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: S4W-14228

Asked by: Helen Eadie, MSP for Cowdenbeath, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 07 May 2013
Current Status: Answered by Alex Neil on 17 May 2013

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4W-14201 by Alex Neil on 1 May 2013, what reassurances it has received from each supplier regarding their (a) services and (b) support for patients.

Question reference: S4O-02155

Asked by: Helen Eadie, MSP for Cowdenbeath, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 May 2013
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 23 May 2013

To ask the Scottish Government when it last had discussions with relevant officials concerning flooding in Fife.

Question reference: S4W-14205

Asked by: Helen Eadie, MSP for Cowdenbeath, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 09 April 2013
Current Status: Answered by Alex Neil on 1 May 2013

To ask the Scottish Government whether the Supply of Wigs Investigation Group Scotland has reported and, if so, whether it will publish the group's report.

The Supply of Wigs Investigation Group Scotland (SWIGS) was a short life working group established by the then Scottish Executive in 2006 to look in to the provision of wigs in Scotland.

SWIGS recommended an increase from two to four basic wigs for patients and funds were provided to NHS boards to help meet additional costs. NHS boards received a total sum of £1.260 million in 2008-09 and £0.798 million in 2009-10 on a recurring basis which was subsumed within NHS boards’ general allocations from 2010-11 onwards, including an uplift of 2.75% within 2010-11.

Working as an independent group, SWIGS subsequently prepared updated guidance which it was agreed to issue to NHS boards. This most recent advice was issued in 2011 and is available on the Scotland’s Health On the Web (SHOW) website:

http://www.show.scot.nhs.uk/sehd/publications/DC20111102wigs.pdf.

Question reference: S4W-14207

Asked by: Helen Eadie, MSP for Cowdenbeath, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 09 April 2013
Current Status: Answered by Alex Neil on 1 May 2013

To ask the Scottish Government what recent consultations it has had with the medical consultants who diagnose and treat patients with hair loss about the implications of an England-based wholesaler being awarded the contract to provide wigs and other hairpieces.

Question reference: S4W-14201

Asked by: Helen Eadie, MSP for Cowdenbeath, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 09 April 2013
Current Status: Answered by Alex Neil on 1 May 2013

To ask the Scottish Government which England-based wholesaler it has contracted to provide wigs and other hairpieces for people with hair loss arising from cancer and alopecia; whether this wholesaler will provide salon, measuring, fitting and associated services; how many salons in Scotland have been affected by this decision, and how many providers in Scotland will face closure as a consequence.

The information requested is not held centrally. NHS National Procurement, a division of NHS National Services Scotland advises that the new contract for the supply of Wigs and Associated Services, starting on 1 June 2013, has been put in place with six suppliers. These are A&A Studios, Dimples, Healthcare Europe, Holms of Greenock, LA Hair Solutions and Parrucche, of which Dimples is based in Manchester, England, and the remaining five suppliers based in Scotland.

All successful suppliers are required to provide a range of facilities to meet the needs of NHSScotland and to provide this service either through their own premises, or through agents on their behalf, or a mixture of both, with all the tendered premises assessed by NHSScotland.

Question reference: S4W-14372

Asked by: Helen Eadie, MSP for Cowdenbeath, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 22 April 2013
Current Status: Answered by Alex Neil on 1 May 2013

To ask the Scottish Government what measures are in place to ensure the (a) propriety and (b) professionalism of all parties in the tender process for the procurement of NHS hairpieces.

Question reference: S4W-14374

Asked by: Helen Eadie, MSP for Cowdenbeath, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 22 April 2013
Current Status: Answered by Alex Neil on 1 May 2013

To ask the Scottish Government how it ensures that patients receiving chemotherapy are measured for wigs and have them provided within three weeks of starting chemotherapy and that this timescale is not disrupted by any change in supplier.

Question reference: S4W-14373

Asked by: Helen Eadie, MSP for Cowdenbeath, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 22 April 2013
Current Status: Answered by Alex Neil on 1 May 2013

To ask the Scottish Government how it ensures a seamless transition for patients requiring hairpieces when there is a change in supplier.

Question reference: S4W-14234

Asked by: Helen Eadie, MSP for Cowdenbeath, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 11 April 2013
Current Status: Answered by Alex Neil on 1 May 2013

To ask the Scottish Government what meetings it has had since 2007 with salon providers of services to patients who experience hair loss as a result of their treatment for (a) cancer and (b) other conditions.

<>Planning and delivery of healthcare services to meet the assessed needs of their resident populations is a matter for NHS boards. National Procurement (NP), a division of NHS National Services Scotland is the centre of procurement expertise for health established as part of the wider procurement reform activity across the Scottish Public Sector. Further information about NP is available from their website - www.nhsscotlandprocurement.scot.nhs.uk/.

Question reference: S4W-14233

Asked by: Helen Eadie, MSP for Cowdenbeath, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 11 April 2013
Current Status: Answered by Alex Neil on 1 May 2013

To ask the Scottish Government when it last met the chief executives of NHS boards to discuss the needs of (a) children, (b) young adults and (c) adults who experience hair loss as a result of their treatment for (i) cancer and (ii) other conditions.