- Asked by: Helen Eadie, MSP for Dunfermline East, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 03 April 2009
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 5 May 2009
To ask the Scottish Executive what its views are of the six year waiting time for assisted conception services identified in an Expert Advisory Group on Infertility Services in Scotland report.
Answer
The information on waiting times contained within the report of the
Expert Advisory Group on Infertility Services in Scotland dates from 1998. More recent data is contained within the
Review of Infertility Services in Scotland which demonstrates that some NHS boards have been able to reduce their waiting times, such as NHS Ayrshire and Arran, NHS Borders and NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde.
We know that waiting times for this service vary significantly across the country, and we are currently considering options to address this. The issues underlying waiting times are complex and long standing, but where NHS boards have invested in this service, waiting times have reduced in their area.
- Asked by: Helen Eadie, MSP for Dunfermline East, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 03 April 2009
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 5 May 2009
To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it can take when its guidance is not implemented by NHS boards.
Answer
NHS boards are subject to on-going performance management by the Scottish Government Health Directorates and are required to formally account to ministers at their Annual Accountability Review.
- Asked by: Helen Eadie, MSP for Dunfermline East, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 03 April 2009
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 5 May 2009
To ask the Scottish Executive whether NHS boards are required to submit plans on implementing guidance to the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Wellbeing.
Answer
NHS boards are responsible for the delivery of health care services to their resident population and are expected to take account of the latest clinical evidence and best practice. NHS boards are not routinely expected to submit plans for the implementation of all guidance, although they may be directed to do so in specific circumstances, for example, when guidance is highlighted by a chief executive letter.
- Asked by: Helen Eadie, MSP for Dunfermline East, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 03 April 2009
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 5 May 2009
To ask the Scottish Executive when it last met the Expert Advisory Group on Infertility Services in Scotland.
Answer
The Expert Advisory Group on Infertility Services in Scotland is no longer an active group and last met in 2003.
- Asked by: Helen Eadie, MSP for Dunfermline East, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 03 April 2009
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 5 May 2009
To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to assist NHS boards to implement its guidance in areas where waiting times have reached unacceptable levels.
Answer
We will shortly be writing to NHS boards who have not yet implemented the guidance to better understand why this is the case and to ask if there is anything they can learn from NHS boards who have fully implemented the guidance.
We know that waiting times for this service vary significantly across the country, and we are currently considering options to address this. The issues underlying waiting times are complex and long standing, but where NHS boards have invested in this service, waiting times have reduced in their area.
- Asked by: Helen Eadie, MSP for Dunfermline East, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 03 April 2009
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 5 May 2009
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has made any assessment of the cost of implementing the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) guidelines for infertility services.
Answer
The National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) clinical guideline, published in 2004, was developed for those who work in or use the NHS in England and Wales. NHS boards in Scotland were given updated criteria in March 2007, which was informed in part by the NICE guideline, and the Expert Advisory Group on Infertility Services in Scotland report.
- Asked by: Helen Eadie, MSP for Dunfermline East, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 03 April 2009
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 5 May 2009
To ask the Scottish Executive how many patients have received assisted conception services in each of the last five years.
Answer
This information is not collected or held centrally in Scotland.
- Asked by: Helen Eadie, MSP for Dunfermline East, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 03 April 2009
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 5 May 2009
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it agrees with the estimate that one in seven couples need help in conceiving and rely on treatment.
Answer
The National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) guideline on fertility, published in 2004, estimates that one in seven couples will be affected by fertility problems.
In the general population “ including people with fertility problems “ around 92% of couples who are trying to get pregnant do so within two years.
- Asked by: Helen Eadie, MSP for Dunfermline East, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 03 April 2009
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 5 May 2009
To ask the Scottish Executive on what dates guidance on infertility services was issued to NHS boards in each of the last five years.
Answer
The Report of the Review of Infertility Services in Scotland, including an update in criteria, issued to NHS boards in April 2007.
- Asked by: Helen Eadie, MSP for Dunfermline East, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 20 April 2009
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 29 April 2009
To ask the Scottish Executive what the NHS service level agreement with Atos Origin is regarding the time taken to answer telephone inquiries to its national helpline.
Answer
The NHS service level agreement with Atos Origin is to answer 80% of calls within 40 seconds.
