Questions and answers

Question reference: S3W-11990

Asked by: Mary Scanlon, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 17 April 2008
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 25 April 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive what progress has been made in establishing a local NHS24 service in every mainland NHS board area, as stated on page 71 of Better Health, Better Care: Action Plan.

Question reference: S3W-11999

Asked by: Mary Scanlon, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 18 April 2008
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 25 April 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive what health checks are given to children from birth to five years of age.

The routine health checks which children from birth to five years of age receive is set out in the Health for All Children (Hall 4) Guidance.

The guidance recommends that all children should have contact with health professionals within the first 24 hours for a full physical health check; within the first 10 days of life for a blood spot test for particular illnesses and a general check to ensure there is no cause for concern; within the first 28 days of life for a hearing test; at six to eight weeks for a full physical health and development check, including weight; at two, three and four months for immunisation and to check weight; at 12 months for immunisation; at 13 months for immunisation and to check weight; between the ages of three to five years for immunisation and to check weight; between four and five years for an eye sight test, usually at pre-school, and between the ages of four to six, usually in school year primary 1, for a full physical health check including height, weight and dental check.

Question reference: S3W-11997

Asked by: Mary Scanlon, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 18 April 2008
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 25 April 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it intends to review the work of the Post Graduate Medical Training Board in respect of promoted posts for trainee doctors.

No. The Postgraduate Medical Education and Training Board (PMETB) is the independent UK statutory body responsible for overseeing and promoting the standards of postgraduate medical education and training for all specialities. The role of PMETB is to prospectively approve specialty training programmes and to ensure their delivery through postgraduate deans is to agreed national standards. Operational responsibility for ensuring the delivery of these same standards in Scotland lies with NHS Education for Scotland (NES).

As indicated in the Scottish Government''s consultation document on Professor Sir John Tooke''s report into Modernising Medical Careers (MMC) Aspiring To Excellence dated 8 January 2008, it is proposed that PMETB will merge with the General Medical Council (GMC). Similarly, the consultation document also confirmed that NES is planning an internal review of their Medical Directorate, particularly around roles and responsibilities within/across Deaneries to meet PMETB standards, and a project board has been established and work streams are being developed to be rolled out throughout 2008.

Question reference: S3W-11974

Asked by: Mary Scanlon, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 17 April 2008
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 25 April 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive how many mental health training places are planned for recruitment in 2008.

The Scottish Government is responsible for determining supply training numbers for centrally controlled NHS staff groups including medical, dental, and nursing and midwifery numbers.

The student intake numbers for mental health nursing have been agreed at 366 for 2008-09. This is a reduction of 156 on the 2006-07 intakes to reflect uptake of the places and improve the quality of the student experience to reduce attrition.

Overall medical specialty training places in mental health increased by 32 places, from 268 in 2007 to 300 for 2008.

A range of other training is available which will allow people to work in the field of mental health, such as cognitive behaviour therapy, family therapy and child psychotherapy.

Work is being taken forward at individual board level to scope out the capacity of staff who have been trained in a range of psychological therapies to match demand with capacity and meet patient need.

Question reference: S3W-11971

Asked by: Mary Scanlon, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 17 April 2008
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 25 April 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive how many additional psychiatrists, psychologists, counsellors, psychological therapists and nurses will be recruited in order to increase access to talking therapies, whilst reducing prescribing of anti-depressants.

The government is building on the programme Doing Well by People with Depression which saw an investment of £4.5 million over a three year period between 2003-06.

The planning, recruitment and deployment of staff to meet service need is a matter for health boards locally to agree. All health boards are undertaking work to look at current capacity to deliver evidence based psychological therapies. Work is also being done nationally to support the growth in therapeutic interventions that may be available, such as the pilot with NHS 24 on telephone based Cognitive Behaviour Therapy and the roll out of Living Life to the Full materials.

In addition, work has been commissioned to look at the evidence base for psychological therapies in relation to different conditions and patient groups and health boards will use this in taking forward future planning around this agenda.

Question reference: S3W-11989

Asked by: Mary Scanlon, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 17 April 2008
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 25 April 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive who the (a) members of the national eHealth programme board, (b) members of the national eHealth strategy board and (c) NHS board eHealth leads are.

The members of the national eHealth programme board are:

Paul Rhodes	eHealth Programme Director (Chair) SGHD
Robin Wright	Chair eHealth Leads group, NHS Lanarkshire
Liz MacDonald	Scottish Consumer Council
Hazel Robertson	Director of Finance, State Hospital
Jonathan Pryce	Head of Primary Care Division, SGHD
Joe Welsh	Health Finance
Scott Haldane	Director of Finance “ NHS National Services Scotland (NSS)
David Hastie	Capital Investment Group (CIG), Scottish Government
Martin Egan	Co-chair eHealth Leads group, NHS Lothian
Tony Wells	Chief Executive, NHS Tayside
Prof. Peter Donnelly	Deputy Chief Medical Officer, SGHD
Stephen Robinson	Scottish Partnership Forum
Linda Rosborough	Head of Transformational Technologies, SG
Clinical Care Leadership Group	Vacancy

The members of the national eHealth strategy board are:

Dr Kevin Woods	Chief Executive NHS Scotland and Director General Health (Chair)
Derek Feeley	Director of Healthcare Policy & Strategy, Scottish Government Health Directorates(SGHD)
Dr Harry Burns	Chief Medical Officer, SGHD
Professor Andrew Morris	Tayside Centre for Clinical Technology
Paul Martin	Chief Nursing Officer, SGHD
Robert Calderwood	Acute Division Chief Operating Officer, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde
John Connaghan	Director of Delivery, SGHD
Paul Gray	Director of Change and Corporate Services, SGHD
Ian Crichton	Chief Executive, NHS National Services Scotland
Paul Rhodes	eHealth Programme Director, SGHD
Richard Copland	Head of Health Information Technology, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde
Gillian Smith	Acting Director Royal College of Midwives - Scottish
	Partnership Forum representative
George Crooks	Chief Executive, NHS 24
Alex Smith	Interim Director of Finance, SGHD
Jane Davidson	Head of Finance, SGHD
Professor Tony Wells	Chief Executive, NHS Tayside

The members of the NHS board eHealth leads are:

Robin Wright	General Manager “ Information Management and Technology (IM&T), NHS Lanarkshire (Chair)
Alan Hyslop	Head of Strategy, SGHD
Andrew Dodd	Head of NSS IM&T, NHS National Services Scotland
Bill Reid	Head of eHealth Affairs, NHS Highland
Dave Simpson	Head of eHealth , NHS Forth Valley
Denise Brown	Head of eHealth, NHS Ayrshire and Arran
Donald Wilson	Acting Head of IT Services, NHS Fife
Dr Ann Wales	Programme Director, NHS Education for Scotland
Graham Gault	Head of eHealth,NHS Dumfries and Galloway
Alan Blackburn	Interim Head of IM&T, State Hospital
Iain Hunter	General Manager, Scottish Centre for Telehealth
Ian Fenton	Associate Director of Finance - Health Informatics NHS Tayside,
Ian Shanley	Communications & IT Manager, Scottish Ambulance Service
Jackie Stephen	Head of IM&T, NHS Borders
John Wright	Director of Knowledge Management & eHealth, NHS Ayrshire &Arran,
Jon Harris	IT Manager, Western Isles Hospital
Kinley McDonald	Head of IM&T, NHS Grampian
Martin Egan	Director of eHealth, NHS Lothian Road West
Paul Rhodes	eHealth Programme Director, SGHD
Pauline Fyfe	Head of IT, NHS Quality Improvement Scotland
Richard Copland	Director of eHealth Information & Technology, Greater Glasgow and Clyde
Roella Wilson	Information Management Services Manager, NHS Orkney
Ron Anderson	Interim Director IM&T, NSS, NHS
Stuart Hubbard	Computer Services Manager, NHS Shetland,
Thomas Buchendorfer	Enterprise Architect, NHS24,
William Edwards	Head of eHealth, Golden Jubilee National Hospital,

In addition to the above groups, the eHealth clinical leads are organised as the clinical change leadership group and provide advice on the clinical aspects of eHealth initiatives. The membership of that group is as follows:

Prof. Peter Donnelly	Deputy Chief Medical Officer (Chair)
Dr Peter Curry	NHS Fife
Dr Nick Sutcliffe	Golden Jubilee National Hospital
Dr Chris Stewart	NHS 24
Margaret Hastings	NHS Argyll and Clyde
Dr James Campbell	NHS Ayrshire and Arran
Michele Caldwell	NHS Ayrshire and Arran
Dr Elaine Taylor	NHS Borders
Dr Gordon Sim	NHS Borders
Dr Hamish McRitchie	NHS Borders
Dr Neil Kelly	NHS Dumfries and Galloway
Dr Stella Clark	NHS Fife
Dr Gareth Davies	NHS Forth Valley
Dr Stuart Scott	NHS Grampian
Dr Malcolm Gordon	NHS Greater Glasgow
Dr James Docherty	NHS Highland
Dr Bill Martin	NHS Lanarkshire
Val Baker	NHS Lothian
Dr Marion Bain	NHS NSS
Dr Brian Robson	NHS NSS
Dr Peter Baxter	NHS Orkney
Dr Ken Graham	NHS Shetland
Dr Cliff Barthram	NHS Tayside
Dr Andrew Sim	NHS Western Isles
Elaine Heslop	Interim Head of Change and Benefits, eHealth, SGHD
Heather Strachan	NMAHP lead, eHealth, SGHD
Vacancy	eHealth clinical lead, SGHD

Question reference: S3W-11986

Asked by: Mary Scanlon, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 17 April 2008
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 25 April 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive on what date it intends to publish a new eHealth strategy as stated on page 62 of Better Health, Better Care: Action Plan.

Question reference: S3W-11973

Asked by: Mary Scanlon, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 17 April 2008
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 25 April 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive how many mental health nurse training places have been provided in each of the last five years.

The information requested is in the following table.

Nursing and Midwifery - Student Intakes

Intakes¹	2002-03	2003-04	2004-05	2005-06	2006-07
Mental Health	486	567	575	542	522

Source: NHS Education for Scotland Annual Statistical Supplement.

Data for nursing and midwifery student intakes can be found at Table 11 http://www.isdscotland.org/isd/servlet/FileBuffer?namedFile=Student%20intakes%20and%20students%20in%20training.xls&pContentDispositionType=inline.

Note: 1 Intakes of student nurses and midwives commencing in that financial year.

The numbers of student mental health nurse training places is reflective of boards workforce planning and demand projections to meet service need.

Question reference: S3W-11987

Asked by: Mary Scanlon, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 17 April 2008
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 25 April 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive what progress has been made in developing a new eHealth strategy and which (a) organisations and (b) individuals have been consulted.

The eHealth strategy has reached the stage of a final draft with NHS boards and other stakeholders for comment. Organisations consulted mainly comprise NHS boards, and the principal individuals consulted are those listed in the answer to question S3W-11189 on 14 April 2008. In addition, a workshop is being scheduled for patients and organisations who represent patient interests related to long-term conditions.

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/wa.search.

Question reference: S3W-12169

Asked by: Mary Scanlon, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 22 April 2008
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 25 April 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive how many people are registered with a GP in each NHS board area.

The following information is at 1 April 2008.

NHS Board	Registered Population
Ayrshire and Arran	387,573
Borders	115,216
Dumfries and Galloway	154,909
Fife	370,578
Forth Valley	305,488
Grampian	564,015
Greater Glasgow and Clyde	1,302,158
Highland	320,314
Lanarkshire	588,046
Lothian	858,857
Orkney	20,298
Shetland	22,171
Tayside	413,980
Western Isles	27,589
Total	5,451,192

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