Parliamentary questions
Mr David Davidson
1,095 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.
4 May 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what the cost of hospital administration was for each year from 1995 to 2003, broken down by NHS board.
Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: Hospital management and administration expenditure for NHS Board areas from 1995 to 2003 was as follows:</p><table border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=3> <thead> <tr> <td> <p>Board</p> <p>(£000s)</p> </td> <td> <p align=right> 1995-96 </p> </td>…
4 May 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any plans to end the district court system.
Answer · Cathy Jamieson: The Report of the Summary JusticeReview Committee was published on 16 March 2004.It makes a number of recommendations in relation to reform of the criminal courtsin Scotland, including thecreation of a unified court administration managed by the Scottish Cour…
4 May 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many cases of outstanding disputed farm subsidy claims there have been in each of the last five years.
Answer · Ross Finnie: In November 2000 I introducedthe EU Agricultural Subsidies Appeals procedure to deal with disputed subsidy claims.</p><p>Since the procedure became operational,650 appeals have been received. In 2001 wereceived 84, in 2002, 270 and in 2003, 251. So far 45 app…
4 May 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many outstanding claims there are for farm subsidies from previous years.
Answer · Ross Finnie: The number of outstanding claims (that is claims still being considered after the payment window) for the main subsidy schemes covered by the Common Agricultural Policy for each of the five previous years is set out in the table below.</p><table border=1 cell…
4 May 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what the average waiting time is to see a GP, broken down by NHS board.
Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: This information is not collectedat a national level or held centrally. The waiting time for patients to see a GPis dependent on a number of factors including clinical need.</p>
4 May 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what extra resources it will allocate to Grampian Police to monitor and enforce the 40 mph speed limit for HGVs on all single carriageway roads within the force area.
Answer · Cathy Jamieson: The Grampian Joint Police Boardhas set a budget of over £85 million for 2004-05. It is a matter for the chief constableto determine how these resources are used to meet local needs and priorities.</p>
4 May 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive when its programme of safety improvements at the A90 junctions at Laurencekirk will be completed and how much it will cost.
Answer · Nicol Stephen: The programme of safety improvementsat the A90 junctions at Laurencekirk will be completed by the end of July 2004.The total estimated cost of the works is £65,000.</p>
4 May 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will refund Aberdeenshire Council for any damage to the B979 road between Stonehaven and Maryculter resulting from the closure of the A90 at Muchalls Bridge and, if so, when.
Answer · Nicol Stephen: The closure of the A90 occurredbecause of an incident on the road and traffic had to be diverted onto the B979for safety reasons. It is not normal practice for one roads authority to reimburseanother where traffic has to be diverted because of incidents or ac…
22 Apr 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what measures are being put in place to ensure that patients with diabetes receive a full annual review.
Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The Scottish Executive recognisesthe importance of people with diabetes being reviewed in order to monitor the managementand progression of their condition. It is a matter for NHS boards to put servicesin place to provide patients with the necessary health mo…
22 Apr 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what progress is being made on the standardisation of information leaflets for diabetes patients, families and friends.
Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The Scottish Diabetes Group iscurrently developing a comprehensive set of patient information leaflets. In addition,steps are being taken to draw attention to the significant array of existing highquality patient information produced by NHS boards and by orga…
22 Apr 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many NHS boards are considering the potential of patient-held care plans for diabetes.
Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: A number of boards have alreadyexperimented with patient-held care plans but none have introduced them for allpatients. This is something which the local diabetes Managed Clinical Networks willwish to consider, given the success of the patient-held records de…
22 Apr 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what resources will be allocated to support the roll-out of the Scottish Care Information Diabetes Collaboration system across Scotland.
Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The Scottish Care Information- Diabetes Collaboration (SCI-DC) is a £3 million national programme to provideeffective IT to support the delivery of diabetes care. The SCI-DC team, all theSCI-DC software and the central hardware are funded by the Scottish Exec…
22 Apr 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to address the issues raised in the NHS Quality Improvement Scotland's report National Overview March 2004: Diabetes.
Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The Scottish Diabetes Group willbe responsible for monitoring progress in addressing the issues raised in the NHSQuality Improvement Scotland national overview, and will take account of these aspart of the current process of reviewing the Scottish Diabetes Fr…
19 Apr 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what its position is on prescribing Exiba for patients with Al'heimer's disease.
Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The Scottish Medicines Consortium(SMC) has advised that Ebixa is not recommended for use in NHSScotland.</p><p>SMC advice does not overridethe individual responsibility of health professionals to make appropriate decisionsin the circumstances of the individua…
19 Apr 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many consultant nurses there are, broken down by their specialist health area.
Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: <i>A Partnership for a Better Scotland</i> committed to trebling the existing number of nurse consultants to 54. Currently there are 23 nurse consultants in post in Scotland. A further five posts have been approved and are awaiting appointment.</p><p>Nurse Co…
14 Apr 2004 · General Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what locations have been agreed for junctions on the Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route and where the southern link with the A90 will be sited.
Answer · Nicol Stephen: No decisions have been taken on the final location of the junctions or the southern link with the A90.</p>
31 Mar 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what action it will take to ensure that the views of all deaf and hard of hearing people are effectively represented within the NHS.
Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: Through the development of an integrated equality and diversity strategy as part of their wider patient focus and public involvement work, the Scottish Executive Health Department will ensure that the views and needs of deaf and hard-of-hearing people are add…
31 Mar 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what guidance it will issue to all premises from which health care is delivered on access for deaf and hard of hearing people.
Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: MEL(1999)67 was issued to theNHS in September 1999 and enclosed a Good Practice Guide on Access to Services <i>Equalityfor disabled people in the NHS in Scotland</i> as well as a training video producedby the Department of Health in England about the needs of…
31 Mar 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had with RNID Scotland about its report A Simple Cure - A national report into deaf and hard of hearing people's experiences of the National Health Service.
Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The experiences and recommendationscontained within the Royal National Institute for the Deaf report of last month,<i>A Simple Cure</i>, will be considered as part of the Health Department’s developingEquality and Diversity Strategy and the new partnership wi…
30 Mar 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what pilot schemes in health care it has supported since 1999; how much has been spent on each scheme, and how many have been rolled out.
Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The Scottish Executive Health Department does not maintain a central record of all health care pilot schemes. The following table sets out a list of pilot schemes which the department is aware of and which it has initiated since 1999. Health care has been int…
30 Mar 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive when it will bring forward new planning guidelines on wind farm developments that take account of people's environment and amenity.
Answer · Mary Mulligan: The Executive is satisfied thatexisting guidance and advice already takes proper account of both these issues.</p>
30 Mar 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what the survival rates from cancer have been in each NHS board area in each of the last four years.
Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: Survival information by NHSboard area is published on the ISD website at:</p><p><ahref="http://www.isdscotland.org/isd/info3.jsp?pContentID=402&p_applic=CCC&p_service=Content.show&">http://www.isdscotland.org/isd/info3.jsp?pContentID=402&p_app…
30 Mar 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to review infection control in care establishments.
Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: All care services in Scotland (including children’s services) regulated by the Care Commission are required to demonstrate that the service is operated in line with all necessary legal requirements and best practice guidelines. This includes relevant guidelin…
30 Mar 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what action it will take to review infection control systems in neonatal and paediatric units.
Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: We have set new standards forthe control of health care associated infection (HAI) including cleaning services.The Standards cover all hospitals settings (including neonatal and paediatric units).Hospital performance against the standards is assessed by NHS Q…
30 Mar 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many children under 15 contracted methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus in each NHS board area in each of the last four years.
Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: A national mandatory hospitalinfection surveillance system was introduced in 2001 to monitor MRSA blood infections.The number of reported paediatric bacteraemias (i.e. 15 years old or less) is threein 2001, 13 in 2002 and six in 2003. </p><p>There is no break…
30 Mar 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what specific financial support it will be giving to the joint initiative by Aberdeen City and Aberdeenshire councils to set up a forum involving business and community leaders to protect around 200 miles of fragile coastline from erosion.
Answer · Allan Wilson: Funding of a new forum as proposedby the two councils is a matter for the parties involved. However, if as a resultof setting up the planned forum, the councils decide to take schemes forward underthe Coast Protection Act 1949 to address coastal erosion, coas…
30 Mar 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of NHS staff in each NHS board was classified as managers in each of the last three years.
Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: NHSScotland staff classifiedas managers are employed in senior management grades and in the administrative andclerical (A&C) grades. Information on numbers of staff in these grades in NHSScotlandis published by ISD Scotland in Sections A and G of the Scot…
30 Mar 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of NHS workers is classified as managers.
Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: NHSScotland staff classifiedas managers are employed in senior management grades and in the administrative andclerical (A&C) grades. Information on numbers of staff in these grades in NHSScotlandis published by ISD Scotland in Sections A and G of the Scot…
30 Mar 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what support it gives to the "How to Drug Proof your Kids" seminar series run by Care for the Family.
Answer · Euan Robson: The Executive does not provide support to the “How to Drug Proof your Kids” seminar series run by Care for the Family.</p><p>Drugs education, in line with national guidelines, is already available in 94% of Scottish schools. Our Know the Score communications …
23 Mar 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many finished consultant episodes there have been in each year since 1995.
Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: Finished Consultant Episodes are an activity measure used in the NHS in England and Wales. FCE figures differ slightly from the usual hospital episode figures published by the Information and Statistics Division (ISD) of the Common Services Agency.</p><p> The…