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: S4F-01021

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 26 November 2012
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 29 November 2012

To ask the First Minister what lessons the Scottish Government has learned from the serious incidents in the NHS reported in the BBC Scotland How Safe is Your Hospital? investigation.

Question reference: S4W-11056

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 12 November 2012
Current Status: Answered by Alex Neil on 26 November 2012

To ask the Scottish Government how many voluntary severance packages have been agreed by the NHS for 2012-13 and how much these will cost.

Question reference: S4W-11060

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 08 November 2012
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 22 November 2012

To ask the Scottish Government how the transition for young people with diabetes from paediatric to adult services is delivered.

We expect that every NHS boards should ensure that appropriate local transitional arrangements are in place which meet the needs of their local population.

Transitional arrangements exist in every NHS board area and every NHS board area, where appropriate, now has joint clinics with representation from both adult and paediatric services.

SIGN Guideline 116 on the management of diabetes, published in 2010, noted the limited evidence on the different adolescent transition models.

The Scottish Diabetes Group has appointed an adolescent and paediatric subgroup, supported by national paediatric coordinator for diabetes services. This group and post will help to support an improved and standardised approach to the care of all children and young adults with diabetes in Scotland.

The paediatric subgroup and coordinator now plan to work with NHS boards to build on and strengthen these transitional services.

Question reference: S4W-11066

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 08 November 2012
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 22 November 2012

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has undertaken an audit of diabetes services in each NHS board area.

The annual Scottish Diabetes Survey produced by the Scottish Diabetes Survey Monitoring Group, provides a comprehensive account of the quality of diabetes care across the whole of Scotland. This year, the Survey includes charts that will enable each NHS board and diabetes managed clinical networks to quickly review and compare their local information. The latest published edition of the survey can be found at the following link:

http://www.diabetesinscotland.org.uk/Publications/SDS%202011.pdf

Question reference: S4W-11040

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 08 November 2012
Current Status: Answered by Alex Neil on 22 November 2012

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the scale of risk of the NHS maintenance backlog of over £1 billion as outlined in the Audit Scotland report, NHS financial performance 2011/12.

The NHS maintenance backlog figure of over £1 billion outlined in the Audit Scotland report covers properties that are to be retained and those designated as surplus for disposal. Around 20% of the current backlog maintenance expenditure requirement is in buildings which are classified as “non-clinical” and will thus have little impact on patient healthcare experience.

My officials are working with NHS boards to reduce the reported backlog maintenance through refurbishment, replacement, rationalisation and disposal of properties.

The scale of risk and associated backlog costs outlined in the Audit Scotland Report, NHS financial performance 2011-12 has been assessed as £194.8 million low risk, £272.3 million medium risk, £289.3 million Significant Risk, £252.5 million high risk.

Question reference: S4W-11061

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 08 November 2012
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 22 November 2012

To ask the Scottish Government what psychosocial support is provided to young people and their families following a diagnosis of diabetes.

NHS boards’ diabetes services are responsible for ensuring young people with diabetes get access to the emotional and psychological support they need.

Our Diabetes Action Plan 2010 fully recognises the importance of improving the capacity and quality of emotional and psychological support available to people with diabetes of all ages. It states:

We want to improve the full spectrum of emotional and psychological support for people living with diabetes in Scotland through enhancing the skills of clinical staff and valuing the contribution of voluntary sector support, including peer support.

We are currently supporting a range of projects including the Psychology in Diabetes, Psychology and Diabetes project, which is running within six NHS boards. The project aims to implant psychological care within diabetes services, including two paediatric services, through training NHS staff to improve their skills in behaviour change and psychological support. This initiative provides the opportunity for

increased psychological support to people with diabetes;

integrated care across medical and psychological issues; and

building a skill base in diabetes within the psychology professions.

We are also working with Diabetes UK Scotland in the delivery of a national buddy coordinator project, which will help people with diabetes to access peer support.

Question reference: S4W-11158

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 12 November 2012
Current Status: Answered by Alex Neil on 22 November 2012

To ask the Scottish Government whether a regular assessment is undertaken to establish whether free prescriptions are having a positive impact on people’s health.

Question reference: S4W-11022

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 08 November 2012
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 22 November 2012

To ask the Scottish Government how NHS boards are supported and encouraged to implement Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network (SIGN) guideline 123.

Implementation of national clinical guidelines is the responsibility of each NHS board and is an essential part of clinical governance. Local mechanisms should therefore be in place to review care provided against guideline recommendations. The reasons for any differences should be assessed and addressed where appropriate. Local arrangements should then be made to implement the guideline in individual hospitals, units and practices.

SIGN has also made tools, including a quick reference guide, an iPhone and android compatible smartphone application and widely disseminated audit criteria available to support NHS boards with implementation.

Question reference: S4W-11055

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 12 November 2012
Current Status: Answered by Alex Neil on 22 November 2012

To ask the Scottish Government whether the 475 voluntary severance packages reported in the Audit Scotland report, NHS financial performance 2011/12, represent all staff reductions for that year and, if not, what the reasons were for the others.

Question reference: S4W-11054

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 12 November 2012
Current Status: Answered by Alex Neil on 22 November 2012

To ask the Scottish Government how many of the 475 voluntary severance packages reported in the Audit Scotland report, NHS financial performance 2011/12, were subject to compromise agreements.