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-30618

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 whether it will consider employing additional gas contractors to assist Scottish Gas with the delivery of the free central heating scheme over the winter months when demand is particularly high and elderly people are at greater risk of illness due to cold weather.

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

As part of the contractual arrangementsit is the responsibility of Scottish Gas to ensure that installers, in sufficientnumbers, are engaged on the programme to install the target number of central heatingsystems each year. The performance of Scottish Gas is kept under review by CommunitiesScotland.

Question reference: S2W-30923

Asked by: Irene Oldfather, MSP for Cunninghame South, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 11 January 2007
Current Status: Answered by Andy Kerr on 22 January 2007

To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had with further and higher education institutions in respect of increasing awareness of the importance of good hand hygiene practices among students entering the medical, caring and nursing professions.

NHS Education for Scotland’s CleanlinessChampions Training Programme, which includes a specific module on hand hygiene,has been included in undergraduate medical and nursing courses. To date, around1,500 undergraduates have completed the programme.

The programe has also been madeavailable to staff working in the Care Sector and work is on-going to extend itto undergraduate courses for other disciplines, such as dentistry. The hand hygienemodule from the programme is also accessible online to widen its availability tothose wishing to undertake it.

In addition, all new staff inthe NHS now have to undertake mandatory induction training in infection control,which includes hand hygiene.

Question reference: S2W-30924

Asked by: Irene Oldfather, MSP for Cunninghame South, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 11 January 2007
Current Status: Answered by Andy Kerr on 22 January 2007

To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had with NHS Ayrshire and Arran in respect of the implementation of the hand hygiene campaign.

Scottish Medical Directors arerepresented on the Scottish Executive’s Healthcare Associated Infection Task Force,which commissioned the National Hand Hygiene Campaign, by a member from NHS Ayrshireand Arran. Throughout the Campaign, information has been circulated to NHS boardchief executives and other local interests. NHS Ayrshire and Arran are in the processof recruiting a local health board co-ordinator, who will be responsible for localimplementation of the campaign.

Question reference: S2W-30921

Asked by: Irene Oldfather, MSP for Cunninghame South, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 11 January 2007
Current Status: Answered by Andy Kerr on 22 January 2007

To ask the Scottish Executive how it intends to disseminate information on its hand hygiene campaign.

Health Protection Scotland isleading the National Hand Hygiene Campaign on behalf of the Healthcare AssociatedInfection Task Force, and is providing information through a number of channels,including:the campaign website www.washyourhandsofthem.com;

the media via TV and press advertising;

on products and in facilitiesused by the public, such as public toilets, cash machines and milk cartons, and

through posters, leaflets andinformation packs, which will be distributed to NHS boards, GP surgeries,community pharmacies, dental practices, opticians and the care sector,including nurseries and primary schools.

NHS boards have also receivedfunding to employ local health board co-ordinators who will be responsible for ensuringfull local implementation of the campaign, including the effective disseminationof information at a local level and display in Hospitals.

Question reference: S2W-30922

Asked by: Irene Oldfather, MSP for Cunninghame South, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 11 January 2007
Current Status: Answered by Andy Kerr on 22 January 2007

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will include care homes, private homes and nurseries in the remit of its hand hygiene campaign.

The Care Commission, which isrepresented on the Scottish Executive’s Healthcare Associated Infection Task Force,has given its full support to the National Hand Hygiene Campaign. Health ProtectionScotland will disseminate information posters and leaflets to care homes, includingthose run by the private sector.

An information and resource packfor nurseries and primary schools is currently under development and will issuein March 2007.

Question reference: S2W-31008

Asked by: Irene Oldfather, MSP for Cunninghame South, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 12 January 2007
Current Status: Answered by Andy Kerr on 22 January 2007

To ask the Scottish Executive what the maximum wait for an angioplasty should be for a patient following an angiogram that identifies a need for the procedure.

The current national maximumwaiting time for angioplasty, following angiography, is 18 weeks.

Published information shows thaton 30 September 2006 – the latest data available - all NHS boards met thiscommitment on that date, as they have done on every waiting list census date since30 September 2004.

From the end of thisyear, no patient presenting with chest pain will wait more than 16 weeks from GeneralMedical Practitioner referral through a rapid access chest pain clinic or equivalent,to cardiac intervention thereafter.

Question reference: S2W-31010

Asked by: Irene Oldfather, MSP for Cunninghame South, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 12 January 2007
Current Status: Answered by Andy Kerr on 22 January 2007

To ask the Scottish Executive what the most recent average waiting times for angioplasty were in (a) NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde and (b) NHS Ayrshire and Arran.

Mostpatients who require in-patient or day case treatment, including angioplasty, aretreated very quickly. Over 53% of patients treated in NHSScotland hospitals receiveimmediate treatment and never join a waiting list. Of those who wait, almost 40%are admitted for treatment within one month and over 70% within three months.

For those patients who wait longer,the current national maximum waiting time for angioplasty, following angiography,is 18 weeks. Published information shows that on 30 September 2006 – the latestdata available - all NHS boards met this commitment on that date, as they have doneon every waiting list census date since 30 September 2004.

From the end of this year, no patient presenting withchest pain will wait more than 16 weeks from General Medical Practitioner referralthrough a rapid access chest pain clinic or equivalent, to cardiac interventionthereafter.

Provisional informationfor the year ending 30 September 2006 shows that the median waitingtime for angioplasty was 28 days in NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde and 26 days in NHS Ayrshire and Arran.

Median waiting timesfor angioplasty are derived from information on patients treated during the year.This data includes patients who have had an Availability Status Code (ASC) applied,for example because they were medically unfit or had asked for their admission tobe deferred for personal or social reasons. Periods of unavailability are thereforeincluded in the calculations of median waiting times, which means that the waitsare systematically overstated.

Question reference: S2W-31007

Asked by: Irene Oldfather, MSP for Cunninghame South, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 12 January 2007
Current Status: Answered by Andy Kerr on 22 January 2007

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-30476 by Mr Andy Kerr on 19 December 2006, whether it has had any discussions with the NHS with a view to deploying a clinical nurse specialist in neuroscience/neurology in NHS Ayrshire and Arran.

Question reference: S2W-30622

Asked by: Irene Oldfather, MSP for Cunninghame South, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 18 December 2006
Current Status: Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 12 January 2007

To ask the Scottish Executive when it expects to publish its response to the Police Arbitration Tribunal’s report into the 2006 police pay award.

Police pay issues are dealt withon a UK-wide basis. The Police Arbitration Tribunal’s recommendation on the policeofficer pay award for 2006 was received on 6 November 2006.Following consultations with myself and the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, the Home Secretary subsequently announced that the tribunal’s recommendationfor a 3% pay rise for police officers with effect from 1 September 2006 wouldbe implemented in full.

Question reference: S2W-30490

Asked by: Irene Oldfather, MSP for Cunninghame South, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 11 December 2006
Current Status: Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 12 January 2007

To ask the Scottish Executive how many police officers were employed in the Strathclyde Police area in 1999, broken down into those who (a) performed administrative duties, (b) undertook the monitoring of sex offenders and (c) were available for police response.