Parliamentary questions
Carolyn Leckie
686 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.
6 Dec 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what the bed occupancy rates for general medical wards were from October to March inclusive in each of the last five years, broken down by NHS board.
Answer · Andy Kerr: I refer the member to the answer to question S2W-21429 on 15 December 2005. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at <a href="http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/weba…
6 Dec 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what the bed occupancy rates for acute medical receiving wards were from October to March inclusive in each of the last five years, broken down by NHS board.
Answer · Andy Kerr: Information on the percentage bed occupancy rates of acute medical/general receiving wards is not available centrally. Information on the percentage bed occupancy for acute medical specialties for the six months ending 31 March for the years 2001-05 is shown …
29 Nov 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-20703 by Malcolm Chisholm on 29 November 2005, what representations it has received from organisations seeking a meeting with it to discuss equal pay for women in local authority employment and whether it will agree to meet these organisations.
Answer · Tom McCabe: The Convention of Scottish Local Authorities recently wrote to request a meeting to discuss equal pay issues generally, and that meeting will take place in due course.</p>
29 Nov 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-20688 by Mr Andy Kerr on 28 November 2005, whether the monies paid under the terms and conditions of any contract will be dependent on the emergence of a pandemic flu strain.
Answer · Andy Kerr: It is envisaged that payments will be made to secure access to availability of vaccine in the event of an influenza pandemic.</p>
29 Nov 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had, and with whom, regarding the organisation of health services in Lanarkshire.
Answer · Andy Kerr: While the health department is in regular contact with NHS Lanarkshire, the planning and provision of local NHS services is a matter for individual NHS boards, providing they are in line with national guidance and frameworks, including<i> Delivering for Healt…
23 Nov 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-20516 by Mr Andy Kerr on 18 November 2005, whether it will provide a minute, transcript and any further documentation relating to the conference held on 3 October 2005.
Answer · Andy Kerr: There was no minute or transcript taken at the Conference held on 3 October. Information included in the conference pack issued to delegates at the Conference can be obtained from the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 38326).</p>
23 Nov 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-20621 by Mr Andy Kerr on 23 November 2005, what remuneration system that includes prescribing as part of the patient’s overall package of health care will be put in place for pharmacists and what mechanisms will be put in place to audit prescribing b…
Answer · Lewis Macdonald: NHS community pharmacy contractors will be remunerated for the provision of care, for example to patients with common clinical conditions through the minor ailments service and for contributing to the management of chronic disease.</p> <p>The mechanisms used …
23 Nov 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what the rate of (a) hepatitis A, (b) hepatitis B and (c) non-A, non-B hepatitis reported in the prison system was in each year from 1965 to 1992.
Answer · Cathy Jamieson: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:</p> <p>This information is not available.</p>
23 Nov 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what the rate of (a) hepatitis A, (b) hepatitis B and (c) non-A, non-B hepatitis resulting from whole blood exposure was in each year from 1965 to 1992.
Answer · Andy Kerr: Data does not exist in the form requested for a number of reasons. This information was held, until about 1991, in regional transfusion centres (Glasgow, Edinburgh, Aberdeen, Dundee, Inverness) and not pooled, and SNBTS does not have the records for these yea…
16 Nov 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what additional funding it will make available to enable local authorities to implement equal pay.
Answer · Tom McCabe: Funding for the salaries and wages paid by local authorities is largely provided for by the Scottish Executive as part of a block grant which, in the current financial year, will amount to £8.1 billion. The block grant is very largely unhypothecated and it is…
16 Nov 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will use contingency funds to enable local authorities to implement equal pay.
Answer · Tom McCabe: The pay and conditions of local government staff are matters for local authorities who have an obligation, like other employers, to ensure that they comply with all employment legislation. In the current financial year, councils will receive a block grant fro…
16 Nov 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what (a) proportion and (b) amount of its budget has been allocated to local authorities in each year since 1999 to enable local authorities to implement equal pay.
Answer · Tom McCabe: A significant part of the funding allocated by the Scottish Executive to local authorities is through a block grant. Although the Executive provides funding for salaries and wages as part of this block grant, it is the responsibility of each authority as to h…
16 Nov 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what cognisance it has taken of representations it has received on equal pay and what action it will take to ensure that all women who work for local authorities receive equal pay for work of equal value retrospectively and prospectively.
Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: I refer the member to the answer to question S2W-20706 on 23 November 2005. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at <a href="http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/web…
16 Nov 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what (a) representations it has made to, (b) discussions it has had with and (c) meetings it has had with (i) the Equal Opportunities Commission and (ii) other organisations regarding equal pay for women in local authority employment.
Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The Scottish Executive has made no representations or held discussions or meetings with the EOC or other organisations on the specific issue of pay for women in local authority employment as this is a matter for local authorities.</p> <p>The Executive has had…
16 Nov 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answers to questions S2W-19948, S2W-19949 and S2W-19950 by Lewis Macdonald on 14 November 2005 and in light of the fact that its Health Department does not hold this information centrally, whether it is satisfied with the performance of the department and whether it consid…
Answer · Lewis Macdonald: I am satisfied that our policy on provision of maternity services is sufficiently informed. The information requested in S2W-19948, S2W-19949 and S2W-19950 is not routinely recorded centrally. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on th…
16 Nov 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-20321 by Mr Andy Kerr on 14 November 2005, whether all contracts being negotiated by the NHS solely relate to H5N1, a virus not transmitted from human to human and not likely to lead to a human flu pandemic
Answer · Andy Kerr: Department of Health, on behalf of the UK Health Departments, plan to shortly award the contract for the H5N1 vaccine based on the virus strain currently circulating in poultry in south east Asia and elsewhere. A pandemic influenza vaccine cannot be manufactu…
16 Nov 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-20320 by Mr Andy Kerr on 14 November 2005, whether monies paid to successful bidders will be dependent on the emergence of a pandemic flu virus or whether monies will be paid whether or not such a virus emerges.
Answer · Andy Kerr: Monies will be paid under the terms and conditions of the contract.</p>
16 Nov 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-20320 by Mr Andy Kerr on 14 November 2005, whether the tendering process will be completed and contracts agreed before a pandemic flu virus is identified and a vaccine is possible and whether the award of the contracts will not depend on whether such…
Answer · Andy Kerr: As it is not known when a pandemic virus will emerge the Scottish Executive is not in a position to confirm if the tendering process will be completed and contracts agreed in advance.</p> <p>However, the process has started. Department of Health, on behalf of…
14 Nov 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-19934 by Cathy Jamieson on 9 November 2005 and in light of Rule 86(2) a and b of the Prisons and Young Offenders Institutions (Scotland) Rules 1994 which states that “an officer may, where he suspects that the visitor may have concealed anything whic…
Answer · Cathy Jamieson: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:</p> <p>The contract makes no provision for the number of rub-down searches. Statutory Instrument 1996 No. 32 (S.1) changed Rule 86. Searches of v…
11 Nov 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what strategies it will put in place to prevent pharmacists over-prescribing.
Answer · Lewis Macdonald: Pharmacists engaged in prescribing activity under the NHS will be subject to the same requirements for effective prescribing as other NHS prescribers such as general medical practitioners.</p>
11 Nov 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what proportion of (a) NHS and (b) GP budgets will move to the private sector as a result of the introduction of pharmacist prescribing.
Answer · Lewis Macdonald: The introduction of pharmacist prescribing on the NHS will not change existing budget arrangements. At present prescribing costs are linked to the relevant prescribing GP practice and it is likely that pharmacist prescribing costs will be linked to the releva…
11 Nov 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what remuneration system will be put in place for prescribing pharmacists and what total levels of remuneration are projected.
Answer · Andy Kerr: Prescribing is considered as an integral part of the patients overall package of health care and is not remunerated separately. The same principle will apply to prescribing by pharmacists.</p>
9 Nov 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-20039 by Mr Tom McCabe on 3 November 2005, how it will address any inconsistencies between the offer to local government employees in respect of the 85 Rule and the agreements reached with the public health, teaching and civil service sectors where t…
Answer · Tom McCabe: The Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) already has a normal pension age (NPA) of 65, unlike the schemes for NHS, teachers and civil servants which currently have a NPA of 60. However, as explained in the answer to question S2W-20039 on 3 November 2005, th…
9 Nov 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-16967 by Mr Andy Kerr on 14 June 2005, what further meetings, talks, discussions and communications it has had with private health providers, organisations and individuals and what the outcomes were.
Answer · Andy Kerr: The Executive held a conference on 3 October 2005 in The Beardmore Hotel, Clydebank which was aimed at chief executives and chairs of NHS boards in Scotland, Independent Sector Providers and those involved in the planning and developing of NHS services. The p…
8 Nov 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had with (a) COSLA and (b) individual local authorities in respect of their obligations and progress in achieving equal pay and what the outcome has been of any such discussions.
Answer · Tom McCabe: The implementation of the Single Status Pay Agreement by local authorities has been raised in discussion between the Executive and COSLA and also between the Executive and a number of individual local authorities. However the position remains that the pay and…
4 Nov 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-19881 by Lewis Macdonald on 3 November 2005, whether it can provide a source in order to obtain the required information relating to the non-vaccinated population and not specifically to MMR; whether it intends to collate such information itself in f…
Answer · Lewis Macdonald: The existing immunisation database does not provide data on individuals with or without an autism spectrum disorder. The Scottish Executive does not intend to collect such information as worldwide consensus is that there is no evidence for an association betw…
4 Nov 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what the total amount of capital charges paid by NHS boards (a) is in the current year and (b) has been in each of the last five years, broken down by hospital.
Answer · Andy Kerr: (a) The total amount of capital charges paid by NHS boards in each of the last five years is:</p> <table border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=3> <thead> <tr> <td> <p> </p></td> <td> <p align=center>2000-01</p> <p align=right>(£000…
4 Nov 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many (a) accident and emergency, (b) intensive therapy, (c) high dependency, (d) acute medical receiving and (e) acute surgical receiving units there (i) have been in each of the last five years, (ii) are and (iii) will be if NHS board reorganisation plans are carried out.
Answer · Andy Kerr: The number of locations with intensive care units and an accident and emergency service for each financial year since 2001 is shown in the table. Information on the number of acute medical/surgical receiving units is not centrally available.</p> <table border…
4 Nov 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many doses and courses of Tamiflu are in stock and how many have been ordered for Scotland.
Answer · Andy Kerr: I refer the member to the answer to question S2W-19843 on 7 November 2005. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at <a href="http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webap…
4 Nov 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what proportion of the population will be covered by the current and planned stocks of Tamiflu.
Answer · Andy Kerr: I refer the member to the answer to question S2W-19440 on 30 September 2005. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at <a href="http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/web…