Chamber and committees

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Parliamentary questions can be asked by any MSP to the Scottish Government or the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body. The questions provide a means for MSPs to get factual and statistical information.

Written questions must be answered within 10 working days (20 working days during recess)
Other questions such as Topical, Portfolio, General and First Minister's Question Times are taken in the Chamber

Urgent Questions aren't included in the Question and Answers search. There is a SPICe fact sheet listing Urgent and emergency questions.

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Question reference: S4W-18740

Asked by: Nanette Milne, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 December 2013
Current Status: Answered by Alex Neil on 12 December 2013

To ask the Scottish Government what the capital infrastructure budget has been for each NHS board in each year since 1999.

Allocations to Health Boards over the period 2004-05 to 2013-14 are given in the following table:

Health Board	2013-14	2012-13	2011-12	2010-11	2009-10	2008-09	2007-08	2006-07	2005-06	2004-05
Argyll and Clyde									15.6	14.4
Ayrshire and Arran	11.4	12.0	21.6	18.5	21.8	21.5	21.2	17.6	14.7	13.4
Borders	3.4	4.3	5.5	5.2	6.1	6.0	6.0	5.0	4.2	3.7
Dumfries and Galloway	6.5	6.0	5.0	7.8	9.2	9.0	9.1	7.6	6.3	5.7
Fife	21.1	12.5	22.2	15.7	18.5	18.2	17.4	14.5	12.1	10.9
Forth Valley	6.4	5.0	11.4	12.5	14.8	14.5	14.4	12.0	10.0	9.0
Grampian	34.3	49.1	64.6	25.3	29.8	29.3	27.8	23.2	19.3	17.6
Greater Glasgow									55.6	51.0
Greater Glasgow and Clyde	293.6	336.4	215.1	83.9	98.9	97.4	97.6	81.3
Highland	15.5	8.3	13.6	16.0	18.9	18.6	18.5	15.4	9.3	8.4
Lanarkshire	14.8	19.2	18.5	25.4	30.0	29.5	28.4	23.6	19.7	17.6
Lothian	57.6	50.9	65.3	44.3	52.3	51.5	48.6	40.5	33.8	30.7
Orkney	1.4	1.0	0.9	0.8	0.9	0.9	0.8	0.6	0.5	0.5
Shetland	3.1	3.1	0.2	0.9	1.0	1.0	0.9	0.7	0.6	0.5
Tayside	15.0	15.6	18.3	21.2	25.0	24.7	24.3	20.3	16.9	15.4
Western Isles	1.3	1.7	0.4	1.6	1.9	1.9	2.0	1.6	1.4	1.2
Total Territorial Boards	485.4	525.1	462.6	279.0	329.0	324.0	317.0	264.0	220.0	200.0

Special Health Boards
Healthcare Improvement Scotland	0.2	0.2	0.2	0.3	1.7	1.8	-	-	-	-
National Services Scotland	3.8	3.8	3.4	6.3	6.0	5.8	5.3	5.3	5.0	4.8
National Waiting Times Centre	4.8	3.0	1.8	7.1	6.6	9.7	3.3	3.5	13.5	2.5
NHS 24	0.3	0.3	0.2	1.3	1.6	1.6	2.0	2.0	2.7	2.5
NHS Health Scotland	0.7	0.5	0.2	0.3	-	-	-	-	-	-
Scottish Ambulance Service	13.5	14.3	10.9	19.3	13.2	15.2	11.7	11.4	10.4	3.0
The State Hospital	0.3	1.6	12.2	39.2	26.6	20.3	6.1	5.6	4.8	4.4
Total Special Boards	23.6	23.7	28.9	73.7	55.7	54.3	28.4	27.8	36.4	17.1

NHS Trusts were abolished on 1 April 2004. Allocations to health boards prior to 2004-05 did not cover Trusts’ acute care facilities. Allocations to Trusts were made for specific projects, rather than by formula. Capital allocations from prior to 2004-05 are therefore not comparable to subsequent allocations.

Question reference: S4W-18524

Asked by: Nanette Milne, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 21 November 2013
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 6 December 2013

To ask the Scottish Government what (a) regulations are in place, (b) plans it has to review the regulations and (c) advice it has given to local authorities regarding the breeding of dogs.

There are no immediate plans to review the legislation on the breeding of dogs. The welfare standards associated with the breeding of dogs is already covered in Scotland by: the Breeding of Dogs Act 1973; the Breeding of Dogs Act 1991; The Breeding and Sale of Dogs (Welfare) Act 2002; and by the wider welfare provisions in the Animal Health and Welfare (Scotland) Act 2006. In addition, the Licensing of Animal Dealers (Young Cats and Young Dogs) (Scotland) Regulations 2009 provides further protection for the welfare of puppies. No advice has been given to local authorities on this matter.

Question reference: S4O-02694

Asked by: Nanette Milne, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 December 2013
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 11 December 2013

To ask the Scottish Government what recent assessment it has made of vacancies in NHS Grampian.

Question reference: S4W-18504

Asked by: Nanette Milne, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 21 November 2013
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 3 December 2013

To ask the Scottish Government what recent analysis it has carried out of adverse antibiotic reaction to intrapartum antimicrobial prophylaxis using narrow-spectrum penicillin to combat group B streptococcus infection in newborn babies.

The National Perinatal Epidemiology Unit of the University of Oxford is currently carrying out a sub-analysis of the anaphylaxis study, again looking at those women treated with antibiotics in relation to GBS/presumed GBS infection. This will, for the first time, give a population incidence of the maternal and newborn disease due to anaphylaxis associated with antibiotic use in labour. The study has been running since October 2012 and is due to finish in September 2014. Large population based studies are required for conditions such as these which occur less commonly, so this is being undertaken at UK level.

There is National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidance on the use of antibiotics to prevent and manage infection early in pregnancy. This states that:

- antibiotics during labour should be offered to women when GBS has been identified incidentally (e.g. when testing for the cause of a urinary infection) in their vagina, rectum or urine in this pregnancy and to women who have previously had a baby with a neonatal GBS infection.

- antibiotics should be considered for two groups of women in pre-term labour (i.e. before 37 weeks): those whose waters broke before the labour started and those whose waters have been broken for more than 18 hours before birth.

- antibiotics should be prescribed if there is evidence of infection in the women, such as raised temperature.

National Institute for Health and Care Excellence. Antibiotics for early-onset neonatal infection: antibiotics for the prevention and treatment of early-onset neonatal infection. London: NICE; 2012. Available from:

http://www.nice.org.uk/nicemedia/live/13867/60633/60633.pdf.

Question reference: S4W-18557

Asked by: Nanette Milne, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 25 November 2013
Current Status: Answered by Alex Neil on 3 December 2013

To ask the Scottish Government how many cases of Clostridium difficile have been reported in patients aged 65 and over in each year since 1999, broken down by NHS board.

The information requested can be found in the following table:

Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) cases in Scotland by NHS board reported under the mandatory surveillance programme (2007 to 2013)

NHS Board	2007*	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013**
Ayrshire and Arran	553	560	439	329	185	153	66
Borders	67	115	73	31	28	46	16
Dumfries and Galloway	154	170	162	92	70	34	15
Fife	376	391	128	84	55	81	22
Forth Valley	307	458	132	71	32	29	9
Grampian	519	953	597	218	101	96	35
Greater Glasgow and Clyde	1753	1395	666	501	326	293	164
Highland	289	150	117	80	48	57	13
Lanarkshire	788	715	281	219	193	170	68
Lothian	980	850	611	406	278	257	127
National Waiting Times Centre	0	3	9	3	3	3	0
Orkney	10	21	21	8	10	8	1
Shetland	12	6	1	0	0	1	5
Tayside	607	524	389	168	127	148	57
Western Isles	15	14	8	11	9	6	10
Total	6430	6325	3634	2221	1465	1382	608

*Mandatory surveillance of C.difficile infection data began in Scotland in October 2006. C.difficile infection data before this period relates to voluntary laboratory reports which have not been validated, are not based on any case definition, and not available by NHS board. Therefore data before 2007 is not included.

**2013 published data only available up to June 2013.

Question reference: S4W-18506

Asked by: Nanette Milne, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 21 November 2013
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 3 December 2013

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to increase awareness among (a) pregnant women and their families and (b) maternity care health professionals of group B streptococcus infection and how to avoid such infection developing in babies.

(a) The Scottish Government funds NHS Health Scotland to develop and publish “Ready, Steady, Baby” a guide to pregnancy which is given to all pregnant women at their first booking appointment with a midwife. “Ready, Steady, Baby” advises, that in some areas, routine testing for Strep B in mothers is being considered and women should ask their midwife about local policy.

(b) There are no specific national educational initiatives commissioned by the Scottish Government about the suitability of different tests for group B streptococcal carriage.

Healthcare professionals will have to demonstrate knowledge, skills and competence relevant to their profession during their undergraduate and postgraduate training, including in areas of diagnosis and appropriate treatments. It is also a professional obligation that such staff participate in continuous professional development activities in order to keep their knowledge and skills up-to-date.

In the absence of specific national educational initiatives, healthcare staff are expected to follow professional guidance from their respective Royal Colleges, such as the recently revised guidance “The Prevention of Early-onset Neonatal Group B Streptococcal Disease” from the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, issued in June 2012.

Question reference: S4W-18508

Asked by: Nanette Milne, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 21 November 2013
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 3 December 2013

To ask the Scottish Government what targets it has set for long-term reduction in the number of cases of group B streptococcus infection in babies in the first (a) six and (b) 90 days of life.

Question reference: S4W-18505

Asked by: Nanette Milne, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 21 November 2013
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 3 December 2013

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to analyse group B streptococcus infection rates.

The Scottish Government does not analyse Group B Streptococcus infection rates, however Health Protection Scotland does and has produced the following table:

Table 1: Number and incidence of confirmed laboratory reports of invasive Streptococcal Group B infections by year (2009-2013 up to mid-June) in those aged up to 90 days

Number of Invasive Streptococcal Group B Reports by Year

	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013*
Early onset (defined as less than 7 days of age when sample taken) number of reports	27	27	27	27	7
Early onset estimated incidence per 1000 births	0.46	0.46	0.46	0.47	0.26
Late onset (defined as 7-90 days of age when sample taken) number of reports	15	19	21	20	10
Late onset estimated incidence per 1000 births	0.25	0.32	0.36	0.34	0.37
Number of births per year (National Records Scotland)	59046	58791	58590	58027	Not available as yet * *

Note: These only relate to confirmed cases and there are a number of cases that are treated on clinical grounds and for whom there is no confirmed diagnosis.

Question reference: S4W-18503

Asked by: Nanette Milne, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 21 November 2013
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 3 December 2013

To ask the Scottish Government when it last met stakeholders to discuss group B streptococcus infection rates.

Question reference: S4W-18507

Asked by: Nanette Milne, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 21 November 2013
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 3 December 2013

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to increase awareness of the signs of group B streptococcus infection in newborn babies.

The Scottish Government recognises the recently revised guidance called The Prevention of Early-onset Neonatal Group B Streptococcal Disease issued by the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) for obstetricians, midwives and neonatologists in June 2012. This recommends an approach to testing and the use of antibiotics administration for pregnant women. The Scottish Government would expect healthcare staff to follow professional guidance from their respective Royal Colleges.

A clinical research fellow is currently being recruited by RCOG in partnership with the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine to audit the implementation of this guidance from the RCOG in maternity units across the UK. It will aim to provide feedback and advice to those participating, including Scottish units.