Parliamentary questions

Nicola Sturgeon

676 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.

30 Aug 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it intends to publish comprehensive NHS waiting list figures on a quarterly basis.

Answer · Susan Deacon: Information and Statistics Division of the Common Services Agency will continue to publish waiting list data as at present.

29 Aug 2001 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether there are any circumstances in which NHS patients can be treated abroad and, if so, what these are.

Answer · Susan Deacon: There are long-standing Europe-wide negotiated arrangements for elective health care delivered in another member state. These follow established E112 procedures that include prior agreement, not least involving the clinicians in the referring and receiving fa…

23 Aug 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how the potential appearance of treatment-acquired disease among haemophiliacs is monitored, given the experience gained from the appearance of hepatitis C as a treatment-acquired disease among haemophiliacs.

Answer · Susan Deacon: I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-17745.

23 Aug 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what proportion of haemophiliacs currently have a treatment-acquired illness or disability.

Answer · Susan Deacon: I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-17745.

23 Aug 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many haemophiliacs have died of treatment-acquired illnesses in each of the last 10 years for which records are available.

Answer · Susan Deacon: I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-17745.

23 Aug 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many haemophiliacs have died in each of the last 10 years for which records are available.

Answer · Susan Deacon: This information is not held centrally. I have written to you separately giving contact details to allow you to obtain the information requested in this and your other questions (S1W-17746, S1W-17747 and S1W-17748) through the Scottish Haemophilia Directors.

17 Aug 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many pieces of authoritative comment on National Institute for Clinical Excellence technology appraisal guidance the Health Technology Board for Scotland is currently preparing for publication.

Answer · Susan Deacon: I refer the member to the answer to question S1W-17576.

17 Aug 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many Health Technology Board for Scotland technology assessments are currently on-going.

Answer · Susan Deacon: The Health Technology Board for Scotland (HTBS) is currently conducting three Health Technology Assessments.These are in the areas of organisation of services for diabetic retinopathy screening, PET imaging for cancer management and prevention of relapse i…

17 Aug 2001 · Written Question

Answer · Susan Deacon: Since May 2001, The National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) has released Technology Appraisal Guidance on four topics. The Health Technology Board for Scotland (HTBS) has published a comment on one of these topics and will deliver the other three, c…

17 Aug 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many health technology assessments the Health Technology Board for Scotland has completed since 1 April 2000.

Answer · Susan Deacon: The Health Technology Board for Scotland has not yet completed a health technology assessment. It announced its first three assessment topics in January 2001 after wide consultation. Each assessment will take about one year to complete due to the large amount…

16 Aug 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether an upper age limit of 65 applies in respect of NHS respite and rehabilitation breaks for disabled people and, if so, whether there are any plans to review this limit.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The provision of short break or respite care services that are relevant and accessible to all sections of the community is a shared responsibility of local authorities, the NHS and housing agencies. In recognition of the importance of respite care we are prov…

8 Aug 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive which groups of NHS staff are routinely expected to work outwith the terms of their contracts.

Answer · Susan Deacon: The Scottish Executive Health Department (SEHD) expects all employers locally to work within current employment and health and safety legislation. Compliance with contracted hours is a matter for individual Trust employers and is not information that is held …

8 Aug 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will make additional funding available to health boards to cover the cost of legal fees in the event that they are sued by junior doctors for non-compliance with the terms of the New Deal for Junior Doctors.

Answer · Susan Deacon: I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-17446 which confirms that postgraduate deans will be expected to enforce the requirement that all Pre-Registration House Officer (PRHO) posts comply with the hours and rest requirements of the New Deal fr…

8 Aug 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has set a new target date by which all health boards must comply with the terms of the New Deal for Junior Doctors.

Answer · Susan Deacon: No. The New Contract for Doctors in Training was introduced in December 2000. This requires that from 1 August 2001 all Pre-Registration House Officer (PRHO) posts and from 1 August 2003 all Senior House Officer (SHO) and Specialist Registrar (SpR) posts must…

8 Aug 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-11220 by Susan Deacon on 9 January 2001, whether it will make additional funding available to health boards to ensure that the terms of the New Deal for Junior Doctors are complied with.

Answer · Susan Deacon: On 27 April 2001 I announced funding for an additional 375 junior doctors. This followed my announcement of 100 extra junior doctors on 28 June 2000. These will be targeted at areas with an identified need for additional resources.In 2001-02 health boards …

8 Aug 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-11219 by Susan Deacon on 9 January 2001, whether it intends to penalise those health boards which had not complied with the terms of the New Deal for Junior Doctors by 1 August 2001.

Answer · Susan Deacon: I indicated in my answer to question S1W-11219 that incentives to secure compliance with the New Deal have been incorporated into the New Contract for Doctors in Training introduced on 1 December 2000. These take the form of incremental pay band multipliers w…

8 Aug 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-11220 by Susan Deacon on 9 January 2001, what action it will take to ensure that health boards which had not complied with the terms of the New Deal for Junior Doctors by 1 August 2001 achieve this as soon as possible.

Answer · Susan Deacon: The New Contract for Doctors in Training implemented on 1 December 2000 requires that NHS Trusts demonstrate clearly that all Pre-Registration House Officer (PRHO) posts are fully compliant with the hours limits of the New Deal from 1 August 2001. Information…

18 Jul 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the rates of mortality from circulatory disease (ICD-9 codes 390-459 inclusive) were per 100,000 of the population, broken down by health board area, for people under 75 years of age in each of the last three years for which figures are available.

Answer · Susan Deacon: The mortality rates from circulatory disease per 100,000 population, by health board, of all persons under the age of 75 years, as defined by ICD-9 codes 390 - 459 for each of the years 1998 and 1999, and ICD-10 codes I00 - I99 for the year 2000, are:<P ALIGN…

18 Jul 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether there are any ICD-9 codes for which there is a target to reduce deaths by 2010 other than those for cancer and heart disease.

Answer · Susan Deacon: The Scottish Executive Health Department has a target to reduce deaths from cerebrovascular disease by 50% between 1995 and 2010. The ICD-9 codes used for this target are codes 430 - 438. The ICD-10 codes that are used for this target are codes I60 - I69.

18 Jul 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive which ICD-9 codes are included within its targets to reduce deaths from (a) cancer by 20% and (b) heart disease by 50% by 2010.

Answer · Susan Deacon: The ICD-9 codes included within the Scottish Executive Health Department's target to reduce deaths from cancer by 20% between 1995 and 2010 are codes 140 - 208. The ICD-10 codes included within this target are codes C00 - C97.The ICD-9 code…

27 Jun 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what each level one expenditure line in the Scottish budget represented as a percentage of Scotland's GDP in each year for which figures are available.

Answer · Angus MacKay: I refer you to the table which provides level one expenditure as a percentage of GDP and projected GDP.<TABLE BORDER CELLSPACING=1 CELLPADDING=7 WIDTH=612><TR><TD WIDTH="23%" VALIGN="TOP">Portfolio</TD><TD W…

19 Jun 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will detail those research grants awarded by the Nursing Research Initiative for Scotland (NRIS) in 2000 where the person conducting the research was a member of the NRIS.

Answer · Susan Deacon: The Nursing Research Initiative for Scotland has not awarded grants to any of its members.

10 May 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will recommend that professional training for physiotherapists includes a module on hypermobility syndromes.

Answer · Susan Deacon: Pre-registration undergraduate training for physiotherapists already prepares students with the knowledge and skills necessary to manage the effects of hypermobility syndrome.The content of pre-registration courses for physiotherapists is a matter for the …

30 Apr 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, with reference to the statement by an Executive spokesperson that the number of qualified frontline NHS staff has risen since 1996, as reported on the BBC News website on 27 April 2001, what criteria are used to define staff as frontline; whether any nurses or midwives are not regarded a…

Answer · Susan Deacon: Frontline is not a term which is defined.The 27 April statement was based on figures for all qualified nurses and midwives.

19 Apr 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the median waiting time is from the inpatient and day case waiting lists for cancer surgery and what the equivalent figures were for each of the last ten years broken down by health board.

Answer · Susan Deacon: I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-12417 on 30 March 2001.

19 Apr 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the median waiting time is from GP referral to surgery for all forms of cancer and what the equivalent figures were for each of the last ten years, broken down by health board.

Answer · Susan Deacon: I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-12417 on 30 March 2001.

18 Apr 2001 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Executive why overall waiting times for inpatient and outpatient treatment are longer now than in 1999, as highlighted in figures published by the Information and Statistics Division on 28 February 2001.

Answer · Susan Deacon: Waiting in the NHS occur for a number of reasons. Figures referred to show only small shifts against a background of steadily increasing activity.Our National Health: A plan for action, a plan for change, sets out a programme of investment and refor…

11 Apr 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has assessed the social and economic impact which would result in the event of Migdale Hospital, Sutherland closing.

Answer · Susan Deacon: The provision of community health services in Sutherland is a matter for Highland Health Board and the Highland Primary Care Trust. There is at present no suggestion that Migdale Hospital will close.

3 Apr 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what is happening to any MRI scanners it has purchased which are not being used by NHS Trusts due to insufficient resources.

Answer · Susan Deacon: There are no MRI Scanners in that position in Scotland. Every MRI Scanner purchased by NHSScotland is being used to benefit patient care.

3 Apr 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether any NHS Trusts are unable to operate the new MRI scanners provided by the Executive and what reasons they have given for this.

Answer · Susan Deacon: The Scottish Executive is making available substantial resources for NHSScotland to procure new and replacement radiology equipment. In 2001-02, this includes six MRI scanners and seven CT scanners. All the NHS Trusts receiving this equipment have demonstrate…