Anas Sarwar

24 Jan 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to address the reported increase in cervical cancer mortality.

Answer · Shona Robison: Cervical Screening is offered to women aged between 25 and 64 and we encourage all eligible women to take up their invitation. Cervical screening can reduce cases of cervical cancer and death. It saves around 5,000 lives in the UK every year and prevents eigh…

23 Jan 2017 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government when carer’s allowance will be increased for carers in Glasgow.

23 Jan 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what impact the Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (LBTT) has had on self-invested personal pension holders.

Answer · Derek Mackay: Information on this is not held centrally. There are no specific rules in place for self-invested personal pension holders in Land and Buildings Transaction Tax.

16 Jan 2017 · First Minister's Question

To ask the First Minister what the Scottish Government's position is on the comment by the Chair of BMA Scotland that the NHS is "stretched pretty much to breaking point".

12 Jan 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on ambulances attending emergencies without shift paramedics having carried out stock checks on the vehicles’ supplies.

Answer · Shona Robison: We would expect all ambulance staff to carry out stock checks of their vehicles at the start of every shift as part of the Scottish Ambulance Service's standard procedure to check the maintenance of vehicles before responding to patients.

12 Jan 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how it ensures that the Scottish Ambulance Service maintains and checks its fleet every six weeks.

Answer · Shona Robison: The Scottish Ambulance Service is required to comply with all relevant road traffic legislation including the need to ensure that its vehicles are mechanically safe. The Service operates a fleet of over 1,459 vehicles which are maintained through a network o…

12 Jan 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many reports have been made of an ambulance not being inspected for mechanical safety in each year since 2010.

Answer · Shona Robison: I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-06163 on 31 January 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/parliamentarybusines…

12 Jan 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what funding has been given to hospices for palliative care needs in each year since 2007, broken down by NHS board area.

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…

12 Jan 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many non-clinical whole-time equivalent staff have been employed by each NHS board in each year since 2007.

Answer · Shona Robison: Using centrally held data, it is not possible to distinguish staff who provide direct clinical care and those who do not. Trend information by job family is published quarterly and available here: https://www.isdscotland.org/Health-Topics/Workforce/Publicatio…

12 Jan 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how it ensures that ambulances attending emergencies are (a) mechanically safe and (b) stocked with the full supply of paramedic drugs, material or equipment.

Answer · Shona Robison: The Scottish Ambulance Service has a process in place in which all ambulance staff are expected to complete a Vehicle and Equipment Check sheet before the start of their shift. This would include ensuring their kit bag is fully equipped. The Service is curren…

12 Jan 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what the longest recorded time was to discharge a patient from an ambulance on arrival at A&E in each month since May 2011, broken down by Scottish Ambulance Service regional operational division.

Answer · Shona Robison: I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-06155 on 31 January 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/parliamentarybusines…

12 Jan 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many ambulance journeys have been made in each year since 2010 where it has been known that the vehicle had not been inspected to ensure that it was (a) mechanically safe and (b) stocked with the full supply of paramedic drugs, material or equipment.

Answer · Shona Robison: All ambulance vehicles undergo rigorous maintenance checks above the manufacturer's guidance. There are also standard operating procedures in place to ensure the required drugs, consumables and equipment is available for all ambulance staff. In addition, the …

12 Jan 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to publish weekly (a) waiting time and (b) attendance levels for hospital acute assessment units.

Answer · Shona Robison: I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-05508 on 31 January 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/parliamentarybusines…

12 Jan 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to its news release of 6 December 2016, NHS staffing at new record high, how many of the 11,500 additional staff are whole-time equivalent.

Answer · Shona Robison: Whole Time Equivalent (WTE) information provides a better indicator of total labour input than a simple headcount. It is useful to support workforce planning and therefore continues to be in demand. All staffing levels quoted in the Scottish Government press…

12 Jan 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many of the 1,000 new paramedics posts that it announced in October 2015 have been filled.

Answer · Shona Robison: As set out in our Programme for Government we will train 1,000 new paramedics over the next five years. The Scottish Ambulance Service’s is on course to complete the training of the 200 Paramedics this year.

12 Jan 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what action it took during the centralisation of A&E services in Glasgow to ensure that patients brought to hospital in an ambulance would be discharged to A&E in a timely manner.

Answer · Shona Robison: The two Health boards, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde and the Scottish Ambulance Service, agreed robust operational protocols for the revised configuration of services and, as we would expect, keep these under review to ensure that they continue to operate eff…

12 Jan 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many paramedics have been employed by each Scottish Ambulance Service regional operational division in each year since 2007.

Answer · Shona Robison: The information requested is not held centrally. However, Information Services Division publish information on the number of ambulance staff employed by the Scottish Ambulance Service at a national level. This can be found at the following link: http://www.is…

12 Jan 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what percentage of ambulances attending emergencies in each Scottish Ambulance Service regional operational division in each year since 2011 were not fully equipped to support paramedics in their work.

Answer · Shona Robison: We would expect all ambulances be fully equipped to provide safe, effective and high quality care to patients. The information requested is not held centrally as this is an operational matter for the Scottish Ambulance Service.

12 Jan 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what the average time to discharge a patient from an ambulance on arrival at A&E in each Scottish Ambulance Service regional operational division has been in each year since 2011.

Answer · Shona Robison: The information requested is not held centrally. I would advise the member to contact the Scottish Ambulance Service directly.

12 Jan 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much funding has been provided to each Scottish Ambulance Service regional operational division in each year since 2007.

Answer · Shona Robison: The Scottish Ambulance Service's budget for each year since 2007 is provided in the following table. Year Budget (£m) 2006-07 162.9 2007-08 177.8 2008-09 183.4 2009-10 189.2 2010-11 197.1 2011-12 197.7 2012-13 203.8 2013-14 207.6 2014-15 2…

11 Jan 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the use of agency nurses by NHS boards.

Answer · Shona Robison: The Scottish Government recognises that agency nurses can provide valuable assistance within an overall strategy of service provision, but expects Boards to minimise their use. The Scottish Government and NHS National Services Scotland have recently launched …

9 Jan 2017 · Topical Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reports of an increase in the number of people dying in hospital while waiting to be discharged because their care package had yet to be finalised.

23 Dec 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many consultants each NHS board has employed on a 8:2 contract in each year since 2007.

Answer · Shona Robison: As specified in the answer to Mr Sarwar’s previous question S5W-05332 on 22 December 2016, information relating to consultants’ specific job plan ratios is not held centrally. Specific local information may be available from NHSScotland Health boards. All an…

19 Dec 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what the (a) terms of reference and (b) parameters are of the health and social care targets review; whether the review will consider the key performance indicators of the integrated health boards; what its timeline is; who the members of the review team are; by what date the findings wi…

Answer · Shona Robison: The review will look at how targets and indicators support the Government's strategies for the improvement of health, the future of the NHS and social care services, and support best use of public resources to ensure that we have a clearly understood and impr…

19 Dec 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many "did not attends" (DNAs) there have been from the Scottish Prison Service to NHS appointments in each year since May 2011, broken down by health board.

Answer · Shona Robison: Information on did not attends does not specifically identify appointments missed from the prison service and therefore is not available centrally.

19 Dec 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether there are any sanctions for non-performance stipulated in the escort/transport contract between G4S and the Scottish Prison Service and, if so, what they are.

Answer · Michael Matheson: I have asked Colin McConnell, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service, to respond. His response is as follows: I would advise that the information which answers the member’s question is accessible on the SPS website in Schedule D of the Court Custody …

19 Dec 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether statistics on the performance of G4S regarding the Scottish Prison Service escort/transport contact are kept centrally and, if so, whether these will be published.

Answer · Michael Matheson: I have asked Colin McConnell, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service, to respond. His response is as follows: Statistics on performance within the Court Custody and Prisoner Escort Services (CCPES) contract are held by SPS. A subset of the data is av…

19 Dec 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether NHS Scotland currently procures any pharmaceuticals, such as antibiotics, from Aurobindo's UK subsidiary, Milpharm Ltd, and, if so, what the value of these is.

Answer · Shona Robison: Central procurement of drugs and medicines on behalf of NHS Scotland is the responsibility of National Services Scotland National Procurement. MilPharm Ltd (the UK subsidiary of Aurobindo) supply a number of medicines to NHS Scotland under the NHS Scotland A…

19 Dec 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what key performance indicators are stipulated in the escort/transport contract with G4S and the Scottish Prison Service.

Answer · Michael Matheson: I have asked Colin McConnell, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service, to respond. His response is as follows: I would advise that the information which answers the member’s question is accessible on the SPS website in Schedule D of the Court Custody …

12 Dec 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many patients have accessed acute assessment units in each NHS board in each year since 2010, also broken down by hospital.

Answer · Shona Robison: I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-05508 on 31 January 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/parliamentarybusines…