Parliamentary questions
Dr Richard Simpson
2,702 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.
15 Jun 2010 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what staff, other than health professionals, will routinely have access to electronic patient records and in what context.
Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: Within NHSScotland dedicated Health Records and Medical Secretarial staff support the delivery of direct clinical care by the initiation, retrieval and maintenance of patients medical records both manual and electronic.</p> <p >These administrative staff su…
15 Jun 2010 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what professional and other workers are defined as health professionals for the purpose of determining access to electronic patient records.
Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: A health professional means a doctor of medicine, nurse, dental practitioner, midwife, pharmacist or another professional as described in Section 69 of the Data Protection Act 1998.</p>
10 Jun 2010 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what the referral criteria will be for gastric band procedures at the Golden Jubilee Hospital.
Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: The referral criteria being used the Golden Jubilee national Hospital, is in line with the SIGN Guideline on the Management of Obesity published in February 2010. The guideline recommendation is that bariatric surgery, including gastric band procedures, shoul…
10 Jun 2010 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what consideration is being given to the establishment of a national managed clinical network for the treatment of severe and complex obesity.
Answer · Shona Robison: There are currently no plans to establish a national managed clinical network for the treatment of severe and complex obesity.</p>
10 Jun 2010 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive by what date it will require NHS boards to develop explicit care pathways offering a range of weight management interventions that may be targeted at various subgroups of the population.
Answer · Shona Robison: I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-34344 on 24 June 2010. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament''s website, the search facility for which can be found at <a href="www.scottish.parliament.uk/Apps2/Business…
10 Jun 2010 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive when it will require each NHS board to have produced a primary care pathway for overweight and obese children and young people
Answer · Shona Robison: I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-34344 on 24 June 2010. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament''s website, the search facility for which can be found at <a href="www.scottish.parliament.uk/Apps2/Business…
10 Jun 2010 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive when it will require each NHS board to have produced a primary care pathway for overweight and obese adults.
Answer · Shona Robison: The Scottish Government''s role is to provide policies, frameworks and resources to NHS boards to enable clinicians and service planners to deliver high quality, safe and sustainable services to local communities. It is a matter for NHS boards to plan for and…
9 Jun 2010 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether guidance is offered to individuals who make disclosures of information in the public interest regarding the NHS and, if so, where this information can be found.
Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: NHSScotland is committed to ensuring that all staff have means available to raise concerns. NHSScotland has developed a model freedom of speech policy, which is contained within the Dealing with Employee Concerns Partnership Information Network (PIN) Policy. …
9 Jun 2010 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what its position is on whether the Public Interest Disclosure Act (1998) adequately protects individuals who make disclosures of information in the public interest.
Answer · John Swinney: While this is a reserved matter for which Scottish Ministers do not have responsibility, in general terms the Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998 is considered to provide a robust framework which adequately protects individuals making disclosures in the publi…
8 Jun 2010 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has issued guidance or advice on the use of disused NHS land or buildings.
Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: Guidance and those mandatory procedures which must be followed by NHSScotland bodies are contained within the NHSScotland Property Transactions Handbook which was issued to NHSScotland bodies on 26 February 2001 under cover of NHS Health Department Letter HDL…
8 Jun 2010 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has issued guidance on the selling of NHS land and buildings.
Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: Guidance and those mandatory procedures which must be followed by NHSScotland bodies are contained within the NHSScotland Property Transactions Handbook which was issued to NHSScotland on 26 February 2001 under cover of NHS Health Department Letter HDL(2001)1…
8 Jun 2010 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has issued guidance on NHS vacancy management.
Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: NHS boards have fully delegated authority over employment matters, including vacancy management. We have not issued guidance on this issue.</p>
8 Jun 2010 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many midwife posts are being reduced in the NHS, broken down by (a) band and (b) NHS board.
Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: This information is not centrally available.</p>
8 Jun 2010 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will list the job losses in each NHS board where substitution with less skilled staff is proposed or is taking place, broken down by (a) type, (b) band and (c) NHS board, and whether it will list the same breakdown for the substitute posts.
Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: This information is not centrally available.</p>
8 Jun 2010 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will list the 230 allied health professionals’ (AHP) post job losses in the NHS, broken down by (a) type of AHP, (b) band and grade and (c) NHS Board.
Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: This information is not centrally available.</p>
8 Jun 2010 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will list the 1,523 nursing post job losses in the NHS, broken down by (a) post description, (b) band and grade and (c) NHS board.
Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: This information is not centrally available.</p>
8 Jun 2010 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will list the 68 medical post job losses in the NHS, broken down by (a) speciality, (b) grade and (c) NHS board.
Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: This information is not centrally available.</p>
2 Jun 2010 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether bariatric surgery will be included or excluded from the waiting times guarantee of 18 weeks referral for treatment.
Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: Bariatric surgery is included in the 18 weeks referral to treatment target. However, patients should be referred to a weight management programme and not directly to surgery. Bariatric surgery should not be undertaken until other interventions have been consi…
2 Jun 2010 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many procedures for bariatric surgery were carried out in each of the last six years, broken down by NHS board.
Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: The number of bariatric surgery procedures, carried out in the last six year, by NHS board of residence, is shown in the following table.</p> <p >Table: Number of bariatric surgery procedures undertaken in NHSScotland by NHS board of residence; financial ye…
2 Jun 2010 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many acute occupied bed days in NHS Forth Valley were directly connected to a diagnosis of assault by sharp object in each of the last five years for which information is available.
Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: The number of occupied bed days in NHS Forth Valley where a diagnosis of ˜assault by sharp object'' is presented in the following table.</p> <p >Number of acute occupied bed days<sup>1,2</sup> in NHS Forth Valley connected with an assault by sharp object<sup…
1 Jun 2010 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is taking steps to review the lifetime ban on blood donations by men who have had sex with men in light of the recommendations in the report by Weinberg and Gilmore in the Canadian Medical Association Journal and the reduction in such restrictions in Argentina, Australia and Ja…
Answer · Shona Robison: The Advisory Committee on the Safety of Blood, Tissues and Organs for Transplantation (SaBTO) advises the UK Health Departments on issues relating to the safety of blood, cells, tissues and organs for transfusion/transplantation. In July 2009, as part of its …
1 Jun 2010 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether in altering NHS board targets for obesity in children it has also reduced the funding provided and, if not, what the new costings are per target-child recruited.
Answer · Shona Robison: The funding awarded to NHS boards for childhood obesity has not been reduced. The money was not allocated on a cost per child basis.</p>
1 Jun 2010 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive for what reason, and on what basis, it has altered obesity-in-children targets for NHS boards.
Answer · Shona Robison: The HEAT target (H3) was classed as developmental in its first year 2008-09. The intention was always to review the target in 2009-10 based on experience to date. Based on that experience we finalised agreed targets with NHS boards that are challenging but re…
26 May 2010 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, in light of paragraphs 53 and 54 of the Health and Sport Committee's 3rd Report 2010 (Session 3), Clinical portal and telehealth development in NHS Scotland, how many open source systems are now in place; what open systems are likely to be purchased in 2010-11, and what guidance on open …
Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: The number and type of software applications in boards whether on commercial or open source licences is not collected centrally.</p> <p >Work is underway on the future options for desktop computers that will include testing of open source and will provide gu…
26 May 2010 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking in response to paragraph 41 of the Health and Sport Committee's 3rd Report 2010 (Session 3), Clinical portal and telehealth development in NHS Scotland, to (a) deliver the technology by means of which patients can audit and track the access to their medical informa…
Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: The Scottish Government''s first priority is to support Health Professionals to make effective use of information within a variety of specialist computer systems across NHSScotland. </p> <p >It remains our long-term aim to consider how best we might support …
26 May 2010 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to have Scotland covered by regulations on railway noise.
Answer · Stewart Stevenson: Recent railway construction projects in Scotland have voluntarily adopted the qualifying criteria and procedures contained within the Noise Insulation (Railways and Other Guided Transport Systems) Regulations (NIR''s), which came into force in England and Wal…
26 May 2010 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answers to questions S3W-33583 and S3W-33584 by Nicola Sturgeon on 20 and 24 May 2010 respectively, whether the Scottish Care Information electronic referral system, includes a mandatory field, including an absence of consent option, to record ethnicity of patients.
Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: The Scottish Care Information electronic referral system does not include a mandatory field, including an absence of consent option, to record ethnicity of patients.</p>
25 May 2010 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many children who are living with relatives have been (a) formally assessed and placed and (b) placed but not formally assessed by a local authority, broken down by local authority.
Answer · Adam Ingram: The Children Looked After Statistics 2008-09 contains statistics on children who have been formally assessed as needing to looked after by local authorities. Table 3.3 sets out the numbers of children placed with friends and relatives in each local authority …
25 May 2010 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether there is a duty on local authorities to provide advice, guidance and assistance to looked-after children up to the age of 19.
Answer · Adam Ingram: Section 29 of the Children (Scotland) Act 1995 sets out the main local authority responsibilities to young people who leave care after school age.</p> <p >Under Section 29 (1) of the act there is a duty to advise, guide and assist those under 19 unless the l…
25 May 2010 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to prohibit moving looked-after children to bed and breakfast accommodation or homeless shelters at the age of 16.
Answer · Adam Ingram: All local authorities are expected to be good corporate parents to the young people in their care and when leaving care. As part of the leaving care process, all young people must be provided with a Pathway Plan which identifies their housing and other needs …