Alex Cole-Hamilton

13 Oct 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government on what date it will consult on a new diet and obesity strategy and what the consultation will involve.

Answer · Aileen Campbell: The consultation document 'A Healthier Future - Action and Ambitions on Diet, Activity and Healthy Weight' was published on 26 October 2017, with consultation running until 31 January 2018. In addition to our on-line process, we will engage directly with a …

13 Oct 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on using the Barnett consequentials arising from the Soft Drinks Industry Levy to fund increasing participation in sport and physical activity.

Answer · Aileen Campbell: We will be considering our spending priorities as part of the forthcoming Scottish budget considerations following the Chancellors Autumn Budget Statement. We are however concerned about the transparency of the Soft Drinks lndustry Levy. To ensure Scotland g…

13 Oct 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the STV News-commissioned poll on diet and health, which was published on 10 October 2017 by ScotPulse.

Answer · Aileen Campbell: I welcome the findings of the ScotPulse poll and am encouraged that 59% of respondents back the idea of a ban on junk food adverts. We are currently consulting on action to restrict non-broadcast advertising on products high in fat, sugar and salt. We will a…

13 Oct 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the Cancer Research UK-commissioned poll on junk food, which was published in June 2017 by Survation.

Answer · Aileen Campbell: We welcome the public support for action on promotions. In our Programme for Government, we made a commitment to take action to restrict the promotion of the marketing of products high in fat, sugar and salt and are presently consulting on this proposal, foll…

13 Oct 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of concerns regarding children's health, what its position is on a ban being introduced on junk food marketing on television prior to 9pm, and what discussions it has had with the UK Government regarding this.

Answer · Aileen Campbell: Our consultation paper 'A Healthier Future - Action and Ambitions on Diet, Activity and Healthy Weight' published on 26 Ocotber makes clear that we strongly support this. Following on from the publication the UK Government ‘ Childhood Obesity: A Plan for Ac…

12 Oct 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what the vacancy rate is for radiologists, also broken down by NHS board, and what information it has regarding how this compares with the rest of the UK.

Answer · Shona Robison: Information on vacancies for consultants with a specialty of clinical radiology is published by ISD Scotland and is available at the following web link:- https://www.isdscotland.org/Health-Topics/Workforce/Publications/2017-03-07/Consultant_Vacancies_D2016.x…

12 Oct 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the report in The Times on 12 October 2017, which states that Cancer Research UK has claimed that, in Scotland, people are sometimes having to wait longer to find out if they have cancer because of shortages of radiologists.

Answer · Shona Robison: The Scottish Government is fully committed to ensuring that all patients have swift access to the full range of services they need from the NHS in Scotland. The number of consultants with a specialty of clinical radiology working in NHSScotland have increas…

12 Oct 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the Royal College of Radiologists paper, Clinical radiology UK workforce census 2016 report, which suggests that, in Scotland, a shortage of radiologists has led to scans not being read for weeks, and that some of these scans reported the presence of cancer cells.

Answer · Shona Robison: While the Scottish Government sets strategic policies for the NHS in Scotland, it is for each NHS Board to decide best how to deliver high quality, safe and sustainable services to meet the needs of its population. We fully expect NHS Boards to plan their wor…

11 Oct 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reports that the charity, Kindred, is in danger as a result of reductions in its core funding, and whether it would intervene to save the charity.

Answer · Mark McDonald: There has been ongoing communication between the Government and Kindred over the last weeks. The Scottish Government currently provides £64,000 annually through the Children, Young People and Families Early Intervention Fund to support the infrastructure of t…

9 Oct 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to ensure that pharmacies are adequately stacked with prescription medicines; what discussions it has with NHS boards about this, and what its response to reports from GPs that some pharmacies in the NHS Lothian area are unable to supply commonly-prescribed items…

Answer · Shona Robison: The Scottish Government is aware of disruptions in the supply chain for some commonly-used generic medicines. This is not a Scotland-only issue, but is experienced across the UK. The NHS Prescribing Advisers Network routinely monitors and reports weekly on …

4 Oct 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much public funding it gave to (a) Antenatal Results and Choices (ARC) and (b) its precursor organisation, Support After Termination for Abnormality, in each of the last 10 years, and for what purpose funding was given.

Answer · Aileen Campbell: Antenatal Results and Choices (ARC) Awards from the Scottish Government in the last 10 years 2007-2008 £5,000 2008-2009 0 2009-2010 0 2010-2011 0 2011-2012 0 2012-2013 0 2013-2014 £18,000 2014-2015 £11,000 2015-2016 £7,000 2016-2017 0 The…

4 Oct 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government on what dates in the last 12 months Ministers have met (a) Premaitha Health and (b) other biotech firms that develop non-invasive prenatal tests, broken down by (i) Ministers involved and (ii) location of meeting.

Answer · Aileen Campbell: Ministers have not met with Premaitha Heath or any other biotech firm that develop Non-invasive Prenatal Tests in the past 12 months.

4 Oct 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to tackle the assumption that mothers expecting a baby with a disability will want an abortion, in light of the private availability of new non-invasive pregnancy testing, which is set to detect higher numbers of babies with trisomy 13, 18 and 21.

Answer · Aileen Campbell: Within the NHS there is absolutely no assumption that mothers expecting a disabled child will want to terminate the pregnancy. The Scottish Fetal Anomaly Screening Programme aims to ensure that women and couples are provided with high quality information so …

4 Oct 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the impact of cell-free DNA non-invasive prenatal testing techniques on (a) the medical profession’s and (b) society's attitude towards people with Down’s syndrome.

Answer · Aileen Campbell: The UK National Screening Committee which advises Ministers and the NHS in all four UK countries about all aspects of screening, commissioned the Nuffield Council on Bioethics to produce a report considering the ethical values of recent and potential future s…

4 Oct 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the potential impact of normalising cell-free DNA non-invasive prenatal testing techniques and, in particular, enabling sex-selective abortions.

Answer · Aileen Campbell: Non-invasive Prenatal Testing (NIPT) in the national screening programme will not be used to reveal non-medical features of the fetus, such as sex. The introduction of this new test raises some difficult issues that need to be carefully considered. That is w…

4 Oct 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much it has invested in the last year in (a) Down’s syndrome (i) research and (ii) screening and (b) support for people with Down’s syndrome.

Answer · Maureen Watt: (a) i) The Scottish Learning Disabilities Observatory (SLDO) are one of the key strategic partners of the Scottish Government and are core funded through the Keys to Life Learning Disabilities strategy. Within their work plan, SLDO has investigated the fall i…

4 Oct 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to support people with Down’s syndrome and their families.

Answer · Maureen Watt: The Scottish Government is committed to improving the lives of people with learning disabilities through the Keys to Life strategic outcomes. Down's Syndrome Scotland (DSS) is one of our key national delivery partners on our learning disability strategy. As …

4 Oct 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it will take to ensure that the issues highlighted in the 2013 UK Parliamentary Inquiry into Abortion on the Grounds of Disability and, in particular, its finding that many parents are steered towards abortion and feel that they do not receive adequate information regarding ot…

Answer · Aileen Campbell: All pregnant women in Scotland are already offered a screening test for Down’s syndrome. If the screening test shows that the chance of having a baby with Down’s is high, women then have the option of having an invasive diagnostic test. The proposed change re…

4 Oct 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many ground E terminations have been performed under the Abortion Act 1967 in each year since 1999, and what information it has on records in previous years.

Answer · Shona Robison: The number of ground E terminations performed under the Abortion Act 1967 in each year since 1999 are presented in Table 1. Grounds for abortion have been recorded on the ISD Abortion database since 1991. Data are included on previous years in the annual ter…

4 Oct 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many terminations after 24-weeks gestation have been performed in each year since the commencement of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990.

Answer · Shona Robison: The number of terminations after 24 weeks gestation (gestations of 24 weeks and over) from 1990 is displayed in Table 1. The number of terminations of pregnancy in some individual years is very small. Disclosure control measures have been applied because of …

4 Oct 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many ground E abortions relating to cases of "serious handicap", the term used in the Abortion Act 1967, there were in each year between 2005 and 2015, broken down by (a) diagnosed condition and (b) gestational week of pregnancy.

Answer · Shona Robison: The number of ground E abortions between 2005 and 2015 by (a) diagnosed condition and (b) gestational age is available in the following tables 1a and 1b. Statistical disclosure control has been applied to both tables because of the sensitive nature of the da…

4 Oct 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) live births of children and (b) terminations of fetuses with Down's syndrome there have been in each year since 1999, and what information it has on records in previous years.

Answer · Aileen Campbell: The number of (a) live births and (b) terminations of pregnancy with Down’s syndrome since 1999 are provided in Table 1a and Table 1b. For (a) live births, the data has been sourced from the Scottish Perinatal Infant Mortality and Morbidity Reports (SPIMMR),…

3 Oct 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many places have been available on nursing training courses in each year since 2007, broken down by institution, and how many were taken up.

Answer · Shona Robison: Table 1, a copy of which has been placed in SPICE (Bib 59239) highlights data from NHS Education Scotland and Scottish Funding Council showing both the recommended and actual intakes to pre-registration nursing and midwifery programmes, broken down by institu…

2 Oct 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to ensure that people who are accompanied by assistance dogs can access (a) transport, (b) cultural venues and (c) other services, such as shopping facilities.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: Assistance dogs should be accepted on all modes of travel, subject to one exception in the case of taxis and private hire cars for drivers with a medical exception certificate. Our Accessible Travel Framework commits us to take forward a number of work packag…

2 Oct 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reports that some taxi and minicab operators do not allow assistance dogs in their vehicles.

Answer · Michael Matheson: As a Government we are committed to promoting and protecting equality and human rights for disabled people enabling them to participate in and to make a full contribution to daily and public life, and we recognise the vital role which assistance dogs, includi…

2 Oct 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what legislation governs access arrangements for people who are accompanied by assistance dogs, and whether it plans to amend this.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: The Equality Act 2010 states that it is unlawful for a service provider to discriminate against a disabled person by direct or indirect discrimination, discrimination arising from a disability, failure to make reasonable adjustments, harassment, discriminatio…

28 Sep 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on flash glucose monitoring systems being available in the NHS; what assessment it has made of the number of (a) children and (b) adults who may benefit from them being available in the NHS, and when it expects this will happen.

Answer · Shona Robison: The Scottish Government notes the announcement by Abbott of the decision to include the Freestyle Libre flash glucose monitoring system on the England and Wales drug tariff. NHS Scotland has yet to receive official notification. Once received, NHS Scotland wi…

26 Sep 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it meets the British HIV Association's (BHIVA) guidelines regarding the provision of formula milk and feeding equipment for mothers with HIV.

Answer · Aileen Campbell: I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-11532 on 9 October 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/parliamentarybusin…

26 Sep 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what funding there is for the provision of formula milk and feeding equipment for mothers with HIV.

Answer · Aileen Campbell: I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-11532 on 9 October 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/parliamentarybusiness/…

26 Sep 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to extend funding for the provision of formula milk and feeding equipment to mothers with HIV.

Answer · Aileen Campbell: Providing formula milk to HIV-positive mothers is a form of HIV-prevention which lies within the remit of NHS health boards. Some boards do this in co-operation with third sector partners such as Waverley Care. Health Boards meet expenses for such measures fr…