Parliamentary questions

Shona Robison

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

11 May 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has implemented a recycling strategy for the NHS.

Answer · Andy Kerr: I refer the member to the answer to question S2W-25864 on 19 May 2006. All answers to written parliamentary questions areavailable on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can befound at <a href="http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.s…

11 May 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the levels of recycling are for each NHS board.

Answer · Andy Kerr: This is a matter for NHSScotlandBodies. The information requested is not held centrally.

11 May 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to encourage NHS boards to provide recycling facilities for plastic bottles.

11 May 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how much funding has been allocated to each NHS board in each of the last five years to (a) support recycling, (b) improve recycling facilities and (c) minimise waste.

Answer · Andy Kerr: I refer the member to the answer to question S2W-25865 on 19 May 2006. All answers to written parliamentary questions areavailable on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can befound at <a href="http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.s…

11 May 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how it monitors the way in which funding allocated to support recycling and improve recycling facilities in the NHS is spent.

Answer · Andy Kerr: The funding of recyclinginitiatives is a matter of local NHS board policy and no central monitoring isundertaken on the way in which funds are allocated.

11 May 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what targets it has set for recycling in the NHS.

Answer · Andy Kerr: In recognition of the needto ensure NHSScotland Bodies comply with the ScottishExecutive’s principles and policies on sustainable development, the ScottishExecutive Health Department’s recently revised Environmental ManagementPolicy for NHSSc…

11 May 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how much it has set aside to implement the Modern Medical Careers initiative and how this compares with the amount spent in England.

Answer · Andy Kerr: In Scotland, MMCimplementation is being led by NHS Education for Scotland. NES have set aside£4.5 million in 2006-07; £5.7 million in 2007-08 and £5.7 million in 2008-09for this work. There is no comparable national educational organisation within England wit…

11 May 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what impact the Home Office's new work permit ruling in respect of international medical graduates will have on the implementation of the Modernising Medical Careers initiative.

Answer · Andy Kerr: The Scottish Executive iscommitted to maintaining and enhancing the quality of medical training and thiswill not be affected by the Home Office’s work permit regulations that cameinto effect on 3 April 2006. The Executive will monitor the impact of thechanges…

11 May 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what representations it has made to (a) the British Medical Association, (b) the General Medical Council, (c) NHS boards and (d) NHS Education for Scotland in respect of implementing the Modern Medical Careers initiative.

Answer · Andy Kerr: The British MedicalAssociation (BMA), NHS boards and NHS Education for Scotland are members of theModernising Medical Careers (MMC) Scottish Delivery Group and are thereforefully involved in overseeing MMC implementation. There is also regular contactwith th…

11 May 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the timescale is for implementing the Modernising Medical Careers initiative in Scotland.

Answer · Andy Kerr: Modernising Medical Careers willbe phased in as specialty training programmes are introduced from August 2007. Thelength of the period of phased introduction will be determined by implementationthat does not compromise patient safety and trainee careers.

10 May 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-25427 by Lewis Macdonald on 8 May 2006, why no complete data on psychiatric discharges are available for 2002-03 to 2004-05.

Answer · Lewis Macdonald: Implementation of a newelectronic data collection system resulted in incomplete data sets beingrecorded for the period 2002-03 to 2004-05. Work is underway now with all NHS boardsaffected to resolve this position.

10 May 2006 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what action it will take to ensure that appropriate and timely information is given to the parents of children with plagiocephaly and that treatment is similarly available for their children.

Answer · Lewis Macdonald: Parents of children with thiscondition do receive medical advice on diagnosis, as well as further informationabout the condition. We are currently in discussion with NHS Health Scotland witha view to developing an information leaflet for all new parents which…

9 May 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive who is responsible for redundant sewers on private property and what legislation defines such responsibility.

Answer · Rhona Brankin: Scottish Water isresponsible for sewers which are part of the public sewerage network. TheSewerage (Scotland) Act 1968 makes provisions relating to sewerage in Scotland- section 16 of the act covers ownership of sewers. Scottish Watermaintains records of the …

8 May 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what proportion of the total NHS budget was spent on (a) mental health services, (b) prescription drugs and (c) anti-depressants in each of the last five years.

Answer · Lewis Macdonald: Each NHS board receives ageneral allocation of funds. It is for Boards to decide how best to utilisethese funds to meet the health care needs of their resident population,including mental health services, taking account of national and localpriorities.…

8 May 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many (a) in-patient and (b) day-case operations were carried out in each year since 1997, broken down by (i) NHS board and (ii) hospital.

Answer · Andy Kerr: The information requested isgiven in a document entitled NHSScotland : number of day case and inpatient operationsby Health Board and hospital. A copy of this document has been placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 39574).</…

8 May 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many consultants there were per capita in each NHS board area and what the national average per capita figure was, broken down by year since 1997.

Answer · Andy Kerr: This information iscontained in a document entitled Consultants per 100,000 population by NHS Board1997-2005, a copy of which has been placed in the Scottish ParliamentInformation Centre (Bib. number 39584).

8 May 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will list the 10 parliamentary constituencies with the (a) highest and (b) lowest rates of infant mortality.

Answer · George Lyon: The information requested isgiven in the following table.Infant Deaths InScotland by Parliamentary ConstituencyThree YearAverage Death Rate per 1,000 Live Births (2002-04)<table border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=3> <thead> <tr> <td widt…

5 May 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what total amount was spent by the NHS in treating gastroenteritis in bottle-fed babies, broken down also by NHS board in each of the last five years.

Answer · Lewis Macdonald: The information requested isnot held centrally.

5 May 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many mothers were still breastfeeding their babies at six weeks (a) nationally, (b) in each Scottish city and (c) in each NHS board area in each of the last five years.

Answer · Lewis Macdonald: This information isavailable on the NHS Scottish Health Statistics website at:<ahref="http://www.isdscotland.org/child_breastfeeding">www.isdscotland.org/child_breastfeeding</a>.

5 May 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive for how long vacancies in the NHS for (a) trainee doctors, (b) junior house officers, (c) senior house officers, (d) registrars and (e) consultants have been unfilled in each of the last five years, broken down by NHS board and speciality.

Answer · Andy Kerr: The information requested isnot available centrally.NHS boards are responsiblefor advertising and recruiting to fill vacant posts.

5 May 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many (a) trainee doctor, (b) junior house officer, (c) senior house officer, (d) registrar and (e) consultant posts have been vacant in the NHS in each of the last five years, broken down by NHS board and speciality.

Answer · Andy Kerr: Vacancy information fortrainee doctors, junior house officers, senior house officers and registrars, isnot available centrally.Information on consultantvacancies in NHS Scotland is published on the Scottish Health Statisticswebsite under Workforce Stat…

5 May 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many vacant posts for (a) trainee doctors, (b) junior house officers, (c) senior house officers, (d) registrars and (e) consultants in the NHS have had two or more applicants in each of the last five years, broken down by NHS board and speciality.

Answer · Andy Kerr: The information requested isnot available centrally.NHS boards are responsiblefor advertising and recruiting to fill vacant posts. The Executive does notroutinely collect details on the levels of interest expressed for each vacantpost.

4 May 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive in how many employment tribunals Dundee City Council has been involved in each of the last 10 years, broken down by council department.

Answer · Tom McCabe: This is a matter for Dundee CityCouncil. The information requested is not held centrally.

3 May 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many, and what proportion of, dentists (a) have and (b) have not signed the new NHS contract, broken down by NHS board area.

Answer · Lewis Macdonald: The “new dental contract”which was introduced on 1 April 2006 is relevant to England and Wales only, and does not apply in Scotland, asNHS dentistry is a devolved matter.

3 May 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-25367 by Mr Andy Kerr on 28 April 2006, what the incidence was of infants born with congenital heart anomalies, also expressed as a percentage of all births, in each year since 1995.

Answer · Andy Kerr: The information requested iscontained in the following tables.Singletons Born in Scotland andDetected with Congenital Anomalies at Birth or During Infancy; Numbers byAnomaly and Year 1995-2003<table border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=3 align=left> …

27 Apr 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether there are any guidelines for local authorities on standards of temporary accommodation for homeless people.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The Homeless Persons(Unsuitable Accommodation) (Scotland) Order 2004 (SSI 2004/489) specifies that temporaryaccommodation which does not meet the standards set out in the Order should notbe used for homeless households with children or pregnant women unlessex…

27 Apr 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what funding was made available to local authorities to deal specifically with homeless people in each year since 1999, shown per head of the homeless population.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: Funding made available tolocal authorities to deal with homelessness issues is shown in the followingtable for each year since 1999-2000.It is not possible to identifythe numbers of people assisted through this expenditure, since the expenditurefigures…

27 Apr 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many angiography and angioplasty or coronary artery bypass graft patients in each year since 1999 have waited longer than (a) eight and (b) 18 weeks for treatment, broken down by NHS (i) board and (ii) hospital.

Answer · Andy Kerr: The majority of patients whorequire in-patient and day case treatment, particularly the diagnosis andtreatment of coronary heart disease, are seen and treated quickly. Over 53% ofpatients treated in NHSScotland hospitals receive immediate treatment and neverj…

25 Apr 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many alcohol-related admissions there were to each NHS hospital in each year since 1990.

Answer · Lewis Macdonald: Tables providing thisinformation are available in the Parliament’s Reference Centre. Table 1 (Bib. number 39488)shows the combined figures for acute and psychiatric hospital discharges withan explicit diagnosis of alcohol related condition for the peri…

25 Apr 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many convictions for assaults on emergency workers there have been in each year since enactment of the Emergency Workers (Scotland) Act 2005, broken down by police force area.

Answer · Cathy Jamieson: Statistics on convictionsare published annually by the Scottish Executive Justice Department each spring.The latest set of annual statistics on convictions published on 27 April 2006 arefor 2004-05, which predates the enactment of the Emergency Workers (Scotl…