Miles Briggs

20 Jun 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-23680 by Clare Haughey on 20 June 2019, whether it will commission and publish the independent expert study on trends in the prescribing of psychoactive medications for people with dementia before the end of 2020.

Answer · Clare Haughey: The Scottish Government plans to commission and publish a second independent expert study on trends in the prescribing of psychoactive medications for people with dementia before the end of 2020.  

20 Jun 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what the organisational structure is of the access support team for chronic pain issues that supports the Scottish Access Collaborative, and which organisations advise the team.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: The Access Support Team is an internal Scottish Government department which is made up of performance and improvement staff who work closely with NHS Boards to ensure best practice is instilled across all hospital sites, and to share good practice and innovat…

19 Jun 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made or plans regarding the effectiveness of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation, including its use elsewhere in the UK and overseas; how people in Scotland can access this, and what its position is on making it available on the NHS.

Answer · Clare Haughey: Transcranial magnetic stimulation is not routinely available in Scotland on the NHS. Local health boards are best placed to provide or arrange provision of any evidence based treatment and services. The needs and treatment of every patient will differ depend…

19 Jun 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many alcohol-related hospital admissions there have been in each of the last five years, also broken down NHS board.

Answer · Joe FitzPatrick: The information requested is provided in the table that follows. Number of alcohol related hospital admissions (stays). Scotland and NHS Board, 2013-14 to 2017-18. HEALTH BOARD 2013-14 2014-15 2015-16 2016-17 2017-18 NHS Ayrshire & Arran 3,346 3,163…

18 Jun 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what proportion of people with lung cancer in each of the last five years have been diagnosed with the condition at stage (a) 1, (b) 2, (c) 3 and (d) 4.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: The information requested is publically available in - ‘Cancer Incidence in Scotland 2017’ - published by Information Services Division in April 2019. This is available via the following link: http://www.isdscotland.org/Health-Topics/Cancer/Publications/2019…

18 Jun 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to improve the early (a) detection and (b) diagnosis of lung cancer.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: Our commitment to early detection is reflected in our £42 million Detect Cancer Early (DCE) Programme that aims to increase the proportion of breast, bowel and lung cancers diagnosed early in Scotland. (a) Social marketing has a key role to play in the early…

18 Jun 2019 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to support third sector groups to help address loneliness among older people.

17 Jun 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many contracts NHS Scotland has signed with private firms since 1 January 2019, broken down by service area covered and (a) total and (b) individual value.  

Answer · Jeane Freeman: This information requested is not held centrally by the Scottish Government. The member may wish to consider contacting individual health boards to obtain this information.

12 Jun 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government when any remaining parts of the National Health and Social Care Workforce Plan will be published, and whether it has any plans to update any parts of the plan.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: We are continuing to work with key stakeholders and partners, including COSLA, to refine the integrated plan ahead of publication later this year. We will revise future plans and adapt them accordingly as more information and better data becomes available.

10 Jun 2019 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to reduce and phase out the use of plastic cutlery and straws in the public sector.

Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: The Scottish Government is committed to reducing use of single use plastics. The EU Single-Use Plastics Directive will lead to a ban on these items across the EU and we continue to look at how we can lead by example following our ban of single use beverage cu…

7 Jun 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it is aware that a report by the Mental Welfare Commission in 2014 cast doubt on claims that chemical restraint is only used in exceptional circumstances.

Answer · Clare Haughey: The Scottish Government is aware of the report by the Mental Welfare Commission Dignity and Respect in 2014 which focused on care in specialist NHS dementia care units. The Scottish Government published its response and action plan to help address recommendat…

7 Jun 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to commission and publish a renewed study on trends in the prescribing of psychoactive medications for people with dementia, in line with commitment 18 in Scotland's National Dementia Strategy 2017-2020.

Answer · Clare Haughey: The Scottish Government will commission and publish an independent expert study on trends in the prescribing of psychoactive medications for people with dementia in all settings since 2011, in line with commitment 18 in Scotland’s National Dementia Strategy 2…

7 Jun 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it is aware of antipsychotic medication being commonly used as a chemical restraint, and what its position is on giving such medication to older people with dementia and concerns regarding an increased risk of premature death from doing so.

Answer · Clare Haughey: In 2012 the Scottish Government commissioned and published a first independent expert study on trends in the prescribing of antipsychotic and other psychotropic medications for people with dementia, between 2001 and 2011. It showed that, from 2009, there had …

6 Jun 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many organisations applying to it for funding in the last year have had their applications rejected.

Answer · Derek Mackay: The Scottish Budget authorises expenditure to support policy objectives, including funding to public bodies and grant schemes for particular activities. Individual Ministerial portfolios can provide funding in response to funding applications within their por…

6 Jun 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much it has awarded in the last year to organisations that have applied to it for funding.

Answer · Derek Mackay: I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-23640 on 19 June 2019. 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 Jun 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what percentage of (a) medical students, (b) nurses, (c) dentists and (d) allied health professionals in each year since 1999 have been domiciled in Scotland.

Answer · Richard Lochhead: I refer the member to Scottish Parliament Information Centre (SPICe) Bib number: 60754

6 Jun 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government when it will publish the hepatitis C elimination strategy, and what the reason has been for the reported three-year delay in doing so.

Answer · Joe FitzPatrick: Scottish Government officials are working with Health Protection Scotland and NHS Boards to agree treatment targets which will see Scotland reach elimination well in advance of the World Health Organisation target of 2030. A great deal of work has been done …

6 Jun 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many people have been in intermediate care places in each year since 1999, broken down by integrated joint board.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: This information is not held centrally, although we estimate that there are around 700 intermediate care beds in operation across Scotland. However, this is only one of a range of Intermediate Care services currently provided across Scotland, with current ser…

6 Jun 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many incidents of bullying in the NHS have been reported in each year since 1999.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: Boards first provided this information to the Scottish Government in their 2018-19 annual Staff Governance Monitoring return. NHS Scotland Boards have advised us that 232 formal bullying and harassment cases were raised during 2018-2019 (1 April 2018 to 31 M…

6 Jun 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many people were readmitted to hospital in the last year within 24 hours of discharge, broken down by integrated joint board area.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: The information is not held centrally. Official statistics hold information on the date of admission to hospital but not on the exact time. It is not possible to calculate a 24 hour period from official statistics.

6 Jun 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what the (a) average and (b) longest waiting time has been to receive an echo cardiogram in each year since 1999, broken down by NHS board.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: The Scottish Government does not hold this information centrally. You can obtain this information by contacting individual Health Boards.

6 Jun 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many additional (a) council-run and (b) private care beds there have been in each local authority area in each year since 1999.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: The Scottish Care Homes Census published by ISD Scotland provides information on the number of registered care home places for adults in each local authority area in Scotland at 31 March; https://www.isdscotland.org/Health-Topics/Health-and-Social-Community-…

6 Jun 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government which NHS boards require additional care beds, broken down by the amount needed.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: This information is not held centrally. Responsibility for the planning and commissioning of local care home beds and services is a matter for individual Integration Authorities, alongside their partners in Local Government and the NHS. Scottish Government p…

6 Jun 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many patients have been subject to delayed discharged from hospital in each year since 1999 because of issues with power of attorney.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: Information on the number of patients delayed in hospitals in Scotland is available through the monthly Delayed Discharge Census. The most recent report, for April 2019, was published on 4 June 2019 and is available at https://www.isdscotland.org/Health-Topi…

6 Jun 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many emergency beds there have been in each year since 1999, broken down by NHS board.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: The information requested is not held centrally. Official statistics assign beds to specialities. Official statistics do not assign beds based on admission type: elective or emergency.   The link to the latest annual publication below provides data on ave…

6 Jun 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what percentage of medical graduates need to become GPs to address the reported GP shortage.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: To meet the goal of increasing the numbers of GPs by 800 in the next ten years, we need to take a number of actions, including increasing the number of medical places at universities, and taking steps to encourage medical graduates to choose general practice.…

6 Jun 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many people under 65 have received free personal care since it was extended to include this group.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: Legislation for the extension came into effect on 1 April 2019. To enable us to provide an accurate overview of the impact of the extension, we need to obtain data over an appropriate period of time greater than 12 weeks. Therefore, our first report which wil…

6 Jun 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many NHS staff are not employed on full-time contracts.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: 71,257 NHS staff, as at 31 Mar 2019, were on part-time contracts.

4 Jun 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-21526 by Richard Lochhead on 7 March 2019, whether it will provide this information for each of the last five years, also broken by institution.

Answer · Richard Lochhead: I refer the member to Scottish Parliament Information Centre (SPICe) Bib number: 60751.

3 Jun 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its response it reports that hospital admissions arising from the use of cocaine have doubled over the last five years.

Answer · Joe FitzPatrick: We are aware of recent evidence and data that points to increased cocaine use in Scotland, which we believe is being driven by falling prices and increased purity. We will continue to work with Alcohol and Drug Partnerships, stakeholders and Police Scotland t…