- 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 Frank McAveety on 1 October 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will increase the amount of funding allocated to free personal care in the light of the prediction in the General Registrar for Scotland Annual Report 2000 that by 2006 the population aged over 65 will have increased by 30,000 since 1998.
Answer
The Care Development Group acknowledged that the cost of the policy would be affected by changes in demography and specific account has been taken of this in allocating resources.
- 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 building and information technology (IT) projects currently under development are likely to benefit from the investment of at least #750 million referred to in the health and community care section of Building a Better Scotland - Spending Proposals 2003-06: What the money buys; which of these building projects are likely to cost under #5 million, and which of these IT projects are likely to cost under #1 million, over the period to 2005-06.
Answer
Following the changes introduced to the Capital Planning and Approval processes in April this year, it is anticipated that the majority of the £750 million will be allocated directly to NHS boards to undertake those improvements already under way or planned as part of the board's Capital Investment Programme.Those building projects currently under development include the provision of appropriate facilities for mental health; ambulatory care and diagnostic facilities; reconfiguration of services arising from completed or on-going acute services reviews; improved primary care and community hospital facilities, and investment in and the upgrading of medical equipment. IT projects costing under £1 million are managed under delegated authority by the NHS boards and trusts. Projects managed by NHS boards and trusts costing over £1 million are subject to business case approval by the Health Department. These projects are likely to include the development of electronic integrated care records and systems supporting accident and emergency and ambulatory care and diagnostic services. Such investments will be directed in line with the national Information Management and Technology (IM&T) strategy and the health board IM&T Action Plans currently under development.
- 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 research has been carried out or commissioned to compare Scotland's health provision with European levels over the next three years and whether it will publish any such research.
Answer
The Scottish Executive do not currently have plans to commission research of this nature. A study to compare health care systems in the United Kingdom with seven other countries (mostly European) was commissioned by HM Treasury and published in April 2002. The report,
Health care systems in eight countries: trends and challenges, is available at:
- 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 what action it is taking to ensure that those who currently have unmet need for free personal care are identified and receive the services they need.
Answer
The Spending Review 2002 settlement reflects the Care Development Group's costing assumptions for free personal care. These assumptions estimated an increase in demand from unmet need and a shift from informal to formal care of approximately 12% building up over the first two years of the policy to 2004-05. Within that framework, identification of individuals in need of care is a matter for local authorities. The Scottish Executive has provided the necessary resources.
- 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 of the money allocated to health announced by the Minister for Finance and Public Services on 12 September 2002 will be allocated to other portfolios under health improvement initiatives.
Answer
Building a Better Scotland indicated additional resources of £23, 50 and 100 million towards health improvement initiatives. £18, 44 and 61 million of this has been allocated to portfolios other than health but for clarity has not been included in the health portfolio allocation.
- 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 percentage of the increased health budget to 2005-06 announced by the Minister for Finance and Public Services on 12 September 2002 will be (a) given to NHS institutions and (b) provided for initiatives outwith NHS institutions such as increasing physical activity, or reducing food-borne illness.
Answer
Detailed decisions have not yet been made on the distribution of the health budget announced on 12 September.
- 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 it plans to provide new drugs where clinically appropriate as stated in the health and community care section of Building a Better Scotland - Spending Proposals 2003-06: What the money buys.
Answer
Substantial additional resources are being made available to the NHS in Scotland over the years of the spending review as announced on 12 September 2002, with an average annual increase of 8.7% over the years 2003-04 to 2005-06 rising to £8.6 billion a year by the end of the period. Within these substantially increased resources, NHS boards are responsible for ensuring that patients residing in their areas have access to clinically appropriate treatment, including new drug treatments. At Scottish level, the Health Technology Board for Scotland reviews new drug treatments and provides guidance on their use. NHSScotland is expected to take account of advice and evidence from the HTBS and ensure that recommended drugs or treatments are made available to meet clinical need. At local level, Area Drug and Therapeutic Committees are responsible for giving advice to clinicians and for ensuring consistent application of national and local guidelines.
- 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 it has contributed financially to adopting medical advances since 1999-2000; whether it will give examples of instances where any such advances were most beneficial to the extent that they are now used or have been put in place by every NHS board, and how much funding it will allocate to the future adoption of medical advances in each year to 2005-06.
Answer
The national clinical effectiveness organisations, for example the Health Technology Board Scotland, the Scottish Inter-Collegiate Guidelines Network and the Clinical Standards Board for Scotland, are funded to evaluate the clinical and cost effectiveness of health technologies and develop evidence-based clinical guidelines and standards. NHSScotland is expected to take account of advice and evidence from these organisations so that effective medical advances are quickly adopted as mainstream practice across Scotland. NHS boards are expected to allocate their funds so as to meet national and local priorities, including taking account of clinical advances where relevant. NHS boards' allocations for future years will be announced around the turn of the year, and we expect those to be sufficient to meet pay and price increases and clinical advances.
