Mr Keith Raffan

11 Jan 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the current waiting times are for first appointments with cancer consultants and what the equivalent figures were for each of the last 10 years, broken down by health board.

Answer · Susan Deacon: Information on waiting times for a first outpatient appointment is not collected centrally in the form requested.<P ALIGN="JUSTIFY">There is no recognised specialty of &quot;cancer consultant&quot;. Patients in whom a diagnosis of cancer is suspected are refe…

10 Jan 2001 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will restore primary destination status to Dunfermline to ensure new and improved signage to the city.

Answer · Sarah Boyack: I have no plans to review Dunfermline's status for trunk road signing purposes.

13 Dec 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the current male:female ratio is of nurses in the NHSiS.

Answer · Susan Deacon: At 30 September 1999, the ratio of male to female nurses was 1:9.

13 Dec 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the current average age of nurses is in the NHSiS.

Answer · Susan Deacon: At 30 September 1999, the average (mean) age of nurses who were directly employed by the NHSiS and had substantive posts was 38.9 years.

13 Dec 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-11191 by Susan Deacon on 30 November 2000, how many of the nurses and midwives recruited in (a) 1997, (b) 1998 and (c) 1999 were employed on (i) full-time and (ii) part-time contracts.

Answer · Susan Deacon: The information requested is shown in the table.<FONT FACE="Arial" SIZE=2><P>Qualified Nursing and Midwifery staff in the NHSiS by contract type - net joiners <TABLE BORDER CELLSPACING=1 CELLPADDING=7 WIDTH=616><TR><TD WIDTH="25%" VALIGN="TOP">&nbsp;</TD><TD …

13 Dec 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the recommended optimum waiting time is for radiotherapy and what the current average waiting time is.

Answer · Susan Deacon: The Joint Council for Clinical Oncology recommended maximum waiting time for radiotherapy involving complex treatment planning is four weeks.<P ALIGN="JUSTIFY">At present waiting times for radiotherapy - the time between treatment being agreed and starting - …

13 Dec 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many radiotherapists there currently are per head of population and how this compares with the equivalent figure in each of the past two years.

Answer · Susan Deacon: The number and Whole Time Equivalent (WTE) of consultants in clinical oncology (radiotherapy) and their rate per head of population for the latest three years data available is shown in the table:<TABLE BORDER CELLSPACING=1 CELLPADDING=7 WIDTH=535><TR><TD WID…

13 Dec 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what initiatives it plans to attract younger people to work in the NHSiS.

Answer · Susan Deacon: The Scottish Executive does not have any particular plans to target recruitment of young people into the NHS.

13 Dec 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the current average waiting time is for an elderly patient in hospital to be assessed by social services and how this compares with the equivalent figure in each of the previous two years.

Answer · Susan Deacon: Information about average waiting times in hospital prior to social services assessments being completed is not collected centrally in the form requested. <P ALIGN="JUSTIFY">The census of patients ready for discharge in NHSScotland, which was published on 4 D…

13 Dec 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many critical care nurses have (a) joined and (b) left the NHSiS in each of the last three years.

Answer · Susan Deacon: This information is not held centrally.

13 Dec 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many nurses from other countries have come to work in the NHSiS in each of the last three years, in total and broken down by country.

Answer · Susan Deacon: The information requested is not available centrally.

13 Dec 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many nurses have left their jobs in Scotland to work in other countries in each of the last three years.

Answer · Susan Deacon: The information requested is not available centrally.

6 Dec 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how much money was spent on the treatment and rehabilitation of drug users in each year since 1990 and how much has been allocated for those future years for which figures are available.

Answer · Iain Gray: The following table details the resources allocated to health boards for drug treatment services since 1994-95:<TABLE BORDER CELLSPACING=1 CELLPADDING=7 WIDTH=236><TR><TD WIDTH="56%" VALIGN="TOP"><FONT FACE="Arial" SIZE=2><P>Financial Year</TD><TD WIDTH="44%"…

6 Dec 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many drug-related prosecutions were undertaken in the courts in each year since 1990.

Answer · Colin Boyd: The information requested is not available. It is not possible to record crime according to motive, which in many cases is not apparent, or according to whether the accused may be under the influence of drugs at the time of the offence. Statistics relating to…

24 May 2000 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Executive when it expects to publish a consultation paper on alcohol misuse.

Answer · Iain Gray: The Scottish Advisory Committee on Alcohol Misuse is currently developing a national strategy and is involving those in the alcohol field in this process, consulting as appropriate over the next 18 months or so. This will culminate in a draft strategy on whic…

26 Apr 2000 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what was the total expenditure on tackling drug misuse during the last financial year and what proportion of that budget was spent on (i) enforcement, (ii) treatment and (iii) education.

Answer · Iain Gray: The directly attributable expenditure by the Scottish Executive on tackling drug misuse in 1999-2000 is estimated at £58.1 million, and generic spend at £85.4 million, resulting in a total of £143.5 million. The breakdown is estimated as 46% enforcement, 39% …

28 Mar 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-3021 by Mr Jim Wallace on 12 January 2000, what progress has been made on the establishment of an independent Commission to review and reform charity law in Scotland.

Answer · Jim Wallace: I am pleased to announce that the independent Charity Law Commission has now been established. The chair of the Commission is Mrs Jean McFadden, lecturer in law at Strathclyde University and formerly president of CoSLA. The members of the Commission are: -<P …

22 Mar 2000 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will make a statement on the current status, funding and role of the Civic Forum and when it expects it to become fully operational.

Answer · Jack McConnell: I hope to make a statement to the Parliament on civic participation, including the Civic Forum, shortly after the forthcoming recess.

8 Mar 2000 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Executive when it expects the joint working group established with the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities to look at issues such as three-year planning, hypothecation, salaries and guidelines to report, whether the report will be published and whether it will be available in time to affect th…

Answer · Jack McConnell: The first meeting of the joint working group will take place later this month. The work of the group will inform the discussions that we will have with CoSLA on next year's local government finance settlement, and it will also inform the longer-term strategy …

9 Feb 2000 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Executive why Tayside Health Board delayed nearly a year before allocating the additional #176,000 allocated to it for drug treatment services and how much of that money has gone to Primary Care Trusts to cover the costs of treating patients with a dual diagnosis.

Answer · Iain Gray: I understand that Tayside Health Board undertook an area wide review of drug services prior to allocating the additional funding allocated by the Executive as part of its continuing commitment to reduce drug misuse, cut drug-related deaths and help communitie…

2 Feb 2000 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Executive when it expects to hear the outcome of Her Majesty's Government's spending review as it affects Scotland.

Answer · Jack McConnell: Her Majesty's Government's spending review will conclude in July.<P>This will include the calculation of consequentials for the Scottish Executive budget.

10 Dec 1999 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-1601 by Mr Sam Galbraith on 4 October 1999, whether it will make representations to Her Majesty's Government regarding the actual amount per child per day which is designed to cover the cost of school meals for Scottish schoolchildren in the working …

Answer · Sam Galbraith: I have no plans to make such representations.

10 Dec 1999 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive which public relations, information, marketing, market research or opinion research companies are employed by each of the Scottish Executive agencies, non-departmental public bodies, NHS trusts and local public spending bodies for which it is responsible, which projects they have worked o…

Answer · Donald Dewar: Information about public relations, information and marketing companies that are employed by Scottish public bodies for which the Scottish Executive has direct responsibility is contained in a report which is being lodged in SPICe today. Information about mar…

10 Dec 1999 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many public relations, information, marketing and advertising staff it employs, what are the costs of such staff and what are the overall publicity, public relations, information and advertising budgets of each of the Scottish Executive agencies, non-departmental public bodies, NHS tr…

Answer · Jack McConnell: The Scottish Executive Information Directorate<FONT COLOR="#0000ff"> communicates, explains and presents Executive policy and information to the news media, and directly to the public through publicity material and advertising. It<FONT COLOR="#0000ff"> curren…

10 Dec 1999 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many current members of its information directorate worked for the Labour Party in media relations prior to the establishment of the Scottish Executive, what dates their current contracts began and what their grade is.

Answer · Donald Dewar: It is evident from our employment records that none of the current members of Information Directorate staff has previously worked for the Labour Party in media relations.

10 Dec 1999 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive which advertising, public relations, marketing, market research or opinion research companies it has employed since its creation, which projects they have worked on and how much they have been or will be paid.

Answer · Donald Dewar: Details are as follows:<TABLE BORDER CELLSPACING=1 CELLPADDING=7 WIDTH=616><TR><TD WIDTH="70%" VALIGN="TOP" COLSPAN=2><FONT FACE="Arial" SIZE=2><P>Advertising</TD><TD WIDTH="30%" VALIGN="TOP"><FONT FACE="Arial" SIZE=2><P ALIGN="CENTER">£</TD></TR><TR><TD WIDT…

10 Dec 1999 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive which special advisers have responsibility for media relations and communications advice as part of their job description.

Answer · Donald Dewar: David Whitton is my official spokesman. He and Neil Gillam share responsibility for media relations. Philip Chalmers is the special adviser responsible for presentation, publicity and strategic communications.

10 Dec 1999 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many people are employed in the Scottish Executive information directorate broken down by grade, whether or not they are information officers, and where they work in the directorate.

Answer · Jack McConnell: There are 54 staff employed in the Information Directorate, 34 work in the Press Office, six in Publicity, four on Strategic Communications with 10 administrative support staff. The Director is a member of the Senior Civil Service. There are:<P ALIGN="JUSTIFY…

10 Dec 1999 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the average cost charged per child per day is for a school meal in Scotland.

Answer · Sam Galbraith: This information is not collected centrally.

30 Sep 1999 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what its position is on the charging of voluntary organisations for criminal record checks on their staff.

Answer · Jim Wallace: We fully appreciate the contribution voluntary organisations make, and are concerned about the impact charging for criminal record checks will have. I am therefore pleased to announce today that I am establishing a review group to consider in detail charging …