Parliamentary questions

Carolyn Leckie

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

9 Jan 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many research projects into causes of autism have been funded by the Chief Scientist Office and how many funding applications for such projects have been rejected by the office in the last year.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The Chief Scientist Office of the Scottish Executive Health Department has not funded any researchproposals into the causes of autism in the recent past. No such applicationshave been rejected in the last year and one is currently under consideration.

8 Jan 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many children are currently waiting for a diagnosis of autism, broken down by NHS board area.

Answer · Tom McCabe: The information requested isnot held centrally. The Scottish Executive is committed to improving therecognition, assessment and diagnosis of autistic spectrum disorders, throughimplementation of the Public Health Institute of Scotland’s AutisticSpectrum Di…

9 Dec 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many children with autism have been medically examined in the last five years to determine common biological and physiological factors; whether such examination results are collated and, if so, where they are held.

Answer · Tom McCabe: The information requested isnot held centrally.

9 Dec 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what research is underway to determine the cause, or causes, of the rise in the number of children diagnosed with autism.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The National ResearchRegister (NRR), a UK-wide research database, records that there are 32 on-goingresearch projects in the UK on autism. On the more specific question of thecause or causes of the rise in diagnosis, three of the studies are looking atthe pre…

9 Dec 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the reasons are for the incidence level of one in every 49 primary schoolchildren with autism or suspected autism in the Highland Council area.

Answer · Tom McCabe: The study conducted byHighland Council, which asked teachers to identify the numbers of childrenwhose support needs were associated with characteristics of autistic spectrumdisorder, cannot be regarded as clinical data on the incidence or prevalence ofautisti…

9 Dec 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to replicate across the whole of Scotland the study conducted within the education department of Highland Council on the level of incidence of autism in the council area.

Answer · Tom McCabe: The study conducted byHighland Council was for local planning purposes and the Scottish Executive has no plans to replicate it. However, we asked all NHS boards andlocal authorities in Scotland to conduct an audit of autistic spectrum disorder education,socia…

9 Dec 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-4244 by Malcolm Chisholm on 5 December 2003, whether the "agreed formula" for allocating public capital resources is adequate in light of the charitable funding of some equipment.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The Arbuthnott Formula is consideredto be an appropriate way of allocating NHSScotland capital funds as it ensures anequitable distribution of capital resources. Thereafter it is for eachNHSScotland board to decide, locally, how best to utilise these funds to…

9 Dec 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-4244 by Malcolm Chisholm on 5 December 2003 and in light of the charitable funding of some equipment, what the gap is between how much equipment is needed by the NHS and how much equipment can be purchased through capital budgets, broken down by NHS …

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: This is a matter for NHS Scotland bodies. The information requested is not centrally available and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

4 Dec 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-4248 by Malcolm Chisholm on 3 December 2003, whether changes to the nature of demand on the service arising from the review of maternity services in the area will include an assumption that births in transit will increase.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: Included within the expectedchanges to the nature of demand on ambulance services in the area is theassumption that more expectant mothers may require to be transferred to the Royal Alexandra Hospital in Paisley.Additional ante-natal assessments will be carri…

3 Dec 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether patients from rural areas who are fit to travel alone will be reimbursed for the cost of an escort travelling with them to hospital to receive information regarding a possible cancer diagnosis.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: There are currently twostatutory schemes which allow full or partial reimbursement of travellingexpenses of patients and, where medically necessary, their escorts, which arenecessarily incurred when attending a hospital for the purpose of patientsavailing the…

19 Nov 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-3774 by Malcolm Chisholm on 14 November 2003, whether additional funding to the ambulance service in the NHS Argyll and Clyde area was allocated specifically to take account of any increase in demand and any higher likelihood of births in transit.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: Some of the additionalfunding will be used by the Scottish Ambulance Service to respond to thechanges to the nature of demand on the service arising from the review ofmaternity services in the area.

18 Nov 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-3072 by Malcolm Chisholm on 17 November 2003, whether it considers that such information should be provided to, and collated by, it in order for proper budgetary planning for equipment to take place.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: Public capital resources areallocated to NHS boards by way of an agreed formula. NHS boards prepare five-yearcapital plans to demonstrate how such resources are to be applied to meet theobjectives as set out in local health plans and supporting property strat…

12 Nov 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether the NHS has sufficient capacity to cope with acute admissions over the winter.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: It is very important to makesure that the additional pressures that winter brings to health and social careservices do not disrupt care for patients and clients. The NHS and its planningpartners are now preparing for this winter with plans developed upon thee…

12 Nov 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many patients were redirected from hospitals within the West of Scotland region in the week beginning 10 November 2003.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: Thirty patients were redirectedfrom hospitals within the West of Scotland, excluding NHS Greater Glasgow, inthe week beginning 10 November 2003.The number of patientsredirected within NHS Greater Glasgow is not routinely available at this time.However,…

12 Nov 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many patients waited more than one hour on trolleys for a bed in hospitals in the West of Scotland region in the week beginning 10 November 2003, broken down by NHS board area.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The Scottish Executive does not have information held centrally on the number of patientswaiting more than one hour on trolleys in hospitals in the West of Scotlandregion.Acensus taken during week commencing 10 November 2003 in Argyll and Clyde, Ayrshi…

12 Nov 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many hospitals in the West of Scotland region were closed to acute admissions and how many (a) days and (b) nights they were closed for such purposes in the week beginning 10 November 2003.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: In NHS Argyll and Clyde and NHSDumfries and Galloway there were no hospitals closed to acute admissionsin the week beginning 10 November 2003.While neither of the two districtgeneral hospitals in Ayrshire and Arran were closed to emergency acute admiss…

6 Nov 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the average time is for a nurse to obtain information, give advice and complete a call made to NHS 24.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: Calls to NHS 24 are receivedby a call-handler to establish whether the caller wants health information oradvice on symptoms from a nurse. Thereafter the average time for a nurse to givethe caller advice and complete the call is some 8.5 minutes.

6 Nov 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many callers have waited for more than 10 minutes to complete an enquiry to NHS 24.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The average total call timeto NHS 24 is 11 minutes. This compares well with the benchmark for consultationby GPs which is 10 minutes. Call length is determined by clinical need. Callswhich are urgent are dealt with more quickly. Calls that result in self care…

6 Nov 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many NHS 24 staff have left their jobs since its inception, expressed also as a proportion of the overall staffing complement.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: From July 2001, 102 stafffrom a total current complement of 816 have left NHS 24. This represents an annualaverage turnover equates of 10.96%, which compares favourably to the 13.3%average for public sector organisations of less than 1,000 employees. NHS 24 c…

6 Nov 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the average length of employment of NHS 24 nurses has been since its inception.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: NHS 24 nurses are employedin three centres in the North, West and East of Scotland. Recruitment has beenphased to match the launch of the centres and service roll out across thecountry.North (launch date May 2002)– 460.14 days West (launch date …

6 Nov 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what concerns it has about staff turnover at NHS 24.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: NHS 24 staff turnover figurescurrently compare favourably with commercial contact centres and the publicsector average. We are satisfied that staff retention strategies are beingdeveloped and turnover in all disciplines within NHS 24 is being monitored.

6 Nov 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the average number of unfilled vacancies has been in each month since the establishment of NHS 24, broken down by unit.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: NHS 24 has no vacancies it has been unable to fill.

6 Nov 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether the staffing level of all NHS 24 units matches planned establishment and, if not, in which units it does not match planned establishments.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: Staffing levels matchplanned establishment given current development and rollout requirements overthe coming year. We consider NHS 24 to be a virtual service therefore staffingis projected over the organisation not individual centres.

6 Nov 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether the staffing establishment of NHS 24 is adequate.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The staffing establishmentof NHS 24 is considered to be adequate at the current stage of its development.By December 2003 NHS 24 will be providing a service to 50% of the population ofScotland. To meet full roll-out of the service by December 2004, furtherrec…

6 Nov 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many GP training places there have been in each of the last 10 years.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The GP registrar training places for the last 10 years is as follows:<table border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=3> <thead> <tr> <td> Year </td> <td> Number </td> </tr> </thead> <tr> <td> 1993 </td> <td> …