Parliamentary questions

Dr Richard Simpson

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

22 Feb 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what funding it provided to the Association of Scottish National Neighbourhood Watches in 2009-10 and has provided for (a) 2010-11 and (b) 2011-12.

Answer · Fergus Ewing: The Scottish Government has committed to provide funding to the Association of Scottish Neighbourhood Watches to the value of £255,547 between 2008 and 2011. The following table shows a breakdown of funding to the organisation for the period 2008…

22 Feb 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what funding it will provide to the Scottish Business Crime Centre for the three-year period following March 2011.

Answer · Fergus Ewing: The Scottish Government is committed to providing £265,902 to the Scottish Business Crime Centre (SBCC) for the period 2011-12. A funding proposal for full three year funding beyond March 2012 is expected to be submitted by the SBCC for consideration…

22 Feb 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what definition of homeless is used in determining the per-patient fee as part of the national enhanced service for care for homeless people.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: As defined in the national enhanced services guidance for GP practices, homelessness is described as a wide range of circumstances where people have no secure home and is defined in legislation for the purpose of determining entitlement to assistance and supp…

22 Feb 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what evidence has been collected on national enhanced services in primary care that demonstrates the objective of shifting care from secondary to primary services.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: We do not collect information nationally which measures shifts in the balance of care in relation to the various national enhanced service programmes. Shifts in the balance of care are a means to an end which is better outcomes measured via HEAT targets, the …

22 Feb 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the cost was of each local enhanced service in each NHS board in the last year for which information is available.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: The cash paid for each local enhanced service in each NHS Board in the last year for which information is available is as follows: Financial Year: 2009-10 <table border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 > <thead> <tr > <td nowrap valign=top …

22 Feb 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what local enhanced services in primary care were delivered by each NHS board in the last year for which information is available.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: The following table records the NHS boards and the local enhanced services undertaken in 2009-10. <table border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 > <thead> <tr > <td width=183 valign=top > Local Enhanced Service </td> …

22 Feb 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the cost was of each national enhanced service, broken down by (a) NHS board and (b) 1,000 population, in the last two years for which information is available.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: The cash paid for each national enhanced service broken down by (a) NHS board and (b) 1,000 population is as follows: (a) Cash Paid for Each National Enhanced Service (NES) Broken Down by NHS Board, Financial Year 2008-09: <table border=1 c…

22 Feb 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the cost was to the NHS of each national enhanced service (NES) in the last two years for which information is available; in how many cases the fee included a per-patient element, and how many patient fees were paid for each NES.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: The cash paid to the NHS for each national enhanced service (NES) in the last two years for which information is available (2008-09 and 2009-10) is as follows: <table border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 > <tr > <td nowrap rowspan=2 valign=top > <…

22 Feb 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the cost to the NHS has been of national enhanced services in the last two years for which information is available.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: The cost to the NHS for national enhanced services in the last two years for which information is available is as follows: <table border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 > <tr > <td nowrap valign=top >   </td> <td nowrap valign=top >…

22 Feb 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what national enhanced services are undertaken by GP practices in each NHS board area.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: The following table records the NHS boards and the National Enhanced Services undertaken in 2009-10. <table border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 > <tr > <td width=156 valign=top > National Enhanced Service </td> <td widt…

22 Feb 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether all schools maintain an up-to-date asthma register.

Answer · Adam Ingram: This information is not held centrally because schools are not obliged to maintain an asthma register. However, they are required to take action to ensure the wellbeing of children and young people, including those with asthma. Therefore this is a matter for …

22 Feb 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-36623 by Nicola Sturgeon on 25 October 2010, how many (a) bed days were lost and (b) procedures were cancelled due to ward closures due to hospital-acquired infection in (i) 2006-07, (ii) 2007-08, (iii) 2008-09 and (iv) 2009-10.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: This is a matter for NHS boards. The information requested is not held centrally.

22 Feb 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how it will monitor alcohol and drug partnerships to ensure that punitive discharge of users receiving treatment is not used as a way to free up places for new users in order to meet HEAT targets for drugs and alcohol.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: The success of the HEAT A11 drug and alcohol waiting times target is reliant on cooperation from alcohol and drug partnerships (ADPs) and services from the health, local government and voluntary sectors. NHS boards, working with relevant partners, will be hel…

22 Feb 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what guidance it has issued to alcohol and drug partnerships regarding meeting the new HEAT targets for drugs and alcohol.

Answer · Shona Robison: There are two HEAT targets for alcohol and drugs: HEAT A11: to ensure that by March 2013, 90% of clients wait no longer than three weeks from referral received to appropriate drug or alcohol treatment that supports their recovery. HE…

22 Feb 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to ensure that NHS boards are implementing the clinical standards for neurological services.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: NHS Quality Improvement Scotland (NHS QIS) has developed a two year programme of work with NHS boards and key stakeholders to bring about improvements in neurological services. We have provided the boards with funding of some £450,000 this financial year to a…

21 Feb 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-38441 by John Swinney on 21 January 2011, what payments were made to each area data sharing partnership in 2009-10 and how much is budgeted for 2011-12, broken down by NHS board area.

Answer · John Swinney: No funding was provided to data sharing partnerships in 2009-10. No funding will be provided in 2011-12.

21 Feb 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what priority it is giving to the electronic recording and transfer of information between drug services and social work services regarding children in families where there is illicit drug use or where a family member is on treatment for drug misuse, as part of ensuring that Getting it Ri…

Answer · Adam Ingram: The Scottish Government''s key priority is to promote best practice for information sharing where appropriate and which electronic systems should support. The national practice model under Getting it Right promotes the culture, practice and system changes nee…

21 Feb 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether the SMR25 forms for drug misusers are now in use in (a) all statutory drug services, (b) all voluntary drug services, (c) the Scottish Prison Service and (d) all general practices.

Answer · Fergus Ewing: I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-39037 on 9 February 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.parlia…

21 Feb 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many specialist multidisciplinary teams there are to support pregnant women with a drug or alcohol problem, broken down by NHS board.

Answer · Shona Robison: This information is not held centrally.

21 Feb 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what continuing professional development has been offered to midwives on educating parents on alcohol matters.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: We would expect all NHS boards to ensure their staff, including midwives, have the relevant continuous professional development required to undertake their role. To support this, NHS Health Scotland has developed materials and resources to support NHS staff i…

21 Feb 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what progress it has made in carrying out epidemiological research on foetal alcohol spectrum disorders.

Answer · Shona Robison: A four-year surveillance research project of the epidemiology of Foetal Alcohol Syndrome in Scotland, for which the Scottish Government is providing funding, began on 1 April 2010. The findings and analysis of the results will be published in a scientific pap…

21 Feb 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what progress it has made on implementing the recommendations in the report, A Fuller Life: Report of the Expert Group on Alcohol Related Brain Damage.

Answer · Shona Robison: The majority of recommendations contained within the A Fuller Life report, published in 2004, were targeted towards local partnerships and service providers. The main recommendations for the Scottish Government were to raise awareness of alcoh…

21 Feb 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what role community pharmacists have in managing the medication of patients with a long-term mental health condition as part of the new long-term conditions prescribing system.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: All eligible patients who have a long-term condition can register for the Chronic Medication Service (CMS). The service aims to support patients to manage their medicines and a pharmaceutical care plan is undertaken with patients where appropriate. GPs will b…

14 Feb 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive when it last met stakeholders to discuss the social responsibility levy on alcohol; which stakeholders attended, and what the outcome was.

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: The Social Responsibility Levy Working Group last met on 24 June 2010. Representatives of the Scottish Retail Consortium, individual retailers and producers, Scottish Grocers Federation, Scottish Licensed Trade Association, Scottish Beer and Pub Association a…

14 Feb 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to support councillors facing the threat of legal action when proposing to curtail availability of alcohol on the grounds of public health interest.

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: The public health objective is still a new concept and the government is encouraging those with an interest in public health to discuss with licensing boards what information they can provide but also enter into a dialogue over how such evidence should be pre…

14 Feb 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether any licensing board has refused (a) a licence, (b) a renewal of a licence or (c) an extension of floor space sought as part of extending a licence since the Licensing (Scotland) Act 2005 came into force.

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: This information is not held centrally.

14 Feb 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will update the Local Alcohol Profiles produced in 2004-05 in order to assist public health specialists on licensing boards in determining the case for reduced availability of alcohol on the grounds of public health interest.

Answer · Shona Robison: Local Alcohol Profiles were produced by ISD in both 2004 and 2006. These were replaced with a Local Drug and Alcohol Information publication which was first published in 2008 and subsequently in 2010. This publication incorporated information previously inclu…

14 Feb 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it can give assurances that MS specialist nurse posts will be protected under the NHS budget settlement for 2010-11.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: The Scottish Government is fully committed to protecting the health budget by passing on Barnett consequentials in full from the UK settlement. However, it is for NHS boards to determine their workforce requirements, including specialist nurses, based on the …

14 Feb 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to ensure that NHS boards are implementing the clinical standards for neurological health services.

10 Feb 2011 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Executive when the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Wellbeing last met officials from NHS Forth Valley and what issues were discussed.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: Ministers and government officials meet representatives of all NHS boards, including those from NHS Forth Valley, on a regular basis. Meetings cover a wide range of matters of current interest affecting health services in the area. I met the Chai…