SCOTTISH EXECUTIVE
Health and Community Care
Long-term Skin Conditions
To ask the Scottish Executive what services are provided for people with long-term skin conditions, including psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis. (S2O-11375)
National health service boards provide services in line with clinical need, including on-going specialist care for those with chronic psoriasis or psoriatic arthritis.
The minister will be aware of the great reduction in waiting times at Aberdeen royal infirmary for treatment of conditions such as psoriasis, thanks to the appointment of new staff in dermatology. Can he assure me that the Executive will continue to improve services for patients with psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis by appointing staff such as specialist nurses and by increasing training for general practitioners and nursing staff in handling such conditions?
We hope that the good example that Mr Baker cites from NHS Grampian will be replicated elsewhere. High-quality specialist treatment in a hospital setting is very significant for those who have psoriasis in a severe or chronic form. Many cases are dealt with in a primary care setting. We want that service to be maintained and improved.
The minister may be aware that some weeks ago Richard Baker and I co-hosted a dinner with Psoriasis Scotland. At that event it was impressed on all of us how seriously the condition affects people's normal day-to-day living. I was made very aware of the need for early diagnosis, especially at GP level, because only with early diagnosis can effective treatment be put in place that will have an impact. Can the minister say more about how he hopes GPs will be made more aware of and able to assess and pick up the disease in its early stages?
I am aware of the work that Roseanna Cunningham and Richard Baker have done jointly in this area and of the points Roseanna Cunningham makes, which arise from discussions that took place in the Parliament a few days ago. We recognise the increasing importance of primary care and of delivering care to people with conditions of this kind in the community, which can bring better and quicker treatment to patients and reduce unnecessary burdens on the secondary care sector. I have asked my officials to meet early in the new year representatives of the organisation that visited the Parliament the other day to discuss with it some of the measures that can be taken and to encourage its engagement with the Long-Term Conditions Alliance Scotland, which we have encouraged to represent the interests of all those with chronic conditions.
Given that patients with long-term skin conditions are among the many patients with chronic conditions who must pay for their prescriptions—currently £6.75 for each item—will the minister tell us whether psoriasis will be included on the list of chronic conditions that will be exempted from charges in the Executive's forthcoming review of prescription charges? Will he also let us know when the review will be published?
I am sure that Mr Fox has been following the matter with interest. He will know that we are still considering the representations that have been made to us. We expect to respond to a number of those representations in the near future.
Dental Services (Highlands and Islands)
To ask the Scottish Executive what the average and maximum waiting times are for patients seeking appointments with dentists and orthodontists in the Highlands and Islands. (S2O-11349)
The national maximum waiting time for a first time out-patient appointment with a consultant following referral, including the specialty of orthodontics, is 26 weeks. All NHS boards are meeting that commitment. We intend to reduce the national maximum waiting time to 18 weeks from the end of 2007. I understand that in the year to 30 September, the median waiting time for a first out-patient appointment in orthodontics in the Highlands and Islands was 152 days.
The figures that the minister has given concern me and, I hope, many others.
I do not accept that analysis. We would encourage dentists in the Highlands and Islands who wish to take on national health service patients to do so. We have provided significant financial incentives for them to do that. I was delighted to visit the Highlands just a few days ago to open a new NHS dental facility in Caithness, from where six dentists will serve the whole of that area, and to visit the extension to an existing NHS dental surgery at Culloden, which will serve the area east of Inverness. Between them, those two NHS initiatives will serve, and will be able to register, some thousands of patients in the Highlands over the next 18 months. That is a positive trend.
Acute Hospitals (Glasgow)
To ask the Scottish Executive what progress is being made in modernising acute hospitals in Glasgow. (S2O-11392)
Huge progress has been made in modernising acute hospitals in Glasgow, and overall investment is around £1 billion. Building has commenced on the new £100 million Victoria hospital and on the £100 million new Stobhill hospital. Further to that, the children's hospital will open in 2011, the new southern general hospital is due to be completed in 2012—it will be one of the largest and most advanced hospitals in Europe—and the next phase of the £87 million west of Scotland cancer centre will start seeing patients in February 2007. All those developments are good for Glasgow and good for Scotland, and they prove our commitment to investing in the future of health services in Glasgow and across Scotland.
I welcome the additional level of resources that is being provided to Glasgow's acute hospital services. I especially welcome the progress that is being made on the new Victoria hospital, which serves the southern part of my constituency. Does the minister agree that that investment has been required for years, that any calls to halt such investment on the basis of the funding package would be placing ideological prejudice before the needs of patients, and that such baleful prejudice has no place in a modern acute hospital investment programme?
I wholeheartedly agree. Some would have our patients treated in outdated Victorian hospitals. Indeed, I understand that the Victoria infirmary was opened when General Custer was suing for peace with the Indians. I believe that the investment that we are making in our health service is about patients and patient care, and we put patients first.
Cancer Treatment Targets
To ask the Scottish Executive when the target of 95 per cent of cancer patients starting treatment within two months of urgent referral will be met. (S2O-11332)
I have consistently pointed out to national health service board chairs at our monthly meetings that I expect every effort to be made to deliver the necessary 95 per cent performance level. The Scottish Executive is providing additional support in the form of an expert team to assist boards in achieving and sustaining that target. Following the additional measures taken by the Health Department, I expect the target to be achieved by April 2007 and consistently maintained thereafter. All boards have been asked to confirm in writing that they will achieve that.
I remind the minister that the target was supposed to have been met by the end of last year. Is he aware that, back in July last year, he said that action would be taken to reduce waiting times, that in October last year he said that he would be closely monitoring future performance, that in March this year he said that he would closely monitor how each board performed, that in June he said that he would probe long waits, and that this month he has said that hit squads would be sent into boards that underperform? He will understand that we now want action rather than words. How can he reassure us that firm action will indeed be taken this time to address the huge regional variations that exist in cancer waiting times in Scotland? Will he commit to reporting to Parliament on an on-going basis on the progress that is being made in health boards?
As ever, we have no recognition from the SNP of the lowest ever waiting times in our national health service history and no recognition of the hard work of the staff involved—but that is the SNP's prerogative, not mine.
Given the failure to meet targeted cancer waiting times so far, does the minister still think that it is wise to promise that by the end of next year patients will wait no more than nine weeks for magnetic resonance imaging or computed tomography scans and other key diagnostic tests?
Yes, I do. If the member had paid any attention to the recent performance statistics from our national health service, she would have seen that the trajectory for performance delivery on that target is secure. Therefore, the £50 million investment that this Executive is making in the key diagnostic tests will deliver for patients and will do so by the date that we have set.
Mental Health Patients (Abscondings)
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will consider the recommendations of the independent inquiry into the care and treatment of John Barrett, published in November 2006 by NHS London, when it considers NHS Ayrshire and Arran's critical incident review on the abscondings of Mark Biggley. (S2O-11387)
Yes. We are currently considering the report in detail along with the critical incident review.
Does the minister agree that the safety of the public can be determined only by the police? Does he also agree that guidance must make it clear to all clinicians that the police must be partners in assessing the risk posed by all restricted patients?
I accept Margaret Jamieson's points, which she has made previously. As of today, we are consulting on new care programme approach guidance, which will require that henceforth in cases of this kind the police must be involved from an early stage in considering any proposal for unescorted leave involving a restricted patient. An initial risk assessment should be held within six to eight weeks of admission to the system and should be repeated at regular intervals. In addition, I know that Margaret Jamieson will be interested to know that, pending completion of the consultation and the introduction of the guidance, Strathclyde police and NHS Ayrshire and Arran have agreed that the police will continue to be involved in those decisions in future and have put in place new protocols that reflect their recent experience.
Care Homes (Highlands)
To ask the Scottish Executive what further provision is being made to increase the number of beds for elderly people in care homes in the Highlands. (S2O-11359)
That is a matter for Highland Council. I understand that it is currently seeking bids from the independent sector to secure 168 care home places for frail older people.
I am sure that the minister is aware of Highland Council's proposal to dispose of at least six of its care homes, which he will understand is causing alarm and distress among existing residents and raises concern for the future care of the elderly in the council's area. What assurance can the minister give on residential care provision in the rural parts of the Highlands in the short and long term?
As I said, the primary responsibility lies with the local authority, which is accountable for the decisions it makes. I understand that the 168 places that Highland Council seeks to commission are at five locations in different parts of the Highlands. John Farquhar Munro may wish to raise the matter with the local authority.
What steps are being taken to accelerate the implementation of Professor Kerr's report relative to care in the community for elderly people in the Highlands?
A range of measures is being introduced to meet the Kerr report's recommendations. I am pleased to say that the targets set by the Executive a year ago in "Delivering for Health", in response to Professor Kerr's report, are very much on schedule. We will continue that process of encouraging more care to be delivered to older people in their communities, to reduce unnecessary admission to hospital and to speed up discharge. There has been further progress this year on avoiding delay in the discharge from hospital into the community. We will seek to drive that progress further in future years.
Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease
To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking to heighten awareness among the public and medical practitioners of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. (S2O-11400)
General practitioners are incentivised through the general medical services contract to address COPD. We have been encouraging the development of managed clinical networks for COPD, to integrate services. The network approach gives people with COPD a stronger voice in the future design of services.
The minister will be aware that COPD kills some 5,000 people in Scotland each year—more than transport accidents, breast cancer, liver disease and illegal drug use put together. It is also one of the three leading causes of absence from work. As the principal cause of COPD in Scotland nowadays is smoking, what action is the Executive taking to ensure that smokers and potential smokers are aware of the prevalence of that health consequence of smoking?
Our comprehensive smoking cessation efforts, combined with our smoke-free Scotland legislation, have contributed to the chief medical officer's recent statement regarding his perception that lung cancer could be a disease of the past in Scotland a few decades from now. That is heartening news; nonetheless, we continue our efforts. We have increased and redoubled our efforts in relation to smoking cessation. In the gallery is Calum Baxter from Edinburgh, who wrote to me about his primary school project. We did not introduce the smoking ban just for the people who use Scotland's pubs, clubs and restaurants; we did it for our young people, and I thank Calum for his project.
National Health Service (Car Parking)
To ask the Scottish Executive when it expects to receive the report of the review of car parking arrangements in each NHS board and when it expects to respond to the conclusions of that report. (S2O-11325)
Health Department officials are currently putting together a full report from the information received and I expect to receive that in due course.
I hope that the minister is still in office when he receives it. That could be taken two ways.
I am reluctant to go into the detail of the project the member describes because I do not know the full facts. There are rules on how we manage hospital parking. It should not be about income generation, and any money that is generated should provide better hospital services. Some parking management schemes, such as that in Tayside, have proven very successful. This is a difficult and complex area and I am pleased that the member recognised that in the earlier part of his question.
Question 9 has been withdrawn at short notice.
National Health Service (Access to Information)
To ask the Scottish Executive what importance it places on ensuring that patients have adequate access to health service information. (S2O-11401)
We recognise that the provision of relevant, high-quality, accessible information is essential to allow patients to access the local health services that they need and to become partners in decisions about their care. The Scottish health council led a national conference on the subject last month to establish how we can continue to improve the provision of patient information.
Does the minister agree that although the increasing availability of information on the internet is welcome, it is not suitable or accessible for all service users, particularly the elderly? Does he also believe that every possible effort should be made to enable elderly service users to understand their rights? Will he undertake to consider how information could be made more readily available to vulnerable groups to empower them to ensure that their patient and/or resident rights in relation to national care standards are protected?
I am happy to consider the point that Irene Oldfather raises. She has made it before and I have a good deal of sympathy with it. We want to ensure that people not only have theoretical access to information but are able to obtain it. I understand her point that information that is primarily available on the internet is not equally available to all. We will certainly consider any suggestions that she may wish to make, and I invite her to write to me with some.
Environment and Rural Development
Green Christmas
To ask the Scottish Executive how it is encouraging people to have a green Christmas. (S2O-11366)
The Scottish Executive supports the waste aware Scotland campaign, which provides a range of tips through its website—www.wasteawarescotland.org.uk—for a greener Christmas. Those include using wrapping materials that have been manufactured from recyclates, re-using wrapping paper and decorations, using rechargeable batteries instead of disposable ones, and recycling cards and Christmas trees. Practical support and facilities are provided through local authorities' recycling facilities—many of which make special arrangements for handling Christmas trees—and other Executive-supported initiatives, such as the Woodland Trust's annual Christmas card recycling scheme.
I congratulate the Scottish Executive on the green Christmas tips that are on its website. Does the minister agree that the major problem at the moment is excessive packaging, which is particularly evident at Christmas? What discussions are taking place with retailers throughout Scotland to reduce the level of packaging, not only at this time of year but throughout the year?
There is continuing dialogue between retailers and the Waste and Resources Action Programme. WRAP—it is aptly named—is sponsored by the Scottish Executive Environment and Rural Affairs Department and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. It has a continuing programme to reduce retailers' packaging, but I regret to say that, although the volume has been reduced, retailers have not necessarily been successful in reducing the total number of layers. In a number of programmes, the thickness of the films that are used has been reduced drastically, but I continue to press retailers to reduce the layers of wrapping that they use.
Does the minister agree that a green Christmas is just the start of a green future? Does he also agree that the greenest Christmas present that anybody could receive this year is membership of the Scottish Green Party? It might be particularly suitable for disillusioned Liberal Democrats who are disappointed at unsustainable decisions, for example on the M74 extension, that have been made by some Liberal Democrat ministers.
I am not sure that I need to join the Scottish Green Party, but we could exchange Christmas gifts. That might include my sending Eleanor Scott the works of John Locke, a well-known Liberal Democrat philosopher who was perhaps the first to make clear as a political philosophy that we in public office and those who are elected hold our office in trust and do so to hand on to the next generation the best possible conditions. I would be happy to exchange Christmas gifts, but it is unlikely that I would sign an application for membership of the Green party.
Genetically Modified Crops (Testing)
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it monitors the testing of crops for GM traits so that the necessary GM test templates can be made freely and widely available internationally. (S2O-11327)
No, because genetically modified organisms cannot be authorised for marketing in the European Union before a specific detection method is available, and those detection protocols are freely available on the Community reference laboratory website.
Given the recent controversy over LibertyLink rice 601, does the Scottish Executive believe that the competent authorities should routinely test imports for the presence of all the experimental traits that have been identified?
The issues raised in the question are currently subject to proceedings for judicial review, and as the question relates to an active case I am unable to comment at this stage. However, I can say that food and feed business operators, including importers, are responsible for ensuring that the products that they sell do not contain unauthorised GM ingredients. Enforcement of legislation on GM food and feed is the responsibility of local authorities, which are responsible for taking the necessary actions to ensure that imported food and feed comply with the requirements of food law, including the regulations governing the sale of GM food and feed.
Farmers Markets
To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking to support and encourage farmers markets. (S2O-11360)
The Executive welcomes the development of farmers markets in Scotland, and support services for the Scottish Association of Farmers Markets are provided by the Scottish Agricultural Organisation Society, which receives core funding from the Executive.
The minister may be aware that Edinburgh's award-winning weekly farmers market attracts 300,000 shoppers and contributes £1.6 million to the rural economy and £800,000 to the city centre economy each year. Farmers markets represent a good opportunity to buy local. What is the Scottish Executive doing to increase the procurement of local produce within the public sector?
I am well aware of the Country Life award, and I congratulate all those involved in the Edinburgh market on both showcasing Scottish produce so well and providing the consumer with such a satisfactory product.
In asking this question, I must declare an interest as a farmer and a past chairman of the Scottish Association of Farmers Markets, which has already been referred to.
Final decisions on the content of tiers 1, 2 and 3 will depend ultimately on the funds that are available, and as the member is well aware that is still subject to negotiation between ourselves and Europe. However, I will certainly bear in mind the fact that diversification has to be part of that, and I will take into account his comments on entry into retail and other similar businesses.
The minister will be aware that farmers markets form an important tourist attraction in many other countries—France springs to mind. What liaison has been undertaken with VisitScotland with a view to marketing farmers markets in a more co-ordinated and effective manner?
I am unable to give an answer. I am aware of some discussions, but I am unaware of the detail. My best course would be to write to the member and advise him of the up-to-date position.
Dalgety Bay Beach (Radioactive Contamination)
To ask the Scottish Executive what progress it has made in discussion with Her Majesty's Government on cleaning up radioactive contamination on Dalgety Bay beach. (S2O-11380)
My officials met Ministry of Defence officials on 2 November to discuss the progress that has been made by the consultants whom the MOD appointed to identify the extent of contamination at Dalgety Bay. The Dalgety Bay forum will meet on 19 December to receive an update on the progress that the MOD has made. That will be the forum's first meeting since April. I am pleased to say that its membership has been extended to include the community council and the sailing club, which previously were not represented. I will report the outcome of the meeting to Helen Eadie.
I am delighted that the community council has been embraced as part of the forum. Is the minister aware that the residents of Dalgety Bay have experienced the problem for more than 16 years? Also, is he aware that hundreds of thousands of pounds have been spent on studies of one sort or another? When does the minister plan to take remedial action? What representations will he make to Her Majesty's Government specifically to address the need for a joint resolution of this important issue for the families of Dalgety Bay?
I am conscious of the continuing importance of the matter to Helen Eadie. She will be aware that the matter is essentially one for the MOD, because it is reserved. She will also be aware that the latest decision to have a study specifically to identify the extent of the contamination was made as a result of pressure from her and others in the area. All that I can do is ensure that the MOD—which we meet regularly—provides the answers, so that a plan can be produced as quickly as possible to deal with the contamination.
In his evidence on the Environmental Assessment (Scotland) Bill, the minister asserted that some Ministry of Defence plans and programmes in relation to the environment would be covered by the bill. Is he aware of any strategic plans that the MOD has for clearing up radioactive mess around Scotland and the UK? Does the Environmental Assessment (Scotland) Act 2005 apply to those plans and programmes?
I am not aware of any MOD plans or programmes, but I remain of the view that, if a public body produces a proposal or plan that would have a material environmental impact, it should be caught by the 2005 act. If the member has information that suggests that the MOD has such plans, I would be happy to pursue that.
Recycling (Glasgow Tenement Households)
To ask the Scottish Executive what progress has been made on the recycling initiative for tenement households in Glasgow. (S2O-11390)
In September 2006, Glasgow City Council was given an indicative award of nearly £27 million for the period to 2020 to implement a recycling service for 110,000 households in multi-occupancy properties in Glasgow. I understand that the council intends to start the roll-out of the scheme in February 2007.
I welcome the significant investment in recycling in Glasgow. However, are there any specific initiatives to deal with the challenges that the roads infrastructure creates for the collection of material for recycling or with the difficulties with collecting material from tenements? What additional investment could be provided to meet those challenges?
As Paul Martin might be aware, the award was made to Glasgow following two pilot schemes that were conducted in a collaboration between my department, the local authority and other local authorities that face the same problems in collecting material from tenement properties—not just their physical location or the absence of adequate space and facilities in the back courts, but access for appropriate vehicles. Those factors were taken into account in the award to Glasgow City Council.
Rural Development (Housing)
To ask the Scottish Executive what measures it is taking to promote rural development, for example by addressing issues in relation to poor housing. (S2O-11334)
The Executive takes a wide variety of measures to promote rural development and thriving rural communities. In 2006-07, we are investing £119 million in affordable housing, and private sector property owners in rural areas have benefited from £24 million of investment, in part to help tackle below-tolerable-standard housing. We expect all social landlords to achieve the Scottish housing quality standard across social housing by 2015.
Does the minister agree that urgent action is needed? In response to questions that I asked in November, Malcolm Chisholm said that 30,000 households in rural Scotland are living in damp houses, 78,000 households in rural Scotland are living in homes with a poor energy rating and 109,000 households in rural Scotland—25 per cent of rural households—are living in fuel poverty. Given the rising fuel costs and the standard of the houses in question, urgent action is needed. What is the minister going to do now?
As I said in my previous answer, this year we have allocated £119 million for housing in rural areas, compared with last year's sum of £97 million. The Executive has responded in kind to the problems that the member has identified by increasing substantially the level of investment in this area.
Given the number of people who live in overcrowded houses or in caravans, will the minister give us an idea of the progress that is being made in creating forest crofts, which will allow more rural dwellers to remain in their communities?
As the member will be aware, although the provisions in the Crofting Reform etc Bill will ensure that we can have forest crofts, the bill is not yet through Parliament. Once it is through—I expect to receive Rob Gibson's support in ensuring its swift passage—we will be able to discuss the timescale to which we will establish such crofts.
Genetically Modified Organisms (Contamination)
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it considers that action is required to ensure that crops are not contaminated by unauthorised GM organisms. (S2O-11329)
Action is already taken. Seed suppliers must ensure that the seed that they market for crop production is not contaminated by unauthorised GM organisms. The Scottish Executive's GM inspectorate monitors compliance with that requirement.
How will the Executive ensure that our local authority monitoring programmes are able to detect unapproved experimental GM traits and imports before they enter the supply chain in future?
As I said, food and feed business operators, including importers, have a responsibility to ensure that the products that they sell do not contain unauthorised GM organisms. Of course, responsibility for the enforcement of legislation lies with the local authorities.
Recycling (Central Fife)
To ask the Scottish Executive what support it is giving to recycling in central Fife. (S2O-11391)
Fife Council has been awarded more than £71 million from the strategic waste fund to introduce kerbside recycling, green waste collection schemes and new and improved recycling centres and collection points.
I appreciate the support that the Executive has given to recycling in central Fife through the strategic waste fund. The minister will be aware that Fife Council submitted a subsequent application in January. When will he invite the council to start work on the outline business case, given that the delay is giving rise to fears of increased fines for missing waste-to-landfill targets? Will the minister meet me and officials and elected representatives of Fife Council to discuss the matter?
Yes. I am well aware of concerns expressed by Fife Council and other local authorities in connection with the allocation of phase 2 of the strategic waste fund. I had a meeting with representatives of the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities at lunch time on that very subject.