Chamber and committees

Questions and answers

Parliamentary questions can be asked by any MSP to the Scottish Government or the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body. The questions provide a means for MSPs to get factual and statistical information.

Written questions must be answered within 10 working days (20 working days during recess)
Other questions such as Topical, Portfolio, General and First Minister's Question Times are taken in the Chamber

Urgent Questions aren't included in the Question and Answers search. There is a SPICe fact sheet listing Urgent and emergency questions.

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Question reference: S2W-06697

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 03 March 2004
Current Status: Answered by Lewis Macdonald on 25 March 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive when its Enterprise, Transport and Lifelong Learning Department will make an announcement on plans after 2005 for the #2.25 million allocated annually to fund the employability services for the drug users' element of the New Futures Fund.

The Department will discusswith the enterprise networks, in the context of their planning process,employability objectives for disadvantaged groups after March 2005. The outcomeof these discussions, which will be informed by progress on mainstreaming NewFutures Fund, will be reflected in the enterprise networks operational plansfor 2005-06. The department will ask the networks to alert NFF projects to theimplications as soon as possible.

Question reference: S2W-06845

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 March 2004
Current Status: Answered by Allan Wilson on 24 March 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive what measures are, or will be, put in place to assist amateur football clubs, such as Stow amateur football club, to meet water charges.

The Water and SewerageCharges (Exemption) (Scotland) Regulations 2002 exempt from water and sewerage chargesa range of organisations affected by the withdrawal of relief on these charges.This exemption scheme, which will run until 2006, is providing assistanceto a number of relatively small voluntary and charitable bodies, including anumber of sporting organisations. However, the Executive is unable to comment on itsapplication in individual cases, as this is a matter for Scottish Water, whichadministers the scheme.

Question reference: S2W-06315

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 February 2004
Current Status: Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 23 March 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive, with reference to Health Technology Assessment Advice 5, what steps will be taken to follow up the recommendation to establish a national working group to determine the specification for ultrasound equipment, to ensure fitness for the requirements of both first and second trimester scanning and to address the issues of safety, quality assurance, repair and maintenance of ultrasound equipment.

Question reference: S2W-06908

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 11 March 2004
Current Status: Answered by Tom McCabe on 23 March 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive whether the cost of installing sprinklers in care homes will be reflected in future care home charges or whether it will provide any financial assistance to care homes for their installation.

Question reference: S2W-06835

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 09 March 2004
Current Status: Answered by Tom McCabe on 23 March 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive what assessment it has made of public awareness of the National Care Standards.

Question reference: S2W-06834

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 09 March 2004
Current Status: Answered by Tom McCabe on 23 March 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive what measures it has taken, and will put in place, to promote the National Care Standards.

The National Care Standardswere officially launched in November 2001 by the Health Minister. The event washeld at Dynamic Earth in Edinburgh and attracted significant press and media attention.This was followed by the publication and wide distribution of the first 19 setsof standards in late 2001 and 2002. Two further sets of standards have beenpublished in 2003 and 2004. All the standards are available on the Scottish Executive’s website at www.scotland.gov.uk.

In September 2002 around 220,000copies of a general information leaflet about the standards Using careservices? was published. This leaflet along with posters was widelydistributed to public places such as benefit offices, doctors’ surgeries,libraries and local authority social work departments; to service providers; toumbrella and professional organisations and to the Care Commission. We will bepublishing an updated version of this leaflet during 2004.

The Care Commission has akey role to play in raising awareness of the standards when it is carrying outregulation, inspection and complaints work. The Scottish Executive is working,and will continue to work closely with the Commission to develop ways of furtherpromoting the standards.

Question reference: S2W-06836

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 09 March 2004
Current Status: Answered by Tom McCabe on 23 March 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive how much money has been (a) allocated to and (b) spent on publicising the National Care Standards in (i) 2002-03 and (ii) 2003-04 to date.

The table details the financial resources spent on publishing, distributing and publicising the National Care Standards.

Expenditure On The National Care Standards

Year	Resources Spent
2001-2002	£153,590
2002-2003	£46,738
2003-2004 (to date)	£14,053

There are also effective ways of publicising the standards which do not involve spending money. The Scottish Executive and ministers take every appropriate opportunity to raise awareness of the standards in correspondence, at meetings and other events. Likewise, the Care Commission has a key role to play in raising awareness of the standards when it is carrying out regulation, inspection and complaints work.

Question reference: S2W-06521

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 26 February 2004
Current Status: Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 22 March 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive what concerns it has at the variation in the age of medical equipment across NHS trusts and that “some trusts are relying heavily on equipment that is beyond its standard life”, as referred to in Audit Scotland's report, Better Equipped to Care? - Follow-up report on managing medical equipment, and what action it is taking to remedy the situation and, in particular, to ensure that trusts have sufficient funds to replace old equipment.

The concerns highlighted inthe report about the age of equipment have been noted and will be acted uponwhere necessary at local level. However, the report does make clear that whilstsome equipment is passed its expected useful life, where it is working well andcan be maintained and is fit for purpose, there is no need to replace itimmediately.

The distribution of the NHScapital budget for 2004-05 was announced on 11 March with the Executive makingrecord levels of capital investment available in NHSScotland. By 2005-06capital resources will be £420 million which is an increase of 300% over the1997 level.

An amount of capital isallocated to NHS boards on a “formula” basis and this is generally used for thepurchase of equipment as well as investment in the NHSScotland estate. It isfor individual NHS boards to determine, on an annual basis, the level offunding required for new and replacement medical equipment taking into accountother local and national priorities. NHS boards can use both capital andrevenue resources to meet equipment costs. The use of PPP where appropriatealso frees up additional capital resources to deal with issues such as medicalequipment.

In addition the Executivehas centrally funded programmes in excess of £40 million since 2000 forinvestment in medical equipment.

Question reference: S2W-06893

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 11 March 2004
Current Status: Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 22 March 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive Scottish Executive what the average waiting time has been for a patient to be referred for rheumatologist specialist opinion and treatment in each year since 1999, broken down by NHS board area.

The median waiting times for a first outpatient appointment with a consultant, following referral by a General Medical Practitioner, and for inpatient and day case treatment, in the specialty of Rheumatology, by NHS Board area of residence, in each year since 1999, are given in the tables.

NHSScotland: Median Waiting Times For A First Outpatient Appointment With A Consultant In The Specialty Of Rheumatology, Following A General Medical Practitioner Referral, By NHS Board Of Residence: Years Ended 30 September 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002 and 2003^P.

	Median Wait (days)
NHS Board	30 Sep 1999	30 Sep 2000	30 Sep 2001	30 Sep 2002	30 Sep 2003^P
Argyll and Clyde	52	74	77	94	103
Ayrshire and Arran	55	78	70	78	92
Borders	92	56	66	69	98
Dumfries and Galloway	58	43	31	41	44
Fife	62	103	125	106	82
Forth Valley	112	141	167	217	122
Grampian	33	35	38	42	44
Greater Glasgow	77	71	81	95	92
Highland	41	64	72	54	83
Lanarkshire	78	74	79	97	86
Lothian	68	55	63	69	92
Orkney	*	*	*	*	*
Shetland	*	*	30	29	*
Tayside	56	57	70	61	55
Western Isles	*	*	*	*	*
Scotland	58	62	65	70	72

Source: ISD Scotland, SMR00.

Notes:

^PProvisional.

*Information not shown due to small numbers.

NHSScotland: Median Waiting Times For Inpatient And Day Case Treatment In The Specialty Of Rheumatology, By NHS Board Of Residence: Years Ended 30 September 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002 and 2003^P.

	Median Wait (days)
NHS Board	30 Sep 1999	30 Sep 2000	30 Sep 2001	30 Sep 2002	30 Sep 2003^P
Argyll and Clyde	8	10	7	7	6
Ayrshire and Arran	10	12	13	9	12
Borders	*	*	*	*	*
Dumfries and Galloway	*	*	*	*	*
Fife	*	*	*	*	*
Forth Valley	10	9	8	4	4
Grampian	7	5	5	5	10
Greater Glasgow	10	12	12	13	10
Highland	*	*	*	*	26
Lanarkshire	4	7	6	7	7
Lothian	12	14	14	12	15
Orkney	*	*	*	*	*
Shetland	*	*	*	*	*
Tayside	*	*	*	*	*
Western Isles	*	*	*	*	*
Scotland	8	9	7	9	8

Source: ISD Scotland, SMR01.

Notes:

^PProvisional.

*Information not shown due to small numbers.

Question reference: S2W-06892

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 11 March 2004
Current Status: Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 22 March 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive which NHS boards (a) are and (b) are not meeting Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network guidelines that all patients who have experienced persistent inflammation of the joints for more than six to eight weeks and are receiving simple painkillers or anti-inflammatory drugs are to be referred for specialist opinion and treatment within 12 weeks of the onset of treatment.