Parliamentary questions
Ben Wallace
205 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.
14 Mar 2001 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-7656 by Angus MacKay on 1 December 2000, how many contracts let to external consultants and advisors in (a) 1999-2000 and (b) to date in 2000-01 were (i) put out to competitive tender; (ii) not put out to competitive tender, and (iii) let on a non-co…
Answer · Angus MacKay: The information requested is not held centrally. The answer to question S1W-7656 indicated that arrangements would be introduced to collect this data in future. We will begin compiling data shortly relating to contracts placed on or after 1 January 2001.
1 Mar 2001 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many patients there were on the deferred waiting list as at December 2000.
Answer · Susan Deacon: I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-13507.
1 Mar 2001 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will list by name the 200 one-stop clinics referred to on page 46 of Our National Health: A plan for action, a plan for change.
Answer · Susan Deacon: Details of the one-stop clinics operated by NHSScotland are given in the table.<TABLE BORDER CELLSPACING=1 CELLPADDING=3 WIDTH=617><TR><TD WIDTH="5%" VALIGN="TOP"><FONT FACE="Arial" SIZE=1><P>No.</TD><TD WIDTH="29%" VALIGN="TOP"><FONT FACE="Arial" SIZE=1><P>S…
27 Feb 2001 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-11191 by Susan Deacon on 30 November 2000, how many general practitioners were recruited in 2000.
Answer · Susan Deacon: Robust information on the number of general medical practitioners recruited in any year is not available.
27 Feb 2001 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many people are currently in training to be general practitioners.
Answer · Susan Deacon: The number of GP Registrars employed in general medical practices in NHSScotland at 1 October 2000 was 261. This is the latest information available for those who can be identified as being in training to become general practitioners.
27 Feb 2001 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many general practitioners it anticipates will be recruited in each year to 2004.
Answer · Susan Deacon: Robust information on the expected number of general medical practitioners that will be recruited is not currently available. The General Practitioner sub-committee of the Scottish Advisory Committee on the Medical Workforce is currently working with ISD Scot…
27 Feb 2001 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many general practitioners were employed in each year since 1996.
Answer · Susan Deacon: The number of general practitioners employed in each year since 1996 for which there is firm data is shown in the following table. The table should be read in conjunction with the notes below.<P>General medical practitioners contracted to NHSScotland<P>Headco…
27 Feb 2001 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many general practitioners retired in (a) 1997-98, (b) 1998-99 and (c) 1999-2000.
Answer · Susan Deacon: Robust information on the number of general practitioners who retire is not available. Information is collected on the number of GPs who cease to practise as principals in Scotland. However, a significant percentage do not supply a reason for leaving, and the…
16 Feb 2001 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-6120 by Susan Deacon on 5 May 2000, when the Dairy Products (Hygiene) (Scotland) Regulations 2000 will come before the Parliament for consideration.
Answer · Susan Deacon: I am advised by the Food Standards Agency that the Dairy Product (Hygiene) (Scotland) Regulations have completed their three-month mandatory notification period with the Commission and now have the necessary clearance in respect of technical standards.<P>Some…
16 Feb 2001 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what the total amount of resources transfer from health boards to local authorities was in 1998, 1999 and 2000.
Answer · Susan Deacon: The information requested for 1997-98 is given on page 21 of <I>NHS</I> <I>(Scotland) Summarised Accounts 1997-98</I>, published by The Stationery Office in 1999, a copy of which is available in the Parliament's Reference Centre (Bib. no. 11584).<P>The inform…
16 Feb 2001 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many local authority run nursing homes there are.
Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: There are no local authority-run nursing homes. However, many private nursing homes have patients who receive local authority funding.
16 Feb 2001 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many local authority staff are currently employed in community care services for the elderly.
Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: Information on the number of staff in local authority social work departments by client group is given in table 4 of the statistical bulletin <I>Staff of</I> <I>Scottish Local Authority Social Work Departments, 1999</I>, published by the Scottish Executive in…
16 Feb 2001 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what the NHSiS spend was as a percentage of Scottish Gross Domestic Product for the years 1995 to 2000.
Answer · Susan Deacon: The following table shows expenditure on the NHS in Scotland as a percentage of GDP for the period 1995 to 1999 - the latest year for which Scottish GDP data are available.<TABLE BORDER CELLSPACING=1 BORDERCOLOR="#000000" CELLPADDING=2 WIDTH=332><TR><TD WIDTH…
16 Feb 2001 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what the definition is of "NHS deferred waiting lists" as used by the Information Statistics Division in its document Scottish Health Statistics.
Answer · Susan Deacon: In accordance with established guidance applicable to the collection of data on waiting, which has been in place since 1989, patients are placed on deferred admission waiting lists where: there are personal, social or medical constraints at the time of decidi…
16 Feb 2001 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive when it will publish the NHSiS waiting times and lists for first outpatient appointments in the year 2000.
Answer · Susan Deacon: Information on waiting lists is collected centrally only for hospital inpatients and day cases.<P>Waiting times for a first outpatient appointment with a consultant following referral by a General Medical Practitioner/General Dental Practitioner, for each qua…
16 Feb 2001 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive when it will publish the first half year statistics of NHSiS waiting times and lists for 2000-01.
Answer · Susan Deacon: An extensive range of information on NHSScotland acute activity, waiting lists and waiting times for the year 2000 was published on 28 February 2001 and is available on the Internet at:<P><A HREF="http://www.show.scot.nhs.uk/isd/acute_activity/index.htm">http…
23 Nov 2000 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will undertake a review of the collection of national statistics in order to ensure that a wider range of figures is held centrally with particular regard to health board, education and local authority statistics.
Answer · Angus MacKay: Scottish Executive statistics will be reviewed within the National Statistics framework, at least every five years, involving external experts as appropriate. These reviews will be wide-ranging and will take account of the needs of users of the information, w…
23 Nov 2000 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will implement the British Medical Association's recommendation that the smoking cessation drug Zyban be issued, with appropriate guidance for both doctors and patients.
Answer · Susan Deacon: Health Board Drug and Therapeutic Committees are providing doctors with guidance on the prescription of Zyban. As a prescription-only medicine, clinical responsibility for the use of this drug rests with the prescriber who should discuss this treatment with t…
22 Nov 2000 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how much money has been spent by the NHSiS in anticipation of possible entry to a single European currency.
Answer · Susan Deacon: The NHS in Scotland is carrying out a measure of pre-planning for the possible introduction of the euro as set out in HM Treasury's <I>Second Outline National Changeover Plan</I> published on 9 March 2000. The costs of this exercise are minimal and have been …
22 Nov 2000 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what measures it will introduce to facilitate health boards' adaptation to operating within a single European currency.
Answer · Susan Deacon: The Scottish Executive Health Department has issued guidance to the NHS in Scotland on how to plan for the conversion to the euro.
22 Nov 2000 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether funding for NHSiS preparations for possible entry to a single European currency will be expected to come from existing health board budgets.
Answer · Susan Deacon: Each health body in Scotland has been expected to prepare a plan demonstrating how they will convert to euro. The resources used to do this are expected to have been met from their current funding.
15 Nov 2000 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many times the Acute Services Review Body has met since its inception.
Answer · Susan Deacon: The Acute Services Group has met 14 times since its inception in August 1998.
28 Jul 2000 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many general practitioners are forecast to retire in 2000-01 and 2001-02.
Answer · Susan Deacon: The Information requested is not held by the Executive.<P ALIGN="JUSTIFY">The General Practitioner sub-committee of the Scottish Advisory Committee on the Medical Workforce are working with ISD Scotland to develop a statistical model to project the supply and…
29 Jun 2000 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many unfilled medical and clinical oncology posts there are at each medical grade in each NHS Trust.
Answer · Susan Deacon: The latest data available refers to consultant and staff grades at the annual notification of vacancies at 30 September 1999, which is collected by ISD Scotland. At 30 September 1999 there were no unfilled consultant or staff grade posts in clinical and medic…
29 Jun 2000 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will outline the timescale for the appointment of the additional NHS staff in each of the categories announced in Scottish Executive News Release SE 1900/2000 on 28 June 2000.
Answer · Susan Deacon: The 210 new specialist nursing posts will be filled mostly by nurses already in the NHS in Scotland. The resulting vacant posts will be filled by newly recruited nurses. The start of the specialist training programmes and the recruitment of the new nurses are…
28 Jun 2000 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many NHS managers have received discretionary bonuses and what the total value of these awards has been, in the current financial year and last year.
Answer · Susan Deacon: Information on individual managers' pay is not held centrally. In Scotland NHS managers are paid on their performance in meeting the objectives and targets set at the start of the reporting year. New pay arrangements for this staff group were introduced with …
28 Jun 2000 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many senior nurses have received the discretionary bonus for work beyond their normal duties, and what the total value of these awards has been, in the current financial year and last year.
Answer · Susan Deacon: The only information held centrally shows that, as at February 2000, some 1,563 nurses and midwives had been awarded discretionary points. The estimated cost of these awards is just over £1 million.
28 Jun 2000 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive (a) how many nursing practitioners are presently in post and (b) how many it is proposed be appointed and over what period, in which specialities and in which NHS Trusts.
Answer · Susan Deacon: "Nurse practitioner" is a term often used to describe nurses, specialist or generalist, who practise autonomously and who may undertake duties which are normally the province of a medical practitioner. They work in many settings, particularly in gen…
19 Jun 2000 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many people were employed by local authorities in each of the last five years, broken down by each local authority.
Answer · Frank McAveety: In the table below, data is provided for the period since the present structure of 32 unitary local authorities came into being. Data for the predecessor regional and district authorities is not directly comparable.<P ALIGN="JUSTIFY">Number of full-time equiv…
16 Jun 2000 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what action it intends to take in the light of the view of the Advocate General of the European Court of Justice (Cases C-376/98 and C-74/99) that the European Directive on tobacco advertising should be annulled.
Answer · Susan Deacon: I refer to the answer I gave to question S1W-2746 on 24 November which outlines the Executive's position on introducing a ban on tobacco advertising and sponsorship. The Advocate General's opinion is significant, but we await the judgement from the European C…