Parliamentary questions
Ross Finnie
558 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.
12 Feb 2010 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what communication it has had with Scottish Enterprise regarding the application of the provisions of the Environmental Assessment (Scotland) Act 2005 to the National Renewables Infrastructure Plan.
Answer · Jim Mather: There have been a number of meetings with Scottish Enterprise in recent months by Scottish Government Ministers and officials on the development of the National Renewables Infrastructure Plan. Officials from the Scottish Government and Scottish Enterprise met…
12 Feb 2010 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it considers that the National Renewables Infrastructure Plan is a qualifying plan under the terms of the Environmental Assessment (Scotland) Act 2005 and what the reasons are for its position on this matter.
Answer · Jim Mather: Officials from the Scottish Government and Scottish Enterprise have discussed the matter and do consider the National Renewables Infrastructure Plan to be a qualifying plan under the terms of the Environmental Assessment (Scotland) Act 2005. An assessment of …
10 Feb 2010 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many (a) women and (b) men aged (i) 16 to 34, (ii) 35 to 54 and (iii) 55 and over are estimated to have no natural teeth.
Answer · Shona Robison: The answer is provided in the following table:</p> <p >Table 1. Percentages of (a) women and (b) men aged (i) 16 to 34, (ii) 35 to 54 and (iii) 55 and over are estimated to have no natural teeth.</p> <table border=0 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 > <thead> …
10 Feb 2010 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many teeth were extracted in the (a) NHS general, (b) hospital and (c) community dental service setting in 2009, broken down by NHS board.
Answer · Shona Robison: Centrally held information on the number of teeth extracted is only available for NHS General Dental Services (GDS). The following table shows, by NHS Board, the number of teeth extracted in the GDS setting in 2008-09.</p> <p >Number of Teeth Extracted in th…
10 Feb 2010 · 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 in the (i) NHS general, (ii) hospital and (iii) community dental service setting in 2008-09.
Answer · Shona Robison: Centrally held information is available for (i) NHS General Dental Services (GDS) and (ii) the Hospital Dental Service. Information is not centrally available for the Community Dental Service.</p> <p >Table 1 shows, by NHS board, the number of patients who h…
8 Feb 2010 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what waiting time targets specific to epilepsy are in place.
Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: Most patients with epilepsy have their treatment in a primary care setting. Those who require to be referred or treated in a hospital setting will be covered by our current targets of 12 weeks for both a first outpatient consultation and for inpatient and day…
8 Feb 2010 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what the average waiting time is to see an epilepsy specialist in each NHS board area.
Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: Most patients referred by their GP to a specialist for epilepsy will be referred to a neurology consultant. The median waiting time for a first outpatient neurology consultation following a GP referral for the year ending 31 December 2009 by NHS board of trea…
8 Feb 2010 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how the number of epilepsy specialist nurses compares with the figure recommended by the Joint Epilepsy Council of the UK and Ireland.
Answer · Shona Robison : According to the most recent staff survey published by the Information Services Division (ISD) of NHS National Services Scotland, there were 17 Epilepsy Specialist Nurses (ESNs) in post in NHSScotland at 30 September 2009.</p> <p >The Joint Epilepsy Council …
8 Feb 2010 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many epilepsy specialist nurses there are, broken down by NHS board.
Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: Information on staff in post in NHSScotland is published annually by National Services Scotland, Information Services Division (ISD) Scotland, as part of the workforce census as at 30 September each year. Data for clinical nurse specialists by specialty, NHS …
29 Jan 2010 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what the estimated cost per client per year will be of delivering the Family Nurse Partnership.
Answer · Shona Robison: Due to the phased delivery of this programme, it is not possible to break down costs on an annual basis. The programme is delivered to each client over a two and a half year period. However, some clients may receive more or less than this, depending on when t…
29 Jan 2010 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what funding is being made available for the Family Nurse Partnership pilot in Lothian.
Answer · Shona Robison: The Scottish Government will be providing NHS Lothian with £1.6 million to support the test of the Family Nurse Partnership Programme, in Edinburgh City Health Partnership (CHP), until the first cohort of children reaches two.</p>
29 Jan 2010 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what its position is on the value for money in allowing local authorities to invest in the capital equipment necessary to carry out a time-limited food waste collection service without continuing or evaluating the project.
Answer · Richard Lochhead: All local authorities were aware of the fact that this was a trial and was not meant to be a long-term arrangement, investments were made on this understanding. Scottish Government continues to work with COSLA and local authorities to identify how best to rol…
29 Jan 2010 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it considers that it can achieve the objectives of its zero waste policy without providing financial support to allow local authorities to establish long-term food waste collection services.
Answer · Richard Lochhead: £80 million of Zero Waste funding will be allocated to local authorities over the 2008-09 to 2010-11 period. It is Scottish Government''s view that the overall funding provided is sufficient to achieve recycling and landfill targets. It for local authorities …
29 Jan 2010 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive for what reason it encouraged Inverclyde and other councils to trial a food collection service for a year but offered no funding for its continuation and carried out no evaluation of the trial.
Answer · Richard Lochhead: The trial was implemented to assess the costs, feasibility and effectiveness of food waste collections. In addition the trial provided an opportunity to compare and evaluate the pros and cons of a food waste collections against food and garden waste collectio…
28 Jan 2010 · General Question
To ask the Scottish Executive , in addition to the responses given to the Economy, Energy and Tourism Committee on 13 January 2010 and in light of a subsequent meeting between ministers and Scottish and Southern Energy, under what circumstances additional statutory consents will be required to allow the proposed Beaul…
Answer · Jim Mather: All works in connection with the Beauly to Denny overhead line must be undertaken in accordance with the original application and with the Environmental Statement (including its Addenda). I do not anticipate that, in seeking to construct the new 400kV line, d…
25 Jan 2010 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it plans to roll out the use of medical homepods to all patients with lung disease, heart disease or hypertension.
Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: The Scottish Government is helping to support the use of medical homepods via the Telecare Development Programme''s Innovation Fund. The Centre for Remote Health at the University of the Highlands and Islands is evaluating the pilots and aims to report on its…
25 Jan 2010 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it plans to roll out the use of medical homepods to patients with lung disease, heart disease or hypertension living in remote and rural areas.
Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: The Scottish Government is helping to support the use of medical homepods via the Telecare Development Programme''s Innovation Fund. The Centre for Remote Health at the University of the Highlands and Islands is evaluating the pilots and aims to report on its…
25 Jan 2010 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what conditions the medical homepod pilot projects (a) on the Isle of Luing and (b) in Fife are being used to monitor.
Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: Homepods in use on the Isle of Luing and in Fife are used exclusively for monitoring Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disorder.</p> <p >A community pod is also available to patients on the Isle of Luing allowing them to monitor a wider range of long-term condi…
25 Jan 2010 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many patients are participating in the medical homepod pilot projects (a) on the Isle of Bute, (b) on the Isle of Luing and (c) in Fife.
Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: Fourteen patients are participating in the medical homepod pilot project on the Isle of Bute. One patient is participating on the Isle of Luing via a homepod. Twenty-one patients are participating in the Fife pilot.</p> <p >Additionally, a number of patient…
25 Jan 2010 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how much the medical homepod pilot projects (a) on the Isle of Bute, (b) on the Isle of Luing and (c) in Fife are expected to cost.
Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: Homepod units cost £1,100 each and community pod units £7,000 each.</p> <p >On the Isle of Bute, 15 homepods and one community pod are being provided at a total cost of £23,500. On the Isle of Luing, one homepod and one community pod are being provided at a…
25 Jan 2010 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how long the medical homepod pilot projects have been running (a) on the Isle of Bute, (b) on the Isle of Luing and (c) in Fife and when they will be evaluated.
Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: Medical homepod pilots have been running since March 2009 on the Isle of Bute, and since summer 2009 on the Isle of Luing. The pilot in Fife is due to commence in early February 2010. The Centre for Remote Health at the University of the Highlands and Islands…
25 Jan 2010 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many people aged (a) 10 and under and (b) 11 to 16 have undergone operations under general anaesthetic in hospital in each of the last five years, broken down by (i) type of operation and (ii) NHS board.
Answer · Shona Robison: The information requested is not centrally available.</p>
7 Jan 2010 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many patients have undergone operations to treat a fracture in each month of the last year, broken down by NHS board.
Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: There is no definitive list of operations which relate to the specific treatment of fractures. The range of procedures which may be performed to treat fractures may also be performed for other clinical reasons. Thus, the precise number patients who undergo an…
7 Jan 2010 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many scheduled operations were or have been cancelled or delayed in December 2009 and January 2010 to make way for fracture patients requiring operations after slipping on ice, broken down by NHS board.
Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: Centrally collected, validated statistics do not carry information on the reasons why scheduled operations or procedures are cancelled or delayed.</p> <p >In the event that an operation or procedure is cancelled by the service, for whatever reason, the patie…
8 Dec 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what recent assessment it has made of the operation of the multiple sclerosis risk-sharing scheme.
Answer · Shona Robison: The multiple sclerosis risk-sharing scheme has allowed around 12,000 across the UK to be treated under the scheme. Over 5,500 patients are routinely monitored to assess their progress on treatment. The first two-year analysis of scheme data has been undertake…
8 Dec 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what its most recent estimated cost to date is of the multiple sclerosis risk-sharing scheme and what it estimates will be the total cost of the scheme over its projected lifespan.
Answer · Shona Robison: The multiple sclerosis risk-sharing scheme applies across the UK. Since the scheme began in May 2002 it is estimated that the total UK costs incurred have been around £350 million. The costs associated with the scheme are comprised of drug costs, administrati…
8 Dec 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what assessment it has made of the progress of the multiple sclerosis risk-sharing scheme.
Answer · Shona Robison: The UK multiple sclerosis risk-sharing scheme for beta interferon and glatiramer acetate allows these treatments to be prescribed on the NHS in accordance with guidelines developed by the Association of British Neurologists. Around 12,000 patients across the …
8 Dec 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive when the multiple sclerosis (MS) risk-sharing scheme will be able to demonstrate that MS-modifying drugs represent value for money.
Answer · Shona Robison: The UK multiple sclerosis risk-sharing scheme monitors outcomes of treatment with the disease-modifying therapies Avonex, Betaferon, Rebif and Copaxone for a cohort of over 5,500 patients. The monitoring data for the scheme are collected by MS centres across …
8 Dec 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what assessment it has made of the impact of the multiple sclerosis (MS) risk-sharing scheme on the availability of other drugs for the treatment of MS, including those approved by the Scottish Medicines Consortium.
Answer · Shona Robison: No formal assessment has been made. The UK risk-sharing scheme includes the beta interferon drugs (Avonex, Betaferon and Rebif) and glatiramer acetate (Copaxone). The availability of these drugs under the scheme does not preclude the prescribing of other drug…
7 Dec 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive who was involved in making the decision that district nurses would administer the influenza A (H1N1) vaccine to at-risk groups who are housebound or in care homes and whether the NHS partnership process was followed in making this decision.
Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: The Scottish Government Health Directorate (SGHD) and Health Protection Scotland (HPS) have worked closely with NHS boards on planning for the influenza A (H1N1) vaccination programme. This has included approval of local service delivery models at a national …