Parliamentary questions
Miles Briggs
4,209 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.
8 Sep 2016 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many places on integrated health boards are still to be appointed.
Answer · Shona Robison: Appointments to Integration Joint Boards (IJBs) were confirmed following their legal constitution in line with the Public Bodies (Joint Working) (Integration Joint Board) (Scotland) Order 2014, which sets out minimum membership requirements of IJBs. As with a…
8 Sep 2016 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to implement an active traffic management system.
Answer · Humza Yousaf: Transport Scotland is developing a new ITS Strategy for the next ten years which will set out how we continue to efficiently use and develop technology solutions to enhance road capacity and operations on the Scottish Trunk Road Network. The strategy will sup…
8 Sep 2016 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many outpatients did not attend NHS appointments in each year since 1999.
Answer · Shona Robison: Information on the number of new outpatient appointments and the number of Did Not Attends and the rate since 1999 to 2015 is provided in the following table. It is every patient's responsibility to keep their NHS appointment and it is important that they le…
8 Sep 2016 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many school nurses there have been in each year since 1999.
Answer · Shona Robison: Due to a number of changes in the recording and collection of school nursing data, figures published by ISD Scotland are not directly comparable between 1999 and 2016 and have been split accordingly:- Information on school nurses from 1999 can be found on th…
8 Sep 2016 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how much has been spent on incinerating hospital clinical waste in each year since 1999.
Answer · Shona Robison: This information is not held centrally by Scottish Government.
8 Sep 2016 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many terminally-ill people in each year since 1999 who expressed a preference to die at home, died in a hospital setting.
Answer · Shona Robison: This information is not centrally available. On 30 August 2016 NHS Information Services Division published information on the percentage of time spent at home or in a community setting in the last six months of life. This information can be viewed at: http:/…
8 Sep 2016 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the potential impact on adult cleft lip and palate surgery at St John’s Hospital in Livingston if cleft surgery is centralised.
Answer · Shona Robison: All specialist cleft surgery - for both adults and children, to repair cleft lip and palate should be carried out by one of three specialist cleft surgeons, based in Glasgow and Edinburgh. Should the recommendation to consolidate cleft surgery in Glasgow be …
8 Sep 2016 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many people did not attend NHS dental appointments in each year since 1999.
Answer · Shona Robison: The information requested is not held by the Scottish Government.
8 Sep 2016 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how much it has spent on public health information campaigns in each year since 1999.
Answer · Derek Mackay: Scottish Government campaigns are designed to improve and save lives, and make a measurable contribution to our priorities. Campaign spend from 2004-05 onwards is published on the Scottish Government website at: http://www.gov.scot/About/People/Directorates/C…
8 Sep 2016 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many Patient Hygiene Inspectors there are in each hospital.
Answer · Shona Robison: Data on the number of Patient Hygiene Inspectors in NHS Scotland is not collated or held centrally by the Scottish Government or NHS National Services Scotland.
8 Sep 2016 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how much it provides to support young carers, and how this compares with 2007.
Answer · Aileen Campbell: Most funding provided by the Scottish Government is to support both adult and young carers and is not separated out. Between 2008 and 2017 we invested nearly £39 million in Health Boards' Carer Information Strategies for support to adult and young carers. Si…
8 Sep 2016 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to reduce NHS bureaucracy.
Answer · Shona Robison: The Scottish Government expects every public body to deliver efficiency savings of at least 3 per cent per annum. NHS Health Boards have achieved this level, and delivered efficiency savings in 2015-16 in excess of £290 million. This has been reinvested by th…
8 Sep 2016 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what the average waiting time was for patients to see a chiropractor in each year since 1999, also broken down by NHS board.
Answer · Aileen Campbell: This information is not centrally available. Chiropractors are complementary and alternative practitioners who provide services outside that which is offered by the NHS. As such information on waiting times for chiropractors are not collected.
7 Sep 2016 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to raise awareness of foetal alcohol spectrum disorders.
Answer · Aileen Campbell: I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-00971 on 11 July 2016. 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/parliamentarybusiness/2…
6 Sep 2016 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what account it takes of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities when bringing forward proposals for revised (a) mental health and incapacity legislation and (b) mental health strategies.
Answer · Maureen Watt: The United Nations Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities (UNCRPD) requires governments to take action to remove barriers to independent living and enable disabled people to enjoy real freedom, dignity and equality. It is the framework that the …
5 Sep 2016 · Portfolio Question
To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to improve the quality of urban broadband.
31 Aug 2016 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to improve the (a) quality and (b) capacity of trains serving (i) Musselburgh and (ii) Wallyford station.
Answer · Humza Yousaf: Scottish Government manage and monitor the quality and capacity of trains that ScotRail is required to deliver through the franchise agreement at regular meetings. Rail services serving Musselburgh and Wallyford station are operated with Class 380 trains wh…
29 Aug 2016 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-02020 by Humza Yousaf on 15 September 2016, how much it has provided to each local authority to retrofit their vehicles.
Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: The funding provided is shown in the following table. Funding is provided at 30% of the total cost and is only available for retrofitting equipment that has been independently tested and conforms to specified air pollutant emissions standards. Although fundin…
29 Aug 2016 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what the running costs are each year of the NHSScotland confidential alert line.
Answer · Shona Robison: The running costs for the NHS Scotland Confidential Alert Line (NCAL) pilot (2 April 2013 to 31 July 2014) were £18,666. The running costs for the period 1 August 2014 to 31 July 2016 were £31,600. Public Concern at Work, the charity that provides the NCAL s…
26 Aug 2016 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the delay in the construction of the new Royal Hospital for Sick Children in Edinburgh, how it will ensure that construction companies involved in its infrastructure projects are financially robust.
Answer · Shona Robison: The main contractors in infrastructure projects are required to submit a Pre-Qualification Questionnaire (PQQ) to ensure that only eligible bidders with the requisite financial and technical capacity and capability are invited to proceed to the tendering stag…
26 Aug 2016 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the delay in the construction of the new Royal Hospital for Sick Children in Edinburgh; what contingency plans were in place to deal with such a situation, and what action it is taking to hire new contractors to take over the work.
Answer · Shona Robison: The Scottish Government is working closely with NHS Lothian to ensure that the delay in the construction of the new Royal Hospital for Sick Children in Edinburgh is kept to a minimum. NHS Lothian had prepared a comprehensive and well developed commissioning …
24 Aug 2016 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how the £5 million in its cancer strategy to improve waiting times performance will be used to tackle reports of people with metastatic kidney cancer experiencing clinically significant delays between diagnosis and the beginning of treatment.
Answer · Shona Robison: The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring all patients receive timely access to cancer tests and diagnostics. The funding identified in ‘Beating Cancer: Ambition and Action’ will ensure additional diagnostic, scope, imaging and treatment capacity is ma…
24 Aug 2016 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how its cancer strategy will tackle the incidence of kidney cancer.
Answer · Shona Robison: Our ‘Beating Cancer: Ambition and Action’ strategy and the accompanying £100 million investment over 5 years, serves as a blueprint for the future of cancer services in Scotland, improving the prevention, detection, diagnosis, treatment and aftercare of peopl…
24 Aug 2016 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how it will assess the impact of its cancer strategy on people with kidney cancer and, if it concludes that there has not been a significant improvement in outcomes, whether it will introduce further measures.
Answer · Shona Robison: I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-02145 on 21 September 2016. 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/parliamentarybusin…
23 Aug 2016 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether each integration joint board reports on the outcomes achieved through Integrated Care Fund spending.
Answer · Shona Robison: The Public Bodies (Joint Working) (Scotland) Act 2014 requires each Integration Joint board (Health and Social Care Partnership) to publish an annual performance report setting out an assessment of performance in planning and carrying out the integration func…
23 Aug 2016 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how much of the Integrated Care Fund has been invested each year in third sector organisations.
Answer · Shona Robison: The Scottish Government does not hold this information centrally. Distribution of the Integrated Care Fund is a matter for local Health and Social Care Partnerships based on their strategic plan and the needs of the local communities that they serve.
23 Aug 2016 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what analysis it has carried out of the investment made by integration joint boards through the Integrated Care Fund.
Answer · Shona Robison: The Scottish Government is currently examining information provided by Health and Social Care Partnerships on use of the Integrated Care fundin 2015-16. Going forward partnerships will report on their investments and outcomes through their annual performance …
23 Aug 2016 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how integration joint boards account for Integrated Care Fund spending.
Answer · Shona Robison: Allocations from the Integrated Care Fund (ICF) are part of the overall resources available to Health and Social Care Partnerships and sit within the context of Partnerships’ strategic commissioning plans. From 2016-17 reporting on ICF spend, and outcomes ach…
23 Aug 2016 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to increase the number of care home places.
Answer · Aileen Campbell: In line with our vision, Scottish Government policies are enabling more people to live longer and more independently in their own homes, which results in fewer people needing residential care. We are providing more than £0.5 billion additional funding over th…
23 Aug 2016 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-01490 by Aileen Campbell on 26 July 2016, to what factors it attributes the decline in care home places since 2000, and what its position is on this matter.
Answer · Aileen Campbell: In line with our vision, Scottish Government policies are enabling more people to live longer and more independently in their own homes, which results in fewer people needing residential care. Our legislation to integrate health and social care has provided …