Parliamentary questions

Dr Richard Simpson

2,702 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.

24 Feb 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the (a) costs and (b) annual savings would be if all NHS boards raised the percentage of diabetics receiving insulin pumps to 5%.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: This information requested is not available centrally. A cost template report, developed by NHS Quality Improvement Scotland, has been made available as a companion document to Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network (SIGN) Guideline 116 on the …

24 Feb 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what savings could be made if sickness absence were reduced in all NHS boards to the (a) average and (b) lowest quartile of all boards.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: The potential savings which could be made if sickness absence were reduced in all NHS Boards to (a) the average, and (b) the lowest quartile of all Boards, are detailed in the following table (based on absence rates within NHSScotland for the period 1 April 2…

24 Feb 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what its position is on setting up a managed clinical network for lupus.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: We are always willing to consider proposals for providing pump-priming funding for Managed Clinical Networks. Effective management of lupus relies on the expertise of many specialists, including rheumatologists, nephrologists, dermatologists, neurol…

24 Feb 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to raise awareness among ethnic groups of the signs and symptoms of Lupus.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: We are committed to improving the quality and accessibility of information that is available to people and their carers throughout their care journey, both to raise awareness of individual conditions, and to support their effective diagnosis and management. W…

24 Feb 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many clinical nurse specialists for lupus there are, broken down by NHS board.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: Haematology Clinical Nurse Specialists (HCNS) care for patients with Lupus and their numbers are as detailed in the following table: <table border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 > <tr > <td width=60 valign=top > NHS Board </td…

24 Feb 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to raise awareness among GPs of the signs and symptoms of lupus.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: Immunological conditions such as lupus are covered in the trainee GP curriculum and are assessed as part of the GP e-portfolio, a training resource overseen by the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP). Existing GPs are contractually committ…

24 Feb 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many (a) professors of and (b) senior lecturer posts in neurosurgery there are and how this compares with 1999.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: This information is not held centrally. I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-36289 on 27 September 2010. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament''s website, the search facility for which can be found…

24 Feb 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to ensure that all NHS boards will be ready to implement digital mammography screening.

Answer · Shona Robison: I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-39858 on 9 March 2011. 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/Apps2/B…

24 Feb 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive when digital mammography screening will be available in each NHS board area.

Answer · Shona Robison: A full national review of the Scottish Breast Screening Service will commence from April 2011 and is expected to take around 12 months to complete. The review will consider how the Breast Screening Service in Scotland is delivered in the future, incl…

24 Feb 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what implementation plans it has to meet the HEAT target on talking therapies.

Answer · Shona Robison: Along with colleagues from the Mental Health Collaborative, Information Services Division (ISD) and NHS Education Scotland (NES), we have recently met each NHS board to discuss how they intend to design and implement services and information systems to delive…

24 Feb 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has taken steps, comparable to the Australian Government’s Better Access Initiative or the UK Government’s Improving Access to Psychological Therapies Programme, to improve access to talking therapies beyond the NHS24 telephone psychological treatment pilot.

Answer · Shona Robison: We have introduced a HEAT target to improve access to mental health services by delivering 18 week referral to treatment for psychological therapies from December 2014. We have undertaken two CBT pilots: NHS Living Life and Widening Access to Self He…

24 Feb 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has issued guidance to employers as part of its veterans’ mental health programme.

Answer · Shona Robison: No specific guidance has been issued. However, we recognise the importance of partnership working to improve employability and job opportunities for all those with a mental health problem, including veterans. We are currently funding NHS Health Scot…

24 Feb 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it takes to identify patients repeatedly contacting accident and emergency departments to seek psychiatric advice, in order to offer them alternative community-based strategies.

Answer · Shona Robison: NHS boards identify, via an alert on their accident and emergency (A&E) information systems, patients who are frequent attenders (this includes mental health presentations). They may then undertake one or more of the following steps: request a p…

24 Feb 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether the accident and emergency recording system has the capability to identify patients who repeatedly contact the service to seek psychiatric advice.

Answer · Shona Robison: The accident and emergency information systems can identify patients who repeatedly attend with mental health problems.

23 Feb 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what information it has on whether the pilot audit of inpatient falls by the clinical effectiveness and evaluation unit of the Royal College of Physicians will include a review of records from Scottish hospitals.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: The Clinical Effectiveness and Evaluation unit (CEEu) of the Royal College of Physicians was commissioned by the Healthcare Quality Improvement Partnership to perform a National Falls and Bone Health in Older People three year programme of work. This is a Dep…

23 Feb 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many falls were recorded in (a) acute hospitals, (b) community hospitals and (c) mental health units in (i) 2008, (ii) 2009 and (iii) 2010.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: Information on the volume of incidents relating to patient falls in hospital is not collected centrally.

23 Feb 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had with NHS boards regarding negligence claims in relation to cancer diagnosis in each of the last two years.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: There have been no discussions between the Scottish Government and NHS boards regarding medical negligence claims in relation to cancer diagnosis in the last two years.

23 Feb 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had with the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman about complaints in relation to cancer diagnosis in each of the last two years.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: The Scottish Public Services Ombudsman (SPSO) provides an independent and impartial service for handling complaints about public services in Scotland and no direct discussions have been held about specific complaints. Where the SPSO upholds a complaint, the c…

23 Feb 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had with medical defence organisations regarding negligence claims in relation to cancer diagnosis in each of the last two years.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: There have been no discussions between the Scottish Government and any medical defence organisations regarding medical negligence claims in relation to cancer diagnosis in the last two years.

23 Feb 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what proportion of (a) breast, (b) bowel, (c) lung, (d) prostate and (e) ovarian cancer cases presented as an emergency in the last two years for which information is available.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: In the following table the total number of admissions for breast, bowel, lung (trachea, bronchus and lung), prostate and ovarian cancer are outlined and the proportion of these which were admitted as an emergency for the financial years ending 31 March 2009 a…

23 Feb 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what action it has taken or will take to match the National Awareness and Early Diagnosis Initiative/Department of Health £9 million funding to trusts in England to promote early diagnosis of breast, bowel and lung cancer.

Answer · Shona Robison: Scottish Government is aware of the work being undertaken by the Department of Health regarding cancer awareness and early diagnosis. The Scottish Cancer Taskforce, which oversees the commitments outlined in Better Cancer Care: an Action Plan, is alrea…

23 Feb 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether there has been participation from Scotland in the National Awareness and Early Diagnosis Initiative and, if so, how many of the (a) successful and (b) unsuccessful research funding applications received by September 2010 (i) were from Scotland or (ii) involved Scotland-based resea…

Answer · Shona Robison: In response to research call one of the National Awareness and Early Diagnosis Initiative (NAEDI), seven applications were submitted from Scotland out of a total of 49 (14%). There were 10 successful applications, two of which were from Scotland (20%).

23 Feb 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it has taken to ensure that GPs have access to diagnostics to help confirm or rule out cancer since May 2007.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: Better Cancer Care: an Action Plan was published in 2008 and includes, as a component of the commitments outlined in the plan, targets relating to GP access to diagnostics. The Scottish Government Cancer Performance Support Team has been sup…

23 Feb 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what role it has played in the National Awareness and Early Diagnosis Initiative partnership aimed at promoting early diagnosis of cancer.

Answer · Shona Robison: The Chief Scientist Office (CSO), of the Scottish Government''s Health and Social Care Directorates, has responsibility for encouraging and supporting research into health and health care needs in Scotland. The CSO has contributed £240,000 towards the funds b…

22 Feb 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it has taken since May 2007 to ensure that children with a parent in prison are recorded as being in need in terms of section 22 of the Children (Scotland) Act 1995.

Answer · Adam Ingram: The Scottish Government is very conscious that children who have a parent in prison may have additional support needs in terms of section 22 of the Children (Scotland) Act 1995. Some steps we have taken so that these needs can be highlighted are:…

22 Feb 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many family contact development officers or equivalent there are in each prison.

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: I have asked John Ewing, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service, to respond. His response is as follows: There are currently 69 family contact officers (FCOs) working in prisons in Scotland. The FCO role is a key element of the Scottish P…

22 Feb 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether the national standards for social enquiry reports include a requirement to assess the impact on children.

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: Revised guidance on criminal justice social work reports was published on the Scottish Government website on 24 December 2010 at: <a href="http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Resource/Doc/925/0110144.pdf">http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Resource/Doc/925/0110144.pd…

22 Feb 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to ensure that a visitor centre separate from formal visitor facilities in prisons is provided for support before and after formal visits.

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: The current focus of the Scottish Prison Service is on improving the facilities within prisons to support contact between prisoners and their families, and enable prisoners to engage with those services they will require on release. The Scottish Government is…

22 Feb 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what requirements it has introduced in relation to the development or refurbishment of prison facilities to ensure that the needs and rights of children are taken into account.

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: I have asked John Ewing, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. His response is as follows: In respect of the needs and rights of children in Scottish prisons, under Scottish law children, defined as being under the age…

22 Feb 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what changes have been made to prison rules since May 2007 to ensure that the most effective contact is sustained between parents and children.

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: I have asked John Ewing, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. His response is as follows: There have been no changes to the prison rules since May 2007 relating to effective contact between parents and children. <…