks in 2008 with the objective of examining theoperation of the Park Authorities as well as questions about the parkboundaries. I will make a statement about the scope of the review, itsprocedures and the …

23 Jul 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether any development is allowed on areas of blanket bog designated under EU directives.

Answer · Michael Russell: Certain areas of blanket bogin Scotland are designated under the EC Habitats Directive as aqualifying feature on a number of Special Areas of Conservation (or secondarilyas the habitat of qualifying species in Special Areas of Conservation orSpecial Protectio…

23 Jul 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether the Lochindorb Area of Great Landscape Value will be considered for inclusion in the Cairngorms National Park review.

Answer · Michael Russell: I refer the member to the answerto question S3W-2332 on 10 August 2007. All answers to written parliamentary questions areavailable on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can befound at:</p><p><ahref="http://.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/…

23 Jul 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether areas designated as priority habitats under EU directives within settlements and proposed development areas should be marked on national park and local authority plans at all stages of the consultation process and on the final plan.

Answer · Michael Russell: The EC Habitats Directivedefines certain species and habitats as having “priority” if they areparticularly threatened in global terms and if the EuropeanCommunity contains a significant proportion of their natural range. Whilst allhabitats and species listed …

23 Jul 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether the Scottish Biodiversity List should be supplied as part of the consultative process for local plans drawn up by national park and local authorities.

Answer · Stewart Stevenson: There is no requirementon planning authorities to supply the Scottish Biodiversity List as part of theconsultative process for local plans drawn up by national park and local authorities.</p>

23 Jul 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether designated ancient woodland areas within settlements and proposed development areas should be marked on national park and local authority plans at all stages of the consultation process and on the final plan.

Answer · Stewart Stevenson: National Planning Policy Guideline 14: Natural Heritage (NPPG 14) states that planning authorities should seek to protect trees, groups of trees and areas of woodland where they have natural heritage value or contribute to the character or amenity of a partic…

23 Jul 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether a managed clinical network is being planned to meet the needs of kidney patients.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: There are no plans atpresent.</p>

23 Jul 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what measures are in place to screen patients in the early stages of kidney disease.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: The UK National ScreeningCommittee (NSC) has advised that chronic kidney disease (CKD) is not an areaswhere the evidence supports screening of the adult population. Guidelines arehowever available to clinicians to enable them to target high-risk groups andsub…

23 Jul 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many kidney patients in Scotland are waiting for a transplant.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: The number of peopleresident in Scotland currently awaiting a kidney transplant is set out inthe following table.</p><table border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=3 width=504> <thead> <tr> <td width=120 valign=top> <p>Status</p> </td> <td width=120 vali…

23 Jul 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive which renal units are operating above 80% capacity.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: All 10 adult renal units areoperating above 80% capacity.</p>

23 Jul 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the projected number is of kidney patients in need of haemodialysis in the next 10 years.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: The information requested isnot available centrally. The Scottish Renal Registry (SRR) does notspecifically publish predictions because of the number of confounding factorsinvolved.</p>

23 Jul 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many kidney patients received haemodialysis in each NHS board in each of the last five years.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: The number of people usinghospital or home haemodialysis for established renal failure on 31 December inthe years 2002 to 2006 by NHS Board of residence is set out in the table below:</p><table border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=3 width=479> <thead> <tr> <…

18 Jul 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the average waiting time is for a methadone prescription in each NHS board area.

Answer · Fergus Ewing: Specific information onaverage waiting times for methadone prescriptions is not held centrally.</p><p>A national waiting timesinformation framework was implemented in April 2004, to enable alcohol and drugaction teams (ADATs) and local services to monitor wai…

17 Jul 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what measures are being taken to support GPs who have been unable to find GP training posts on the self-constructed training programme.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: If there are any traineedoctors in Scotland who have been unable to secure a place on the generalpractitioner training programme, career advice will be provided by their generalpractitioner director of education.<</p

17 Jul 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many GPs will have to be recruited in the next five years in order to implement the recommendations of the Kerr report.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: The annual workforceplanning process, which is informed by local and national input, takes account,on an iterative basis, of any anticipated future changes to the workforce inNHSScotland. Work on implementation of the Kerr report is ongoing and includesconsid…

17 Jul 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many places are being made available this year and in the next five years to train GPs.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: From August 2007, the newGeneral Practice training programme (under Modernising Medical Careers) willcomprise 890 places – 290 in year 1, 300 in year 2 and 300 in year three (theGPR year). As part of workforce planning arrangements, the number of trainingplac…

17 Jul 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many places have been available on the GP training scheme in each of the last 10 years.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: Prior to August 2007,training to be a general practitioner was either through the General PracticeVocational Training Scheme or through a self-construct approach. Both routesrequired a final year as a General Practice Registrar (GPR). From August 2007,the tra…

17 Jul 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many GPs (a) are due to retire and (b) have indicated that they will take early retirement in the next five years.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: In estimating the rate ofleavers in future years for general practitioners, planning assumptions arebased on historical patterns of leaving. Based on these assumptions thefollowing number of leavers are estimated:</p><table border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding…

17 Jul 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the cost has been of recruitment from outwith Scotland to fill GP vacancies in each of the last five years.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: The information requested isnot centrally available. General practitioners are independent contractors andresponsible for the recruitment of their own staff.</p>

17 Jul 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many doctors have been recruited from outwith Scotland to fill GP vacancies in each of the last five years.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: The information availablerelates to general practitioners new to NHSScotland by country of qualificationoutwith Scotland. This is only available for the following years asfollows:</p><table border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=3> <thead> <tr> <td width=84 v…

17 Jul 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many GP vacancies there are in each NHS board.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: As independent contractorsunder the new General Medical Services contract, general practitioners aregenerally not employees of NHS boards so data on vacancies is not centrallyheld.</p>

17 Jul 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the timetable is for a national colorectal cancer screening programme.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: The bowel screeningprogramme commenced in June 2007 with the former pilot NHS Boards (NHS Fife,Tayside and Grampian) first on the programme. The remaining NHS boards will bephased in over the next two years at the dates indicated in the following table.All el…

17 Jul 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive which NHS boards offer colorectal cancer screening.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: Currently NHS Tayside,Grampian and Fife offer colorectal cancer screening for all eligibleadults aged 50 – 74. These health boards are the first to participate in thenew screening programme which commenced in June 2007. The remaining health boardswill join th…

17 Jul 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what is being done to improve the terms and conditions of service of staff and associate specialist grade doctors.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: For the last two years, the Scottish Executive have been involved in discussions with the other UK HealthDepartments on a new contract for staff and associate specialist grade doctors.These discussions have now concluded and the new contract is currently unde…