Parliamentary questions

Shona Robison

1,014 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.

17 Sep 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will make representations to Her Majesty's Government regarding the interpretation of the Representation of the People (Amendment) Regulations 2002 regarding organ donor forms being sent out with electoral registration forms.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: I refer the member to the answergiven to question S2W-2720 on 3 October 2003. All answers to written parliamentaryquestions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility forwhich can be found at <ahref="http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webap…

17 Sep 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had with Her Majesty's Government regarding the interpretation of the Representation of the People (Amendment) Regulations 2002 regarding organ donor forms being sent out with electoral registration forms.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The Scottish Executive supports efforts to promote the donation of organs for transplantation,and I have had a number of representations on this subject. Issues relating to electoralregistration are however reserved. The Scottish Executive is in regular conta…

11 Sep 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive which health boards make mercury-free vaccination to parents available on request.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: I refer the member to the answergiven to question S2W-1225 on 17 July 2003. All answers to written parliamentaryquestions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for whichcan be found at <a href="http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp…

28 Aug 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had with Her Majesty's Government regarding the cost to the NHS in Scotland of additional employers' National Insurance contributions.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The Scottish Executive is in regular contact with the UK Government on a wide range of issues.

28 Aug 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the projected costs for each NHS board are of employers' National Insurance contributions in 2003-04.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: This information is not heldcentrally.

28 Aug 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the cost to each NHS board has been of employers' National Insurance contributions, in each year since 1998-99.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The cost of providing for employer’sNational Insurance contributions per NHS board area is shown in the followingtable.Employers National InsuranceContributions per NHS Board Area<table class=MsoTableGrid border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0> <thea…

26 Aug 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive when it first became aware that children who have received a DTaP-Hib vaccination would receive a further vaccination to provide protection against haemophilus influen'a

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: I refer the member to the answergiven to question S2W-2143 today. All answers to written parliamentaryquestions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for whichcan be found at <a href="http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/search_wa…

26 Aug 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive when it first became aware that the DTaP-Hib vaccination was less effective than the DTwP-Hib vaccination.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: A review paper published in Biologicalsin 1999, stated that “with the exception of five component vaccine, acellular vaccinesare less efficacious than a good whole cell vaccine”. A letter from the Chief MedicalOfficer in November 2001 referred to this …

22 Aug 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-12936 by Mr Jim Wallace on 31 January 2001, whether it plans to introduce legislation in this parliamentary session on high hedges.

Answer · Andy Kerr: It has not been possible toinclude a bill on high hedges in the Executive’s legislative programme for thisparliamentary session.However, Scott Barrie MSPhas submitted a bill proposal to provide local authorities with the power todeal with complaints re…

22 Aug 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what information is now being given to parents whose children are being recalled for additional vaccinations to provide protection against haemophilus influen'a.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: I refer the member to the answer given to question S2W-2145 today. All answers to written parliamentaryquestions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility forwhich can be found at <ahref="http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/search_wa…

22 Aug 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what information has been given to parents of children receiving the DTaP-Hib vaccination regarding its effectiveness compared to the DTwP-Hib vaccination.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: An NHS Health Scotlandinformation leaflet is available to parents, who can also discuss any detailedquestions with local health professionals. A Hib factsheet has been issued toNHSScotland health professionals to inform and facilitate any such discussion. </p…

31 Jul 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what measures it will introduce to support the availability of healthy food of good quality for vulnerable people.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The Partnership Agreement makes a commitment to support measures to improve the availability of affordable, quality healthy food in low-income areas. Work is delivering improvements to food access and availability through retailing, community and local planni…

30 Jul 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many patients from the deferred waiting list were treated in each NHS board area in each quarter since June 1999.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The number of hospital discharges following admission from the deferred waiting list for in-patient or day case treatment in acute specialties, by NHS board area of residence, for each quarter from 30 June 1999 to 31 March 2002, is given in the table. Final f…

30 Jul 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many new patients were added to the deferred waiting list in each NHS board area in each quarter since June 1999.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The information requested is not available centrally. Information on waiting lists is collected centrally by means of a quarterly census which records how manypatients are waiting on the census date, but does not record information on additions to a waiting l…

30 Jul 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many new patients were added to the true waiting list in each NHS board area in each quarter since June 1999.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: Informationon waiting lists is collected centrally by means of a quarterly census which records how many patients are waiting on the census date, but does not record information on additions to a waiting list between census dates.Figures for the true w…

30 Jul 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many patients were treated in each NHS board area from the true waiting list in each quarter since June 1999.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The number of hospital discharges following admission from the true waiting list for in-patient or day case treatment in acute specialties, by NHS board area of residence, for each quarter from 30 June 1999 to 31 March 2002, is given in the followingtables. <…

29 Jul 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what nutritional standards there are for food served in care homes, hospitals, day centres and prisons.

Answer · Tom McCabe: The National Care Standards address the issue of nutrition in care homes and day centres. The standards say that meals should be varied and nutritious, reflect the service user's preferences and any special dietary needs including ethnic, cultural and faith o…

29 Jul 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what guidelines exist to ensure that items of food and drink identified by dieticians as being unhealthy for patients who have undergone particular clinical procedures, or have certain medical conditions, are not accessible to such patients in NHS hospitals.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: There are no specific guidelines; this is a matter of good clinical care. However, in May 2002, a "best practice statement on nutrition - assessment and referral inthe care of adults in hospital" was issued by the Nursing and Midwifery Practice Development Un…

23 Jul 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many patients on the true waiting list have been given Availability Status Code (a) 2, (b) 3, (c) 4, (d) 8, (e) 9, (f) A and (g) X (temporary code) in each quarter since June 1999, broken down by NHS board area.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: Availability Status Codes were introduced to accommodate the abolition of the deferred waiting list on 1 April 2003. These codes replaced Guarantee Exception Codes and were available for use on NHS waiting lists from November 2002 to allow the smooth transiti…

23 Jul 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many wards or departments within NHS hospitals have had to close due to service disruption caused by (a) industrial action, (b) major epidemic, outbreak or infection, (c) major disease, (d) facilities maintenance problems and (e) violence in each year since 1999, broken down by NHS b…

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The information requested is not held centrally.Temporary closures of this nature are usually of very short duration, and when they occur, arrangements are put in place to ensure that patients requiring urgent treatment are diverted to another hospital and…

22 Jul 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many times each accident and emergency department had to be closed to new admissions, and what the duration of each such closure was, in each year since 1997, broken down by NHS board area.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The information requested is not available centrally.The majority of temporary closures to new admissions occur when a hospital is under particularly severe pressure, for example due to a substantial increase in emergency admissions during the winter month…

22 Jul 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many times each NHS acute hospital was closed to new admissions, and what the duration of each such closure was, in each year since 1997, broken down by NHS board area.

22 Jul 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many new out-patients seen in the NHS in each year since 1999 went on to require treatment as an elective in-patient or day case, broken down by NHS board area.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The exact information requested is not available centrally. It is not possible to identify from the central records the number of new out-patients who go on to require treatment as an elective in-patient or day case.Table 1 shows the number of new out-pati…

18 Jul 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive where it will provide additional resources to address endometriosis.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: It is the responsibility of each NHS board to deploy the resources available to it to address the health care needs of its local population. In 2003-04 every NHS board received an above inflation increase in unified budgets of between 7.4 and 8.9%.

18 Jul 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what resources have been made available to address endometriosis.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: In NHS Scotland consultant gynaecologists deal with most cases of endometriosis. Consultants in acute general hospitals may refer severe cases to university or tertiary centres. In cases in which endometriosis is associated with infertility, women will usuall…

18 Jul 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many women have been treated for endometriosis in each year since 1999, broken down by NHS trust.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The number of women for whom a diagnosis of endometriosis was recorded, discharged from general acute NHS hospitals in Scotland, in each of the financial years 1999-2000, 2000-01, and, provisionally, 2001-02 is recorded, by NHS board and NHS trust, as follows…

18 Jul 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the incidence of endometriosis is per 1,000 of the female population.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: Over the ten years 1992-2001 there was an average (mean) of 1,240 new admissions per annum, to acute general NHS hospitals, in which a principal diagnosis of endometriosis was recorded. The crude rate per 1,000 female population aged 15 to 64 (which accounts …

27 Jun 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether findings of fatal accident inquiries have any status in law and, if not, what purpose such inquiries serve and what lessons can be learned from them.

Answer · Hugh Henry: The constitution and proceedings of fatal accident inquiries are governed by the Fatal Accidents and Sudden Deaths Inquiry (Scotland) Act 1976. The findings of the sheriff at the conclusion of a fatal accident inquiry have the same status in law as findings o…

27 Jun 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what plans there are to ensure that the findings of sheriffs in fatal accident inquiries are implemented by the relevant bodies.

Answer · Hugh Henry: I refer the member to the answer given to question S2W-1236 today. 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/webapp/search…

27 Jun 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive who is held accountable if the findings of a fatal accident inquiry are not implemented.