Parliamentary questions
Mr Keith Raffan
121 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.
30 Jun 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive why it requires waiting list and waiting time information for drug treatment services to be maintained on a monthly basis and whether it has estimated the administrative cost of this requirement.
Answer · Hugh Henry: Service providers and localDrug Action Teams must have accurate and up to date information on waitingtimes in their areas so that problems can be identified and addressed asquickly as possible. Local waiting times can be affected by a wide range offactors and…
30 Jun 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what guidance it has given on the content of the enhanced general medical services contract for drugs.
Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: A model specification forthe delivery of a national enhanced service for patients suffering from drug misuse was agreed on a UK-wide basis as part of the UK negotiations on the new General Medical Services (GMS) contract. The model specification is contained …
30 Jun 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive which NHS boards have a general medical services enhanced service contract for drugs.
Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: Not all NHS boards have yetcompleted negotiations for their enhanced services. Boards which have indicatedthat they have in place enhanced services for drug users are Borders, Fife,Grampian, Lanarkshire and Lothian. Details of other boards providing anenhance…
1 Oct 2003 · General Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what market analysis has been undertaken of potential opportunities for Scottish business in the 10 accession states to the EU, particularly the three Baltic states and Poland, and what trade missions to those countries are planned over the next 12 months.
Answer · Lewis Macdonald: ScottishEnterprise published a context paper in August 2003 entitled <i>Opportunities and Challengesof EU enlargement</i>,<i> </i>which is available at <ahref="http://www.scottish-enterprise.com/euenlargement">www.scottish-enterprise.com/euenlargement</a><ana…
28 Aug 2003 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will implement the recommendations in the report of the Nicholson Committee in full.
Answer · Cathy Jamieson: When I announced publicationof the report on 19 August, I explained that it would be issued forconsultation to interested parties until 19 December. The Executive willconsider taking forward<b> </b>implementation of the recommendations in thelight of the comm…
22 May 2003 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what the annual cost of abolishing prescription charges would be to the NHS.
Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The table lists the total revenue raised from prescription charges between 1999-2003 and provides an indication of what abolition would cost.<TABLE BORDER CELLSPACING=1 CELLPADDING=2 WIDTH=287><TR><TD WIDTH="26%" VALIGN="TOP" HEIGHT=33><P>Year</TD><TD WIDTH="…
21 May 2003 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what the estimated cost is of reopening the railway stations at Blackford, Greenloaning, Wormit, Newburgh and Methil and what the annual cost would be of keeping the stations open.
Answer · Nicol Stephen: I refer the member to the answer given to question S2W-00348 on 6 June 2003. 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/we…
21 May 2003 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what estimated annual subsidy would be required for the railway service to St Andrews and Leven if the lines were to be reopened.
Answer · Nicol Stephen: I refer the member to the answer given to question S2W-00348. 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/search_wa"…
21 May 2003 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what the estimated cost is of reopening the railway lines to St Andrews and Leven.
Answer · Nicol Stephen: The estimated cost of reopening infrastructure, including stations and branch lines, and their annual operating cost is dependent on the project specification. This would be a matter for any promoter who may wish to take these projects forward and the informa…
21 May 2003 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to extend dualling of the A9 between Perth and Inverness.
Answer · Nicol Stephen: On 20 March 2003 we announced funding of £20 million to support development of 10 new road improvement schemes over the next three years. Three of these schemes will benefit the A9 by providing an extension of the dual carriageway section at Crubenmore; a new…
21 May 2003 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what representations it has received from Tayside Police and others on extending dualling of the A9 between Perth and Inverness.
Answer · Nicol Stephen: A number of organisations and individuals have called for further dualling of the A9 trunk route. However, I am not aware of any direct representations from Tayside Police on this issue.<P>Tayside Police, along with the Northern Constabulary, local authoritie…
21 May 2003 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what the latest estimate is of the cost of dualling the A9 for its entire length between Perth and Inverness.
Answer · Nicol Stephen: The most recent detailed estimate of this cost dates back to 1994 and totalled £281 million. However, projecting forward to today's prices, and taking account of additional works not previously included, we estimate that the costs of dualling would now be in …
19 Feb 2003 · General Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking to increase the number of specialist practice nurses within GP practices and what consideration it is giving to widening their powers to prescribe.
Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: Practice nurses are employees of general practices. As such, the NHS does not directly employ them. It is the responsibility of individual practices to determine appropriate staffing levels. The number of practice nurses has increased from 900.9 whole-time eq…
13 Nov 2002 · General Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what action it intends to take to tackle binge drinking, particularly among younger women, and when it plans to seek a parliamentary debate on its Plan for Action on alcohol problems.
Answer · Mary Mulligan: The Executive's <I>Plan for Action on alcohol problems</I>, published in January, sets out a range of measures to reduce alcohol-related harm in Scotland. Reducing binge drinking is one of the two key priorities of the plan and the How Much is Too Much? natio…
6 Nov 2002 · General Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will make an announcement about the proposed boundaries of, and planning powers for, the Cairngorms National Park.
Answer · Allan Wilson: The draft Designation Order, which includes details on the extent of the park boundary and the arrangements for planning, was laid before the Parliament earlier today.
24 Jun 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what practical facilities it provides to organisations in the Mid Scotland and Fife parliamentary region which (a) support male victims of domestic abuse and (b) assist fathers experiencing problems with hostile ex-partners in gaining appropriate contact with their children, broken down b…
Answer · Margaret Curran: The Scottish Executive does not directly support any organisations, which support male victims of domestic abuse. It does, however, provide core funding under section 10 of the Social Work (Scotland) Act 1968 to Family Mediation Scotland and 10 of its local …
1 May 2002 · General Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what services are currently provided to help and support the children of parents undergoing treatment for substance abuse.
Answer · Richard Simpson: There is a range of services to support the needs of children of drug misusing parents, including generic services provided by local authorities, services funded through the Changing Childrens Services Fund and Lloyds TSB Partnership Drugs Initiative.<P>The E…
20 Mar 2002 · General Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how it is tackling abuse of volatile substances.
Answer · Mary Mulligan: Volatile substance abuse is addressed within Scotland's drugs strategy. Drug Action Teams (DATs) are asked to include it in their corporate action plans. According to the 2000-01 DAT Corporate Planning exercise, there are 99 drug agencies in Scotland which pr…
6 Mar 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what the estimated cost is of upgrading the A9 to dual carriageway for the entire section from Perth to Inverness.
Answer · Lewis Macdonald: It is not the Executive's policy to dual the whole length of the A9 between Perth and Inverness, and no recent estimate of the costs has been made. However, a study commissioned in 1993 estimated these costs at £281 million at 1994 prices.
6 Feb 2002 · General Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how it plans to take forward its strategy on pharmaceutical care by making better use of pharmacists' expertise.
Answer · Hugh Henry: We will work with the bodies representing pharmacists to ensure implementation of the strategy.
3 Dec 2001 · First Minister's Question
To ask the First Minister what the estimated cost of absences from work due to illness was in the last financial year for which figures are available.
Answer · Jack McConnell: About 10 million working days are lost in Scotland each year due to illness, which is equivalent to just over 2% of all working days. We estimate that the direct costs to the economy are around £800 million.
20 Jun 2001 · General Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what its spending is in the current financial year on tackling alcohol misuse and what its estimate is of the numbers suffering from severe or chronic misuse.
Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The Executive has made £1.845 million available through central budgets in this financial year to support local and national action to tackle alcohol problems. Funding for services addressing alcohol problems is also provided within resources allocated to NHS…
7 Mar 2001 · General Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will introduce a compulsory register for nanny agencies and take action to regulate them.
Answer · Nicol Stephen: During the Regulation of Care Bill Stage 1 debate on 7 March, Susan Deacon announced our proposals for the regulation of services which directly employ or select the carer to work in the family home.<P>Regulation of nanny agencies, when they act as employment…
26 Feb 2001 · First Minister's Question
To ask the First Minister what the current position is regarding the Executive's proposed drug court pilot scheme and its likely impact on the demand for treatment services.
Answer · Henry McLeish: Iain Gray, in his answer to question S1W-13514 on 21 February, announced the establishment of a working group for piloting a drug court in Glasgow. It is too early to comment on the implications for treatment services but we have provided an extra £10 million…
14 Feb 2001 · General Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of the latest additional funding package of #100 million to tackle drug misuse over the next three years will be spent on (a) treatment and aftercare, (b) prevention and (c) enforcement measures.
Answer · Iain Gray: Approximately 56% of the additional drugs funding will be spent on treatment and aftercare, 12% on prevention, and around 31% will span both categories. The remaining 1% will be spent on enforcement measures to reduce the level of drugs getting into prisons.
18 Jan 2001 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will make provision for continuous hyperfractionated accelerated radiotherapy in any new investment it makes in lung cancer treatment.
Answer · Susan Deacon: <I><FONT FACE="Arial">Our National Health: A plan for action; a plan for change</I> published on 14 December 2000 clearly sets out the Executive's overall aims for a better integrated and responsive NHSScotland which puts patients first. The plan sets out a s…
18 Jan 2001 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how much is being invested in the current year in lung cancer treatment in (a) Scotland and (b) each health board area and how much was invested in each of the last three years.
Answer · Susan Deacon: Cancer is a priority for the NHSScotland. Health Boards receive an annual general revenue allocation. It is a matter for Health Boards to determine within the funds available how to manage and deliver local healthcare services that best meet the assessed nee…
18 Jan 2001 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, for each of the last three years, how many lung cancer patients in (a) Scotland and (b) each health board area have survived (i) six months and (ii) 12 months beyond diagnosis.
Answer · Susan Deacon: The tables show the numbers of people in Scotland diagnosed with lung cancer in each of the years 1995, 1996 and 1997 and the numbers alive after (i) six months and (ii) 12 months after diagnosis for (a) Scotland and (b) each health board in Scotland.<TABLE B…
11 Jan 2001 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive in which health boards the additional #13 million worth of new and replacement linear accelerators for radiotherapy will be located and how many patients this new equipment is expected to treat annually.
Answer · Susan Deacon: £13.2 million is committed from the NHS Capital Modernisation Fund to provide state of the art linear accelerators and treatment planning computers for the delivery of radiotherapy in Scotland's five Cancer Centres.<P ALIGN="JUSTIFY">In June last year, I anno…
11 Jan 2001 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what the current waiting times are for all forms of cancer and what the equivalent figures were for each of the last 10 years, broken down by health board.
Answer · Susan Deacon: Treatment for cancer can take place in either an outpatient or inpatient setting. Information is not held centrally on waiting times for treatment which starts in an outpatient setting.<P ALIGN="JUSTIFY">Information on the time between a patient being placed …