Parliamentary questions

Carolyn Leckie

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

13 Dec 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, in light of recently published research by the University of Reading showing that children with Autistic Spectrum Disorder have a higher incidence of the Clostridium histolyticum group (Clostridium clusters I and II) of bacteria than healthy children, what steps it will take to ensure co…

Answer · Lewis Macdonald: I note the research findings with interest. There can be clinical consequences of the Clostridium histolyticum group of bacteria in children with or without autism spectrum disorders. Parents may wish to discuss with individual clinicians what symptoms mean a…

13 Dec 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-12071 by Rhona Brankin on 24 December 2004 and in light of the conference on autism held in Aviemore in November 2005, how many (a) gastroenterologists and (b) immunologists were invited to speak at and/or attend the conference.

Answer · Lewis Macdonald: Invitations to the conference were distributed widely to health professionals; 97 of the delegates were from health professions. It is not possible to give a precise breakdown of the specialisms of those professionals who were invited to attend. Whilst a prom…

13 Dec 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-12071 by Rhona Brankin on 24 December 2004 and in light of the conference on autism held in Aviemore in November 2005, what the total cost to the taxpayer was of the conference and how many delegates were in receipt of complimentary (a) travel and (b…

Answer · Lewis Macdonald: The convention co-ordinator has indicated that the total cost of the conference will be £23,000 which is an average of £120 per delegate. In addition to the guest speakers, 10 parents and carers received complimentary travel and nine received complimentary ac…

13 Dec 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-12071 by Rhona Brankin on 24 December 2005 and in light of the conference on autism held in Aviemore in November 2005, how many (a) parents of autistic children and (b) delegates in total attended the conference.

Answer · Lewis Macdonald: In total 190 delegates attended, of whom 25 identified themselves as parents or carers of children with autism spectrum disorders.

13 Dec 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-12071 by Rhona Brankin on 24 December 2004 and in light of the conference on autism held in Aviemore in November 2005, what the full range of medical interventions considered for people on the autistic spectrum was and how many of these medical inter…

Answer · Lewis Macdonald: This conference, organised by the Scottish Health Service Centre Management Centre on behalf of the Scottish Executive, is part of the implementation of the recommendations in the Public Health Institute of Scotland report on the needs of those with autism sp…

13 Dec 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will take advice from bodies and individuals, such as trade unions and academics, in respect of the matters discussed at the conference on NHS Scotland and the independent healthcare sector, held on Monday 3 October 2005 at the Beardmore Hotel.

Answer · Andy Kerr: The Executive always welcomes constructive advice and is in regular contact with partnership representatives whose input is valued. The Director of the National Waiting Times Unit met with representatives of the Human Resources Forum on 14 October 2005 to di…

13 Dec 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what follow-up conferences, meetings, discussions, communications and actions have taken place and/or been arranged as a consequence of the conference on NHS Scotland and the independent healthcare sector, held on Monday 3 October 2005 at the Beardmore Hotel.

Answer · Andy Kerr: The conference provided information and networking opportunities to NHS and independent sector colleagues, and as such there were no outcomes or actions taken from it. The Executive has not held or arranged any meetings or discussions as a consequence of the …

13 Dec 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will provide a report of the discussions, outcomes and action points of the conference on NHS Scotland and the independent healthcare sector, held on Monday 3 October 2005 at the Beardmore Hotel.

Answer · Andy Kerr: As I indicated in the answer to question S2W-21026 on 8 December 2005, there were no reports, outcomes or action points made of the discussions at the conference. The day aimed to strengthen communications and relationships across public and independent secto…

13 Dec 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how much it cost to run the conference on NHS Scotland and the independent healthcare sector, held on Monday 3 October 2005 at the Beardmore Hotel.

Answer · Andy Kerr: The cost of running the conference was as follows: <table border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=3> <tr> <td> NHS Internal Costs</td> <td> £5,826.20</td> </tr> <tr> <td> External Costs</td> <td> £6,109.30</td…

13 Dec 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what contact there has been with Citizens Advice Scotland in respect of its involvement in progressing the new Scottish Health Council and NHS complaints procedure.

Answer · Andy Kerr: We have provided funding of £60,000in 2004-05 and £130,000 in 2005-06 to Citizen’s Advice Scotland (CAS) to work withthe Scottish Health Council and patient and NHS representatives to develop a nationalframework for an independent advice and support service f…

13 Dec 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what progress has been made in implementing the measures in respect of Patient Focus and Public Involvement and the establishment of the new structures and protocols for the Scottish Health Council.

Answer · Andy Kerr: NHS boards are required to have in place a local sustainable framework and action plan for the delivery of their Patient Focus and Public Involvement (PFPI) responsibilities. The Scottish Health Council is now responsible for quality assuring NHS boards’ deli…

13 Dec 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how a patient can contact the Scottish Health Council.

Answer · Andy Kerr: The Scottish Health Council can be contacted at their national headquarters in Glasgow or via their local offices in each NHS board area. The national headquarters is at Delta House, 50 West Nile Street, Glasgow, telephone 0141 2416308. Local office contact d…

13 Dec 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will take separate legal advice with regard to the abolition of Rule 85 of the local government pension scheme, in light of conflicting legal advice reported by the UK Government, COSLA and UNISON.

Answer · Tom McCabe: The Scottish Executive consulted on proposals for the amendment of the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) in Scotland in September 2004. The proposals were intended to deal with the sustainability and affordability of the scheme as part of the on-going de…

13 Dec 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will provide a breakdown of all costs associated with the security and policing of the G8 summit in July 2005.

Answer · Cathy Jamieson: The Minister for Finance andPublic Service Reform made a statement on the costs and benefits associated withlast year’s G8 summit on 14 December 2005. A breakdown of the cost of policing the event has beenprovided to the Scottish Parliament Information Centre…

8 Dec 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will rule out contracting any services to Netcare, following the reports on Channel 4 News of 7 December 2005 in respect of inferior patient care leading to compromise of patient health.

Answer · Andy Kerr: The Scottish Executive does not contract directly with independent health care providers. We are not aware that any boards in Scotland are currently engaged with this company. In any dealings with independent providers health boards would be required to satis…

7 Dec 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many additional whole-time-equivalent consultant obstetricians and gynaecologists there will be in each of the next 10 years.

Answer · Lewis Macdonald: Over the last 10 years there has been an increase of 22.5 WTE consultants in obstetrics and gynaecology. Furthermore an extra 16 WTE specialist registrars in obstetrics and gynaecology were in place by August 2005 as part of a ministerial commitment for an ex…

7 Dec 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what recruitment strategies are in place to secure sufficient consultants to sustain and improve maternity services.

Answer · Lewis Macdonald: As part of our recruitment and retention measures for consultants we have developed an action plan designed to improve health boards’ capacity to increase the number of consultants employed across all specialties. The plan includes key initiatives such as mak…

7 Dec 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether the Assignation Statement in relation to the Skye Bridge Toll Order recognised the change of share ownership of the concessionaire company as made on 26 January 1992.

Answer · Tavish Scott: No. The Assignation Statement was made available for public inspection and notices to this effect were published on 23 October and 1 November 1991. This pre-dated the change in share ownership within the Skye Bridge concessionaire.

7 Dec 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive why Crown Production 16, the Secretary of State for Scotland's consent memo in respect of Skye Bridge, was utilised for criminal prosecutions if the Secretary of State had properly made a statutory statement.

Answer · Colin Boyd: Crown Production 16 was a relevant document in establishing the legality of the tolling regime at the Skye Bridge. Accordingly, it was lodged as a production in prosecutions for non-payment of the Skye Bridge tolls.

7 Dec 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive why a signed and dated Assignation Statement was not placed in the red tube handed to the Skye Bridge concessionaire by the Secretary of State for Scotland, describing the concessionaire as statutory tolling authority, at the opening ceremony of the Skye Bridge, instead of the civil works…

Answer · Tavish Scott: The document handed to the concessionaire by the then Secretary of State was the required Permit to Use the Skye Bridge crossing. There was no requirement to hand over the separate Assignation Statement as part of that ceremony.

7 Dec 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether the Assignation Statement produced in 1991 in relation to the Skye Crossing Toll Order identified the concessionaire company's principal share-holders as at the date of commencement of tolling.

Answer · Tavish Scott: No. The Assignation Statement was made available for public inspection and notices to this effect were published on 23 October and 1 November 1991. Tolling did not commence until October 1995.

7 Dec 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive why an unsigned and undated draft of the Assignation Statement in 1991 relating to the Skye Crossing Toll Order was produced and whether this was in order to comply with a statutory requirement.

Answer · Tavish Scott: The Assignation Statement set out the then Secretary of State’s intentions with respect to the charging and collection of tolls at the Skye Bridge. It complied with the requirements of paragraph 14A of schedule 1 to the Roads (Scotland) Act 1984 and the Assig…

6 Dec 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what obligations there are on NHS boards to ensure the quality of care of patients whose care has been contracted to the private sector.

Answer · Andy Kerr: When NHS boards contract for care with the independent sector, they continue to have primary responsibility for ensuring that quality standards are met.

6 Dec 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what statutory obligations of accountability are in place in respect of the provision of health care by private sector providers.

Answer · Lewis Macdonald: Care services (whether provided by the public, private or voluntary sector) defined under the Regulation of Care Act (Scotland) 2001 are required to register with the Care Commission. The commission is responsible for regulating care services against the requ…

6 Dec 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what obligations are placed on the Care Commission to communicate with, and report incidents to, public bodies, such as the NHS and local authorities, which involve patients or clients whose health and social care services have been contracted to the private sector.

Answer · Lewis Macdonald: The Care Commission is responsible for regulating care services under the Regulation of Care (Scotland) Act 2001 (the act). The act places a number of statutory duties on the Care Commission to communicate with local authorities and health boards in relation …

6 Dec 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many NHS psychiatric beds for elderly people have been contracted to the private sector in each of the last five years, broken down by NHS board.

Answer · Lewis Macdonald: This information is not held centrally.

6 Dec 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many NHS continuing care beds have been contracted to the private sector in each of the last five years, broken down by NHS board.

Answer · Lewis Macdonald: This information is not held centrally.

6 Dec 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the ratio of registered and non-registered hospital staff was to patients in medical beds in each of the last five years, broken down by NHS board.

Answer · Andy Kerr: This information is not collected centrally. Patients in medical beds will be treated by a variety of staff groups. Registered and non-registered staff breakdowns are only available for nursing and midwifery and allied health professionals. However, informati…

6 Dec 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many medical patients have been placed in non-medical wards in each of the last five years.

Answer · Andy Kerr: The information requested is not centrally available. Information collected nationally on hospital inpatient and day case discharges records the specialty of the consultant responsible for the care of the patient. Information on wards within hospitals …

6 Dec 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many patients admitted to acute medical receiving wards were subsequently transferred to more than one ward during their hospital stay from October to March inclusive in each of the last five years, broken down by NHS board.

Answer · Andy Kerr: The information is not available.