Parliamentary questions
Brian Adam
1,580 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.
14 Aug 2003 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any plans to review the registers of land holdings to include options to purchase land.
Answer · Hugh Henry: The Registers of ScotlandExecutive Agency is responsible for maintaining registers relating to propertyand other legal documents, and in particular the two national registers oftitle and ownership of land, namely the Register of Sasines and the LandRegister. …
12 Aug 2003 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will review the time limitations for seeking redress in cases of medical negligence.
Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: There is already legislationin place to allow the courts to permit actions to proceed, albeit time-barred.</p><p>The time limitations forseeking redress in cases of medical negligence are regulated by thePrescription and Limitation (Scotland) Act 1973. Action…
12 Aug 2003 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many patients have been infected with cytomegalovirus (CMV) from contaminated blood products; what steps have been taken to eliminate the risk of CMV infection through such products; when the virus was first identified in Scotland, and how many patients were infected through contamina…
Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: Cytomegalovirus (CMV), whichis carried in the white blood cells, is very common in most communities and istransmitted by airborne spread. The Scottish National Blood Transfusion Servicehas advised that the majority of patients who have evidence of CMV have no…
12 Aug 2003 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any plans to review NHS dentists' contracts.
Answer · Tom McCabe: As outlined in the White Paper <i>Partnership for Care</i> we undertook to discuss with the dental profession proposals for changes to the system for rewarding primary care dentistry. Following discussions with the profession, we have introduced a number of m…
12 Aug 2003 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to support patients and families where the newborn hearing impairment screening programme identifies hearing loss.
Answer · Tom McCabe: The Public Health Institute of Scotland report, <i>NHS Audiology Services in Scotland,</i> recommends that NHS boards should develop and implement an early intervention programme to meet the treatment and support needs of children and their families affected …
12 Aug 2003 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what progress it is making with the newborn hearing impairment screening programme; what budget is available for the programme, and when this budget will be made available to NHS Grampian.
Answer · Tom McCabe: I refer the member to the answer given to question S2W-1735 on 22 August 2003. All answers to written parliamentaryquestions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility forcan be found at <a href="http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/se…
12 Aug 2003 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to review the financial support for teachers seeking to gain chartered status.
Answer · Peter Peacock: <div class=Section1><p>There is no plan to reviewfinancial support for teachers undertaking the Chartered Teacher Programme. Thecost of undertaking the programme, if successfully completed, bringssignificant financial reward.</p></div>
11 Aug 2003 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-32326 by Allan Wilson on 16 December 2002, whether it has had any discussions with the Department for Work and Pensions regarding the social and economic implications of the involvement of banks with Post Office Ltd in the payment of benefits and all…
Answer · Margaret Curran: The Scottish Executive is in regular contact with the UK Government on a wide range of issues, including the impact of recent changes to the ways benefits are paid.</p>
11 Aug 2003 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether the current gender balance in medical undergraduates has any implications for medical workforce planning.
Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: Gender balance, both of ourmedical undergraduates and of our medical workforce, is one of many factorscurrently being considered in Scotland as part of two complementary medical workforce reviews, namely:</p><p>A Review of Basic Medical Education being led by…
11 Aug 2003 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has for medical workforce planning, broken down by medical speciality.
Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: Work to identify, support and secure the doctors required to meet Scotland’s workforce needs is being taken forward in a number of ways as part of our on-going activity in workforce planning and development.</p><p><i>Working for Health – The Workforce Develop…
11 Aug 2003 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether flexible medical staff training will require an increase in the number of places at medical schools to meet consultant requirements.
Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: <>I refer the member to the answer given to question S2W-1972 today, which is available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at: </p><p><ahref="http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/search_wa">http://www.scottish.parliame…
11 Aug 2003 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what the implications are for medical staff planning of flexible staff training.
Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: There are a number of factors that require to be taken into account when planning the future shape of the medical workforce including:</p><p>The balance between working and non-working life.</p><p>The gender split within the medical workforce with an increasi…
11 Aug 2003 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will extend the range of those illnesses that qualify for free prescriptions to include manic depression and cystic fibrosis.
Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The Executive is committedto reviewing NHS prescription charges for people with chronic health conditionsand young people in full-time education or training. The detailed remit of thereview is still under consideration and the consultation process has yet to …
11 Aug 2003 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will review the criteria for assessing which illnesses qualify for free prescriptions.
Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The Executive is committedto reviewing NHS prescription charges for people with chronic health conditionsand young people in full-time education or training. The detailed remit of thereview and the associated consultation arrangements are still underconsidera…
8 Aug 2003 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what the balance is between it and Her Majesty's Government in the funding of research into the causes of, and potential cures or relief of pain for, multiple sclerosis.
Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The Medical Research Council(MRC) is the main agency through which the UK Government supports medical andclinical research. Collaboration between the UK Health Departments and the MRCis formalised in a concordat designed to develop and maintain an effectivepa…
8 Aug 2003 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has a policy on the provision of respite care for non-elderly disabled people.
Answer · Tom McCabe: <div class=Section1><p>The provision of servicestailored to meet individual need and in an appropriate setting is a cornerstoneof community care policy. Local authorities have a duty under the Social Work (Scotland)Act 1968 to assess the needs of, and provide…
8 Aug 2003 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it offers any financial support for research on multiple sclerosis and what the reasons are for its position on this matter.
Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: I refer the member to the answer given to question S2W-1935 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_w…
8 Aug 2003 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what the most recent average waiting times are for out-patient appointments for neurology in each NHS board area.
Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The median waiting time fora first out-patient appointment with a consultant in the specialty of neurology,following referral by a general medical practitioner, by NHS board area ofresidence, in the year ended 30 June 2003, is given in the table.</p><p>NHSSco…
5 Aug 2003 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether its proposed compensation scheme for patients infected through contaminated blood products will include patients infected with cytomegalovirus.
Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The Executive’s proposed ex-gratia scheme would apply exclusively to infection with hepatitis C through NHS treatment with blood and blood products and there are no plans to extend the scope of the scheme to cover any other virus.
5 Aug 2003 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what progress it has made in discussions with Her Majesty's Government regarding the Executive's proposed compensation scheme for patients infected through contaminated blood products.
Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: I announced on Friday 29August that the UK Government has agreed that the Scottish Executive does havethe necessary powers to establish our proposed scheme. In a parallelannouncement, the Department of Health has decided to provide financialassistance to peop…
4 Aug 2003 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it was consulted by Her Majesty's Government about the economic and social impact of any proposed reduction in Scotland's six remaining infantry regiments and, in particular, whether Her Majesty's Government has had any discussions with the Executive about the future of the Highla…
Answer · Jim Wallace: The Scottish Executive is in regular contact with the UK Government on a wide range of issues including defence.
1 Aug 2003 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had with NHS 24 regarding specialist diabetic advice.
Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: Our Scottish Diabetes Framework recognises that good patient information is an essential part of diabetes care, and NHS 24 has an important role to play in that context. We have had no discussions with NHS 24 regarding specialist diabetic advice, but understa…
1 Aug 2003 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether the misuse of alcohol is addressed in the new GP contracts.
Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The misuse of alcohol is specifically addressed in the new GMS contract for GPs. A National Enhanced Service (NES) will be introduced which is designed to improve the quality of care provided by practices to patients who misuse alcohol. Quality will be improv…
1 Aug 2003 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will extend drug treatment and testing orders to cover alcohol misuse.
Answer · Hugh Henry: The current priority for Drug Treatment and Testing Orders is to make the order available to courts across the country as an option for dealing with drug misusing offenders. For those offenders with alcohol misuse problems, courts can in appropriate cases imp…
17 Jul 2003 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether there are any anomalies in respect of guidance posts in its job-si'ing exercise on promoted postholders.
Answer · Peter Peacock: The Scottish Executive is not aware of any such anomalies. The range of duties undertaken by promoted postholders can be very wide. That is why no single criterion, such as pupil roll, can adequately judge the value of a post. The salary scale points identifi…
17 Jul 2003 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any concerns relating to its job-si'ing exercise on promoted postholders in schools.
Answer · Peter Peacock: The Scottish Executive is confident the new system of job-sizing management posts in schools offers very substantial advantages over the previous system, which was widely recognised as being archaic and unfair.
17 Jul 2003 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what appeals mechanisms exist in respect of its job-si'ing exercise on promoted postholders in schools.
Answer · Peter Peacock: An appeals mechanism is in place to accommodate any failure to agree between postholders and line managers in completing the job-sizing questionnaire. Local authorities all have grievance procedures in place which individuals may pursue if they remain unsatis…
17 Jul 2003 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many, and what, representations it has received on the results of its job-si'ing exercise on promoted postholders in schools.
Answer · Peter Peacock: To date, the Executive has received 20 letters from members of the public and 13 from MSPs making representations about the results job sizing exercise. <P>The Executive also received the results of a postcard campaign organised by the Scottish Secondary Teac…
17 Jul 2003 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what criteria were used in assessing the job-si'ing exercise on promoted postholders in schools.
Answer · Peter Peacock: The final job sizing mechanism agreed by all three sides on the Scottish Negotiating Committee for Teachers uses the following criteria to assess job-size, as set out in the Agreement <I>A Teaching Profession for the 21st Century</I>:<P>school roll;<P>managem…
17 Jul 2003 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what impact its job-si'ing exercise will have on promoted secondary teacher postholders.
Answer · Peter Peacock: The new job-sizing system has been implemented in accordance with the terms of the agreement <I>A Teaching Profession for the 21st Century</I>. The impact on management grades in schools is that job weights are now assessed on a range of factors, rather than …