Nanette Milne

5 Feb 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether each NHS board will introduce the central collection of data on medicines prescribing and usage, broken down by condition.

Answer · Alex Neil: The vast majority of drugs in the NHS in Scotland are prescribed and dispensed in primary care. Prescription and cost analysis data of these drugs are published on the NHS National Services Scotland website at: http://www.isdscotland.org/Health-Topics/Prescr…

5 Feb 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will publish monthly the number and type of applications to the Rare Conditions Medicines Fund and the associated costs.

Answer · Alex Neil: The final arrangements for managing the Rare Conditions Medicines Fund will be published in the near future.

5 Feb 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it will take to ensure that clinicians are not deterred from applying for treatments under the Rare Conditions Medicines Fund.

Answer · Alex Neil: The Scottish Government would expect clinicians to pursue an Individual Patient Treatment Requests (IPTRs) for an individual patient where they believe they can provide a robust clinical case to support prescribing an SMC “not recommended” medicine. NHS board…

5 Feb 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will reform the individual patient treatment requests process to ensure that applications for treatments that fall within the scope of the Rare Conditions Medicines Fund are approved from 1 March 2013.

Answer · Alex Neil: The outcomes of the current review of Access to New Medicines will be published in the near future.

5 Feb 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will remove the restrictions in the Chief Medical Officer's guidance on individual patient treatment requests that stipulate that applications for treatments must be within licence and outside a Scottish Medicines Consortium restriction.

Answer · Alex Neil: The outcomes of the current review of Access to New Medicines will be published in the near future.

5 Feb 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government when it will publish the findings of the review of the individual patient treatment requests process and whether a ministerial statement will be made on the matter.

Answer · Alex Neil: The outcomes of the current review of Access to New Medicines will be published in the near future.

5 Feb 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will take action to ensure that patients with relatively rare conditions can access medicines recommended by their clinicians.

Answer · Alex Neil: The outcomes of the current review of Access to New Medicines will be published in the near future.

5 Feb 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what the qualifying criteria for the Rare Conditions Medicines Fund will be.

Answer · Alex Neil: The final arrangements for managing the Rare Conditions Medicines Fund will be published in the near future.

5 Feb 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government when it will publish guidance on the administration of the Rare Conditions Medicines Fund and whether it will consult on the guidance.

Answer · Alex Neil: The final arrangements for managing the Rare Conditions Medicines Fund will be published in the near future.

5 Feb 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will publish the interim advice provided by Professor Charles Swainson on the individual patient treatment request process.

Answer · Alex Neil: The outcomes of the current review of Access to New Medicines will be published in the near future.

5 Feb 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government on what basis it has valued the Rare Conditions Medicines Fund at £21 million.

Answer · Alex Neil: We have estimated that £20 million would be sufficient to comfortably meet the costs of successful Individual Patient Treatment Requests for orphan medicines in the 2013-14 financial year. As the fund will begin operation in March 2013 the total we have alloc…

5 Feb 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much the hospital medicines utilisation database has recorded as being spent on medicines for cancer treatment by each NHS board in each year since 2010.

Answer · Alex Neil: At present, the Hospital Medicines Utilisation Database (HMUD) data is not sufficiently complete for all the NHS boards in which tertiary cancer services operate to provide a true indication of the use of cancer therapy across Scotland. Plans are in place to…

5 Feb 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much has been spent by each NHS board on orphan drugs in each year since 2010.

Answer · Alex Neil: This information is not held centrally. I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-11438 on 13 December 2012. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at; http…

5 Feb 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what drugs (a) with and (b) without European Medicines Agency orphan designation have not been accepted for use by the Scottish Medicines Consortium in each year since 2010 and how many potential users of the drugs there were.

Answer · Alex Neil: Scottish Medicines Consortium (SMC) advice on all medicines, including medicines with European Medicines Agency orphan designation, is available on the SMC website: http://www.scottishmedicines.org The Detailed Advice Document (DAD) for each medicine publish…

5 Feb 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many patients will benefit from the Rare Conditions Medicines Fund and on what basis the estimate has been made.

Answer · Alex Neil: The Scottish Government does not centrally hold data on the number of patients suffering from rare conditions for which orphan medicines not recommended by the Scottish Medicines Consortium might be funded following a successful Individual Patient Treatment R…

5 Feb 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government when it will publish the operational arrangements for the Rare Conditions Medicines Fund.

Answer · Alex Neil: The final arrangements for managing the Rare Conditions Medicines Fund will be published in the near future.

24 Jan 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) dermatology and (b) melanoma referrals there have been in each year since 1999, broken down by NHS board.

Answer · Alex Neil: The information gathered for Dermatology referrals records the number of patients who were referred and attended their appointment. The following tables are split into three due the changes in the past 13 years in how waiting times are measured and collect…

24 Jan 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the economic benefits of increasing the production of venison.

Answer · Paul Wheelhouse: An initial assessment of the economic benefits of increasing the production of venison has been completed and suggests that there is clear potential for growth within the venison sector.

24 Jan 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to increase the production of venison.

Answer · Richard Lochhead: We are working closely with representatives of the Scottish venison sector to identify opportunities to substantially increase both the production and processing of venison in Scotland.

17 Jan 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to improve the availability of live traffic cameras on the (a) A90, (b) A96 and (c) A98.

Answer · Keith Brown: There are 15 live traffic camera views available on the Traffic Scotland website covering the Grampian area including the A90 and the A96. Transport Scotland is currently reviewing its Intelligent Transport System strategy to look for opportunities to add fur…

16 Jan 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many staff shortages NHS boards have reported in remote and rural communities in each year since 1999, broken down by (a) doctors, (b) nurses and (c) dentists.

Answer · Alex Neil: The information requested on how many staff shortages NHS boards have reported in remote and rural communities in each year since 1999, broken down by (a) doctors, (b) nurses and (c) dentists is not held centrally.

10 Jan 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many assaults on hospital staff have been reported in each year since 1999, broken down by (a) hospital and (b) NHS board.

Answer · Alex Neil: This information is not held centrally. This is a matter for NHS boards.

10 Jan 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many dermatology inpatient beds there have been in each NHS board area in each year since 1999.

Answer · Alex Neil: The average available staffed beds for dermatology in-patients by NHS Board for financial years ending 31 March 1999 to 31 March 2012 are provided in the following table(s). NHS Board 1998-99 1999-2000 2000-01 2001-02 2002-03 2003-04 2004-05 Ayrshire…

9 Jan 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many patients in each NHS board area have had an appointment for treatment for haemorrhoids cancelled in each year since 1999.

Answer · Alex Neil: The specific information requested is not collected centrally.

9 Jan 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many patients have been treated for haemorrhoids by each NHS board in each year since 1999.

Answer · Alex Neil: Treatment for haemorrhoids can occur at GP surgeries, outpatient clinics and in hospital as an inpatient or day case. There are no centrally collected figures which count the number of people consulting a GP practice or receiving treatment from the practice …

9 Jan 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what the average waiting time has been in each NHS board for patients seeking treatment for haemorrhoids in each year since 1999.

Answer · Alex Neil: The information requested is not available centrally.

4 Jan 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what the average number of patients per GP has been in each year since 1999, broken down by NHS board.

Answer · Alex Neil: The information requested will be available from the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (SPICe) (Bib. Number 54628).

23 Dec 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what (a) discussions and (b) meetings ministers have had regarding the future of the National Lottery in an independent Scotland.

Answer · John Swinney: The Scottish Government engages in discussions with a wide range of stakeholders about matters of importance to Scotland’s people and communities. An independent Scotland will continue to have a lottery and lottery infrastructure.

23 Dec 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much has been spent on NHS administration in each year since 1999, broken down by NHS board.

Answer · Alex Neil: I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-04773 on 19 January 2012 for a breakdown of hospital and community administration costs by health board and which defines administration reporting, for years ending 31 March 1999 to 2011. All answers to parliam…

21 Dec 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what the cost has been of civil servants' work on preparing for the independence referendum.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: Details of staff working in the Scottish Government’s Elections and Constitution Division, whose work includes policy on elections, legislation and electronic counting systems for local government elections, as well as the new provisions in the Scotland Act 2…