Parliamentary questions
Donald Cameron
1,854 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.
18 Nov 2016 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what action it will take to ensure that communities in Lochaber receive support from the Inverness City Region deal.
Answer · Keith Brown: In March 2016 the Scottish Government signed a Heads of Terms Agreement with the UK Government and the Highland Council jointly committing £315 million over a period of up to ten years to support and grow the regional economy. The proposals in the Heads of Te…
18 Nov 2016 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the finding in the National Dental Inspection Programme Report 2016, that there is a significant difference in the levels of tooth decay between primary 1 children in the least and most deprived areas, and what action it is taking to address this.
Answer · Shona Robison: I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-04531 on 21 November 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/parliamentarybusine…
18 Nov 2016 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many people have type (a) 1 and (b) 2 diabetes, broken down by the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation (SIMD) ranking of where they live.
Answer · Shona Robison: The Scottish Diabetes Survey (2015) shows that in Scotland there are 30,356 people living with Type 1 diabetes, and 250,881 with Type 2. The Scottish Government does not hold centrally this data broken down by the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation (SIMD…
15 Nov 2016 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what proportion of the additional £500 million of spending on primary care services, committed to by 2020, will be invested in rural and remote general practice in NHS (a) Western Isles and (b) Highland.
Answer · Shona Robison: The Scottish Government is committed to increasing spending on primary care services to 11% of the frontline NHS budget by 2021-22. The breakdown of spending on primary care services for 2017-18 and subsequent years will be agreed as part of the Spending Revi…
14 Nov 2016 · First Minister's Question
To ask the First Minister what action the Scottish Government is taking to ensure that people with diabetes receive regular monitoring of their condition.
10 Nov 2016 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what analysis it has made of the impact of the care in the community strategy on people being treated for substance misuse.
Answer · Aileen Campbell: “Care in the Community” is not the name of any explicit strategy of the Scottish Government and therefore no discrete analysis of it exists. Health and Social Care Partnerships are an important locus of community based care. The Partnerships have been desig…
10 Nov 2016 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-02025 by Shona Robison on 15 September 2016, what financial provisions each NHS board has made to deal with any increase in demand on services that might result from patients being made aware of their rights regarding choice of treatment following t…
Answer · Shona Robison: Informed consent is a matter for NHS Board clinicians and their patients. Any associated costs are contained in the overall NHS Healthcare budget. As I outlined in my answer to question S5W-02025, I expect all NHS Boards and their clinicians to adhere to the…
9 Nov 2016 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the review of the NHS resource allocation formula for general practice.
Answer · Shona Robison: Tackling health inequalities is one of our primary care outcomes, as recently published in a joint memorandum with BMA [ http://www.gov.scot/Publications/2016/11/7258 ]. Adjusting the Scottish Allocation Formula (SAF), which weights general practice funding b…
8 Nov 2016 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the statement by the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Sport on 2 November 2016 (Official Report, c. 65) that "at least half of front-line NHS spending is being invested outwith acute hospitals", whether it will provide the front-line spending figures to which she was referrin…
Answer · Shona Robison: Front-line NHS spending represents investment in NHS Territorial Boards, and Special Boards which deliver front-line services. It is the Scottish Government's assessment that, by 2021-22, half of this spending will be incurred in the community and outwith acu…
28 Oct 2016 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to its news release of 15 October 2016, Increased investment in primary care, whether it will provide a breakdown of how it will increase spending on primary care services each year until this reaches 11% of the frontline NHS budget.
Answer · Shona Robison: The Scottish Government is committed to increasing spending on primary care services to 11% of the frontline NHS budget by 2021-22. The breakdown of spending on primary care services for 2017-18 and subsequent years will be agreed as part of the Spending Revi…
28 Oct 2016 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to its news release of 15 October 2016, Increased investment in primary care, what areas of treatment it defines as primary care.
Answer · Shona Robison: The Scottish Government is committed to increasing spending on primary care services to 11% of the frontline NHS budget by 2021-22. The increased investment in primary care will support the development of a multi-disciplinary approach to primary care, with in…
28 Oct 2016 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-03243 by Shona Robison on 26 October 2016, what percentage of NHS funding will be spent on general practice in each of the next five years.
Answer · Shona Robison: The Scottish Government is committed to increasing spending on primary care services to 11% of the frontline NHS budget by 2021-22. The breakdown of spending on General Practice (Primary Medical Services) for 2017-18 and subsequent years will be agreed as par…
28 Oct 2016 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to its news release of 15 October 2016, Increased investment in primary care, whether it will provide a breakdown of how much money will be allocated each year and what this will be spent on.
Answer · Shona Robison: The Scottish Government is committed to increasing spending on primary care services to 11% of the frontline NHS budget by 2021-22. The breakdown of spending on primary care services for 2017-18 and subsequent years will be agreed as part of the Spending Revi…
28 Oct 2016 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-03241 by Shona Robison on 26 October 2016, whether it will provide a breakdown of how the primary care fund budget for 2016-17 will be allocated.
Answer · Shona Robison: The Scottish Government's outline allocation of the 2016-17 Primary Care Fund is provided in the following table. Primary Care Fund Budget 2016-17 General practice support and Clusters 11.4 Out of Hours Review 10.0 Primary Care Transformation 9.5 Pha…
26 Oct 2016 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the findings and recommendations in the United Kingdom Lung Cancer Coalition’s report, 25 by 25: a ten-year strategy to improve lung cancer survival rates.
Answer · Shona Robison: The Scottish Government shares the United Kingdom Lung Cancer Coalitions (UKLCC) ambition to raise five year survival rates for lung cancer to 25% by 2025. Our ‘Beating Cancer: Ambition and Action’ strategy and the accompanying £100 million investment ove…
19 Oct 2016 · Portfolio Question
To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to improve the energy efficiency of Scotland’s housing stock.
18 Oct 2016 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will publish the guidance it has provided to NHS boards regarding (a) the operation of and (b) access to the New Medicines Fund.
Answer · Shona Robison: The Scottish Government issued a letter to NHS boards in 2015-16 which provided New Medicines Fund guidance. The letter included details of the 2015-16 funding arrangements and purpose of the fund - to ensure that availability of funding is not a barrier to N…
18 Oct 2016 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how much has been spent by the New Medicines Fund in each year since 2013-14, broken down by medicine.
Answer · Shona Robison: The new medicines fund has been in operation since 2014-15. The Scottish Government allocated £21.5m to the New Medicines Fund for the period 1 April 2014 to 31 March 2015 and £85m to the New Medicines Fund for the period 1 April 2015 to 31 March 2016, with s…
18 Oct 2016 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how much each NHS board has (a) requested and (b) received from the New Medicines Fund in each year since 2013-14.
Answer · Shona Robison: The New Medicines Fund has been in operation since 2014-15. Funding is allocated by the Scottish Government – NHS Boards do not request funding. Amounts allocated to individual NHS Boards are detailed in the following table: 2014-15 2015-16 NHS Ayrshire …
6 Oct 2016 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many men aged 65 and over have (a) been invited to attend and (b) participated in an aortic aneurysm screening.
Answer · Aileen Campbell: Men in their 65th year are invited to attend Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm screening. Implementation of the screening programme was phased across Scotland from June 2012. Table 1 presents invite and uptake rates for men eligible for screening from implementation …
30 Sep 2016 · First Minister's Question
To ask the First Minister what steps the Scottish Government is taking to tackle the rise in the number of drug-related acute hospital stays.
28 Sep 2016 · General Question
To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to make ferries serving Argyll and Bute more accessible for disabled people.
27 Sep 2016 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what progress is being made with GP contract negotiations.
Answer · Shona Robison: The GP contract is formulated through a process of bilateral discussion, and agreement, between the Scottish General Practitioners Committee and the Scottish Government. These negotiations are commercially sensitive; details will be published once they have c…
27 Sep 2016 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what the average cost is of (a) a hospital appointment, (b) an A&E attendance, (c) an overnight hospital stay and (d) a GP appointment.
Answer · Shona Robison: a) The average cost of a hospital appointment in 2014-15 was: Inpatient(elective and non-elective, whole stay) - £3204 Day case - £907 Consultant outpatient appointment - £160 b) The average cost of an attendance at an A&E outpatient consultant-led clinic…
27 Sep 2016 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to improve GP retention.
Answer · Shona Robison: The Scottish Government is fully committed to supporting primary care, including GPs, and ensuring that all communities in Scotland, including remote and rural, receive safe, reliable and sustainable health care services. Over three years, the Scottish Gover…
27 Sep 2016 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to improve communication between primary and secondary health care.
Answer · Shona Robison: The Scottish Government recognises that improving communication between primary and secondary health care is an integral part of improving patient care. As part of the Primary Care Transformation Programme a working group has been established that will provid…
27 Sep 2016 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what percentage of NHS funding is spent on general practice.
Answer · Shona Robison: Information on General Practice (Primary Medical Services) expenditure in 2014-15 is shown in the following table: Total Operating Expenditure1 (£000) General Practice Expenditure2 (£000) General Practice Expenditure2 (%) £10,800,916 £852,570 7.89% …
27 Sep 2016 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a breakdown of the primary care fund budget for (a) 2016-17, (b) 2017-18 and (c) 2018-19 and what plans it has to make additional funding available.
Answer · Shona Robison: The Scottish Government has committed to increasing spending on primary care services to 11% of the frontline NHS spending by the end of this parliament - delivering an extra half a billion pounds in building a Community Health Service with general practice a…
20 Sep 2016 · Portfolio Question
To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to encourage universities to increase the number of Scotland-domiciled medicine undergraduates.
Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: We are building a sustainable medical workforce for the future. We welcome students from Scotland, the rest of the UK and EU who want to study and work in NHS Scotland and are taking a number of actions to encourage this. To increase supply and widen access w…
16 Sep 2016 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the report in The Herald on 28 August 2015, Junior doctor brain drain gives NHS a headache, (a) how many and (b) what proportion of junior doctors have an average working week of 48 hours or less, broken down by NHS board, and what action it takes to enforce this.
Answer · Shona Robison: I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-02931 on 30 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…