Parliamentary questions
Nicola Sturgeon
676 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.
4 Sep 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether any patients for whom discharge was delayed subsequently developed a hospital-acquired infection whilst awaiting discharge during the last 12 months and, if so, in which hospital each such incident occurred.
Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: This information requested is not held centrally.
22 Aug 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what funding it made available to the National Review of Resource Allocation for the NHS in Scotland.
Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The National Review of Resource Allocation drew on a range of resources including:<P>statistical experts in the Information and Statistics Division of the Common Services Agency who provided much of the data used in this review and were also responsible for m…
22 Aug 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will detail any occasions in the last 12 months it has used alternatives to the Arbuthnott formula to distribute funds between NHS board or trust areas for example one based on the Scottish Health Authorities Resource Equalisation and, in each case, (a) what the funding was use…
Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: Funding is no longer distributed on the basis of the Scottish Health Authorities Resource Equalisation formula. The bulk of funding allocated to NHS boards is distributed using the Arbuthnott formula. In some instances, however, where specific projects are un…
22 Aug 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will detail any occasions in the last 12 months it has used the Arbuthnott formula to distribute funds between NHS board or trust areas.
Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The bulk of NHS boards' unified budgets allocated in the last 12 months has been distributed using the Arbuthnott formula.
22 Aug 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it currently publishes or holds information on how alternatives to the Arbuthnott funding formula, for example derivatives of the Scottish Health Authorities Resource Equalisation, are calculated and whether it has any plans to detail how the allocations were calculated when anno…
Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: We do not have information about alternatives to the Arbuthnott formula. NHS boards are provided with figures for their allocations and will be given any additional information which they wish to obtain about the basis of the calculations.
25 Jun 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many patients did not attend their allocated hospital out-patient appointments in the past year and what the financial cost was of such non-attendance
Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: Provisional data from ISD Scotland shows that during the year ending 31 December 2001 the number of patients who did not attend their first out-patient appointment was 160,112. A service-led group has recently been set up to work with the service to identify …
25 Jun 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many people are on the NHS Organ Donor Register in each NHS board area.
Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The information requested is set out in the following table.<TABLE BORDER CELLSPACING=1 CELLPADDING=7 WIDTH=359><TR><TD WIDTH="45%" VALIGN="TOP"><P>NHS Board</TD><TD WIDTH="55%" VALIGN="TOP"><P>Number of People Registered</TD></TR><TR><TD WIDTH="45%" VALIGN="…
18 Jun 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether any elderly people will have to wait until after 1 July 2002 to learn what level of assistance they qualify for under its free personal care policy.
Answer · Frank McAveety: All local authorities have indicated they will meet the regulatory and legislative requirements to implement free personal care for people currently in receipt of care in their area.
18 Jun 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many assessments for free personal care for elderly people still require to be processed in each local authority area.
Answer · Frank McAveety: I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-26894.
11 Jun 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether the expert group on financial and other support arrangements for people who have been harmed by health service treatment is examining the approach to medical compensation adopted in the Republic of Ireland as stipulated in the group's remit; from whom the expert group has taken ev…
Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The Expert Group on Financial and Other Support has considered evidence from wide ranging sources including information on the approach to medical compensation in the Republic of Ireland for patients who contracted hepatitis C from contaminated blood supplies…
10 Jun 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many nursing students will complete their studies in the year to October 2002 in each NHS board area.
Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: An estimated 2,095 nursing students in Scotland are expected to complete their studies in the year to October 2002.<P>The information is not available in the form requested. Nursing education is delivered by 11 higher education institutions in Scotland. On co…
6 Jun 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive which revisions to the target allocation percentages within the Arbuthnott formula (updated in November 2001) were due to (a) changing level of population, (b) changes to the age and sex of the population, (c) changes to the level of deprivation (from the deprivation index, updated in Oct…
Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: Tables 1 and 2 show the percentage changes to the target allocations within the Arbuthnott formula (updated in November 2001) for Hospital and Community Health Services (HCHS) (table 1) and GP Prescribing (table 2). Columns 1, 2 and 3 indicate the three compo…
23 May 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive when it intends to establish the short-term task group, as proposed in section 5 of Planning Together - Final Report of the Scottish Integrated Workforce Planning Group, to support the implementation of the principles for integrated workforce planning and the principles contained in A Fra…
Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: <I>Planning Together</I>, was published alongside our proposals for establishing a comprehensive workforce development infrastructure for NHSScotland at local, regional and national level. This whole systems approach to integrated workforce planning will prov…
23 May 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many student midwives will graduate by October 2002.
Answer · Mary Mulligan: One hundred and eleven student midwives will graduate by October 2002.
23 May 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how the value for money for the NHS of investment in continuing professional development for nurses and professions allied to medicine will be evaluated.
Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: Generally continuing professional development (CPD) is the responsibility of the trusts to support and evaluate, based on service and staff needs, for all staff including nurses and professions allied to medicine (PAMs). <P>However, on occasion the Scottish E…
23 May 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what the difference is between the educational and clinical preparation required for each post of nurse consultant.
Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: Consultant nurse/midwives undertake a combination of educational and clinical preparation.<P>The nature of a consultant nurse/midwife post will demand a portfolio of career-long learning, experience and formal education; the postholder will have been working …
23 May 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how value for money for the NHS from the introduction of nurse consultant posts is determined.
Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: All consultant nurse/midwife submissions are vetted by a central evaluation panel co-ordinated by the Scottish Executive Health Department. Prior to doing so each proposal must be supported by the local Unified Health Board. In their submission each trust/NHS…
23 May 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many vacant medical consultant posts there currently are, broken down by speciality and NHS board.
Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: A detailed breakdown of the latest available information on the number of vacant medical consultant posts is shown in the following table. The table should be read in conjunction with the following notes.<P>The number of higher specialist training posts avail…
23 May 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many vacant nursing posts there currently are, broken down by NHS board.
Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The information requested is given in the following table, broken down by qualified and unqualified nursing vacancies by NHS board.<P>Nursing vacancies<SUP>1,2</SUP> by NHS Board Whole-Time Equivalent: at 31 March 2001<TABLE BORDER CELLSPACING=1 CELLPADDING=2…
21 May 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many people over the age of 75 had to be re-admitted to hospital within 28 days of being discharged (a) nationally and (b) in each NHS Trust, in each of the last five years.
Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: Information on and methods of calculating emergency readmission rates has been under consideration by a sub-group of the NHSScotland Clinical Resource and Audit Group (CRAG). A report containing data on emergency re-admissions at all ages will be provided as …
16 May 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what the (a) incidence and (b) mortality rate was for male breast cancer both (i) nationally and (ii) in each NHS trust in each of the last five years.
Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The undernoted table sets out (a) the incidence of male breast cancer for the years 1994-98, which is the most recent year for which completed cancer registry data are available, and (b) deaths from male breast cancer in the years 1994-2000, the most recent y…
16 May 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive which organisations provide cancer screening services and how many provide such services to (a) women and (b) men.
Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: NHSScotland provides National Screening Programmes for Breast and Cervical Cancer. The Breast Screening Programme invites women aged 50 to 64 for breast screening every three years. Women over 64 can self-refer. The Cervical Screening Programme invites women …
16 May 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what measures it is taking to reduce the stigma attached to male breast cancer and what counselling services are provided to male sufferers of the disease in the NHS for this purpose.
Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: Breast cancer in men is relatively rare, occurring most often in individuals with a family history of female breast cancer. Genetic counselling and advice is available through cancer genetics services provided through Regional Genetics Centres. Referral is no…
16 May 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what measures it is taking and what funding is provided for raising the awareness of breast cancer and education regarding it in order to promote its early detection among (a) men and (b) women.
Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: Health promotion is the responsibility of NHS boards who would be happy to provide information about local activities and campaigns targeted at breast cancer awareness. Contact information for NHS Board Chief Executives is available from Scottish Health on th…
14 May 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many linear accelerators (a) are needed to meet patient demands and (b) exist currently (i) in total and (ii) in each NHS board area.
Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: Radiotherapy is a highly specialised form of cancer treatment which is available only in cancer centres. Linear accelerators are the equipment through which radiotherapy is delivered. These are sited in each of Scotland's five cancer centres in Inverness, Abe…
7 May 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether NHS trusts, NHS boards and local authorities are acting effectively on the findings and recommendations of the Scottish Needs Assessment Programme report and what specific improvements in services have resulted from such action.
Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The Scottish Needs Assessment Programme (SNAP) review offers a benchmark of expectations for a good, quality-based, service of care and attention for these important care groups. It is for the local statutory agencies to work together with the voluntary secto…
7 May 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-21837 by Malcolm Chisholm on 28 January 2002, whether it has received any responses from NHS trusts, NHS boards and local authorities to its Scottish Needs Assessment Programme report on the needs of people with brain injuries; if so, from which orga…
Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: We did not invite, nor have we received, any responses to the Scottish Needs Assessment Programme (SNAP) report mentioned.<P>The Executive funds SNAP as a co-operative programme of work undertaken by staff from Scotland's Public Health Departments under the a…
2 May 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive from which part of an NHS board or trust's budget the money to pay for any covert surveillance activity will be allocated.
Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The Regulation of Investigatory Powers (Scotland) Act 2000 requires public authorities to have appropriate arrangements in place for authorising, renewing and cancelling authorisations for the use of covert surveillance or covert human intelligence sources gr…
2 May 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how NHS staff and the public will be assured that any NHS board using covert surveillance is doing so in accordance with the law.
Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The Regulation of Investigatory Powers (Scotland) Act 2000 strengthens the rights of individuals by providing a statutory framework specifying the circumstances in which certain covert investigative techniques may be used, their authorisation, oversight and c…
2 May 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive to whom, or to what body, an NHS board must apply for consent to use covert surveillance activity against any member of staff under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers (Scotland) Act 2000.
Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: In the case of an NHS board, only the Board Chief Executive may grant authorisations under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers (Scotland) Act 2000. The persons entitled to grant authorisations are specified in the Regulation of Investigatory Powers (Prescr…