Miles Briggs

4 Apr 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government when it will publish details of the process for agreeing commercial and data collection arrangements for medicines subject to the new ultra-orphan pathway.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: The Scottish Government published guidance relating to the new ultra-orphan pathway on 30 April 2019. It can be viewed at the following link: https://www.sehd.scot.nhs.uk/details.asp?PublicationID=6485 .

4 Apr 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what it anticipates the timescale will be for the full roll-out of the new clinical decision support system in the NHS.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-22530 on 24 April 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/…

4 Apr 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the benefits of the new clinical decision support system were it to be rolled out throughout the NHS.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-22530 on 24 April 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/…

4 Apr 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the research by Dr Kathrin Cresswell of the University of the Edinburgh into how useful GPs, involved in a pilot study, found the new clinical decision support system.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: The Scottish Government commissioned the Digital Health and Care Institute (DHI) to lead on this work. It was the DHI that commissioned the University of Edinburgh to conduct this research. They have now received it and are in the process of liaising with oth…

3 Apr 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update regarding how many sanitary products have been delivered to (a) hospitals, (b) schools, (c) colleges and (d) universities to be distributed for free.

Answer · Aileen Campbell: The Scottish Government has funded access to free sanitary products in schools, colleges and universities since August 2018 and as yet we do not yet have a complete data set. Based on available data from 20 (out of 24) colleges in Scotland, 856,550 sanitary …

3 Apr 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government (a) how many and (b) what percentage of newborns have received a baby box each year.

Answer · Maree Todd: Scotland’s Baby Boxes began distribution on 15 August 2017. In the first full year (15 August 2017 to 15 August 2018) we distributed 52,065 Baby Boxes. The total distributed up to 5 April 2019 is 83,199 Baby Boxes. In terms of uptake rates, this is difficu…

2 Apr 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to amend the Health and Social Care Standards to prohibit the use of chemical restraint.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: The Health and Social Care Standards set out the quality of care we can expect to receive and reflect the way that everyone should expect to be treated. The Standards are designed to be flexible and to be considered alongside any review of legislation and bes…

2 Apr 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to amend the code of practice for the Adults with Incapacity (Scotland) Act 2000 so that it no longer permits the use of covert medication.

Answer · Clare Haughey: Our mental health legislation promotes patients’ rights and provides safeguards and provides for support to patients in expressing their will and preferences. The principles include that any function should be carried out for the maximum benefit of the patien…

2 Apr 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is regarding whether the (a) covert administration of medication and (b) use of chemical restraint is compatible with the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

Answer · Clare Haughey: As you are aware, we are taking forward work in order to strengthen support for people with mental health conditions and have committed to undertake an independent review of the Mental Health Act. Taken together with the ongoing work on capacity and adult sup…

1 Apr 2019 · First Minister's Question

To ask the First Minister whether she will provide details of the scope and remit of the Scottish Government's new task force to tackle drug deaths.

25 Mar 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what the (a) average and (b) longest waiting time has been for accessing one-to-one cognitive behavioural therapy in each year since 2007, broken down by NHS board.

Answer · Clare Haughey: The data held in the ISD Psychological Therapies database is aggregated data and type of diagnosis is not collected as part of this dataset. It is therefore not possible to provide a specific response regarding waiting times for cognitive behavioural therapy.

25 Mar 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is regarding increasing coverage in cities as part of the Digital Scotland Superfast Broadband (DSSB) programme.

Answer · Paul Wheelhouse: The vast majority of premises in Scotland’s cities can access fibre broadband, with coverage as high as 99.3% in Dundee and 98.6% in Edinburgh. EU State Aid legislation requires public funding for broadband deployment only to be used in areas of market failu…

25 Mar 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-21616 by Joe FitzPatrick on 27 February 2019, whether it will provide an update on the timescale for the development and publication of the Respiratory Care Action Plan for Scotland, and what consultation will take place with patients and other stak…

Answer · Joe FitzPatrick: Work on the Respiratory care Action Plan for Scotland is being taken forward with a wide range of stakeholders across the respiratory community and third sector, such as the British Lung Foundation and Chest Heart Stroke Scotland, ensuring that the patient…

18 Mar 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many cases referred for proton beam therapy in each of the last three years have been (a) approved and (b) refused.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-22201 on 1 April 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/…

18 Mar 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much it has spent on refereeing people for proton beam therapy in (a) the rest of the UK and (b) overseas in each of the last three years.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: The amounts spent on Proton Beam Therapy overseas in each of the last three financial years were:2015-2016 - £1,440,7802016-2017 - £1,717,4702017-2018 - £1,424,527 Total - £4,582,777 As the UK centres were not operational over this period no monies were spe…

18 Mar 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many people being considered for proton beam therapy (PBT) have been referred by the Scottish Panel (Scottish Non Standard Radiotherapy Advisers) for recommendation to forward application to UK Panel in each of the last three years.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: The information requested is not held centrally by The Scottish Government. Individual NHS health boards and The National Services Division should be able to provide this information.

12 Mar 2019 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the potential impact of a tourist tax on the tourism sector in Edinburgh and Lothian.

12 Mar 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government when it expects that the process of reforming Scottish mental health legislation to ensure its compliance with the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities to begin.

Answer · Clare Haughey: I refer the member to my statement in Parliament on 19 March 2019, which announced that the Scottish Government will undertake a review of the Mental Health (Care and Treatment) (Scotland) Act 2003. Along with ongoing work on incapacity and adult support and …

12 Mar 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scttish Government whether it plans to obtain information in relation to trials in England regarding the efficacy of the Open Dialogue approach to the treatment of mental illness.

Answer · Clare Haughey: The Scottish Government is looking forward with interest to the outcome of the Open Dialogue trials in England, and is supportive of person centred approaches to the assessment and treatment of mental health issues.

12 Mar 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what action it considers an individual should take if he or she is profoundly dissatisfied with the treatment of a loved one by the NHS.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: The new NHS Complaints Handling Procedure (CHP) was introduced across Scotland from 1 April 2017. The revised procedure is intended to support a more consistently person-centred approach to complaints handling across NHS Scotland. It brings a much sharper foc…

8 Mar 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-21804 by John Swinney on 5 March 2019, which provided figures for additional support for learning spending per pupil recorded as having additional support needs in each local authority (table 3), whether it will provide a per pupil figure for Scotla…

Answer · John Swinney: Average per-pupil spending on additional support for learning in Scotland was £3,393 in 2017-18. Data detailing spending on additional support for learning is collected from local authorities via the Local Financial Returns (LFR). This figure shows gross reve…

8 Mar 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much of the £850 million of funding for improving waiting times has been spent in the private sector, broken down by NHS board area.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: To date no funding has been directly invested in the private sector. However, we have provided almost £26.7 million to territorial NHS Boards and the Golden Jubilee National Hospital during 2018-19 to support a range of actions and to put in place additional …

8 Mar 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to reduce reported geographical inequalities in relation to the availability of access to blood cancer treatments.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: Through our £100 million cancer strategy, we aim to provide people with any form of cancer equitable access to services for the diagnosis and treatment of their particular disease; the strategy contains specific actions aimed at improving access to treatment …

8 Mar 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how the planned £2 million investment per annum in the new diagnostics fund to support swift access to diagnostics for people with suspected cancer has been spent, and whether there has been any review of the impact of this spending.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: Since 2016 a total of £6 million funding has been released directly to NHS Boards from this diagnostics fund. NHS boards have directed this funding to support additional scope and imaging capacity based on local need and demand. In 2018-19 alone, this £2m fun…

8 Mar 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-13573 by John Swinney on 9 January 2018, whether it will provide updated figures for 2017-18.

Answer · John Swinney: (a)Additional Support Needs (ASN) Teachers - Full Time Equivalents The following table sets out the full time equivalent of additional support for learning teachers in each authority in 2018. This includes teachers with their main subject recorded as: Learn…

8 Mar 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government by what date all Scottish trauma centres will be open.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: As set out in the Scottish Trauma Network’s National Implementation Plan, the chosen model for trauma care in Scotland involves four Major Trauma Centres (MTCs). The first two of these were opened in the North (Aberdeen) in October 2018 and in the East (Dunde…

8 Mar 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many NHS operations have been cancelled in each year since 1999.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: Recording only began for cancelled operations in May 2015. The following table displays the total number of scheduled elective cancelled operations recorded in theatre systems for calendar years 2016, 2017 and 2018 across NHSScotland. Calendar Year 2016 20…

8 Mar 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) nursing and (b) midwifery training places there have been in each year since 1999.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: The number of nursing and midwifery training intake numbers since 2000-01 are listed in the following table and have been sourced from ISD Scotland publications:https:--www.isdscotland.org-Health-Topics-Workforce-Publications-data-tables2017.asp   Year Nu…

8 Mar 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many people are diagnosed with blood cancer, on average, each year in Scotland.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: NHS National Services Scotland’s Information Services Division (ISD) supported by Scottish Government funding, collates this information. Number of People Diagnosed with Blood Cancer each year in Scotland:Year Total 1992 603 1993 654 1994 650 1995 6…

8 Mar 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many Scottish-domiciled students have gained a place at a Scottish medical school in each year since 1999.

Answer · Richard Lochhead: The number of Scottish domiciled entrants to study medicine at a Scottish HEI in each year since 1999 is shown in the following table. Scottish domiciled entrants to medicine: 1999-00 2000-01 2001-02 2002-03 2003-04 2004-05 2005-06 2006-07 2007-08 …