Parliamentary questions
Ross Finnie
558 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.
11 May 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to encourage young people to take action to protect their bones in order to prevent osteoporosis and fragility fractures occurring in the future.
Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: As part of our anticipatory care approach to long-term conditions management, we recognise the benefits of taking steps to ensure strong bones throughout life. We are taking this forward through our wider work in supporting young people to make positive choic…
8 May 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many children have been treated in a dental hospital in each of the last five years, broken down by NHS board.
Answer · Shona Robison: Information on number of new outpatient attendances to dental hospitals for children (less than 18 years) by NHS board of residence is provided in the following table.</p> <table border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 width=578 > <tr > <td width=204 nowra…
23 Apr 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many children have been admitted to hospital as a consequence of an allergic reaction to food in each of the last 10 years, broken down by NHS board.
Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: Information on the number of children admitted to hospital as a consequence of an allergic reaction to food is presented in the following table.</p> <p >Table 1: Numbers of Children (Aged 0 to 16) Admitted to Hospital as a Consequence of an Allergic Food Rea…
23 Apr 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many people have been admitted to hospital as a consequence of an allergic reaction to food in each of the last 10 years, broken down by NHS board.
Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: Information on the number of people admitted to hospital as a consequence of an allergic reaction to food is presented in the following table:</p> <p >Table 1. Number of Patients (All Ages) Admitted to Hospital as a Consequence of an Allergic Food Reaction O…
22 Apr 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many children have been admitted to a dental hospital in each of the last five years, broken down by NHS board.
Answer · Shona Robison: Number of children (0-17 years) admitted to a Dental Hospital by NHS board of residence and financial year are shown in the following table:</p> <table border=0 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 > <thead> <tr > <td width=186 nowrap valign=bottom > <p a…
20 Apr 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many school nurses there were in (a) 2006, (b) 2007 and (c) 2008, broken down by NHS board.
Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: The following table provides the number of whole-time equivalent (WTE) and head count school nurses broken down by NHS board for 2007 and 2008. These figures are collected by Information Services Division (ISD) Scotland and available from the link below:</p> …
20 Apr 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many (a) men and (b) women aged (i) under 36 and (ii) between 36 and 45 have been admitted to hospital with a heart attack in each of the last five years, broken down by NHS board.
Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: Information on the number of emergency admissions involving acute myocardial infarction (heart attack) in the last five years is shown in the following table.</p> <table border=0 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 width=664 > <thead> <tr > <td width=82 nowr…
20 Apr 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many children have been diagnosed as medically unfit to attend school on the grounds of obesity or obesity-related disorders in each of the last five years.
Answer · Adam Ingram: The information requested is not held centrally.</p> <p >Tackling unhealthy weight, particularly at an early age, is a high priority for the Scottish Government and we are investing £56 million in initiatives set out in <i>Healthy Eating, Active Living</i>,…
15 Apr 2009 · General Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether the scope for Scottish civil servants to hold positions in the UK Permanent Representation to the European Union has been addressed in any of its discussions with the UK Government on a devolved civil service.
Answer · Michael Russell : <i> This question was answered in the Chamber. The answer can be viewed in the Official Report using the following link:</i></p> <p ><a href="http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/business/officialReports/meetingsParliament/or-09/sor0423-01.htm">http://www.scott…
8 Apr 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many people were admitted to hospital due to poisoning from (a) androgens and (b) anabolic congeners in each of the last five years, broken down by (i) age and (ii) local authority area.
Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: The following table shows the number of patients admitted to Scottish hospitals with poisoning by androgens and anabolic congeners by age group for calendar years 2003 to 2007. The information is given on a national basis in order not to disclose information …
8 Apr 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking to reduce the use of antidepressants.
Answer · Shona Robison: The Scottish Government is committed to providing appropriate care and treatment to those who suffer from depression, in line with national clinical guidelines.</p> <p >This is supported by work to put in place integrated care pathways for depression that m…
8 Apr 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many prescriptions for antidepressants were dispensed in (a) 2006, (b) 2007 and (c) 2008, broken down by NHS board.
Answer · Shona Robison: Information on the number of prescriptions dispensed between 2006 and 2008, by prescribing NHS board is shown in the following table.</p> <table border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 width=462 > <thead> <tr > <td width=218 nowrap rowspan=2 > <p al…
8 Apr 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many people aged (a) under five, (b) five to 18 and (c) over 18 had teeth extracted under (i) general and (ii) local anaesthetic in 2007-08.
Answer · Shona Robison: Table 1 shows, by NHS board, the number of patients who had teeth extracted in the NHS General Dental Service setting in 2007-08. General anaesthetic is not carried out in this setting. Local anaesthetic and other types of analgesia are used in this setting, …
8 Apr 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many tooth extractions were carried out under (a) general and (b) local anaesthetic in each of the last five years.
Answer · Shona Robison: Table 1 shows, by NHS board, the number of teeth extracted in the NHS General Dental Service setting in each of the last five financial years available. General anaesthetic is not carried out in this setting. Local anaesthetic and other types of analgesia are…
30 Mar 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what measures have been put in place to prevent abuse of NHS hospital car parks since the removal of parking charges.
Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: Measures include zoning of car parks for the different groups of users (patients, visitors and staff), use of time restrictions in patient and visitor car parks during peak hours and use of civil penalty notices to deter misuse of car parks.</p>
30 Mar 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has issued guidance to NHS boards on avoiding abuse of hospital car parks since the removal of parking charges.
Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: Those five NHS Boards which charged for car parking at NHSScotland operated car parks have implemented a range of measures to prevent abuse. My officials are working with NHS Boards and Health Facilities Scotland to prepare guidance on car park management usi…
18 Mar 2009 · General Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it agrees with Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Prisons for Scotland that the conditions for young women at Cornton Vale are unacceptable.
Answer · Kenny MacAskill : <i > This question was answered in the Chamber. The answer can be viewed in the Official Report using the following link:</i></p> <p ><a href="http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/business/officialReports/meetingsParliament/or-09/sor0326-01.htm">http://www.scot…
18 Mar 2009 · First Minister's Question
To ask the First Minister what forecast the Scottish Government has made of how many junior doctors will be working more than 48 hours per week from August 2009.
Answer · Alex Salmond: <i > This question was answered in the Chamber. The answer can be viewed in the Official Report using the following link:</i></p> <p ><a href="http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/business/officialReports/meetingsParliament/or-09/sor0326-01.htm">http://www.scot…
11 Mar 2009 · General Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will seek a joint legal opinion with the UK Government on the Scottish Government’s fishing quota and licensing proposals.
Answer · Richard Lochhead : <i >This question was answered in the Chamber. The answer can be viewed in the Official Report using the following link:</i></p> <p ><a href="http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/business/officialReports/meetingsParliament/or-09/sor0312-01.htm">http://www.scott…
5 Mar 2009 · General Question
To ask the Scottish Executive on what date the Scottish Futures Trust will publish a detailed business plan.
Answer · John Swinney: <i > This question was answered in the Chamber. The answer can be viewed in the Official Report using the following link:</i></p> <p ><a href="http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/business/officialReports/meetingsParliament/or-09/sor0305-01.htm">http://www.scot…
25 Feb 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, in light of the introduction of the European working time directive, what it estimates the cost will be to the NHS to cover any shortfall in the hours of junior doctors.
Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: NHS boards have provided the Scottish Government with information on how they plan to achieve compliance with working time regulations (WTR). Some NHS boards are more advanced with their planning and implementation than others. Any associated costs are a matt…
25 Feb 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many junior doctors work over 48 hours a week, broken down by NHS board.
Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: NHS boards have made great efforts to achieve compliance with each stage of the Working Time Regulations (WTR) and, based on January 2009 New Deal figures, we estimate that around 3,000 were already working 48 hours or less a week, while around 2,000 were sti…
25 Feb 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, in light of the introduction of the European working time directive, how it plans to deal with any shortfall in the hours of junior doctors.
Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: Compliance with the reduction in working hours is the responsibility of NHS boards as employers, as is the implementation of a range of measures to cover the hours previously worked by junior doctors.</p> <p >At the request of Scottish ministers all NHS boar…
25 Feb 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what it estimates the shortfall in the hours of junior doctors will be on introduction of the European working time directive.
Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: Based on January 2009 New Deal monitoring statistics, we estimate that NHS boards have already succeeded in reducing the working hours of around 57% of their junior doctors to an average of 48 hours or less each week. Currently, almost 100% meet New Deal targ…
25 Feb 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many vacancies there were for junior doctor posts as of February 2009 and how many there were in each of the preceding four years, broken down by NHS board.
Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: Junior doctor training posts fall into two broad categories: Two Year Foundation Programmes, introduced in 2005, followed by Speciality Training Programmes, introduced in 2007. For both categories, training programmes commence in August each year and the sele…
20 Feb 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many people aged (a) 10 to 16, (b) 17 to 23 and (c) 24 to 30 were treated for an eating disorder in each of the last 10 years, broken down by NHS board.
Answer · Shona Robison: This information is not available broken down by NHS board.</p>
20 Feb 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many (a) men and (b) women aged (i) 10 to 16, (ii) 17 to 23 and (iii) 24 to 30 were treated for an eating disorder in each of the last 10 years.
Answer · Shona Robison: The exact number of men and women treated for an eating disorder (i.e. anorexia, bulimia and other psychological eating disorders) in Scotland, is not available centrally. However, national estimates of the number of people consulting a member of the primary …
19 Feb 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many registered mental health nurses were employed in the NHS in each of the last three years.
Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: The information requested for 2006 is not centrally available. Data for registered mental health nurses for the last two years can be found in the following table:</p> <p >Mental Health Nursing “ Bands 5 to 9 in Whole-Time Equivalent</p> <table border=1 c…
19 Feb 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what guidance it provides to local authorities on measures to promote healthy eating and what the cost was of providing such guidance in each year for which information is available.
Answer · Shona Robison: The Scottish Executive have issued guidance to local authorities to promote healthy eating as follows:</p> <table border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 width=612 > <thead> <tr > <td width=71 valign=top > <p > </p> </td> <td valign=top > …
19 Feb 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many NHS hospital staff were dismissed in 2008 for failing to follow hygiene procedures.
Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: This information is held at NHS board level. All NHS staff have a duty to ensure the safest possible environment for patients. Hand Hygiene is a simple but essential part of our drive to tackle infection. A zero tolerance approach to non compliance with hand …