- Asked by: Mary Scanlon, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 02 June 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Susan Deacon on 8 September 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive whether doctors who are struck off the register by the General Medical Council can continue to practice in the private sector in Scotland.
Answer
No. A doctor may not practise anywhere in the UK, either in the NHS or the private sector if the General Medical Council has withdrawn his or her registration.
- Asked by: Mary Scanlon, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 July 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Iain Gray on 8 September 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive what are any adverse health effects of using methadone on a long-term basis.
Answer
The long-term toxic effects of methadone are few when taken correctly at the prescribed dose.
Oral methadone solutions may exacerbate erosion of teeth, may cause constipation and some patients may show increased weight gain.
Most adverse effects are caused by inappropriate dosage levels or mixing methadone with alcohol and other drugs, or accidental overdosage.
- Asked by: Mary Scanlon, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 10 July 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Susan Deacon on 8 September 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive what the average waiting time is between diagnosis and treatment in all Scottish cancer treatment units, listed for each type of cancer.
Answer
Cancer is one of the three clinical priorities for the NHS in Scotland. Reducing waiting times for investigation and treatment is a high priority within the Scottish Cancer Group's work programme.
Initial investigation and treatment for cancer can take place in either an outpatient or inpatient setting. Information on waiting times for cases where investigation and treatment starts in an outpatient setting is not held centrally.
Information on the time from a patient being placed on the waiting list for inpatient/day case treatment for a primary diagnosis of cancer and their admission to hospital is available centrally. The median waiting times for the four main cancers and all other cancers in the year ending 31 March 2000 in the five main cancer centres and in all other hospitals is given in the table. It should be noted that many patients will receive immediate inpatient/day case treatment and will not appear on the waiting list.
The Scottish Executive is providing additional funding to support the diagnosis and treatment of cancer. I recently announced a rolling modernisation programme which will provide new linear accelerators and treatment planning simulators in all cancer centres, new and replacement MRI scanners and imaging equipment to help further speed up diagnosis.NHS In Scotland: Median Waiting Time for Hospital Admission for Inpatient/Day Case Treatment for Primary Diagnoses of the Main Four Cancers and all other Cancers: 31 March 2000p
Hospital of Treatment | Colorectal Cancer | Lung Cancer | Breast Cancer | Ovarian Cancer | All Other Cancers |
| | Median Wait (Days) | Median Wait (Days) | Median Wait (Days) | Median Wait (Days) | Median Wait (Days) |
Aberdeen Royal Infirmary | 7 | 6 | 7 | 18 | 10 |
Ninewells Hospital | 20 | 10 | 18 | 14 | 23 |
Raigmore Hospital | 10 | 3 | 13 | 8 | 10 |
Western General Hospital | 13 | 7 | 17 | 16 | 19 |
Western Infirmary, Glasgow | 3 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 8 |
Other Hospitals | 10 | 7 | 8 | 7 | 14 |
Scotland | 8 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 13 |
Source: ISD Scotland (SMRO1).p
Provisional
Notes: Diagnoses are recorded using the World Health Organisation's International Classification of Diseases 10th Revision (ICD10). Cancers are defined as malignant neoplasms and the following codes were used for the cancers presented in the table:
- Colorectal Cancer: ICD10 C18-C20
- Lung Cancer: ICD10 C33-C34
- Breast Cancer ICD10 C50 (females only)
- Ovarian Cancer: ICD10 C56
- All Other Cancers: other ICD10 codes in range C00-C97
SMR01 records up to six ICD10 diagnostic codes in each discharge record. The table is based on an analysis of the primary diagnostic field only.
Includes Scottish residents only.
- Asked by: Mary Scanlon, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 12 July 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Susan Deacon on 8 September 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-6945 by Susan Deacon on 22 June 2000, whether it has any plans to collect centrally information on the number of flu vaccines administered.
Answer
The Scottish Executive is currently considering improvements to the arrangements for the collection of information on the number of flu vaccines administered. This is one of a number of issues being considered by the Winter Performance Group and in discussions with representatives of the medical profession in the context of our wider programme of work to organise and prepare for winter.
- Asked by: Mary Scanlon, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 02 June 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Jim Wallace on 5 September 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive how issues of consent and confidentiality in relation to medical treatment can be assured for prisoners in Scotland's jails.
Answer
I have asked Mr Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service, to respond. His response is as follows:
Doctors providing services within Scottish prisons are bound by the same rules of confidentiality and consent as those working in the wider community.
- Asked by: Mary Scanlon, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 02 June 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Jim Wallace on 5 September 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive whether general medical services in the Scottish Prison Service will in future be provided by qualified general practitioners.
Answer
I have asked Mr Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service, to respond. His response is as follows:
General medical services will continue to be provided by qualified General Medical Practitioners.
- Asked by: Mary Scanlon, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 02 June 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Jim Wallace on 5 September 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive whether prisoners will receive an equivalent level of care and access to treatment as elsewhere in the NHS in Scotland.
Answer
I have asked Mr Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service, to respond. His response is as follows:
Prisoners will continue to receive a level of health care provision equivalent to that available in the wider community, while taking into account the constraints that custody imposes.
- Asked by: Mary Scanlon, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 14 August 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Jim Wallace on 4 September 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive whether a study is taking place into the incidence of new cases of hepatitis C in short-term and remand prisons.
Answer
I have asked Mr Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service, to respond. His response is as follows:
A study to look at the incidence of hepatitis C within such groups would be likely to be of limited value given the long incubation period for hepatitis C infection. A hepatitis C incidence and prevalence study is, however, currently underway among long-term prisoners at HM Prison, Shotts.
- Asked by: Mary Scanlon, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 14 August 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Jim Wallace on 4 September 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive what measures are in place to deal with the consequences of prison related transmission of hepatitis C.
Answer
I have asked Mr Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service, to respond. His response is as follows:
Those prisoners identified as suffering from hepatitis C infection are cared for by prison health care staff, in partnership with external health specialists as appropriate.
- Asked by: Mary Scanlon, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 14 August 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Jim Wallace on 4 September 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive what preventative measures are in place to alleviate the spread of hepatitis C in prisons.
Answer
I have asked Mr Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service, to respond. His response is as follows:
The availability of health education and sterilising tablets help to prevent the transmission of blood borne viral infections within Scottish prisons.
