Parliamentary questions
Miles Briggs
4,209 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.
1 Nov 2017 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on what support it is providing to the work being carried out to locate people who have been diagnosed with hepatitis c but who are no longer on NHS records.
Answer · Aileen Campbell: The Scottish Government Hepatitis C Treatment and Therapies Group has established a Short Life Working Group to generate guidance on how best to identify hepatitis C infected people who are either undiagnosed, diagnosed but never in follow up, or diagnosed an…
1 Nov 2017 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on what action it is taking to meet its commitment to the World Health Organization strategy to reduce hepatitis C rates by at least 90% by 2030.
Answer · Shona Robison: Hepatitis C (HCV) prevention remains a priority for the Scottish Government as set out in our Sexual Health and Bloodborne Virus Strategy. All NHS Boards and partners continue to work to prevent new infections, promoting best practice in relation to HCV preve…
1 Nov 2017 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many people have been (a) diagnosed with and (b) received treatment for hepatitis C in each year since 1999, broken down by NHS board.
Answer · Shona Robison: NHS Board1 Annual number diagnosed with HCV by year of earliest positive specimen <2008 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 Cumulative number diagnosed Ayrshire & Arran 1377 119 143 171 148 136 185 142 127 116 2664 Borders …
26 Oct 2017 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-11658 by Shona Robison on 25 October 2017, whether it will publish the minutes of (a) the meeting and (b) any subsequent meetings.
Answer · Shona Robison: Minutes of a meeting of Scottish Government officials with Chief Officers and Chief Finance Officers of a number of Integration Joint Boards, along with COSLA to discuss the implementation of Free Personal Care for under 65's, which took place on 26 October 2…
25 Oct 2017 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to increase the number of training places for social care and, if so, by how many each year.
Answer · Mark McDonald: Training places for social care are not centrally controlled. Demand for places is assessed through colleges working in partnership with employers to meet the needs of local labour markets.
24 Oct 2017 · General Question
To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to reduce waiting times for orthopaedic treatment.
24 Oct 2017 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what impact its recently-announced campaign to recruit up to 11,000 people to work in child care will have on social care sector recruitment; what discussions the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Sport and the health ministers have had with other ministerial colleagues about any such imp…
Answer · Shona Robison: We will work with stakeholders to monitor the impact of expansion of early years workers on other areas of the social services workforce and to consider what action might be beneficial, in the light of any significant impacts identified. Attracting and retai…
16 Oct 2017 · Portfolio Question
To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to encourage more people to carry out voluntary work in their communities.
16 Oct 2017 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how it ensures that (a) it, (b) its officials, (c) Healthcare Improvement Scotland, (d) the Healthcare Environment Inspectorate and (e) the rest of the NHS implements its responsibilities under the (i) Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974, (ii) Management of Health and Safety at Work R…
Answer · Shona Robison: Health and Safety is a reserved matter under the terms of the Scotland Act (1998). The duty holders in NHSScotland under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 (HSWA) and relevant regulations, are NHS Boards, as they are separate legal entities to the Sc…
11 Oct 2017 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what action can be taken if an approved medical practitioner grants a short-term detention certificate after erroneously considering that the requisite conditions to do so have been met.
Answer · Maureen Watt: The Mental Health (Care and Treatment) (Scotland) Act 2003 requires orders such as short-term detention certificates to be kept under review and revoked or varied as appropriate. Where a patient or named person does not think the requisite conditions for a sh…
11 Oct 2017 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the requirement under the Human Rights Act 1998 that public authorities must take account of the case-law of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), what action it has taken to ensure that the NHS is aware of the 2012 ECHR judgement in the case of (a) X v Finland, which f…
Answer · Maureen Watt: Scottish mental health and incapacity legislation is based on rights and principles. Our legislation is compliant with the European Convention on Human Rights and has never been found, in part or in whole, by the European Court of Human Rights to be incompati…
11 Oct 2017 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the requirement under the Human Rights Act 1998 that public authorities must take account of the case-law of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), what action it has taken to ensure that the NHS is aware of the ECHR case law suggesting that courts should take account of…
Answer · Maureen Watt: Scottish mental health and incapacity legislation is based on rights and principles. Our legislation is compliant with the European Convention on Human Rights and has never been found, in part or in whole, by the European Court of Human Rights to be incompati…
11 Oct 2017 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to concerns that proper enquiries are not always made prior to a mental health officer consenting to the grant of a short-term detention certificate by an approved medical practitioner.
Answer · Maureen Watt: A short-term detention certificate (STDC) should be the usual route into hospital for someone who needs compulsory treatment. The STDC offers several safeguards for the person. Before granting the certificate, the doctor must consult a mental health officer (…
11 Oct 2017 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether compulsory mental health treatment can begin prior to the facts concerning the patient being established, and whether it considers that doing so would be consistent with the legislation, which suggests that such treatment should only be allowed in very str…
Answer · Maureen Watt: Mental health law in Scotland is based on rights and principles and offers patients significant safeguards where compulsory treatment is necessary. Safeguards include a right to independent advocacy and an efficient and independent Mental Health Tribunal whic…
11 Oct 2017 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many people were cared for in (a) adult and (b) childrens hospices in each of the last four years, and how many it projects will be cared for in each of the next five.
Answer · Shona Robison: This information is not centrally held. The Scottish Atlas of Palliative Care, which was published in September 2016, provides Scotland specific data on levels, location and types of specialist palliative care services across Scotland which has previously be…
11 Oct 2017 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how much it has invested in (a) adult and (b) childrens hospices in in each of the last four years, and how much it projects it will spend in each of the next five.
Answer · Shona Robison: This information is not centrally held. It is the responsibility of Health and Social Care Partnerships to plan and deliver services for their area using the integrated budgets under their control. This includes hospice and palliative and end of life care se…
11 Oct 2017 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on how it plans to ensure parity of funding between childrens and adult hospices.
Answer · Shona Robison: Guidance for the procurement of palliative and end of life services, including those provided by independent adult hospices, is set out in Chief Executive Letter, CEL 12 (2012). The CEL makes clear that funding of mutually agreed specialist palliative care se…
11 Oct 2017 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how it encourages health professionals to refer patients for pulmonary rehabilitation.
Answer · Shona Robison: I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-11945 on 9 November 2017. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusine…
11 Oct 2017 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of Chest, Heart & Stroke Scotland's 2017 Pulmonary Rehabilitation Survey, and what its response is.
Answer · Shona Robison: The Scottish Government welcomes the 2017 Pulmonary Rehabilitation survey, published by Chest Heart & Stroke Scotland in partnership with the Scottish Pulmonary Rehabilitation Action Group on the provision of pulmonary rehabilitation in Scotland. The Scottis…
11 Oct 2017 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to increase the availability and capacity of pulmonary rehabilitation services in (a) NHS Lothian and (b) the rest of Scotland.
Answer · Shona Robison: The Scottish Government’s role is to provide frameworks, policies, and resources to enable Scotland’s NHS Boards to deliver the healthcare services that meet the needs of their local populations. We note that whilst NHS Lothian currently leads the way in the…
11 Oct 2017 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what action it plans to take to improve the completion rates of pulmonary rehabilitation courses.
Answer · Shona Robison: The 2017 Pulmonary Rehabilitation survey, published by Chest Heart & Stroke Scotland in partnership with the Scottish Pulmonary Rehabilitation Action Group notes that completion of pulmonary rehabilitation is a well-recognised challenge for a number of reason…
10 Oct 2017 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many community maternity hubs are planned, and where they will be located; how much they will cost to develop; how they will be staffed; how the risk profile of the mothers due to give birth will be assessed, and what action it will take to ensure that the hubs (a) offer consistent h…
Answer · Shona Robison: The Best Start recommends that "NHSBoards should redesign maternity services with a focus on local care, built around the concept of multidisciplinary community hubs, with the majority of women being offered routine care and services through these hubs." This…
5 Oct 2017 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government for what reason Health Protection Scotland publishes data on laboratory reports of norovirus for the latest four weeks only; whether the information for earlier weeks is publically available and, if not, whether it will publish the information for each week since January 2012.
Answer · Shona Robison: On 2 October 2017 a new norovirus reporting system recording all ward and bay closures due to norovirus outbreaks in Scotland was launched by Health Protection Scotland (HPS). This will allow closure figures to be selected by date and health board and the abi…
29 Sep 2017 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the email issued on 8 March 2017 by Information Services Division (ISD) regarding chronic pain return patients, which was released under freedom of information, which advised that "with regard to return patient data, I don't think we would want to start publishing this infor…
Answer · Aileen Campbell: Follow-up appointments are dependent on the judgement of clinicians and their discussion with patients. Information on return patients is not collected centrally. ISD contacted each NHS Board around the feasibility of providing return waiting times for Chroni…
29 Sep 2017 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what consideration it has given to the possibility that administering medication covertly to an individual might be incompatible with Article 17 of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which states that "Every person with disabilities has a right to respect for h…
Answer · Maureen Watt: I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-11345 on 27 September 2017. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusine…
29 Sep 2017 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what consideration it has given to the possibility that administering medication covertly to an individual might be incompatible with Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which relates to an individual's right to respect for private life.
Answer · Maureen Watt: I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-11345 on 27 September 2017. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusi…
29 Sep 2017 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the comment in the report, Remember, I'm still me, by the Care Commission and the Mental Welfare Commission that "very few care homes had the right information or legal safeguards in place to give covert medication lawfully and safely".
Answer · Shona Robison: The Standards of Care for Dementia in Scotland (2011) include the standard that people with dementia have the right to be treated in line with the law. Through implementation of our dementia workforce framework Promoting Excellence, we are continuing to suppo…
29 Sep 2017 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will take account of the case law of the European Court of Human Rights when it reviews mental health and incapacity legislation.
Answer · Shona Robison: The Scottish Government is committed to creating a modern, inclusive Scotland which protects, respects and realises internationally recognised human rights, and is working with the whole of Scottish society to deliver a shared vision for a Scotland where ever…
29 Sep 2017 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will accept the recommendation made by the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in April 2014 in its General comment and "abolish policies and legislative provisions that allow or perpetrate forced treatment...by psychiatric and other health and medical profess…
Answer · Maureen Watt: Most people who use mental health services receive treatment without being subject to an order or certificate under the Mental Health (Scotland) (Care and Treatment) Act 2003. For some individuals however, compulsory treatment is used to provide the person wi…
29 Sep 2017 · First Minister's Question
To ask the First Minister what the Scottish Government’s response is to the concerns of frontline nursing staff in Scotland, which have been highlighted in the RCN report, Safe and Effective Staffing: Nursing Against the Odds.