Parliamentary questions

Nanette Milne

1,264 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.

10 Nov 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will provide a list of any other contracts it proposes to enter with the private health sector.

Answer · George Lyon: While this information is not available centrally, we estimate that there are approximately 1,200 community councils in Scotland. Encouraging people and organisations to become involved in their local community is one of the issues we address in our recently …

10 Nov 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will provide a list (a) of the NHS boards that have entered contracts with the private health sector, showing the name and remit of each provider and (b) any other contracts it plans to enter with the private health sector.

Answer · Andy Kerr: NHS boards who have been allocated Executive funding to contract with the independent sector during 2005-06 are: Argyll and Clyde, Ayrshire and Arran, Borders, Dumfries and Galloway, Fife, Forth Valley, Grampian, Greater Glasgow, Lanarkshire, Lothian and Tays…

10 Nov 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how much it has spent on contracts with the private health sector.

Answer · Andy Kerr: The Executive has not contracted directly with independent healthcare providers but has allocated £10 million so far to NHS boards in 2005-06 to purchase private sector capacity to assist them to meet their waiting times targets. NHS boards may also purchase …

10 Nov 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many routine operations it expects to deliver through contracts with the private health sector and for how many NHS patients.

Answer · Andy Kerr: It is for NHS boards to decide whether to commission treatment from outside the NHS to ensure that they are able to offer timely elective treatment to all of their residents. The Scottish Executive has assisted boards by facilitating the negotiation of contra…

10 Nov 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how much it has pledged to spend on contracts with the private health sector and over how many years.

Answer · Andy Kerr: In Fair to All, Personal to Each (2004), we pledged £45 million over three years to negotiate contracts with the independent health care sector, to enable NHS patients to receive their operations more quickly.

8 Nov 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what action it has taken to increase the number of beaches achieving blue flag status.

Answer · Rhona Brankin: The Scottish Executive is committed to achieving full compliance with the water quality standards set out in the European Bathing Water Directive (76/160/EEC), at all designated bathing waters in Scotland. To this end, the Scottish Executive has sancti…

8 Nov 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what progress has been made in achieving greater co-ordination between local and national organisations to improve the quality of the coastal environment.

Answer · Ross Finnie: The Scottish Executive have formed an Advisory Group on the Marine and Coastal strategy which is comprised of representatives from national industry bodies, national stakeholder bodies, environmental NGOs and relevant regulatory agencies. The group will ensur…

8 Nov 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had with local authorities on improving the coastline.

Answer · Ross Finnie: The Executive fully involved local authorities in the consultative process towards the recently published Coastal and Marine strategy for Scotland. Local authorities are represented by COSLA on the Advisory Group on the Marine and Coastal strategy which will …

8 Nov 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking to improve the environment of the coastline.

Answer · Ross Finnie: The Executive announced on 12 September 2005, a new Marine and Coastal strategy for the long-term sustainability of Scotland’s coasts and seas. Seas the Opportunity sets out a clear vision for our coasts and seas, underpinned by high-level objectives a…

7 Nov 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the cost of staff turnover has been to the NHS in each year since 1999.

Answer · Andy Kerr: The Scottish Executive does not collect information centrally on the cost of staff turnover in the NHS.

7 Nov 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether the NHS outsources MRI scans to the private sector and, if so, how many scans have been outsourced in each year since 2000 and what the current waiting times are for MRI scans.

Answer · Andy Kerr: In June this year, I announced a maximum nine-weeks waiting time for eight key diagnostic tests, including MRI scans, from the end of 2007. NHS boards are working to reduce waiting times for patients so that this commitment is met, and are free to decide to p…

7 Nov 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many NHS appointments have been missed in each year since 1997 and at what cost to the NHS.

Answer · Andy Kerr: Information is available centrally in respect of patients failing to attend first appointments at consultant-led out-patient clinics. Information on patients who miss appointments for other NHS services such as at local family doctor practices is not collecte…

7 Nov 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many hospital consultants suffered from mental health problems in each year since 1997.

Answer · Lewis Macdonald: The information requested is not data that the Scottish Executive collects.

7 Nov 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-8040 by Malcolm Chisholm on 24 May 2004, what the cost of NHS administration was in (a) 2003-04 and (b) 2004-05 and whether this includes NHS managerial staff and, if not, whether it will provide similar information for managerial staff in each year …

Answer · Andy Kerr: Hospital management and administration expenditure for NHS Board areas for 2003-04 was: <table border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=3> <thead> <tr> <td> </td> <td> 2003-04 <p align=cente…

7 Nov 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many cottage hospitals have (a) opened and (b) closed in each year since 1997.

Answer · Andy Kerr: The term “cottage hospital” is not a recognised data definition and consequently this information is not available in the form requested. However, information is available about community hospitals, under which heading “cottage hospitals” would be expected to…

7 Nov 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many hospital accident and emergency units there have been in each year since 1995.

Answer · Andy Kerr: The information specifically requested is not available. The number of NHS locations recorded as providing an accident and emergency service for each financial year is shown in the table. The list includes services which are provided other than on a 24-hour, …

7 Nov 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many adverse incidents and near-misses were reported in NHS hospitals in each year since 1999; how much this cost in extra days spent in hospital by patients recovering from medical errors; how many errors went unreported, and how many deaths were attributed by NHS boards to staff err…

Answer · Andy Kerr: Every NHS board in Scotland has arrangements in place to collect information on critical incidents and these are analysed locally to promote learning and reduce the risk of recurrence. This information is not collected centrally but can be obtained by contact…

1 Nov 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the current situation is regarding the distribution of food supplements, in light of recent court challenges in the United Kingdom on the issue and the recent introduction in the UK Parliament of the Food Supplements (European Communities Act 1972 Disapplication) Bill by William Cash…

Answer · Lewis Macdonald: The Food Standards Agency Scotland has advised me that the Food Supplements (Scotland) Regulations 2003 came into force on 1 August 2005 and each Scottish food authority shall enforce and execute these Regulations in its area.

1 Nov 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether there are any plans to increase the number of school nurses.

Answer · Lewis Macdonald: The Scottish Executive remains committed to building the capacity of the NHS workforce in Scotland. While there is no specific target associated with the recruitment of school nurses, latest figures show that there were 423 headcount qualified school n…

1 Nov 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the ratio is of schoolchildren to school nurses, broken down by NHS board area.

Answer · Lewis Macdonald: The ratio of school children to qualified school nurses by NHS board is shown in the following table. The latest available data is at 30 September 2004. <table border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=3> <thead> <tr> <td> NHS Board</td> …

1 Nov 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-23931 by Malcolm Chisholm on 22 March 2002, how many school nurses have been employed in each NHS board area in each year since 2000.

Answer · Lewis Macdonald: The number of qualified school nurses (headcount) in each NHS board for years 2000 to 2004 is shown in the table. The information presented is as at 30 September each year and the latest available data is at 30 September 2004. <table border=1 cellspacing…

1 Nov 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether service training in respect of allergies is in place for clinical staff within the NHS.

Answer · Andy Kerr: I refer the member to the answer to question S2W-20043 on 2 November 2005. 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…

1 Nov 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many NHS allergy centres there are.

Answer · Lewis Macdonald: There are no NHS allergy centres in Scotland. Most mild or moderate allergy symptoms are managed successfully in primary care. The majority of secondary care referrals are made to organ-based specialists such as ENT surgeons, chest physicians, dermatologists …

1 Nov 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many (a) allergy specialists and (b) allergy specialist nurses there have been in each NHS board in each year since 1995.

Answer · Lewis Macdonald: Allergy was recognised for the first time by the Specialist Training Authority as constituting a related but distinct specialty in 1999. The effects of specialist training in this discipline will take time to be fully reflected in NHS provision. Most m…

1 Nov 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what resources are available for allergy services.

Answer · Lewis Macdonald: This information is not held centrally. NHS boards are given unified budgets, increased by an average of 7.6% in the current financial year, from which they would be expected to meet the costs of treatment for people with allergies.

1 Nov 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what action is being taken to improve NHS allergy services.

Answer · Lewis Macdonald: We are committed to developing our health services, including services for people with allergic conditions. The Scottish Medical and Scientific Advisory Committee, which forms a part of the advisory structure of the Health Department, has set up a Working Gro…

26 Oct 2005 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what funding and strategic decisions will be taken on the upgrading of the East Coast main line between Aberdeen and Edinburgh, in light of the Executive¿s new powers to provide funding and specify where resources are targeted by Network Rail.

Answer · Tavish Scott: We are developing a rail strategy for Scotland which will determine where our future strategic and funding priorities will be. The rail strategy will feed into the National Transport Strategy which will be published in summer 2006.

21 Oct 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive when details of the tariff system for the NHS will be announced and what decisions have so far been taken on the matter.

Answer · Andy Kerr: The Scottish Executive issued detailed guidance to NHS boards on 1 November 2005 regarding the implementation of tariffs to 2005-06 cross boundary flows between NHS boards, i.e. activity carried out by host NHS boards on behalf of patients who reside in other…

14 Oct 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what procedures are in place for the discharge of a person with a depressive illness from a psychiatric hospital to a care home and whether funding is available.

Answer · Lewis Macdonald: Decisions about discharging someone from NHS care and how their continuing care needs might best be met should be taken following an appropriate multi-disciplinary assessment of the patient’s health, social care and housing needs in consultation with the pati…

6 Oct 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what funding it will make available for research into squirrel pox virus disease.

Answer · Rhona Brankin: The Scottish Executive has alreadymade funding of £25,000 available through its Biodiversity Action Grants Schemeto Red Squirrel South Scotland (RSSS), together with an additional award of £10,000for them to monitor the local populations of red squirrels in D…