Questions and answers

Question reference: S2W-09943

Asked by: Margaret Jamieson, MSP for Kilmarnock and Loudoun, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 10 August 2004
Current Status: Answered by Mary Mulligan on 10 September 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive what the implications of the recent announcement by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister on new rules for safer and better buildings will be for the outcome of the consultation on regulations in support of the Building (Scotland) Act 2003.

I have asked Dr Paul Stollard, acting Chief Executive of the Scottish Building Standards Agency, to answer. His response is as follows:

The recent ODPM announcement has no effect on the recent consultation on regulations to support the Building (Scotland) Act 2003, as the changes proposed in Scotland represent a move towards a new, more functional, system of building standards. To give the construction industry time to adapt to the new system, it was agreed that additional technical changes would not be made until after the new system had been introduced, in May 2005.

Whilst the Scottish Building Standards Agency (SBSA) and ODPM set their own review cycles for regulatory change, both organisations take cognisance of respective work plans and have reciprocal arrangements for attendance at technical working groups. Some aspects of the ODPM announcement are already within Scottish regulations (e.g. on electrical safety in dwellings) whilst other changes will be considered by the SBSA in due course, following the transition to the new system.

Question reference: S2W-09831

Asked by: Margaret Jamieson, MSP for Kilmarnock and Loudoun, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 28 July 2004
Current Status: Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 25 August 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had with Her Majesty's Government's Department of Health regarding the provision of patient information leaflets in Braille for dispensed drugs.

Requirements for the provisionof patient information leaflets are reserved matters which come under the remitof the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency.

Council Directive 2004/27/ECwill be transposed into UK national legislation by 30 October 2005. Discussions arecurrently underway between officials in the Medicines and Healthcare products RegulatoryAgency who are responsible for implementing the legislation, patient organisations,the pharmaceutical companies and other regulatory agencies in Europe on theavailable expertise in this area. Changes in the law will be subject to a full publicconsultation throughout the UK.

Question reference: S2W-09830

Asked by: Margaret Jamieson, MSP for Kilmarnock and Loudoun, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 28 July 2004
Current Status: Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 25 August 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive what steps are being taken to implement European Directive 2004/27/EC, with particular reference to the provision of patient information leaflets in Braille for dispensed drugs.

Requirements for the provisionof patient information leaflets are reserved matters which come under the remitof the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency.

Council Directive 2004/27/ECwill be transposed into UK national legislation by 30 October 2005. Discussionsare currently underway between officials in the Medicines and Healthcare productsRegulatory Agency who are responsible for implementing the legislation, patientorganisations, the pharmaceutical companies and other regulatory agencies in Europe on theavailable expertise in this area. Changes in the law will be subject to a full publicconsultation throughout the UK.

Question reference: S2W-09730

Asked by: Margaret Jamieson, MSP for Kilmarnock and Loudoun, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 15 July 2004
Current Status: Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 16 August 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it records the number of patients who do not attend NHS appointments and if so, whether this information is available for (a) acute and (b) primary care cases, including non-attendance for GP appointments, broken down by NHS board area.

Information on numbers of patients who did not attend their NHS appointment is available only for first outpatient appointments at consultant-led clinics. Information about non-attendance for hospital inpatient and day case treatment and in the primary care sector, including non-attendance at GP appointments, is not collected centrally.

I refer the member to the answer given to question S2W-9486 on 27 July 2004. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/search_wa.

Question reference: S2W-09731

Asked by: Margaret Jamieson, MSP for Kilmarnock and Loudoun, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 15 July 2004
Current Status: Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 16 August 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive what the annual cost has been to it of patients not attending NHS appointments in each year since 1999.

Information on the cost of patients failing to attend NHS appointments is not available centrally. Information is available on the numbers of patients who did not attend their first outpatient appointment with a consultant, and on the average cost of a consultant outpatient attendance.

I refer the member to the answer given to question S2W-9486 on 27 July 2004. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/search_wa.

Question reference: S2W-09525

Asked by: Margaret Jamieson, MSP for Kilmarnock and Loudoun, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 01 July 2004
Current Status: Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 28 July 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking to combat counterfeit medicines and to ensure patient safety.

The regulation and safety ofmedicines is reserved and is the responsibility of the Medicines and Healthcareproducts Regulatory Agency (MHRA).

The MHRA investigates allallegations of counterfeit medicines in the UK, the vast majority of whichare not associated with the tightly regulated legitimate supply chain. Actionin the form of legal proceedings is taken when appropriate.

Counterfeit medicines is aglobal problem, therefore the MHRA is liaising closely with international regulatorypartners and the pharmaceutical industry to ensure that the tackling of counterfeitingmedicines remains a priority activity.

The MHRA runs a medicines surveillancetesting scheme which uses specific analytical methods to test thousands of “offthe shelf” products annually for authentication. To date, none of the tests hasidentified a counterfeit product.

Question reference: S2W-08877

Asked by: Margaret Jamieson, MSP for Kilmarnock and Loudoun, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 08 June 2004
Current Status: Answered by Peter Peacock on 9 June 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive what the remit of its national review of the early years and child care workforce will be.

I am today announcing a significantprogramme of reform and development for the workforce. The Review of the Early Yearsand Childcare Workforce will:

examine and define the role andresponsibilities of staff in the early years, childcare and play workforce;

determine an approach to nationalworkforce planning;

rationalise and modernise earlyyears/child care qualifications, ensuring that they are appropriate for the differentsectors of the workforce;

develop vertical and lateralcareer pathways which provide for progression within a chosen area and lateral movementbetween different sectors of the workforce, and

consider the implications ofthese considerations for pay and conditions.

Although the review will commenton pay and conditions, these remain matters for employers.

The review’s recommendationswill have to take into account current levels of resources and planned spendingfollowing the outcome of this years spending review. The review should also reflectthe interests of the different sectors which provide childcare and early years services,including the private, voluntary and social economy sector and self-employed individuals.

A steering group involving keystakeholders, to be chaired by a senior Scottish Executive official, will be setup. It will include:

COSLA

UNISON

Local authority early years manager

Local authority practitioner

Private sector provider

Voluntary sector provider

Voluntary sector overview

Social economy sector provider

Parents’ representative

SQA

Scottish Social Services Council

Further and higher educationtraining providers

Scottish Executive officials

A wider range of interests willbe involved through working groups which will develop detailed proposals for thesteering group.

I anticipate that the initialwork of the group will last 12 months.

Question reference: S2W-08713

Asked by: Margaret Jamieson, MSP for Kilmarnock and Loudoun, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 June 2004
Current Status: Awaiting answer

To ask the Scottish Executive when the Skipton Fund will begin to process applications for ex-gratia payments for people who have hepatitis C through NHS treatment with blood and blood products.

Question reference: S2W-08268

Asked by: Margaret Jamieson, MSP for Kilmarnock and Loudoun, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 17 May 2004
Current Status: Answered by Euan Robson on 26 May 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive what charges are levied by the Scottish Social Services Council on those who register with the council.

All workers who apply to be registeredwith the Scottish Social Services Council will be required to pay an annual fee.Currently the fee level has been set only for workers in Phase 1 of registration.The current annual fee is £30.00 for all workers with the exception of studentsof the new social work honours degree where the annual fee is £10.00. No fee levelhas yet been set for workers in Phase 2 of registration.

All applications for registrationmust be accompanied by a completed disclosure application. The current fee leviedby Disclosure Scotland to provide the information is £13.60.

Question reference: S2W-08267

Asked by: Margaret Jamieson, MSP for Kilmarnock and Loudoun, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 17 May 2004
Current Status: Answered by Euan Robson on 26 May 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive whether consent has been given for phase 2 of the registration of care workers with the Scottish Social Services Council.

Chamber and committees