Parliamentary questions
Miles Briggs
4,209 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.
11 Feb 2019 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many people have died of alcohol-related liver disease in each year since 1999.
Answer · Joe FitzPatrick: Alcoholic Liver disease is one of 15 conditions included in the Alcohol Specific Deaths statistics published annually by National Records of Scotland. Data for number of deaths by underlying cause of death is available in table 2 of the NRS Alcohol-specific …
11 Feb 2019 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how much of the health budget in 2019-20 will be spent on prevention of and self-help for respiratory disease.
Answer · Jeane Freeman: The Scottish Government provides baseline funding to NHS Boards, which Boards use to best meet the healthcare needs of their resident population. Funding is not ring-fenced for prevention of and self-help for respiratory disease. It is not therefore possible …
11 Feb 2019 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what the average sick leave rate for NHS staff has been in each year since 1999, broken down by NHS board.
Answer · Jeane Freeman: Sickness Absence rates for all staff directly employed by NHSScotland are published annually for year ending 31 March. Figures for NHSScotland, and for individual health boards are available from 2002 and 2005 respectively. This information can be found on t…
11 Feb 2019 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many people have been referred to residential rehabilitation for drug or alcohol misuse in each year since 1999, and how much these referrals cost.
Answer · Joe FitzPatrick: The Scottish Government does not hold a breakdown of information on how many people have been referred to residential rehabilitation projects for alcohol and drug addiction since 1999, how much these referrals cost, or the average waiting time information by …
11 Feb 2019 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government when it will publish an NHS capital investment strategy.
Answer · Jeane Freeman: The Scottish Government recognises the importance of effective asset management and investment planning to ensure that the health and care estate and supporting services are fit for purpose and capable of adapting to and encouraging new models of care deliver…
11 Feb 2019 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what information it has on what the average number of patients per GP has been in each practice in each year since 1999.
Answer · Jeane Freeman: Tables on the numbers of GPs in post and registered patients from 2004 onwards have been placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre - Bib reference number 60497. Statistics prior to 2004 are not comparable due to the GMS contract and data methodolog…
11 Feb 2019 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government (a) how many and (b) what percentage of cancer patients have accessed clinical trials in each year since 1999, broken down by NHS board.
Answer · Jeane Freeman: Since 1999 over 67,000 cancer patients have accessed clinical trials in Scotland, broken down by NHS Board as shown in the following tables: NHS BOARD 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 Ayrshire & Arran 1 …
11 Feb 2019 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what the average waiting time has been for accessing residential rehabilitation for drug or alcohol misuse in each year since 1999, broken down by NHS board.
Answer · Joe FitzPatrick: I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-21594 on 6 March 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 Feb 2019 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-17457 by John Swinney on 17 July 2018, whether it will provide the same information for 2017-18.
Answer · Richard Lochhead: The number of Scottish domiciled enrolments at Scottish Higher Education Institutions studying various health professional courses in 2017-18 is as follows. Scottish domiciled enrolments at Scottish HEIs, 2017-18 Subject areas 2017-18 Pre-clinical medicin…
6 Feb 2019 · Written Question
To ask Scottish Government how much each NHS board has spent on locum neurologists in each year since 2015.
Answer · Jeane Freeman: Spend on Agency Locums in secondary care reduced by 8.8% from £110,120,000 in 2016-17 to £100,382,000 in 2017-18. In 2015-16 spend was £98,298,000. Spend on internal NHS locums was £47,737,000 in 2017-18, which has increased from £39,539,000 in 2016-17, and w…
6 Feb 2019 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many deep brain stimulation (DBS) procedures have been performed since the national DBS centre opened in April 2018.
Answer · Joe FitzPatrick: Between April 2017 to March 2018 14 new implantations and 20 battery replacements were performed. Between April 2018 to December 2019 12 new implantations, 1 explantation and 22 battery replacements were performed. In total 69 surgical interventions were com…
6 Feb 2019 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what the average waiting time is to have deep brain stimulation surgery following assessment.
Answer · Jeane Freeman: Data for waiting times is collected at speciality level not procedure level. This level of detail should be sought from individual health boards.
6 Feb 2019 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what the average waiting time is for an assessment for deep brain stimulation surgery.
Answer · Jeane Freeman: I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-21522 on 26 February 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/parliamentarybusine…
6 Feb 2019 · Written Question
To ask Scottish Government how NHS boards ensure that people with Parkinson’s who are in hospital are always provided with their appropriate medication on time.
Answer · Joe FitzPatrick: Ensuring patients receive their medication on time when in hospital is a fundamental aspect of good quality care. This is set out in professional guidance, published in January 2019 by the Royal Pharmaceutical Society, on 'the Administration of Medicines in H…
6 Feb 2019 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to ensure that people with Parkinson’s are able to access appropriate mental health services.
Answer · Clare Haughey: The Scottish Government wants everyone with a neurological condition to be able to access the care and support they need to live well, on their own terms, and we are determined to improve access to mental health services for all those who need them. We are in…
6 Feb 2019 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to address the reported 10% consultant vacancy rate in neurology and medicine for older people.
Answer · Jeane Freeman: The Scottish Government works closely with Boards to support their efforts in staff recruitment and retention. To support health boards, we are investing £4 million over the next three years in domestic and international recruitment for GPs, nursing, midwifer…
6 Feb 2019 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the report by Parkinson's UK, People. Parkinson's. Scotland. What do we know about services and support for people with Parkinson’s in Scotland?, which anticipates that there will be a 20% increase in the number of people with the condition over the next decade, a…
Answer · Joe FitzPatrick: We welcome this report from Parkinson’s UK and will consider it closely as we continue to work with the neurological community to develop Scotland’s first National Action Plan on Neurological Conditions. Through this engagement we have already identified that…
29 Jan 2019 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many safety and cleanliness inspections have taken place in hospitals in each of the last nine years.
Answer · Jeane Freeman: Since starting inspections in September 2009, a total of 295 safety and cleanliness inspections have been undertaken in hospitals by the Healthcare Environment Inspectorate. This is broken down as follows: Year Period Total 1 September 2009 to March 2010…
29 Jan 2019 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-16693 by Shona Robison on 29 May 2018, whether it will provide an update regarding the VOICES survey to capture end of life experiences of family members and carers who have been bereaved.
Answer · Jeane Freeman: The NHS Lothian project team has recently reported that they have completed the significant preparatory work required to take forward this project. The project team have chosen not to proceed as initially planned, for a number of reasons. These include the i…
29 Jan 2019 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what consideration it has given to prescribing very low calorie diets as part of action by the NHS to tackle rises in obesity and type 2 diabetes.
Answer · Joe FitzPatrick: Tackling obesity and the growing prevalence of type 2 diabetes are high priorities for the Scottish Government. In addition to the Diet & Healthy Weight delivery plan, last summer I published the Type 2 Diabetes Prevention, Early Detection and Intervention …
23 Jan 2019 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many people in Scotland it estimates were smokers in 2017-18, broken down by NHS board.
Answer · Joe FitzPatrick: The latest estimates of smoking prevalence in each NHS board are available from the Scottish Health Survey local area report 2014-2017
14 Jan 2019 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what information it has regarding the number of vulnerable people who do not have a community alarm.
Answer · Jeane Freeman: This information is not currently collected by the Scottish Government. The Scottish Government's Technology Enabled Care (TEC) Programme recognise that more people in Scotland could benefit from the use of telecare services (including community alarms) and a…
14 Jan 2019 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how much has been collected in hospital parking (a) charges and (b) fines in each year since 1999.
Answer · Jeane Freeman: No information on car parking charges is held before 2008. Scottish Government abolished charges in all NHS owned car parks December 2008, so NHS Boards have no income from charges or fine. There remains th ree car parks across NHSScotland that are locked in…
14 Jan 2019 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many community alarms have been provided by each local authority in each year since 1999.
Answer · Jeane Freeman: This information is not currently collected by the Scottish Government. The total number of people, broken down by age and local authority, in receipt of telecare has been collected since 2011. See ttps://www2.gov.scot/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Health/Data/Hom…
14 Jan 2019 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to raise awareness of (a) progressive supranuclear palsy and (b) corticobasal degeneration.
Answer · Joe FitzPatrick: We are currently in discussions with a third sector organisation to agree how we can support work aimed at raising awareness of these conditions in Scotland. In a broader sense, we recognise that progressive supranuclear palsy and corticobasal degeneration a…
14 Jan 2019 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what action it takes to assist deaf and hearing impaired people access GP services, and what steps it is taking to encourage GPs to adjusts their telephony so that people with hearing conditions can independently contact their GP practice by phone and have real-time dialogue with the pra…
Answer · Jeane Freeman: The Scottish Government has provided £1 million funding over the three year period 2016-2019 to deliver the ground-breaking contact Scotland-BSL online interpreting Video Relay Service, which enables Deaf and Deafblind British Sign Language (BSL) users to con…
14 Jan 2019 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many deaths from chronic respiratory conditions there have been in each since 2007.
Answer · Joe FitzPatrick: "Chronic respiratory conditions" is a vague term for which there is no accepted definition. Deaths are coded according to the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems 10th Revision (ICD-10). Deaths from certain respirat…
14 Jan 2019 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to improve early diagnosis of respiratory disease.
Answer · Joe FitzPatrick: Our Respiratory Care Action Plan for Scotland is in its early stages of development with work being taken forward with a wide range of stakeholders across the respiratory community and third sector. The Plan will set out the main priorities to support NHS Bo…
14 Jan 2019 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it considers its public complaints system as being compatible with natural justice, transparent and consistent with policies on equality, and what the reasons are for its position on this matter.
Answer · Graeme Dey: The Scottish Government Complaints Handling Procedure is in line with the SPSO's Model Complaints Handling Procedure. It has been approved by the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman, whose role is to support best practice in complaints handling by public bodie…
14 Jan 2019 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many people are diagnosed with a lung condition.
Answer · Joe FitzPatrick: The information requested is not held centrally. However, the number of hospital stays for lung conditions is available in a table accompanying the ISD Annual Acute Hospital Activity publication, which is shown below. Note that the same person may be counted…