- Asked by: Nicola Sturgeon, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 September 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 2 October 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive what extra funding or resources it provided to (a) the Scottish Ambulance Service in the Grampian region, (b) accident and emergency departments of Grampian University Hospitals NHS Trust and (c) the nursing workforce employed by the NHS when it decided to pilot NHS 24 in the Grampian region.
Answer
NHS 24 is not being piloted in the Grampian region; Grampian is the first part of Scotland to benefit from the national rollout of this new NHS service. NHS 24 was designed and developed with the support of staff from the Scottish Ambulance Service and accident and emergency services to complement these services. By providing callers with home care advice or, where required, directing them to the most appropriate NHS service it should help reduce inappropriate demand on these services. NHS 24 is working very closely with NHSScotland to maximise nursing resource and minimise impact on local NHS services. Consequently, no additional funding was provided to the Grampian NHS Board area solely because NHS 24 would be launched in that area.
- Asked by: Nicola Sturgeon, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 17 September 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 1 October 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive what financial rewards it will provide to nurses who are willing to take on wider roles as stated in the health and community care section of Building a Better Scotland - Spending Proposals 2003-06: What the money buys; what incentives it will provide to doctors to focus on where their skills are needed in the NHS where the specialities involved are not considered as interesting or as popular as others, and what level of funding it will provide to achieve these commitments.
Answer
Record sums are being invested in the NHS by the Scottish Executive so that we can revitalise services for patients everywhere. As part of our action on workforce development we are encouraging innovative multi-professional teamworking, and seeking to reward staff appropriately to the level of responsibility carried. We are working at local, regional and national levels to provide attractive career opportunities for staff at all levels and in all specialities.
- Asked by: Nicola Sturgeon, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 17 September 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 1 October 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive what measures it intends to fund to improve the recruitment and retention of NHS frontline staff as stated in the health and community care section of Building a Better Scotland - Spending Proposals 2003-06: What the money buys; how much these measures are likely to cost, and by how much it estimates the NHS frontline workforce will improve as a result of these measures.
Answer
Record sums are being invested in the NHS by the Scottish Executive so that we can revitalise services for patients everywhere. As part of our action on workforce development we are encouraging innovative multi-professional teamworking. We are working at local, regional and national levels to provide attractive career opportunities for staff at all levels and in all specialities.
- Asked by: Nicola Sturgeon, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 17 September 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Mary Mulligan on 1 October 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive by what percentage it will reduce food-borne illness in Scotland as part of the UK 20% reduction target by 2006 as stated in the health and community care section of Building a Better Scotland - Spending Proposals 2003-06: What the money buys and what funding it will allocate in each year to 2005-06 to achieve this target.
Answer
The Food Standards Agency have advised me that they are committed to reducing food-borne illness in Scotland by at least 20%, by 2006.The funding allocated to reduce food-borne illness across the spending review period is:
| 2003-04 | £1.4 million |
| 2004-05 | £4.1 million |
| 2005-06 | £3.9 million |
- Asked by: Nicola Sturgeon, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 17 September 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 1 October 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive whether any of the #36 million it plans to allocate to the modernisation and improvement of general practitioner and dental facilities as stated in the health and community care section of Building a Better Scotland - Spending Proposals 2003-06: What the money buys will be distributed in a lump sum of over #5 million for any capital building work, or as more than #1 million over four years for any IT improvements.
Answer
The detailed deployment of the resources identified for the modernisation and improvement of general practitioner and dental facilities has yet to be determined.
- Asked by: Nicola Sturgeon, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 17 September 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 1 October 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive what the latest technologies available for the treatment of mental illness are and how much it plans to invest in these technologies in each year to 2005-06.
Answer
The Health Technology Board for Scotland provides timely advice on the clinical and cost effectiveness of the broad range of existing and new health technologies to NHSScotland, including most recently for mental health on:the prescription of anti-cholinesterases to people with Alzheimer's Disease, andthe prescription of atypical anti-psychotics to people with schizophrenia.NHS Scotland and their care partners will also continue to invest in treatments, approaches, services, support and other interventions that aim not only to treat but also to prevent or reduce the incidence and individual severity of mental illness in Scotland. In terms of investment, over £600 million spent last year alone offers a clear signal of the priority we attach to and our national programme to improve mental health and well-being further signals our intent to maintain this profile.
- Asked by: Nicola Sturgeon, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 17 September 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Frank McAveety on 1 October 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it estimates that each community place for people leaving hospital will cost #20,000, given that it will provide #20 million each year to 2005-06 to provide 1,000 such community places as stated in the health and community care section of Building a Better Scotland - Spending Proposals 2003-06: What the money buys, and what plans it has to help these people and ensure that their discharge from hospital is not delayed.
Answer
This investment will enable 1,000 additional people to move from hospital into more appropriate community-based settings at varying costs. It will also allow local authority and NHS board partnerships to put in place a variety of other measures to tackle delayed discharge, including admissions avoidance and rapid response.
- Asked by: Nicola Sturgeon, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 17 September 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 1 October 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive what future incentives it intends to provide to the NHS workforce in order to meet its commitment in the health and community care section of Building a Better Scotland - Spending Proposals 2003-06: What the money buys to train 10,000 nurses and midwives and increase the total number of NHS consultants by 600 and how much funding it will allocate to providing any such incentives.
Answer
Record sums are being invested in the NHS by the Scottish Executive so that we can revitalise services for patients everywhere. As part of our detailed plans for workforce development, we are working at local, regional and national levels to provide attractive career opportunities for staff at all levels.
- Asked by: Nicola Sturgeon, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 17 September 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 1 October 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive what the latest technologies available for the treatment of cancer are and how much it plans to invest in these technologies in each year to 2005-06.
Answer
At any time there are a variety of potentially new technologies for the treatment of cancer being researched or undergoing clinical trials throughout the world. These may include novel gene therapy, new equipment or more sophisticated forms of existing equipment, new drugs or other interventions.The Health Technology Board for Scotland is responsible for providing evidence-based advice to NHSScotland on the clinical and cost effectiveness of new and existing health technologies (medicines, devices, clinical procedures and health care settings).
- Asked by: Nicola Sturgeon, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 17 September 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 1 October 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive how much funding it will provide to ensure that the roll-out of NHS 24 across the country, as stated in the health and community care section of Building a Better Scotland - Spending Proposals 2003-06: What the money buys, does not cause any shortages within the NHS nursing workforce.
Answer
The detailed allocations of the health budget, including NHS 24's, will be published in the draft budget document towards the end of October. NHS 24's funding will facilitate the national rollout of this new NHS service over the next two years. NHS 24 is working very closely with NHSScotland to maximise nursing resource and minimise impact on local NHS services.
