Dr Richard Simpson

21 Feb 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether the annual Scottish Prison Service’s survey will reinstate the question “How do you rate relationships with your staff?” which was dropped from the 2006-07 survey.

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: I have asked Mike Ewart, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) to respond.</p> <p >His response is as follows:</p> <p >The section containing questions on prisoner and staff relationships was reinstated in the questionnaire used for the 2007 …

21 Feb 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether any NHS boards have declined to participate in any supra-regional health board specialist services and, if so, which boards and for which services.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: NHS boards are expected to deliver comprehensive health care for their resident population. The particular configuration of services to deliver specialist services differs between areas and is a matter for individual NHS boards.</p> <p >In relation to nation…

21 Feb 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether the Joint Futures agenda is to continue and, if so, which (a) local authority areas, (b) NHS boards and (c) local authority services are currently managed under Joint Futures arrangements and in which additional areas it is proposed to implement the agenda and in what timescale.

Answer · Shona Robison: Joint Future is the headline policy on joint working between the NHS and local authorities. It applies to all their community care services for adults, and each local partnership has implemented it since 2003. It is a progressive policy: its focus has recentl…

21 Feb 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how it proposes to distribute the £85 million allocated to tackle alcohol problems over the next three years.

Answer · Shona Robison: The majority of the additional £85 million will be allocated directly to NHS boards and will be used to ensure increased access to early intervention and treatment, and for prevention activity.</p> <p >NHS boards'' individual allocations will be notified sho…

21 Feb 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether any hospital operating theatres which do not have laminar airflow systems installed carry out orthopaedic joint replacements in NHS Lanarkshire.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: I have been informed by NHS Lanarkshire that all operating theatres in Lanarkshire which carry out orthopaedic joint replacements have laminar airflow systems.</p>

21 Feb 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what consideration was given by it or the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation to vaccination against the human papilloma virus for teenage boys as well as girls aged from 13 to 18.

Answer · Shona Robison: The Scottish Government''s priority is to directly protect females against their future risk of cervical cancer.</p> <p >The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation, the independent committee which gives advice to the UK government and devolved admi…

1 Feb 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many junior doctors were on special extended contracts on 31 January 2008.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: The recruitment of junior doctors is a matter for NHS boards as employers. On 31 January 2008, 25 doctors were on special extended contracts.</p>

1 Feb 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, having now achieved the target to reduce Availability Status Code waiting lists in the NHS to zero, how many patients have been (a) treated, (b) removed from waiting lists and (c) transferred to the New Ways waiting times system since July 2007.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: There were 8,493 patients on the in-patient and day case waiting list with an availability status code on 31 December 2007. Patients who held an availability status code on 31 December 2007 will be treated within 18 weeks from 1 January 2008, that is by 5 Ma…

1 Feb 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-7860 by Shona Robison on 17 January 2008, whether it will initiate discussions with COSLA, as part of its concordat, to ensure that education authorities all take part in the Scottish Schools Adolescent Lifestyle and Substance Use Survey in 2008.

Answer · Shona Robison: on 17 January 2008, whether it will initiate discussions with COSLA, as part of its concordat, to ensure that education authorities all take part in the Scottish Schools Adolescent Lifestyle and Substance Use Survey in 2008.</a></p> <p align=right >(<a name…

1 Feb 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many NHS boards have agreed to use the central data warehouse in the New Ways waiting times system.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: All fourteen territorial NHS boards plus the Golden Jubilee National Hospital NHS Board will use the national data warehouse for New Ways of waiting. This means that all NHS boards responsible for the treatment of patients under New Ways will use the national…

1 Feb 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive when the NHS’s contract for IT consultancy work with Deloitte (a) commenced and (b) will end; what the total cost of the contract is; what Deloitte’s remit is under the contract, and how many consultants from Deloitte are engaged in IT work in the NHS in Scotland.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: A contract for support for the eHealth Programme was let to Deloitte following a competitively tendered OJEU procurement in May 2007.</p> <p >The contract was for an initial nine months with an option to extend to 36 months. NHS Scotland has now advertised t…

1 Feb 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how much the IT system to implement the New Ways waiting times system will cost.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: Following the decision in 2005 to develop a data warehouse to help support New Ways, the development cost to Information Services Division (ISD) within NHS National Services Scotland was just over £440,000. The majority of these costs were incurred in 2005-06…

23 Jan 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-7844 by Fergus Ewing on 18 January 2008, whether it will now give a positive timeline for the establishment of its proposed national drugs commission or whether the answer indicates that it is uncertain about the usefulness of such a commission.

Answer · Fergus Ewing: We are exploring thepotential role of a National Drugs Commission in the context of developing our newDrugs Strategy which we intend to publish in spring 2008.</p>

7 Jan 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what steps the Scottish Prison Service is taking to ensure that prisoners with literacy, communication or learning difficulties are identified at the time of admission.

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: I have asked Mike Ewart, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:</p> <p >I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-18592 on 16 December 2008. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available …

7 Jan 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to ensure that prisoners with severe and enduring mental illness are transferred timeously to an appropriately secure hospital setting.

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: I have asked Mike Ewart, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:</p> <p >Appropriate arrangements, including monitoring, are in place to ensure that prisoners requiring transfer to hospital for assessment or tre…

7 Jan 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to ensure that information on the mental health and wellbeing of offenders admitted to prison is provided to the Scottish Prison Service fully and timeously.

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: Prior to determining the most suitable method of dealing with an offender, under current legislation the court may make further enquiry into the offender''s physical or mental condition and background circumstances. Any reports furnished to court for these pu…

7 Jan 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what plans the Scottish Prison Service has to ensure that all prisoners with a severe and enduring mental illness, problems with literacy or communication or learning difficulties have access to an advocate.

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: I have asked Mike Ewart, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:</p> <p >Since the implementation of the Mental Health (Care and Treatment) (Scotland) Act 2003, the SPS has sought to put in place independent adv…

7 Jan 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to ensure that when provision at the State Hospital is reduced to 140 beds there will be adequate provision in high, medium and low secure units for (a) male and (b) female offenders requiring inpatient treatment.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: The current policy on the management of mentally disordered offenders was established in January 1999 and is outlined in the document <i >Health, Social Work and related services for Mentally Disordered Offenders in </i><i >Scotland</i> (Scottish Office, 1999…

7 Jan 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what its response is to Out of Sight: Severe and Enduring Mental Health Problems in Scotland’s Prisons.

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: I have asked Mike Ewart, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) to respond. His response is as follows:</p> <p >The report Out of Sight: Severe and Enduring Mental Health Problems is Scotland''s Prisons is welcomed by the Scottish Prison Servic…

7 Jan 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to ensure uniform access across Scotland to GP, hospital, housing and other services needed on release by offenders with severe and enduring mental illness.

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: The Scottish Prison Service (SPS) works closely with a range of partners to ensure effective support of all offenders being released including those with several enduring mental illness.</p> <p >The SPS published a response to the recent thematic inspection …

7 Jan 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to ensure that there is effective support in the community for offenders with severe and enduring mental illness on release and how it will monitor effectiveness.

Answer · Shona Robison: Discharge planning for prisoners with a diagnosis of severe and enduring mental illness will be undertaken in a multi-disciplinary way using the Care Programme Approach (CPA). CPA focuses on the care and treatment likely to minimise the risk posed. CPA will b…

13 Dec 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to introduce the Hospital at Night system in hospitals, in light of reductions in junior doctors’ hours and changes in their working practices that reduce patient contact.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: Compliance with the reductionin working hours for doctors in training under the New Deal contract and the WorkingTime Regulations (WTR) is the responsibility of NHS boards as employers. The ScottishGovernment aims to help the NHS to achieve compliance and has…

13 Dec 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many hospitals are now operating the Hospital at Night system.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: In relation to the number ofhospitals operating this system, this information is not held centrally. Hospitalat Night (H@N) is however operational in the majority of the NHS Scotlandhealth boards.</p>

13 Dec 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it will take to reverse the decline in response rates from 97% of schools in 1990 to 69% in 2006 and overall response rates from 87% in 1990 to 57% in 2006 in the Scottish Schools Adolescent Lifestyle and Substance Use Survey for the next survey in 2008.

Answer · Shona Robison: The apparent fall in responserates to the Scottish Schools Adolescent Lifestyle and Substance Use Survey (SALSUS)is against a background of a general downward trend in response rates to large surveysof this type. However, there have been some methodological c…

13 Dec 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what measures are used to test the level of satisfaction of patients with out-of-hours services in the NHS.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: The NHS Quality Improvement Scotland(NHS QIS) Standards for The Provision of Safe and Effective Primary Medical ServicesOut-of-Hours (August 2004) require the service provider to take action to identifypatient views and satisfaction levels. In addition, the s…

13 Dec 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what (a) assessment and (b) peer review has been undertaken of the reliability and validity of of the (i) Improving Practice and (ii) General Practice Assessment patient review questionnaires used in the UK Quality and Outcomes Framework.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: As part of the process of negotiatingthe new GP contract, an independent group of academics made an assessment of thesurveys available. The group recommended the Improving Practice and General PracticeAccreditation questionnaires for inclusion within the Qual…

13 Dec 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether, in NHS boards with waiting times over 26 weeks, it will authorise the use of the private sector for any patients whose needs cannot be met by either their own NHS board or by the Golden Jubilee National Hospital.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: We have made it clear thatthe Scottish Government will invest in the NHS in Scotland toensure patients get rapid access to high quality care. We have no intention ofinvesting or expanding the private health care sector, but are content for NHS boardsto make u…

13 Dec 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, given its commitment to include audiology in the waiting times guarantee of 18 weeks by 2011, what interim targets have been set for NHS boards, also showing the current audiology waiting times in each board.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: We are confident that the new18 week patient journey target will delivered by 2011. While no interim targetshave yet been agreed, such targets will be agreed with NHS boards as part of forthcomingdiscussions around their respective action plans.</p>

13 Dec 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what role new licensed trade officers will have in test purchasing of alcohol.

Answer · Shona Robison: Licensing Standards Officers(LSOs) are responsible for ensuring compliance with licensing conditions and offeringsupport to licensees and members of the public. They are not responsible for enforcingthe Licensing (Scotland) Act 2005 legislation and thus will …

13 Dec 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will make relevant resources and powers available to trading standards officers to ensure that test purchasing of alcohol is effectively pursued across Scotland.

Answer · Shona Robison: Trading standards currently haveno statutory responsibility for enforcing the Licensing (Scotland) Act2005. As the sole enforcement authority, it is the responsibility of Scottish PoliceForces to ensure that alcohol test purchasing is pursued effectively acro…