- Asked by: Mary Scanlon, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 04 February 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 12 February 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive what action will be taken to address the length of waiting times in accident and emergency departments.
Answer
A number of actions are being taken to improve waiting times in accident and emergency departments. Since 1999, an additional £12 million has been invested in new and refurbished units. In addition, a number of areas have plans for new minor injuries units, staffed by nurses, which will stream some of the "walking wounded" cases away from busy accident and emergency centres, leaving staff more time to treat ill and injured patients. Moreover, NHS 24 should have a positive impact on accident and emergency waiting times as it is rolled out across Scotland.
- Asked by: Mary Scanlon, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 30 January 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 12 February 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it supports the 10 basic rights outlined in The Patients Charter - A Charter for Health, published in 1991.
Answer
Following a consultation exercise, carried out by the Scottish Association of Health Councils, we concluded that the national Patient's Charter, introduced in 1991, should be updated. We asked the Scottish Consumer Council, with the support of an advisory group representing a range of interests, to seek views on the changes needed. We will be issuing the final draft document for consultation later this month.
- Asked by: Mary Scanlon, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 04 February 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 12 February 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive what the waiting times are in each NHS trust for an appointment with a consultant neurologist for an assessment to identify whether a multiple sclerosis patient would benefit from beta interferon treatment.
Answer
Information on waiting times for out-patient appointments with a consultant is collected centrally at specialty level only.
- Asked by: Mary Scanlon, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 03 February 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Frank McAveety on 11 February 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive how it will measure the effectiveness of joint working arrangements between the NHS and social work departments on the delivery of care for the elderly.
Answer
The effectiveness of joint working arrangements will be measured in a number of ways. At a strategic level, local partners will report progress through their local Health Plans and Community Care Plans. In terms of the Joint Future agenda, whose initial focus is largely on older people, we will analyse Local Partnership Agreements on implementing joint resourcing and joint management, and Action Plans for implementing Single Shared Assessment. We will also monitor partners' Local Outcome Agreements in relation to all the service developments required by the Joint Future agenda. We are introducing joint performance indicators for the first time under the Joint Performance Information and Assessment Framework to gauge the impact of jointly delivered services on the quality of people's lives. The anticipated positive outcomes for older people set out in Delayed Discharge Action Plans are also dependent on effective joint working, and the Executive monitors these plans closely. NHS Quality Improvement Scotland and the Social Work Services Inspectorate operate programmes of monitoring and inspection that explore the effectiveness of partnership arrangements. The Executive also has a research programme that evaluates key policies.
- Asked by: Mary Scanlon, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 03 February 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 10 February 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive how it is monitoring compliance by NHS trusts with provisions under the Disability Discrimination Act 1995.
Answer
NHS Quality Improvement Scotland is currently completing a second round of visits to NHS trusts in connection with the generic clinical governance standards, which include issues relating to access to services by those with special requirements. It will shortly be consulting on a revised set of standards that will make specific reference to NHS trusts demonstrating compliance with the obligations and duties of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995.
- Asked by: Mary Scanlon, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 03 February 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 10 February 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive whether disabled people will be involved in the monitoring process of the implementation by the NHS of provisions under the Disability Discrimination Act 1995.
Answer
Patients and members of the public are involved at every stage of the development and monitoring of NHS Quality Improvement Scotland's generic clinical governance standards, which include issues relating to access to services by those with special requirements.
- Asked by: Mary Scanlon, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 January 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 7 February 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-32836 by Malcolm Chisholm on 13 January 2003, whether practitioners will be encouraged to prescribe homeopathic medicines, given the cost of branded prescriptions, and what action is being taken to measure clinical effectiveness of homeopathy practice and medicine.
Answer
As with all medicines, the decision on whether to prescribe a treatment for an individual patient depends on the clinical judgement of the clinician concerned, in consultation with the patient and bearing in mind the risks and benefits of the treatment.The Department of Health maintains a National Research Register with details of all on-going and recent medical research, including research into complementary medicine. This is available on regularly updated CD-ROM in the Parliament's Reference Centre and online at:
http://www.update-software.com/nrr/CLIBINET.EXE?A=1&U=1001&P=10001.The Chief Scientist Office (CSO) within the Scottish Executive Health Department has responsibility for encouraging and supporting research into health services and patient care within the NHS in Scotland. The CSO funds projects largely in response mode and this role is well advertised throughout the medical and academic community. The CSO is not currently funding research on homeopathy
because no proposals of a sufficiently high standard have been received on this subject. However, the CSO would be pleased to receive quality research applications on homeopathy which would be subject to the usual peer and committee review. Details about applying to the CSO for a research grant are available on the internet at
www.show.scot.nhs.uk/cso.
- Asked by: Mary Scanlon, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 24 January 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 7 February 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive which NHS trusts have (a) in-house and (b) private contracts for cleaning services.
Answer
The current pattern of provision is shown in the table.Cleaning Services
| Trust | Service PatternIn House (I/H) or Contracted Out (C/O) | Changes Since 1997 |
| Argyll and Clyde Acute Hospitals | Mainly I/H (Royal Alexandra Hospital contracted out) | Royal Alexandra Hospital to come in house from 1/4/2003 |
| Lomond and Argyll Primary Care | I/H | |
| Renfrewshire and Inverclyde Primary Care | I/H | |
| Ayrshire and Arran Acute Hospitals | I/H | |
| Ayrshire and Arran Primary Care | I/H (Except East Ayr Hospital) | |
| Dumfries and Galloway Acute and Maternity Hospitals | I/H | |
| Dumfries and Galloway Primary Care | I/H | |
| North Glasgow University Hospitals | I/H (except for Glasgow Royal Infirmary and Canniesburn Hospital) | Stobhill Hospital I/H since May 2002 |
| South Glasgow University Hospitals | I/H | Victoria Infirmary IH since Nov 2002 |
| The Yorkhill Trust | I/H | |
| Greater Glasgow Primary Care | I/H | Gartnavel Royal I/H since Oct 2001 |
| Lanarkshire Acute Hospitals | Mix of C/O and I/H | Monklands IH since Oct 2002 |
| Lanarkshire Primary Care | I/H | |
| Tayside University Hospitals | I/H | C/O 1991, I/H 1998 |
| Tayside Primary Care | I/H | C/O 1995, I/H 1999 |
| Fife Primary Care | I/H | |
| Fife Acute Hospitals | I/H | C/O 97, I/H 2002 |
| Lothian University Hospitals | I/H (except New Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh) | C/O 97, I/H 2000 (RIE Lauriston Place I/H 2000) |
| Lothian Primary Care | I/H | Royal Edinburgh Hospital I/H since 2000 |
| Grampian University Hospitals | I/H (except Woodend Hospital) | |
| Grampian Primary Care | C/O | |
| Highland Acute Hospitals | I/H | |
| Highland Primary Care | I/H (except New Craigs Hospital) | |
| NHS Orkney | I/H | |
| NHS Shetland | C/O | |
| NHS Western Isles | I/H | |
| West Lothian Health Care Trust | I/H | |
| Forth Valley Acute Hospitals | I/H | |
| Forth Valley Primary Care | I/H | |
| Borders Primary Care | I/H | |
| Borders General Hospital | I/H | |
- Asked by: Mary Scanlon, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 24 January 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 3 February 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive whether thimerosal in vaccines can damage the nervous system, kidneys, joints and general development of children.
Answer
The Committee on Safety of Medicines has advised that, with the exception of hypersensitivity reactions, which typically include skin rashes or local swelling at the site of the injection, there is no evidence of harm from the levels of thiomersal contained in vaccines. That view is shared by the World Health Organisation and by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation, which advises the Executive on immunisation policy.
- Asked by: Mary Scanlon, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 23 January 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 3 February 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive what action is being taken to address hospital accommodation for doctors, in the light of the recent Hospital Doctor survey reporting that 76% of doctors believe that their living arrangements are "poor" or "very poor".
Answer
The New Deal for Junior Doctors in Scotland sets out standards on living and working conditions for hospital doctors in training. The Scottish Executive issued guidance to trusts on implementing this guidance in June 2001 in HDL(2001)50. It is the responsibility of each trust to work towards meeting these accommodation standards.The New Deal Implementation Support Group are working with trusts to help them implement these changes by providing advice and guidance.
