Parliamentary questions
Nicol Stephen
130 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.
24 Feb 2011 · General Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many police officers there are per head of population in the Grampian Police force area.
Answer · Kenny MacAskill: Thanks to there being 172 more police officers in Grampian Constabulary at 30 September 2010 compared with March 2007, as a result of our pledge to deliver 1,000 additional officers in our communities, Grampian had 28 full-time equivalent police officers per …
25 Jan 2011 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of the average local government revenue allocation grant per capita each local authority (a) will receive in 2011-12 and (b) has received in each of the last 10 years.
13 Jan 2011 · General Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will consider introducing a floor to the local government funding formula so that no local authority receives less than 90% of the average allocation per head.
Answer · John Swinney: The distribution formula for the 2011-12 local government finance settlements has already been agreed with COSLA. It includes a floor to limit the year-on-year change in councils'' allocations. The change suggested would cost around £120 million a year to imp…
5 Jan 2011 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many police officers there are in each force; what size of population they serve, and what the figures were in each of the previous four years.
Answer · Kenny MacAskill: Details are as follows:</b></p> <table border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 > <tr > <td width=96 rowspan=2 valign=top > <p align=left > </p> </td> <td width=91 rowspan=2 valign=top > <p align=left > </p> </td> <td width=420 colsp…
20 Dec 2010 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many newly qualified midwifery graduates have been employed in each of the last six intakes, broken down by NHS board.
Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: This information is not held centrally. NHS Scotland''s workforce data does not identify newly qualified midwifery graduates separately from other midwifery recruits.</b></p>
20 Dec 2010 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many newly qualified nursing graduates have been employed in each of the last six intakes, broken down by NHS board.
Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: This information is not held centrally. NHS Scotland''s workforce data does not identify newly qualified nursing graduates separately from other nursing recruits.</b></p>
16 Sep 2010 · General Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what its position is on the retention of the forensic services laboratory in Aberdeen.
Answer · Kenny MacAskill: The Scottish Police Services Authority (SPSA) delivers forensic science services to all eight police forces and the Crown Office Procurator Fiscal Service on a national basis. The SPSA is committed to creating an improved and responsive national service and h…
24 Jun 2010 · General Question
To ask the Scottish Executive when the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Wellbeing last met the chief executive of NHS Grampian and whether she discussed the impact of current funding difficulties on the delivery of frontline services.
Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: I meet the Chief Executive of NHS Grampian at various times throughout the year, for example when I chair the NHS board''s annual review. Officials from the Scottish Government Health Directorates meet the chief executive regularly and did so most recently on…
10 May 2010 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many patients have been detained by (a) order of a court or tribunal, (b) a medical practitioner authorising emergency detention and (c) short-term detention certificate in each year since the introduction of the Mental Health (Care and Treatment) (Scotland) Act 2003.
Answer · Shona Robison: The Mental Welfare Commission must be notified of all episodes of compulsory treatment under the 2003 Act and the Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995. The Commission is then able to produce a statistical overview of the operation of detention procedures in…
10 May 2010 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what its position is on whether a patient in an NHS hospital should have the right to find out the identities of those who have prescribed and administered medication to him or her.
Answer · Shona Robison: All individuals have a right to access their health records under the Data Protection Act 1988. Information on how to access such records (including, for example an NHS leaflet entitled <i >How to See Your Health Records</i>) is available from Health Rights I…
10 May 2010 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executivehow the Scottish Human Rights Commission would exercise its power to intervene in civil court cases.
Answer · Shona Robison: The Scottish Human Rights Commission is independent of the Scottish Parliament and Government. How this body exercises its powers in any matter is for it to determine.</p>
10 May 2010 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will commission research to determine whether transcripts of tribunal hearings demonstrate that each of the five criteria for compulsory treatment has been met before a tribunal consents to an application for a compulsory treatment order or an interim compulsory treatment order.
Answer · Shona Robison: An Independent Review Group was appointed in January 2008 to undertake a limited review of the Mental Health (Care and Treatment) (Scotland) Act 2003. The Scottish Government wished to consult on the recommendations of this Review Group and it published a wri…
10 May 2010 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive for what reason the Mental Health (Care and Treatment) (Scotland) Act 2003 does not contain a provision for an appeal against a diagnosis of significantly impaired decision-making capacity with respect to medical treatment.
Answer · Shona Robison: The test of whether a patient''s ability to make decisions about the provision of medical treatment is significantly impaired as a result of the mental disorder in question is one of the criteria for the exercise of civil compulsory powers under the Mental He…
10 May 2010 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it would be acceptable under section 44(4)(b) of the Mental Health (Care and Treatment) (Scotland) Act 2003 for a psychiatrist to judge that a patient’s ability to make decisions about the provision of remedial treatment is significantly impaired on the basis that the patient disa…
Answer · Shona Robison: Section 44 of the Mental Health (Care and Treatment) (Scotland) Act 2003 sets out the procedure for granting a short-term detention certificate (STDC) authorising the detention of a patient in hospital for a period of up to 28 days. One of the conditions to b…
10 May 2010 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is aware of the statement by Richard P Bentall, winner of the Psychological Society Book Award 2004, in his book, Madness Explained: Psychosis and Human Nature, that “the overzealous use of neuroleptic medication has led to a worldwide epidemic of avoidable iatrogenic illness, …
Answer · Shona Robison: Neuroleptic medication is defined as any drug that induces an altered state of consciousness, such as an antipsychotic drug. Iatrogenic illness is defined as any complication related to diagnosis and treatment of disease, regardless of whether the condition o…
10 May 2010 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it considers that a mental health patient whose condition poses no risk to others should have the right to refuse treatment.
Answer · Shona Robison: There are three ways in which a person may be subjected to compulsory measures of treatment under the civil regime in the Mental Health (Care and Treatment) (Scotland) Act 2003, namely: (a) emergency detention; (b) short-term detention, and (c) long-term dete…
10 May 2010 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is aware of surveys that provide evidence that hallucinations on their own are not conclusive evidence of schizophrenia and can be experienced by people who appear to be otherwise normal, who do not regard themselves as mentally ill and who have not felt the need to seek psychi…
Answer · Shona Robison: Clinical guidance on diagnosing schizophrenia in its different forms is laid out in ICD10 (International Classification of Diseases Version 10) and clearly indicates that the presence of hallucinations alone would not be sufficient to meet those criteria.</p>…
10 May 2010 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it plans to invite the Scottish Law Commission to consider Recommendation Rec(2004) 10 of the Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers to member states concerning the protection of human rights and dignity of persons with a mental disorder and to consider whether this requires a…
Answer · Shona Robison: Recommendation (2004) 10 of the Council of Europe''s Committee of Ministers to member states concerning the protection of human rights and dignity of persons with mental disorder was adopted by the Committee of Ministers on 22 September 2004. A Council of Eur…
10 May 2010 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-32648 by Shona Robison on 16 April 2010 in which a short-term detention certificate is listed as one of the limited exceptions to the involvement of a court or tribunal in the case of compulsory treatment, for what reason the Mental Welfare Commissio…
Answer · Shona Robison: The Mental Welfare Commission would be better placed to explain their reasoning behind that statement in their Annual Monitoring Report.</p> <p >However, it may be noted that the 2001 Millan Report, on which the Mental Health (Care and Treatment) (Scotland)…
22 Mar 2010 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will take steps to ensure that data are collected concerning deaths of involuntary mental health patients and that each death is subject to an independent investigation.
Answer · Shona Robison: Deaths of people subject to mental health legislation are reported to the Mental Welfare Commission. The commission requests an account of the circumstances of death, which is then considered by a member of professional staff and any concerns followed up. Whe…
22 Mar 2010 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it plans to require a court or tribunal to determine whether there is valid and reliable evidence of the existence of a detainable mental disorder before a person is detained and subjected to involuntary treatment under mental health legislation.
Answer · Shona Robison: The Mental Health (Care and Treatment) (Scotland) Act 2003 already provides for a court or tribunal to be satisfied on the evidence as to whether persons are suffering from a mental disorder before detention and compulsory treatment are permitted.</p> <p >T…
22 Mar 2010 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it plans to amend the law so that a person need not raise a court action to address any impact that inappropriate detention under the Mental Health (Care and Treatment) (Scotland) Act 2003 may have had on his or her reputation.
Answer · Shona Robison: The Scottish Government ran a public consultation, from 7 August 2009 to 6 November 2009, on the Report of the Independent Review of the Mental Health (Care and Treatment) (Scotland) Act 2003.</p> <p >The consultation also invited comments on the operation o…
22 Mar 2010 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive for what reason the Mental Health (Care and Treatment) (Scotland) Act 2003 does not contain a provision for an appeal against a diagnosis of a detainable mental disorder.
Answer · Shona Robison: Before an individual is diagnosed as suffering from a mental disorder, there are specific criteria laid down to enable such a diagnosis to be made. There are currently two established international classification systems for mental disorders - ICD.10 and DSM-…
22 Mar 2010 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether the provisions in the Mental Health (Care and Treatment) (Scotland) Act 2003 are based on the premise that psychiatrists do not make mistakes when diagnosing someone as having a detainable mental disorder.
Answer · Shona Robison: <strong>The objective of the Mental Health (Care and Treatment) (Scotland) Act 2003 is to make sure people with mental health problems receive effective care and treatment in a way which accords with the Millan principles. </strong></p> <p >Section 328(1) o…
29 Jan 2010 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many Scotland-based patients have received extracorporeal membrane oxygenation treatment for the influenza A (H1N1) virus or related illness at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary; when each patient was treated, and in which NHS board area each patient lived.
Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: Three Scotland-based patients have received Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO) treatment for the influenza A (H1N1) virus or related illness at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary. The resident boards of each of these patients and the dates when ECMO treatment c…
14 Dec 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many Scotland-based patients have received extracorporeal membrane oxygenation treatment for the influenza A (H1N1) virus or related illness at (a) Glenfield, (b) Papworth and (c) Royal Brompton Hospital.
Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: Through existing reciprocal arrangements for specialist health services, five Scotland-based patients have received extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) treatment for the influenza A (H1N1) virus or related illness at Glenfield Hospital, Leicester; one …
24 Nov 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether any patients who have died from the influenza A (H1N1) virus would have benefited from adult respiratory extracorporeal membrane oxygenation treatment.
Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-29319 on 4 December 2009. 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/Apps…
24 Nov 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many patients who have died from the influenza A (H1N1) virus were considered for transfer to the Leicester centre for adult respiratory extracorporeal membrane oxygenation treatment.
Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: Individual clinical need determines decisions made regarding an individual''s treatment, and this patient information is confidential in each case.</p>
24 Nov 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, in cases where the adult respiratory extracorporeal membrane oxygenation treatment facilities at the Leicester centre are at capacity, whether patients assessed as requiring such treatment will be transferred to the Royal Brompton or Papworth Hospitals rather than to Aberdeen Royal Infir…
Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-29312 on 4 December 2009. 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/Apps…
24 Nov 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether the adult respiratory extracorporeal membrane oxygenation treatment facilities at the Royal Brompton and Papworth Hospitals are accredited through UK national specialist commissioning arrangements.
Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: The Royal Brompton and Papworth Hospitals have been assessed and accredited by the UK National Commissioning Group (NCG) as centres providing additional surge capacity for adult respiratory extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) treatment in the context o…