Dr Richard Simpson

29 May 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will ask Information Services Division to carry out regular audits of waiting times for positronic emission scans.

Answer · Alex Neil: The Scottish Government has no intention currently to ask ISD to undertake an audit of positronic emissions scans at this time as it is not currently part of the diagnostic waiting time standard. HEAT targets are reviewed each autumn with our stakeholder suc…

29 May 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the figures published by Information Services Division in May 2013 suggesting that there has been an increase in people recorded in the monthly waiting times for all diagnostics from 127 in March 2011 to 3,143 in March 2013, with a 1,200 rise in the last quarter.

Answer · Alex Neil: As the Member will be aware, the current waiting time standard for the four key radiology tests is six weeks. The latest figures show that the number of patients waiting more than six weeks in March 2013 was 994. In relation to the increase of 1,200 rise ove…

29 May 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to reduce the number of patients waiting (a) six to eight and (b) more than nine weeks for an MRI scan.

Answer · Alex Neil: The vast majority of patients requiring any of the eight key diagnostic tests are seen within six weeks waiting time standard. The latest figures for March 2013 showed that 96.2% patients were seen within six weeks, the compliance rate is 95%. There are 11 NH…

29 May 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the figures published by Information Services Division in May 2013 suggesting that no more than three NHS boards exceeded the national average for level of referral back to GP in March 2013.

Answer · Alex Neil: There are a number of reasons why patients may be returned to their GP many to do with patient behaviour for example a patient has not attended their appointment or have for the third time cancelled their agreed appointment date. GPs can of course re-refer an…

29 May 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the figures published by Information Services Division in May 2013 suggesting that 'unavailable no response for new outpatient appointments' in NHS Grampian in March 2013 was 2.4% compared with the national average of 0.4%.

Answer · Alex Neil: We are aware of the higher level of unavailability due to no response to an appointment in Grampian. My officials are in discussion with the board to understand their booking arrangements and practices to confirm they are compliant with the current guidance.

29 May 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the figures published by Information Services Division in May 2013 suggesting that 'medical unavailability for new outpatient appointments' in NHS Grampian was 2.4% in March 2013 compared with the national average of 0.7%.

Answer · Alex Neil: We are aware that they a relate to a number of genetic patients who following their GP referral are asked to complete a form providing more information before a decision is made to determine what the most appropriate clinical action is. My officials are curr…

29 May 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the figures published by Information Services Division in May 2013 suggesting that 'social unavailability for new outpatient appointments' in NHS Grampian in March 2013 was 9.4% compared with the national average of 2.6%.

Answer · Alex Neil: The Scottish Government are aware of capacity issues in NHS Grampian in delivering waiting time standards particularly for general surgery and orthopaedics. The board have advised that the high level reflects patients indicating they would rather wait longer …

29 May 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4W-13978 by Alex Neil on 25 April 2013, whether there was a significant variation (a) between quarters or (b) in the level that might be expected for the size of NHS board in any quarter between March 2008 and December 2012 in the number of patients re…

Answer · Alex Neil: I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-15322 on 12 June 2013. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at: http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/parliamentarybu…

29 May 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4W-13978 by Alex Neil on 25 April 2013, whether the reduction in the number of (a) outpatients, (b) inpatients and (c) day cases removed from waiting lists under codes 20, 21, 37, 38, 40, 41 and 42 between June 2012 and December 2012 was discussed at m…

Answer · Alex Neil: During last year a number of changes to the rule around the New Ways system were made to take account of the legislation for the 12 weeks legal treatment guarantee coming into effect from 1 October 2012. Guidance was issued in August under cover of CEL 32(201…

29 May 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government when the monthly monitoring of New Ways patient waiting times data started.

Answer · Alex Neil: We have been monitoring New Ways data monthly since its introduction in January 2008. We continually review and enhance our monthly monitoring process to ensure we are able to quickly identify any issues in individual boards.

29 May 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what guidance it will issue to ensure that more harmful pesticides are not used instead of the banned neonicotinoids and what consideration it is giving to the use of diamides.

Answer · Richard Lochhead: Under a Crop Health Advisory Activity, Scottish Government fund staff at Scotland’s Rural College (SRUC) to maintain an on-going campaign to promote the sustainable use of pesticides and alternative treatments in the husbandry of major arable crops. This advi…

29 May 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it is aware of new technologies that might lead to the faster production of an influenza vaccine.

Answer · Michael Matheson: The need for faster production of influenza vaccines is recognised. The World Health Organisation, academic researchers and vaccine manufacturers are all engaged in assessing new technologies for the production of vaccines against influenza viruses. The resu…

29 May 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with (a) the UK Government and (b) other EU member states on the H7N9 influenza virus.

Answer · Michael Matheson: On behalf of Scottish Government, Health Protection Scotland (HPS) routinely participates in global networks that monitor emerging health issues such as AH7N9 in China. Under the International Health Regulations (IHR) (2005), the UK Government has designated…

29 May 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many simulations of pandemic influenza management it has run since the 2009 H1N1 influenza pandemic and what it has learnt from such simulations.

Answer · Alex Neil: The Scottish Government plans to exercise pandemic influenza arrangements in 2014-15. NHS boards have updated their pandemic influenza plans following the last pandemic, taking account of the lessons learned locally and the updated national guidance published…

29 May 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what changes it will make to its pandemic influenza strategy and operational guidance following the introduction of a single police and single fire service.

Answer · Alex Neil: The pandemic influenza strategy and operational guidance set out an overarching approach to managing a pandemic and will not be directly affected by the changes to the police and fire service structures.

29 May 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what changes it made to its pandemic influenza strategy and operational guidance following the 2009 H1N1 influenza pandemic.

Answer · Alex Neil: The updated pandemic influenza strategy and operational guidance focus on ensuring that the response to a pandemic is proportionate to meet the differing demands of pandemic influenza viruses, with further information to assist planners in considering the loc…

29 May 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government when it last reviewed its pandemic influenza strategy and operational guidance.

Answer · Alex Neil: The UK Influenza Pandemic Preparedness Strategy was published in 2011 on behalf of the four UK countries. The Scottish Government and the other Devolved Administrations worked with the UK Government to produce operational pandemic influenza guidance, which w…

16 May 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4W-12436 by Alex Neil on 6 February 2013, how many NHS boards were offered a programme of performance support and how many accepted.

Answer · Alex Neil: Further to the answer for question S4W-12436, three NHS boards were offered and accepted a programme of support for generic cancer waiting times performance. All NHS boards were recently offered a share of £3.7 million specifically to increase short and medi…

8 May 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether any of the concerns that were raised in evidence to the Health and Sport Committee in session 3 by (a) religious groups and (b) other organisations when considering the Certification of Death (Scotland) Bill were subsequently proved correct and, if so, whether these have been res…

Answer · Michael Matheson: Since the passing of the Certification of Death (Scotland) Act 2011 at the beginning of Session 4, we have established the Death Certification National Advisory Group, which includes representation from all key organisations with an interest in this work. The…

8 May 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason it does not agree with the latest (a) recommendation of the independent pay review body and (b) decision of the UK Government regarding GP salaries.

Answer · Alex Neil: It was not possible to accept the recommendations whilst also adhering to the Scottish Government Public Pay Policy. The uplift we have agreed is fair to GPs and affordable to Scotland where we have a negotiated contract with GPs, not an imposed one.

8 May 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether issues regarding recording ethnicity were identified in the pilot exercise for the new death certification process.

Answer · Michael Matheson: Ethnicity is not recorded on the Medical Certificate of Cause of Death (Form 11) and therefore did not form any part of the test sites or their evaluation. Since 1 January 2012, however, the ethnic group of a deceased person has been recorded as part of the …

8 May 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether a digital version of the new death certification system will assist in eliminating any minor errors that were identified in the pilot exercise.

Answer · Michael Matheson: The overall death certification process spans different sectors and organisations including the National Health Service Scotland, National Records Scotland and private funeral director businesses. It will also dovetail with new death certification systems bei…

8 May 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what progress is being made toward establishing a digital version of the new death certification process.

Answer · Richard Lochhead: The overall death certification process spans different sectors and organisations including the National Health Service Scotland, National Records Scotland and private funeral director businesses. It will also dovetail with new death certification systems bei…

8 May 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to modify the new death certification process following the recent pilot exercise.

Answer · Michael Matheson: Rather than recommend modifications to the overall process, the test site evaluation highlighted a number of practical issues that could be addressed prior to national implementation in order to make the agreed process run more smoothly. These issues were ma…

8 May 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether shops that sell tobacco must display a copy of their registration.

Answer · Michael Matheson: There is no requirement within the Tobacco and Primary Medical Services (Scotland) Act 2010 for retailers to display a certificate of registration. The advice to retailers selling tobacco is that they do not need to display the certificate but it should be re…

8 May 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what financial and governance examination it has carried out of the takeover by Mears of Independent Living Services.

Answer · Alex Neil: The Scottish Government has not undertaken any financial and governance examination of the takeover by Mears of Independent Living Services. However, the Care Inspectorate would require information from Mears before registering the service as a care provider…

8 May 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether, in an independent Scotland, it would (a) continue to seek recommendations from the independent review bodies for NHS staff or (b) set up a separate Scottish review body.

Answer · Alex Neil: The NHS pay review bodies provide valuable independent advice to Scottish Ministers on pay for NHSScotland staff. With independence we will maintain such independent pay advice.

8 May 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether, in an independent Scotland, it would introduce lower pay rates for all NHS staff in relation to the rest of the UK.

Answer · Alex Neil: No.

8 May 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to introduce a regional pay differential for NHS staff. 

Answer · Alex Neil: The Scottish Government is opposed to the UK Government policy known as “market facing pay”. John Swinney made clear our opposition when he met with Treasury Ministers and the Finance Ministers of the other devolved administrations on 5 March last year, and i…

8 May 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much the NHS will save by awarding GPs a lower salary increase than that announced by the UK Government.

Answer · Alex Neil: General practitioners in Scotland will see 1.25% uplift to the GMS contract, which includes a one per cent increase in salary, in line with Scottish Government Pay Policy. The pay increase for GPs in Scotland has been calculated based on their salaries, using…