Questions and answers

Question reference: S2W-32169

Asked by: Irene Oldfather, MSP for Cunninghame South, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 01 March 2007
Current Status: Answered by Lewis Macdonald on 15 March 2007

To ask the Scottish Executive what action it will take to improve standards in care homes following the publication of the Care Commission’s recent study of services.

Improving standards of carein Scotland is what we set up the Care Commission to do. I amconfident that the commission acts in the best interest of the many vulnerablepeople who use care services, and that it will take immediate and appropriateaction when services do not come up to scratch, using the enforcement toolsgiven to it by the Parliament.

I welcome the publication of the commission’s report on The Quality of Care Services in Scotland.The report demonstrates that overall the quality of care across Scotland isgood, and that there are a great many excellent and innovative care services,including care homes for older people. It also presents some challengingfindings, particularly in relation to care homes.

The report gives the CareCommission the evidence specifically to target the service sectors where thereis the greatest need for improvement. The commission will work with servicesand other national organisations to drive up the quality of care homes. Thisaction will include focussing inspections on areas that matter most, such asprivacy and good information and complaints systems, and working more closelywith care homes that have the most complaints and requirements.

To help it do this, the CareCommission employs professional advisors in areas such as nutrition and infectioncontrol to provide support and advice to its staff and to care serviceproviders, and it promotes good practice through its website and in Care News.The commission is also developing a grading system for care services that willfocus their resources on those providers most in need of improvement.

The Scottish Executive hasprovided funding to support the appointment by the Care Commission of a NurseConsultant for Care Homes. Part of her role has been to create a learningnetwork for staff in care homes. One of her projects focuses on nutrition, andthe Care Commission Professional Adviser-Nutrition and its Dieticians networkfor care homes will work together on this initiative.

In addition, from April 2007the Scottish Executive and local councils will deliver a further £20 million innew resources to increase care home fee levels in the independent sector. Weintend that this increased investment will be targeted to further improve thequality of care, and we are discussing with the sector how that can best bedone. We are also working to agree how fees will be linked to quality on acontinuing basis from 2008.

Question reference: S2W-31577

Asked by: Irene Oldfather, MSP for Cunninghame South, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 01 February 2007
Current Status: Answered by Ross Finnie on 13 February 2007

To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking in conjunction with local authorities to tackle climate change.

As part of Changing Our Ways:Scotland’s Climate Change Programme, the Executive supported a partnership processleading to the announcement last month of Scotland’s Climate Change Declaration. This is a common declarationof intent on climate change which all Scotland’s local authorities have committed to sign.

We are committed to supportingan on-going process to develop a co-ordinated and improved programme of supporton climate change for Scottish local authorities, and have provided resources toassist the Sustainable Scotland Network develop a climate change programme for localgovernment in Scotland for publication later this year.

Question reference: S2O-11961

Asked by: Irene Oldfather, MSP for Cunninghame South, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 31 January 2007
Current Status: Answered by Allan Wilson on 8 February 2007

To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had with the Scottish Funding Council about the current position at James Watt College.

Question reference: S2W-31281

Asked by: Irene Oldfather, MSP for Cunninghame South, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 22 January 2007
Current Status: Answered by Lewis Macdonald on 5 February 2007

To ask the Scottish Executive what guidance it issues to NHS boards in relation to granting patients access to the medical records of living relatives.

Health Rights InformationScotland is a project based within the Scottish Consumer Council, and funded bythe Scottish Executive Health Department. It is a joint initiative to raise thequality of information available to patients in the NHS.

The project has produceda paper patient leaflet How to see your Health Records which is widely availableat GP surgeries and other NHS hospitals and clinics. It contains plain english guidance on how patients can see their Health Records.The guidance is also available at their website:

http://www.hris.org.uk/?o=1256#8

In relation to granting patients access to the medical recordsof living relatives this can be arranged if:

Thepatient has agreed to this.

Theperson applying for access is a parent, guardian, or main carer, and

The child doesn’t understand what is involved.

The person applying for access has a welfare power of attorney ora welfare guardianship order for someone who cannot make decisions for themselvesand the order gives that person the power to look at their health records.

The guidance alsopoints to where to get more information about the rights of children and of adultswho cannot make their own decisions or tell others their decisions.

Question reference: S2W-31279

Asked by: Irene Oldfather, MSP for Cunninghame South, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 22 January 2007
Current Status: Answered by Lewis Macdonald on 1 February 2007

To ask the Scottish Executive what guidance it issues to NHS boards in relation to granting family members access to the medical records of deceased patients.

Health Rights InformationScotland is a project based within the Scottish Consumer Council, and funded bythe Scottish Executive Health Department. It is a joint initiative to raise thequality of information available to patients in the NHS.

The project has produceda paper patient leaflet How to see your Health Records which is widely availableat GP surgeries and other NHS hospitals and clinics. It contains plain english guidance on how patients can see their Health Records.The guidance is also available at their website:

http://www.hris.org.uk/?o=1256#8.

In relationto granting family members access to the medical records of deceased patients theguidance states that:

The law allows you tosee records made after 1 November 1991. But generally, records are only kept forthree years after death.

You can only see thatperson’s records if you are their personal representative or executor, or if youhave a claim for compensation as a result of that person’s death. If you are claimingcompensation, you can only see information which is relevant to the claim.

You will not be ableto see parts of the records which:

could cause serious harmto your, or someone else’s, physical or mental health

could identify anotherperson (except members of NHS staff who have treated the patient), unless that persongives their permission

You will not be ableto see the records of someone who made it clear that they did not want other peopleto see their records after their death.

Question reference: S2W-31280

Asked by: Irene Oldfather, MSP for Cunninghame South, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 22 January 2007
Current Status: Answered by Lewis Macdonald on 1 February 2007

To ask the Scottish Executive what guidance it issues to NHS boards in relation to granting patients access to their own medical records.

Health Rights InformationScotland is a project based within the Scottish Consumer Council, and funded bythe Scottish Executive Health Department. It is a joint initiative to raise thequality of information available to patients in the NHS.

The project has produceda paper patient leaflet How to see your Health Records which is widely availableat GP surgeries and other NHS hospitals and clinics. It contains plain english guidance on how patients can see their health records.The guidance is also available at their website:

http://www.hris.org.uk/?o=1256#8.

The guidance covers howa patient gets access to their own records, what they will see, what it might cost,how long it will take, what to do if a patient thinks the information is incorrect,whether a patient can claim compensation and who might see the records of a patientwho has died.

Question reference: S2W-31009

Asked by: Irene Oldfather, MSP for Cunninghame South, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 12 January 2007
Current Status: Answered by Andy Kerr on 23 January 2007

To ask the Scottish Executive what guidance it issues to NHS boards in relation to sharing information about patients who require to transfer to another NHS board area for further treatment.

NHS patients in Scotland mayreceive treatment outside their NHS board of residence for a range of reasons, includingaccessing services at the Golden Jubilee National Hospital and highly specialised (tertiary) services at the majorteaching centres. Many thousands of patients receive treatment outwith theirboard of residence each year.

NHS Quality Improvement Scotlandworks with NHS boards to improve the quality of health care by reducing variationin practice and outcome, through developing and disseminating national clinicalguidelines containing recommendations for effective practice based on current evidence.This covers guidance on referrals, including referrals to services in otherboard areas.

The NHS in Scotland is increasinglyusing information technology to support effective practice by enabling electronictransmission of referrals from any GP practice to any hospital in Scotland usingstandard forms. The intention is to provide the same facility for referrals betweenconsultants, including referrals to services in different board areas.

Question reference: S2W-30617

Asked by: Irene Oldfather, MSP for Cunninghame South, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 18 December 2006
Current Status: Answered by Des McNulty on 22 January 2007

To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had with Scottish Gas to ensure that the delivery of the free central heating scheme is as efficient as possible.

Question reference: S2W-30615

Asked by: Irene Oldfather, MSP for Cunninghame South, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 18 December 2006
Current Status: Answered by Des McNulty on 22 January 2007

To ask the Scottish Executive how many people were on the waiting list on 14 December 2006 to receive a free central heating system.

Question reference: S2W-30616

Asked by: Irene Oldfather, MSP for Cunninghame South, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 18 December 2006
Current Status: Answered by Des McNulty on 22 January 2007

To ask the Scottish Executive how many people were on the waiting list to have a free central heating system installed on the date that Scottish Gas assumed responsibility for the delivery of the scheme from the previous contractors, Eaga.

I have asked Angiolina Foster,Chief Executive of Communities Scotland to respond. Her response is as follows:

The number of applicants on thecentral heating programme list, as notified by Eaga to Scottish Gas, was 12,319.After data cleansing this was reduced to 10,988.

Historically, not all householderswho apply to the programmes are eligible or go on to benefit through theprogramme. From the original list provided by Eaga, it is estimated that around4,200 householders will benefit from the programme.

Chamber and committees