Parliamentary questions

Dr Richard Simpson

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

28 Apr 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what research is being undertaken in Scotland and what information it has on research in the United Kingdom or the rest of the European Union to determine the possible role and cost effectiveness of screening staff for MRSA in the prevention of transmission of MRSA.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: The Health Technology Assessment Report 9: The Clinical and Cost Effectiveness of Screening for Meticillin Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA), published in October 2007 by NHS Quality Improvement Scotland, found that there was an absence of evidence to su…

23 Apr 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-21171 by Nicola Sturgeon on 17 March 2009, in respect of hand hygiene, when it is correct for NHS staff to use (a) the agent provided and water only, (b) the agent provided and water or alcohol gel and (c) alcohol gel alone.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: The Health Protection Scotland (HPS) guidance on hand hygiene is reviewed annually. It can be accessed through the following web link (<a href="http://www.hps.scot.nhs.uk/haiic/ic/guidelinedetail.aspx?id=31220">http://www.hps.scot.nhs.uk/haiic/ic/guideline…

23 Apr 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions its health directorates and health ministers have had with Grampian NHS in light of the reported 34% European working time directive compliance level as at December 2008.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: Scottish Government is committed to helping NHS Scotland boards to reach compliance with the Working Time Regulations for their doctors in training. We are actively involved with all boards through discussions and written communications. In January 2…

16 Apr 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether disputes about high hedges will be covered by the national framework for preventing antisocial behaviour or by separate legislation.

Answer · Fergus Ewing: I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-23036 on 1 May 2009. 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/Bus…

16 Apr 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the outcomes have been of its discussions about high hedges with groups and organisations, as referred to by the Cabinet Secretary for Justice in a parliamentary debate on 2 April 2009 (Official Report c. 16554).

Answer · Fergus Ewing: The Scottish Government had a very productive meeting with Scothedge, the organisation which seeks to secure legislation on this issue in Scotland, on 2 April 2009. I wrote to the Public Petitions Committee on 23 April to provide its members with an update an…

2 Apr 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it agrees with RCN Scotland, as outlined in its A Sustainable Future: The RCN Vision for Community Nursing in Scotland report, that community health teams must have adequate, dedicated administrative support if community nurses are to be enabled to focus their work on patient care…

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: The service model proposed by Visible, Accessible and Integrated Care, the report of the 2006 Review of Nursing in the Community, fully acknowledges that community nursing teams require administrative support. However, it is for each NHS board a…

2 Apr 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, in the light of Audit Scotland’s statement in Financial Overview of the NHS in Scotland 2007-08 that “There is no evidence of a change in the balance of health expenditure to match the move towards more community-based care”, whether it will ensure that community nurses are given the res…

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: All NHS boards receive an annual allocation of funds from the Scottish Government. It is for each NHS board to decide how best to utilise these funds to meet the health care needs of its resident population, including community health services, taking account…

2 Apr 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, in light of the decrease in the number of nurses undertaking specialist postgraduate education, what its plans are to reinvigorate career choices for community nurses in Scotland.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: To maintain and enhance the quality of healthcare provision, service planners at board level and centrally within the Scottish Government have been undertaking a range of activities to maximise NHS Scotland''s workforce capacity and capability. This means loo…

2 Apr 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to increase the number of nurse consultants available to work with community teams in NHS boards.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: The service model proposed by Visible, Accessible and Integrated Care the report of the 2006 Review of Nursing in the Community, provides for the introduction of the Community Nurse Consultant role. Work is in progress to develop an outline job descrip…

2 Apr 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what its plans are to explore the potential of a generic community staff nurse role following the publication of RCN Scotland’s A Sustainable Future: The RCN Vision for Community Nursing in Scotland report and the results of the baseline study of the Review of Nursing in the Community pil…

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: Plans are already in place to explore and develop the potential of the generic staff nurse role as part of the pilot arrangements for the service model proposed by Visible, Accessible and Integrated Care the report of the 2006 Review of Nursing in the …

2 Apr 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, in light of any anticipated increase in the complexity and volume of healthcare interventions in the community, whether it considers that clinical accountability for the community nursing caseload should be provided by nurses working at advanced practitioner level or above.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: The service model proposed by Visible, Accessible and Integrated Care, the report of the 2006 Review of Nursing in the Community, which is currently being piloted, fully supports that lines of accountability for service delivery are clearly structured.…

2 Apr 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it considers that community health teams should be able to provide the full spectrum of physical and mental health interventions to local communities.

Answer · Shona Robison: Local, multi-disciplinary Community Mental Health Teams in each NHS board area already provide care, services and support, according to individually assessed needs. This will also include attention to the physical health needs of people with mental illness.</…

2 Apr 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it considers that Scotland’s communities and its own community health policies will be best served by ensuring a distinction between community nursing roles focused on children, young people and families and roles focused on adults and older people.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: The 2006 Review of Nursing in the Community found that not only were individuals, carers, families and communities unsure of which community nursing service to access to meet their particular needs, but also that health and social care services professionals …

2 Apr 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it intends to work with RCN Scotland and other stakeholders to develop the framework for community nursing and other proposals as set out in the recent RCN Scotland publication A Sustainable Future: The RCN Vision for Community Nursing in Scotland and, if so, how such proposals wi…

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-22602 on 29 April 2009. 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/…

2 Apr 2009 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will publish all details of the £2.5 billion rail contract awarded to FirstGroup plc.

Answer · Stewart Stevenson: The terms of the First ScotRail franchise contract, including any variations or derogations, is contained in Transport Scotland''s Public Register, available at: <a href="http://www.transportscotland.gov.uk/rail/rail-industry-in-scotland/public-regi…

26 Mar 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many and what medicines have been approved under either the Health Technology Assessment or Single Technology Assessment protocols by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) that (a) are currently rejected by the Scottish Medicines Consortium (SMC) or (b) have…

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: The Scottish Government does not hold a single published analysis comparing the decisions taken by the Scottish Medicines Consortium (SMC) and the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) in relation to new medicines. Since Octobe…

26 Mar 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had or will have with Scottish Rugby Union to ensure that Scotland will have a women’s team participating at the next world cup rugby sevens competition.

Answer · Shona Robison: It is for the Scottish Rugby Union to determine whether to enter a women''s team for the next IRB World Cup sevens competition.

26 Mar 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what guidance, advice, support and resources it is providing for the development of touch rugby in the run-up to the 2011 world cup in Scotland.

Answer · Shona Robison: The Scottish Touch Association through a partnership with the Scottish Rugby Union has access to the SRU''s development officer network. This network receives funding from sportscotland and also through the Government''s Cashback for Communities initiative.</…

26 Mar 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to encourage the development of touch rugby as a physical activity in the run-up to the 2011 world cup in Scotland.

Answer · Shona Robison: It is for the Scottish Touch Association to promote and develop the sport of touch, which includes touch rugby.

19 Mar 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to ensure that the European drinking water directive, as enacted in the Water Supply (Water Quality) Regulations 2001 and the Natural Mineral Water, Spring Water and Bottled Drinking Water (Scotland) No.2 Regulations 2007, is extended to cover both bottle-fed dispe…

Answer · Shona Robison: Water used in both bottle-fed and mains-fed water coolers must comply with the quality standards in the Drinking Water Directive, or, in the case of natural mineral water, the standards in Council Directive 80/777/EEC, and must be free from microbiological co…

19 Mar 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what guidance is or will be issued to ensure regular testing for bacterial infection of bottled water dispensers and mains-fed point-of-use water dispensers where such dispensers are in an NHS setting as part of measures to prevent healthcare associated infections.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: There is no specific guidance on testing of water dispensers for possible bacterial contamination in a healthcare setting. However, Section 76F(1) of the Water (Scotland) Act 1980 places a duty on local authorities to keep themselves informed about the wholes…

19 Mar 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what guidance is or will be issued to ensure regular testing for bacterial infection of bottled water dispensers and mains-fed point-of-use water dispensers.

Answer · Shona Robison: There is no specific guidance on testing of water dispensers for possible bacterial contamination. However, Section 76F(1) of the Water (Scotland) Act 1980 places a duty on local authorities to keep themselves informed about the wholesomeness and sufficiency …

19 Mar 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what steps are being taken by way of advertising in magazines and newspapers and provision of leaflets to patients to reduce the level of inappropriate requests for antibiotics when visiting GPs for the treatment of colds.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: There is a range of publicly available measures in place to provide information to patients and the public to reduce the level of inappropriate requests for antibiotics when visiting GPs for the treatment of colds. Many NHS boards run campaigns and produce le…

18 Mar 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-19481 by Nicola Sturgeon on 19 January 2009, whether there will by any provision for female mentally disordered offenders at the State Hospital after 2011.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: The Scottish Government has worked with the State Hospital and other NHS boards to develop medium secure services for women patients and has transferred, or will shortly transfer, all women patients at the State Hospital to more appropriate accommodation thus…

18 Mar 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-19175 by Nicola Sturgeon on 15 January 2009, what discussions it has had with the UK Department of Health about the potential role for NHS Quality Improvement Scotland in the revised independent process.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: The discussions between the Scottish Government Health Directorates and the Department of Health in England have focused on establishing a collaborative process whereby the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) and NHS Quality Improveme…

12 Mar 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has proposals to ensure that regulations (a) restricting noise from rail traffic currently applicable in England and Wales should apply to Scotland and (b) should be brought in to ensure that there are restrictions on levels of vibration associated with rail traffic.

Answer · Stewart Stevenson: The Technical Specification for Interoperability (TSI) Noise promoted by the European Union, establishes limits for pass-by noise. These standards were implemented in the UK, including Scotland, in 2006. In England and Wales air-borne noise which der…

19 Feb 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive which NHS boards (a) do and (b) do not provide fully trained deafblind guide/communicators, whether directly or jointly with local authorities or through a voluntary organisation, and what steps it will take to ensure equality of access to a deafblind guide/communicator for deafblind peop…

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: This information is not held centrally. However, we are aware from information provided by Deafblind Scotland that they provide guide/communicator support within medical services to: NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde; NHS Lothian;…

19 Feb 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many residential drug treatment places there are and how many there were in (a) 2007 and (b) 2008.

Answer · Fergus Ewing: The Review of Residential Drug Detoxification and Rehabilitation Services in Scotland, published in July 2007, found that there were 352 beds across 22 residential services in Scotland. At the end of February 2009, the National Directory of Drug Ser…

19 Feb 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether the observations of hand hygiene undertaken by trained observers and collected by Health Protection Scotland for the quarterly hand hygiene reports include a positive return for staff if they hand wash with (a) the agent provided and water only, (b) the agent provided and water or…

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: The observations, carried out by trained Hand Hygiene Local Health Board Co-ordinator''s, (LHBCs) are to assess whether the correct opportunity for hand hygiene was taken by NHS staff and whether the opportunity was performed with either the correct use of so…

19 Feb 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the statistical validity is of requiring of each NHS board a minimum of 300 observations of hand hygiene and whether it will publish the evidence for this.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: Health Protection Scotland (HPS) advise that 300 opportunities monitored in each NHS board allows for consistency in the interpretation of results across all boards. If 300 opportunities are observed in each board then there is a 95% power to detect …