Andrew Welsh

27 Mar 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the aims are of the pilot projects in which primary school children are provided with free fruit and vegetables.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The Executive's recent provision of resources from its £26 million Health Improvement Fund to all health boards is enabling them to work with their local partners to introduce a range of initiatives, including the provision of fruit for infants in pre-school …

27 Mar 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will provide details of how often and how much fruit is made available in the pilot projects in which primary school children are provided with free fruit and vegetables.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-14557.

27 Mar 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how long the pilot projects in which primary school children are provided with free fruit and vegetables will last.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-14557.

27 Mar 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive which primary schools are taking part in pilot projects in which children are provided with free fruit and vegetables.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-14557.

19 Mar 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will fund a feasibility study on decommissioning for the fish processing industry.

Answer · Rhona Brankin: No. I do not consider decommissioning to be a feasible option for the fish processing sector.

13 Mar 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the Food Standards Agency's policy is with regard to spinal cord being found in consignments of beef.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The Food Standards Agency enforces strict controls to ensure that spinal cord and other designated specified risk material (SRM) in beef is removed from the food supply. This applies equally to imported and domestically produced beef. Where SRM is found the b…

13 Mar 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what proportion of beef carcass has to be affected by spinal cord before a consignment will be discarded.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The Food Standards Agency has advised that any individual part of a carcass found to contain spinal cord will be destroyed. Following rigorous inspection to determine that there has been no contamination of other parts, there is no basis in law for rejecting …

13 Mar 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive in how many instances spinal cord has been found in abattoirs in the past year.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The Food Standards Agency advises that there have been 17 occasions where spinal cord has been discovered in cutting premises in UK since April 2000. This includes a single find in Scotland on 7 March where two quarters out of a consignment of 79 carcasses (1…

13 Mar 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what proportion of the beef carcass consignment from Spain sent to an abattoir in Dundee was affected by spinal cord.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The Food Standards Agency advises that two beef forequarters out of a total consignment of 79 carcasses (158 sides) were found to contain spinal cord.

13 Mar 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether the Food Standards Agency allowed 21 tons of beef carcass from Spain to be released from an abattoir in Dundee into general circulation when spinal cord was found in part of the consignment; if so, on what basis it did so and what assurances can be given that the consignment is sa…

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The Food Standards Agency has confirmed that part of a consignment of beef from Spain imported to an abattoir in Dundee was released into general circulation after it had been subject to thorough checks by MHS officials. Two beef forequarters found to contain…

13 Mar 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-11742 by Susan Deacon on 5 March 2001, who the members are of the sub-group of the Health Department's Advisory Group on Infection.

Answer · Susan Deacon: This sub-group consists of experts from a range of disciplines, along with officials from the Scottish Executive.

13 Mar 2001 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what measures are being taken to assist the Arbroath fish processing industry.

Answer · Ross Finnie: We have budgeted for more than £25 million in aid for fish processing and marketing under our 2000-06 FIFG programmes. In addition to this, some £18 million has been made available to processors throughout Scotland to assist capital investments in facilities …

7 Mar 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what action is being taken to safeguard the long-term future of the fish processing industry.

Answer · Rhona Brankin: I announced on 8 March that £1 million will be made available to the processing industry to implement recommendations made in the Scottish Fish Processors' Working Group report. Detailed responses to the various recommendations will be provided to the group, …

7 Mar 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what action it will take in response to the Action Plan produced by the Scottish White Fish Processing Action Group on 12 February 2001.

Answer · Rhona Brankin: I announced on 8 March that £1 million will be made available to the processing industry to implement recommendations made in the Scottish Fish Processors' Working Group report. Detailed responses to the various recommendations will be provided to the group, …

7 Mar 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what immediate financial assistance will be given to the fish processing industry in view of the impact of the cod recovery plan.

Answer · Rhona Brankin: I announced on 8 March that £1 million will be made available to the processing industry to implement recommendations made in the Scottish Fish Processors' Working Group report. Detailed responses to the various recommendations will be provided to the group, …

14 Feb 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many bed days are lost each year due to delays in discharging people who are fit to leave hospital and what the cost of these bed days was to the NHSiS in each of the last five years.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The September 2000 national census showed 1,944 NHS beds occupied by patients who had waited more than six weeks from the date they were assessed as clinically ready for discharge (six weeks is the common period for discharge planning agreement timescales acr…

9 Feb 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether there is any relationship between a high hospital bed occupancy level and the risk of cancelling elective admissions.

Answer · Susan Deacon: Bed occupancy and the cancellation of elective admissions are both influenced by factors which are not necessarily related. For example, there are a number of reasons why elective admissions may be cancelled, such as the illness of key members of staff.<P>It …

9 Feb 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the recommended bed occupancy level is for hospitals and what the average bed occupancy level currently is.

Answer · Susan Deacon: There is no recommended bed occupancy level for NHSScotland. It is for health boards, working with NHS Trusts and other partners, to determine the number of hospital beds required to meet assessed need in their respective areas, taking account of local circum…

9 Feb 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it plans to incorporate in-patient planning and bed management within a wider plan to develop network systems and an electronic patient record.

Answer · Susan Deacon: The NHSScotland Information Management and Technology Strategy is currently being revised.<P>Telecommunications networks will increasingly be used on a local and national basis to support in-patient planning and bed management. An example is the Wardwatcher s…

9 Feb 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive which NHSiS Trusts have information systems in place to provide real time information for hospital staff on current and planned use of key resources to help plan patient admissions effectively.

Answer · Susan Deacon: All NHS Trusts have systems in place to manage the use of key resources and plan patient admissions.<FONT FACE="Arial" SIZE=2><P>However, the use of real-time systems for these purposes is at an early stage. It is important for the development of such systems…

9 Feb 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many operations were cancelled before the day of admission in each of the last five years and how many of these were cancelled because the patient's medical condition stopped the operation going ahead.

Answer · Susan Deacon: I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-13250.

9 Feb 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many NHS patients had their operations cancelled for non-medical reasons on the day of admission in each of the last five years.

Answer · Susan Deacon: Information on the number of operations cancelled by NHSScotland is not available centrally. Details of cancellations of planned admissions to hospitals are collected centrally and published annually in <I>Scottish Health Statistics, </I>which is available on…

9 Feb 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether there is any correlation between rates of hospital-acquired infection and the level of resources invested in infection control and, if so, what data exists to support this.

Answer · Susan Deacon: There is insufficient data at Scottish level to demonstrate either correlation or lack of correlation between rates of hospital-acquired infection (HAI) and resources applied to infection control by NHS Trusts.<P>Preventing and controlling HAI is an important…

9 Feb 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what data is held centrally on the number of compensation claims received by the NHSiS citing hospital-aquired infection as a main or contributory factor.

Answer · Susan Deacon: I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-13234.

9 Feb 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what costs have been incurred by health authorities due to clinical negligence claims arising from hospital-acquired infections.

Answer · Susan Deacon: General hospital-acquired infection (HAI) would not have been noted as a contributory factor in clinical negligence claims prior to April 2000. However records of clinical negligence claims where MRSA - which may have been acquired in hospital - was stated as…

9 Feb 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what criteria are used to (a) define hospital-acquired infections (HAI), (b) distinguish between types of HAI and (c) decide which types of HAI to monitor, and what methods are used to monitor rates of HAI.

Answer · Susan Deacon: These matters are under consideration by a sub-group of the Advisory Group on Infection, which was asked by the Scottish Executive to develop proposals for a national system of surveillance for hospital-acquired infection (HAI) in Scotland. During the course …

9 Feb 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what requirements there are for NHSiS Trusts to publish data on the occurrence of hospital-acquired infections.

Answer · Susan Deacon: At present there are no requirements on NHS Trusts to publish such data, although it is open to them to do so. A Scotland-wide surveillance system for hospital-acquired infection (HAI) is under active consideration by a sub-group of the Advisory Group on Infe…

9 Feb 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what monitoring takes place of hospital-acquired infections which occur after patients have been discharged from hospital.

Answer · Susan Deacon: There are currently no Scotland-wide arrangements in place for monitoring hospital acquired infection (HAI), including those which become apparent after patients have been discharged from hospital. A Scotland-wide surveillance system for HAI is under active c…

9 Feb 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what specific data relating to hospital-acquired infections is held by the Scottish Centre for Infection and Environmental Health.

Answer · Susan Deacon: The Scottish Centre for Infection and Environmental Health holds data about cases of methicillin resistant <I>staphylococcus aureus</I> (MRSA), including MRSA bacteraemias (blood borne infections), and of other bacteraemias detected in laboratory specimens ex…

7 Feb 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how it plans to develop the effectiveness of money advice services delivered into poorer communities as recommended by the Scottish Affairs Committee in its 1st Special Report, Response by the Government to the 1st Report from the Scottish Affairs Committee, session 1999-2000, on Poverty…

Answer · Jackie Baillie: The Scottish Executive is committed to improving the effectiveness of money advice services in Scotland’s deprived communities. We are continuing to work with the money advice sector to develop a national telephone debtline which will improve access to free q…