Parliamentary questions

Ross Finnie

558 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.

19 May 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it considers that adopting a nucleic acid testing system as its standard test regime would constitute reasonable grounds for the relevant bodies to reassess the current blanket ban on gay men donating blood.

Answer · Shona Robison: Men who have had sex with men, and who fail to acknowledge this at a blood donation session, have consistently the highest incidence of being HIV positive. This is the case with or without the implementation of nucleic acid testing. Securing the safety of the…

19 May 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what improvements have been made to the blood testing regime in Scotland over the last 10 years and what consequent amendments have been made to blood donation guidelines.

Answer · Shona Robison: The following changes to the blood donation testing regime have been introduced by the Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service over the past decade: By April 1999 all blood for transfusion was tested negative for hepatitis C by both antibody and…

19 May 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is satisfied that only specifying a requirement to test for hepatitis C in its invitation to tender for its provision of nucleic acid blood testing does not constitute a lowering of standards, given that current nucleic acid testing currently also specifies a requirement to tes…

Answer · Shona Robison: The Scottish Government supports the commitment of the Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service to offering a combined nucleic acid test for hepatitis C and HIV.

19 May 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what information it has on why the current invitation to tender for the provision of nucleic acid testing, which caters for the national blood services in England and Wales and Scotland, only specifies a requirement to test for the presence of hepatitis C.

Answer · Shona Robison: The Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service is committed to continuing to carry out HIV nucleic acid testing (NAT) on all donations. It has indicated that it would only consider being a party to this tender if HIV NAT were also offered as part of a combin…

19 May 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it considers it to be important for any nucleic acid blood testing regime to specify both hepatitis C virus and HIV if it is to be used to test blood supplies in Scotland.

Answer · Shona Robison: The Scottish Government considers it is important for any nucleic acid blood testing (NAT) regime to specify both hepatitis C virus and HIV. This is the regime carried out by the Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service to test blood supplies in Scotland. …

19 May 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is considering adopting nucleic acid testing for all blood donations as its standard test to meet all statutory and regulatory requirements and what the reasons are for its position on the matter.

Answer · Shona Robison: It is not possible for the Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service to introduce nucleic acid testing as its “standard” test because the UK Blood Safety and Quality Regulations require an antibody test for HIV and hepatitis C to be performed on each donati…

19 May 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it considers nucleic acid testing of blood donations to be a higher standard of test than a serological test.

Answer · Shona Robison: Nucleic acid detection of viruses in blood, in general, detects positive donations at an earlier stage after the infective episode than antibody or antigen tests. For HIV, for example, a nucleic acid test in general becomes positive after about 11 days after …

25 Mar 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it considers the prevalence of alcohol misuse in an NHS board area to be the most important criterion in determining the allocation of funding to tackle alcohol abuse.

Answer · Shona Robison: Prevalence is one of a number of factors relevant to determining allocation of funding for tackling alcohol misuse. Other factors, including deprivation, are included in the formula used for NHS boards' general financial allocations.

20 Mar 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions were held with NHS boards prior to the allocation of the £25 million to tackle alcohol misuse, announced on 20 March 2008.

Answer · Shona Robison: We wrote to NHS boards in November 2007 explaining that subject to parliamentary approval of the draft budget, the majority of the £85 million increase in funding for tackling alcohol misuse would be allocated directly to NHS boards to increase access to earl…

20 Mar 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive on what basis the £25 million to tackle alcohol misuse, announced on 20 March 2008, was allocated to individual NHS boards.

Answer · Shona Robison: The £25 million was allocated using the formula for NHS boards' general financial allocations for 2008-09, with an additional weighting factor applied to take account of prevalence of hazardous, harmful and dependent drinkers.

20 Mar 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what proportion of (a) nurses, (b) midwives and (c) doctors were working in the NHS in Scotland three years after they qualified in Scotland, broken down by NHS board in each of the last five years and what information it has on how these figures compare with those for each category who q…

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: The Scottish Government is committed to ensure that there are sufficient numbers of health care workers trained to meet health care demand. Through our established process for workload and workforce planning, the Scottish Government will continue to plan for …

12 Mar 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what proportion of the ambulance fleet currently in service will be (a) modernised or (b) replaced as a result of the £525 million capital funding announced on 10 March 2008.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: The Scottish Government has provided the Scottish Ambulance Service (SAS) with a revenue allocation of £183.4 million for 2008-09, an increase of 3.15% over the equivalent 2007-08 allocation. Decisions on funding levels for 2009-10 and 2010-11 have yet to be …

12 Mar 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions were held with NHS boards about their particular infrastructure needs for the delivery of care in their respective communities prior to the announcement of 10 March 2008 of £525 million capital funding.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: No discussions are held with NHS boards prior to the allocation of capital funding. Capital resources have been allocated directly to geographic NHS boards on a formula basis since 2002. The capital funding formula used is the Arbuthnott formula (as used for …

12 Mar 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what proportion of the £525 million capital funding for NHS facilities and the upgrade of equipment and IT systems, announced on 10 March 2008, it anticipates will be spent on (a) acute and (b) community health services.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: The information requested is not held centrally. NHS boards have long-term financial plans in place which determine planned spending including expenditure on acute and community health services. Since 2002, capital funding has been distributed to NHS boards b…

12 Mar 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether the £525 million capital funding for NHS facilities and the upgrade of equipment and IT systems, announced on 10 March 2008, will assist in shifting the balance of healthcare from acute to community settings.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: Yes. Capital programmes are established by NHS boards to support NHSScotland objectives and priorities, including those associated with shifting the balance of health care from acute to community settings. Because capital funding is distributed directly to NH…

5 Feb 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether all maternity units offer pregnant women the option of an ultrasound scan 18 to 20 weeks into their pregnancy in accordance with National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) guidelines on screening for structural anomalies.

Answer · Shona Robison: Four of the fourteen NHS boards do not offer a fetal anomaly scan at 18 to 20 weeks as a matter of routine. The Scottish Government is, however, working closely with boards to develop the pregnancy screening programme with the aim of introducing a universal p…

5 Feb 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what measures are currently in place to identify women with current and ongoing health conditions likely to impact on the outcome of their pregnancy, as set out in A Framework for maternity services in Scotland.

Answer · Shona Robison: The antenatal care that a woman receives in accordance to the Framework for maternity services in Scotland, is supported by the report of the Expert Group on Acute Maternity Services (EGAMS) 2002, which outlines principles, guidelines and local action that bo…

5 Feb 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what measures are currently in place to ensure that women have continuous risk assessment throughout pregnancy, as set out in A Framework for maternity services in Scotland.

Answer · Shona Robison: The antenatal care that a woman receives in accordance to A Framework for maternity services in Scotland, is supported by the report of the Expert Group on Acute Maternity Services (EGAMS) 2002, which outlines principles, national guidelines and local action …

5 Feb 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of women who gave birth in each of the last five years received all nine of the routine care antenatal appointments set out in A Framework for maternity services in Scotland, broken down by NHS board.

Answer · Shona Robison: The information requested is not centrally available. The NHS QIS Maternity Standards also include a standard that relates to the number and scheduling of antenatal clinic appointments that should be offered. At an organisational level, NHS boards ha…

5 Feb 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it plans to update the framework governing the provision of maternity services in Scotland.

Answer · Shona Robison: The Maternity Services Action Group is currently reviewing and updating the national maternity policy set out in The Framework for Maternity Services (2001) and the subsequent Expert Group on Acute Maternity Services (2002). We remain commit…

5 Feb 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what preventative measures are currently being taken with regard to osteoporosis.

Answer · Shona Robison: Our work on smoking, diet and exercise will help reduce the risk of people developing osteoporosis. The Scottish Medicines Consortium has also provided advice to NHSScotland on drug therapy for the primary and secondary prevention of osteoporosis. Fa…

5 Feb 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any plans to review the criteria used to determine referrals for osteoporosis scans.

Answer · Shona Robison: SIGN has consulted on the need to review the guideline on the management of osteoporosis (No 71) and agreed to <a name="OLE_LINK1"></a><a name="OLE_LINK2">a complete review of the guideline, encompassing new treatments, falls assessment and learning d…

5 Feb 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what criteria are applied to determine whether or not a patient will be referred for an osteoporosis scan.

Answer · Shona Robison: The criteria are set out in SIGN Guideline 71 on the management of osteoporosis.

5 Feb 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry scanning machines there are for detecting osteoporosis.

Answer · Shona Robison: At July 2007, there were 15 DEXA scanners in NHSScotland. All NHS boards have access to DEXA scanning.

4 Feb 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to develop health promotion initiatives for people with physical disabilities.

Answer · Shona Robison: All NHS boards are expected to design and deliver health improvement activities which meet the needs of all in their local population and reduce inequalities in health. The Fair for All programme of work and the Equality and Diversity Impact …

4 Feb 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any plans to improve the level and quality of information available for young physically disabled adults on the support services available to them.

Answer · Stewart Maxwell: The Scottish Government provides core funding under section 10 of the Social Work (Scotland) Act 1968 to Update, a charitable organisation which aims to improve the quality of life of disabled people by enabling information providers to offer accurate, releva…

4 Feb 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the average waiting time has been for those requiring wheelchairs in each of the last five years, broken down by NHS board.

Answer · Shona Robison: This information is not held centrally. The Wheelchair and Seating Services Project Board and Project Manager will look at the way in which wheelchair waiting times information is gathered throughout Scotland, and will work with the service managers to introd…

4 Feb 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the average waiting time has been for accessing speech and language therapy in each of the last five years, broken down by NHS board.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: This information is not held centrally. The planning and provision of NHS Speech and Language therapy services is for NHS boards to determine based on local priorities.

4 Feb 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any concerns about the strictness of the rules applicable to heterosexual blood donors.

Answer · Shona Robison: The blood donation guidelines are reviewed on a regular basis at a UK level through the UK Advisory Committee for the Safety of Blood, Tissues and Organs and the Joint Professional Advisory Committee for the four UK Blood Transfusion Services, based on the la…

4 Feb 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it considers that the session conditions under which the Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service collects blood enable staff to establish insights into the lifestyle of gay and bisexual men in as straightforward a manner as for heterosexual men.

Answer · Shona Robison: The session conditions aim to be conducive in meeting the donor selection guidelines, to ensure the safety of the blood supply. The Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service seeks to ensure, as far as it can, confidentiality for all donors.