- Asked by: Mary Scanlon, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 04 August 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 26 August 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will review the nursing levels in maternity units to ensure that the extent of in-utero transfers are minimised.
Answer
Workload and workforce planning within maternity services has been ongoing this past year utilising the birthrate plus methodology. The results of this exercise are expected by the end of September 2008. Due consideration will be given to the findings by NHS boards in relation to the impact of midwifery staffing on in-utero transfers.
Development work is currently underway to further enhance the neonatal workload and workforce tool with a view to the tool being ready for further rollout by April 2009.
- Asked by: Mary Scanlon, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 04 August 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 26 August 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive what research has been done into the financial, practical and emotional implications of in-utero transfers on families.
Answer
Bliss, the premature baby charity, carries out research into the financial, practical and emotional implications of in-utero transfers on families, and will publish a report later this year, which will be specific to neo-natal services in Scotland.
The Maternity Services Action Group will be asked to consider this report upon publication.
- Asked by: Mary Scanlon, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 06 August 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Stewart Stevenson on 25 August 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive what rail improvements will be carried out on the Inverness to Edinburgh route and what the timetable is for these improvements.
Answer
To improve journey times and increase frequency of services from the central belt to Inverness will require a combination of infrastructure works, procurement of additional rolling stock and timetable changes. Feasibility work is currently underway and this will determine the timetable for the work. It is estimated that the project could be implemented by 2011-12.
- Asked by: Mary Scanlon, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 06 August 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Stewart Stevenson on 25 August 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive when the journey time for rail commuters from Inverness to Edinburgh will be reduced by 35 minutes.
Answer
It is estimated that this project could be implemented by 2011-2012. Atkins has recently been commissioned by Network Rail to develop a feasibility study to take this project forward.
The study will validate the assumptions in the Room for Growth report, which will provide better cost certainty and clearer information on the timescales for implementation.
- Asked by: Mary Scanlon, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 July 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 18 August 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to introduce hearing screening for people aged over (a) 55, (b) 60 and (c) 65.
Answer
There is currently no national screening plan for these age groups. However, for patients over the age of 50 there are two routes into assessment, through referral by the patient''s general practitioner or through the local NHS Board Audiology Service directly.
- Asked by: Mary Scanlon, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 16 July 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 6 August 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive how many women have been transferred to a hospital outwith their home NHS board area as a result of a shortage of neo-natal care in each of the last five years, broken down by NHS board.
Answer
The information requested is not centrally available. However, whilst data on this subject has not routinely been collected in the past, the perinatal collaborative transport study, which was published by NHS Quality Improvement Scotland, on Sunday 27 July 2008, sought to collect this type of data over a six month period to February 2007.
A link to the study is attached below:
http://www.nhshealthquality.org/nhsqis/files/CoTS%20Final%20Report.pdf.
- Asked by: Mary Scanlon, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 14 July 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 1 August 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive what surgical procedures to assist weight loss are available in each NHS board area.
Answer
Four board areas provide bariatric surgery for the Scottish population: NHS Grampian, NHS Lothian, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde and NHS Lanarkshire. The two main procedures that fall under bariatric surgery are adjustable gastric banding and Roux en Y gastric bypass. Both procedures reduce the volume of food which can be ingested and gastric bypass also causes a degree of mal absorption.
Bariatric surgery is one element in the management of obesity. We are currently conducting a review of best practice in order to publish guidance to NHS boards on preparing local healthy weight strategies. This will cover treatment in primary, secondary and tertiary care and address coordination of services through local regional and national pathways. It is anticipated that this guidance will provide greater clarity to both GPs and NHS boards when it is published at the end of 2008.
- Asked by: Mary Scanlon, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 14 July 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 1 August 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive whether bariatric weight loss surgery is available to all patients for whom this procedure is considered to be clinically appropriate.
Answer
It is estimated that 2.5% of the adult population of Scotland is in the BMI category for which bariatric surgery may be indicated (BMI>40), however not all would meet the clinical criteria defined by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence.
Bariatric surgery is only one element in the management of obesity. We are currently conducting a review of best practice in order to publish guidance to NHS boards on preparing local healthy weight strategies. This will cover treatment in primary, secondary and tertiary care and address coordination of services through local regional and national pathways. It is anticipated that this guidance will provide greater clarity to both GPs and NHS boards when it is published at the end of 2008.
- Asked by: Mary Scanlon, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 14 July 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 29 July 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive how many private contractors have applied to build and run GP centres in each NHS board area in each of the last 10 years.
Answer
None.
We have interpreted the question to mean applications from commercial companies only. Applications from GP practices are not included.
- Asked by: Mary Scanlon, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 14 July 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 29 July 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive how many private contractors have applied to run GP centres in each NHS board in each of the last 10 years.
Answer
Two applications made up of one application in Fife in 2005 and one application in Lanarkshire in 2006.
We have interpreted the question to mean applications from commercial companies only. Applications from GP practices are not included.
