Parliamentary questions

Dr Richard Simpson

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

28 Jan 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many absconds from adult medium secure units there have been in each year since 2007.

Answer · Shona Robison: There are two adult medium secure units in Scotland, the Orchard Clinic, Edinburgh and Rowanbank, Glasgow. The Memorandum of Procedure on Restricted Patients defines an abscond as An abscond will have taken place when a restricted patient is absent without au…

28 Jan 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-33209 by Shona Robison on 15 April 2010, what funds were included in the allocation to local authorities for Choose Life programmes in (a) 2007-08, (b) 2008-09 and (c) 2009-10 and has been for 2010-11 and how much each authority spent in each year.

Answer · Shona Robison: I refer the member to the answer to questions S3W-14128 and S3W-14129 on 23 June 2008. 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/A…

28 Jan 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-33216 by Nicola Sturgeon on 28 April 2010, what assessment it has made of the effects on the health of children of passive smoking in cars.

Answer · Shona Robison: The smoking ban has undoubtedly reduced exposure to second-hand smoke among children in Scotland, because of greater awareness among their parents about the risks of second-hand smoke. The Scottish Government has not undertaken any formal assessment of the ef…

28 Jan 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-34019 by Nicola Sturgeon on 10 June 2010, how many acute occupied bed days in NHS Forth Valley were directly connected to a diagnosis of assault by sharp object in 2009-10.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: For patients discharged in the year ending 31 March 2010, there were 51 acute occupied bed days in NHS Forth Valley connected to the diagnosis of assault by a sharp object.

28 Jan 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-34045 by Nicola Sturgeon on 2 June 2010, how many procedures for bariatric surgery were carried out in 2009-10, broken down by NHS board.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: The following table shows information on the number of bariatric surgery procedures undertaken, where a main diagnosis of obesity has been recorded, by NHS board of residence in the financial year 2009-10. <table border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0…

28 Jan 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has updated the guidance on the use of disused NHS land or buildings.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-39185 on 2 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.parliament.uk/Apps…

28 Jan 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has updated the guidance on the selling of NHS land and buildings.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: Scottish Government Health Directorates is currently in the final stages of revising the NHSScotland Property Transactions Handbook. The revised guidance is expected to be published within the current financial year.

28 Jan 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what its position is on establishing a national managed clinical network for the treatment of severe and complex obesity.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: There are currently no plans to establish a national managed clinical network for the treatment of severe and complex obesity.

28 Jan 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-34520 by Nicola Sturgeon on 15 June 2010, how many of the NHS boards signed up to the TrakCare patient management system have the records aggregated at one site.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: One of the NHS boards signed up to the TrakCare patient management system have the records aggregated at one site. The model being adopted by NHS boards implementing the TrakCare system is one that replaces any disparate electronic patient administrative reco…

28 Jan 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-34523 by Nicola Sturgeon on 15 June 2010, what steps it is taking to ensure that access to electronic patient records is not interrupted for any reason.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: Systems and associated networks are designed to be resilient. In the event that there is systems failure NHS boards have business continuity plans and local service continuity plans in place which will be invoked if necessary. This applies to all IT systems i…

28 Jan 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what progress has been made in monitoring the reduction of smoking in hospital grounds.

Answer · Shona Robison: The decision to move to a completely smoke-free environment, including hospital grounds, is a matter for individual boards to determine. It is their responsibility to ensure that their smoking policies are adhered to and monitored appropriately. I am aware th…

28 Jan 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what progress has been made in monitoring the reduction of smoking in prisons.

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: I have asked John Ewing, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service, to respond. His response is as follows: Prevalence of smoking within prisons is recorded as part of the prisoner survey. In 2008, prevalence was 79% overall; in 2009, the fi…

28 Jan 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what progress has been made in monitoring the reduction of smoking in psychiatric hospitals.

Answer · Shona Robison: NHS Health Scotland on behalf of the Scottish Government will shortly be publishing guidance which will support and encourage a move towards smoke-free environments within mental health settings at a pace which suits the services'' particular needs and circum…

28 Jan 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether each NHS board has a plan to tackle the finding of the Audit Scotland report, Asset management in the NHS in Scotland, that there was a £512 million backlog of maintenance in the NHS estate.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: In response to the Audit Scotland report Asset management in the NHS in Scotland, Scottish Government Health Directorates has issued NHS CEL 35 (2010) A Policy for Property and Asset Management in NHSScotland. A principal requirement of this p…

28 Jan 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether each NHS board has an estate management plan.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: Each NHS board in Scotland is currently engaged in the development of a Property and Asset Management Strategy (PAMS) which is a mandatory requirement of the Scottish Government Health Directorates A Policy for Property and Asset Management in NHSScotland…

28 Jan 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3O-12785 by Nicola Sturgeon on 27 January 2010 (Official Report, c. 32710), how many full-time equivalent school nurses there were in post in each community health partnership area in (a) 2007, (b) 2008 and (c) 2009.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: The information is not centrally available. However, published information showing whole time equivalent of school nurses by NHS board at 30 September 2007 to 2010 is available at : www.isdscotland.org/isd/servlet/FileBuffer?namedFile=Nursing_an…

27 Jan 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-38295 by Kenny MacAskill on 13 January 2011, on what dates the Scottish Resilience Development Service has coordinated training events or exercises for responders specifically on managing severe adverse weather conditions since 1 February 2010.

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: Since 1 February 2010 the Scottish Resilience Development Service has delivered multi-agency training events for strategic and tactical managers in responder organisations across Scotland on the following dates: <table border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpad…

27 Jan 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will issue guidelines to accident and emergency departments on the sharing of full and non-anonymised data on knife crime with police.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: The Scottish Government wrote to NHS boards in March 2008 providing guidance on information sharing between NHS Scotland and the police at: www.sehd.scot.nhs.uk/details.asp?PublicationID=2529. The guidance sets out how NHS boards and police …

27 Jan 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what collaboration work in health technology assessment is being undertaken by the Scottish Medicines Consortium and what costs will accrue from such collaborations.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: The Scottish Medicines Consortium (SMC) assesses newly licensed medicines or treatments for clinical and cost-effectiveness and issues advice to NHSScotland. SMC decisions are made by a panel of experts from different fields including clinicians …

26 Jan 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether all organisations and GPs involved with problem drug misusers now use SMR25a and SMR25b forms and what percentage of each is completed electronically.

Answer · Fergus Ewing: Scottish Morbidity Record (SMR) 25a submissions can be made using either paper forms or by submitting an electronic form to NHS Information Services Division (ISD) Scotland. SMR25b submissions can only be completed electronically. At present, ISD…

26 Jan 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will provide a breakdown by NHS board of patients identified by the Scottish Patients at Risk of Readmission and Admission tool in (a) 2008-09 and (b) 2009-10.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: The Scottish Patients at Risk of Readmission and Admission (SPARRA) tool is used to estimate the future risk of unscheduled inpatient admission of someone who has experienced at least one such admission in the preceding three years. The following…

26 Jan 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what tools are approved by the NHS for the assessment of patients identified by the Scottish Patients at Risk of Readmission and Admission tool.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: The tools used to assess the cohort identified by the Scottish Patients at Risk of Readmission or Admission (SPARRA) tool would be determined by the number and nature of the conditions of each individual, as well as their social, family and carer context.…

26 Jan 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will provide a breakdown by socioeconomic group of patients identified by the Scottish Patients at Risk of Readmission and Admission tool.

26 Jan 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of hospital bed days are accounted for by patients identified by the Scottish Patients at Risk of Readmission and Admission tool.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: The information requested is not routinely available.

26 Jan 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to ensure that all patients identified by the Scottish Patients at Risk of Readmission and Admission tool receive continuity of care by a GP or advanced nurse practitioner.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: The Scottish Patients at Risk of Readmission and Admission (SPARRA) tool is used to support NHS board and Community Health Partnership healthcare teams in providing proactive, planned and co-ordinated care for patients with frequently changing or complex need…

25 Jan 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will list the items lost or stolen from NHS hospitals and facilities in each year since 2007-08, broken down by (a) date lost or stolen, (b) date reported and (c) value of the item.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: The Scottish Government does not collect information on individual losses or thefts from NHS hospitals and facilities or the dates they are reported but this information should be held on individual NHS board loss registers. The Scottish Government does howev…

25 Jan 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will list the households awarded compensation during the development of the Airdrie-Bathgate line; the amounts awarded, and the reason for compensation being given in each case.

Answer · Keith Brown: I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-39013 on 3 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.parliament.uk/Apps…

25 Jan 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many households received compensation during the development of the Airdrie-Bathgate line and how much was awarded.

Answer · Keith Brown: All aspects of compensation for land and property for the Airdrie-Bathgate rail link are negotiated and paid by Network Rail under The Airdrie-Bathgate Railway and Linked Improvements Act 2007 Compensation Protocol. Details of individual compensation settleme…

20 Jan 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what outcome measures will be used to test the new model of care for dementia patients introduced in the Strathmore area by the Perth and Kinross Community Health Partnership.

Answer · Shona Robison: Outcome measures as part of the Strathmore model of care for dementia patients are to be finalised soon and are likely to align with the five key challenges identified by the National Dementia Strategy. Perth and Kinross is one of three dementia …

14 Jan 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it plans to collect Scottish Patients At Risk of Readmission and Admission data in relation to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: Information on Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) is already included as one of 16 long term conditions in the current Scottish Patients At Risk of Readmission and Admission (SPARRA) output. Regular use of SPARRA data informs multi-disc…