Brian Adam

26 Nov 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what future role it envisages for community hospitals in the NHS.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The Executive sees community hospitals as playing an important role in the spectrum of care provided to the communities they serve. They provide accessible services to meet a range of local needs and complement the other services available in the locality. It…

26 Nov 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what its plans are for the delivery of health services in rural areas.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The Scottish Health Plan,<I> Our National Health: A plan for action, a plan for change</I>,<I> </I>set out our thinking on health services for rural areas. We expect NHS boards individually and through regional planning arrangements to ensure the provision of…

19 Nov 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether the Arbuthnott formula is applied to additional capitation for teaching allocations.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The Arbuthnott formula does not apply to the resources which are allocated to NHS boards to meet the additional costs of teaching.

19 Nov 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how much additional capitation for teaching was allocated to each NHS board in each year since 1998-99.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: Details of Additional Cost of Teaching (ACT) allocations made to the four teaching boards are as follows:<TABLE BORDER CELLSPACING=1 CELLPADDING=2 WIDTH=455><TR><TD WIDTH="23%" VALIGN="TOP">&nbsp;</TD><TD WIDTH="15%" VALIGN="TOP"><P>1998-99<P>(£ million)</TD>…

19 Nov 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether the funding for NHS contract occupational health services was allocated using the Arbuthnott formula and what the reasons are for the position on this matter.

Answer · Mary Mulligan: NHS boards are given a unified budget calculated under the Arbuthnott formula. This allows each individual NHS board to decide the level of funding to allocate to meet the costs of services they provide including occupational health for the NHS staff they emp…

19 Nov 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any plans to introduce a performance indicator on smoking cessation in the new general practitioner contract.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: Negotiations on the new GP contract are being taken forward on a UK basis by the NHS Confederation, representing the four UK Health Departments, and the UK General Practitioners Committee (GPC). As negotiations are currently on-going, it would be inappropriat…

19 Nov 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what progress it is making on the new general practitioner contract, and whether the introduction of such contracts will require legislation and, if so, what the timetable for this is.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: Negotiations on the new GP contract are on-going and at this stage it would be inappropriate for me to comment in detail on the need for legislation to implement the eventual agreement. The framework document published in April this year stated that phased im…

19 Nov 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive which health premises have been provided by third party development in each year since 1999; what the capital costs and revenue consequences were in each case, broken down by NHS board area, and who has the head lease for each of these premises.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The information requested is not held centrally.<P>However, 19 projects providing modern, fit-for-purpose accommodation for GP practices are understood to have been completed under the third-party development arrangement. Detailed information can be obtained …

19 Nov 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether the third party development of health premises is considered as a private finance initiative or public private partnership project and what the reasons are for its position on this matter.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The third party development arrangement is considered to be neither a private finance initiative nor a public private partnership. It is an additional reimbursement route available to General Practitioners (GPs) which was introduced to encourage private devel…

19 Nov 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will ensure that past Scottish Qualifications Authority exam papers are published and available for sale timeously.

Answer · Nicol Stephen: This is a matter for the Scottish Qualifications Authority.

19 Nov 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-31361 by Mr Jim Wallace on 18 November 2002, what the remit is of the project team conducting the review of common police services in relation to forensic science services.

Answer · Jim Wallace: A final remit has still to be agreed. This will be informed by a scoping study of the provision of forensic science services in Scotland which is currently being undertaken.

13 Nov 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how much funding has been granted to Records Enterprise and what that body's income has been in each year since 1997.

Answer · Richard Simpson: The funding to run the business activities of the General Register Office (GROS) for Scotland is given by the Scottish Executive to GROS, which in turn allocates funding to a number of business areas within the department. Records Enterprise is a branch of GR…

13 Nov 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what changes are planned to the information collected as part of the registration of people in Scotland and what organisations have been consulted in respect of any such changes.

Answer · Jim Wallace: I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-19634 on 5 November 2001, in which I announced that the Registrar General had published his proposals from the consultation <I>Civil Registration in the 21st Century</I>. That consultation involved a wide…

13 Nov 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any plans to form partnerships with voluntary organisations in establishing the Scottish Family History Service.

Answer · Richard Simpson: I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-31506 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/sear…

13 Nov 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive which organisations will be involved in providing the Scottish Family History Service.

Answer · Richard Simpson: I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-31506 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/sear…

13 Nov 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what organisations have been consulted on the setting up of the Scottish Family History Service.

Answer · Richard Simpson: An announcement about the Scottish Family History Research Service project, including plans to consult a number of bodies, will be made shortly.

13 Nov 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to facilitate access to records of Scottish interest which are currently held by record keepers other than registration offices.

Answer · Hugh Henry: The National Archives of Scotland (NAS) makes available the public records of Scotland. I have asked George MacKenzie, Keeper of the Records of Scotland to respond. His response is as follows:<P>In addition to the public access provided by the search rooms at…

13 Nov 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what will happen to the original archives held at registration offices upon completion of the digitising of these records under the DIGROS programme.

Answer · Richard Simpson: No decision has yet been taken on what will be done with the duplicate statutory registers held by local registration services when the digitisation of statutory registers has been completed. The registers themselves are the property of the Registrar General,…

13 Nov 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what action is being taken to ensure that appropriate facilities are made available at local registration offices to allow public access to the new digital genealogy resources and what the cost will be to the customer of accessing such facilities.

Answer · Richard Simpson: The General Register Office for Scotland plan to make the full set of digital images of genealogical records which are being generated as a result of the Digitally Imaging the Genealogical Records of Scotland's people (DIGROS) project, available to all local …

13 Nov 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to ensure that family history research is included within current tourism training.

Answer · Mike Watson: This is an operational matter for VisitScotland. VisitScotland are well aware of the attractions of family history research, not least using the internet, to certain potential visitors to Scotland who can then be encouraged to come to see for themselves the p…

12 Nov 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any plans to allow dentists to prescribe nicotine replacement therapy and other pharmacological aids to stopping smoking such as bupropion.

Answer · Mary Mulligan: There are no current plans to do so.

12 Nov 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to offer dentists appropriate training on giving advice and guidance to patients to stop smoking.

Answer · Mary Mulligan: Both undergraduate and postgraduate dental education in Scotland offers training in the provision of smoking cessation advice. Training focuses on the role of smoking in oral disease, the role of the dental team in smoking cessation, and the dentist's role in…

8 Nov 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many training posts in forensic medicine there are currently; where the posts are located, and which of them are currently vacant.

Answer · Mary Mulligan: The information requested is not held centrally.

8 Nov 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many consultant forensic pathologist posts there are currently; where the posts are located, and which of them are currently vacant.

Answer · Mary Mulligan: Data on forensic pathologists are not available. However, data is available on histopathology, of which forensic pathology is a sub specialty. <P>Table 1: Headcount and Whole Time Equivalent of Consultant Histopathologists Employed by NHSScotland<TABLE BORDER…

7 Nov 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many applications have been made to date for free central heating in the Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire postcode areas under its central heating installation programme; how many of these applications have been authorised, and how many installations have been carried out.

Answer · Hugh Henry: I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-30388 on 22 October 2002. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found on <A HREF="http://www.scottish.parliament.uk…

7 Nov 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will continue to provide regional services for forensic medicine across Scotland.

Answer · Elish Angiolini: I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-31353 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/searc…

7 Nov 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will rule out a homicide-only forensic service.

Answer · Jim Wallace: The provision of forensic science services in Scotland is currently under review as part of the wider review of common police services. A project team has been established to examine the potential benefits of rationalisation and to recommend a future structur…

7 Nov 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the implications are for the teaching of medicine and law at Scottish universities if a medical school has no forensic medicine teaching.

Answer · Iain Gray: Higher education institutions are autonomous bodies and are responsible for matters relating to the detail of course provision. The Scottish Executive has no locus in these decisions.<P>In areas such as law and medicine institutions work with key professional…

7 Nov 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what workforce planning has been carried out in respect of forensic pathology.

Answer · Mary Mulligan: We have recently launched <I>Working for Health - The Workforce Development Action Plan for NHSScotland</I>, which has set a critical path for creating a robust development function integrating workforce planning and service planning across all services in NH…

7 Nov 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many departments of forensic medicine there are in Scottish universities and whether any of these departments are under threat of closure.

Answer · Iain Gray: This information is not held by the Scottish Executive. <P>Information on the courses offered by higher education institutions can be found on the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) website <A HREF="http://www.ucas.ac.uk/">www.ucas.ac.uk</A> …