- Asked by: Mr David Davidson, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 09 December 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Andy Kerr on 24 December 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any concerns about the development of internet pharmacies in Scotland.
Answer
No. Internet pharmacies willneed to comply with the same legal and professional standards as any othercommunity pharmacy – and will be subject to the same inspection and monitoringregime.
- Asked by: Mr David Davidson, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 04 November 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Andy Kerr on 24 December 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive how many hospital-acquired infections it estimates are contracted annually and what the estimated annual cost of such infections is to the NHS.
Answer
The Scottish Executive has made no estimate of the prevalence of health-care acquired infections or their cost. A mandatory national surveillance programme is in place for methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus blood infections and its results are reported quarterly at
http://www.show.scot.nhs.uk/scieh/.
Tackling infection remains one of the key priorities set for the NHS by the Scottish Executive.
- Asked by: Mr David Davidson, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 02 December 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Andy Kerr on 24 December 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to develop district general hospitals.
Answer
Professor David Kerr and hisadvisory group are currently developing a National Framework for Service Changefor NHS Scotland and the future role of district general hospitals will beconsidered as a part of that work. Professor Kerr’s report is expected in latespring.
- Asked by: Mr David Davidson, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 09 December 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Andy Kerr on 24 December 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will publish details of any schemes it is considering introducing in order to reduce the NHS drugs bill.
Answer
NHS Scotland is alreadyworking on measures to improve prescribing practice and health officials willbe working with the service to finalise in the new year a plan to focus effortto deliver the target efficiency improvement during 2005-06.
- Asked by: Mr David Davidson, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 09 December 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Andy Kerr on 24 December 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any plans to make the Scottish Medicines Consortium guidance mandatory for all NHS boards.
Answer
Unique category drugsrecommended by the Scottish Medicines Consortium (SMC) must be made availableuniformly across Scotland. The NHS executive membership on the SMC will agreea national implementation plan for these products. Normally, these drugs shouldbe provided to meet clinical need within three months of publication of the SMCadvice. However, this implementation period may be varied if this is necessary,for example, where there is a requirement to establish an audit. All NHS boardswill be required to follow the national implementation plan for these drugs.Local NHS boards will agree the implementationplan for drugs where alternative drug treatment already exists.
- Asked by: Mr David Davidson, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 09 December 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 23 December 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will meet any shortfall in Supporting People funding to Aberdeen City Council to allow it to meet the agreements it has entered into with voluntary sector providers under the Supporting People initiative, such as the Broomhill Park housing with support development scheme.
Answer
No, The council are in the best position to decide what projects to support through the Supporting People programme. The Broomhill Park pipeline project is one of several with planned start dates in 2004-05, where no commitments on funding were ever made, and where funding from Treasury was not ultimately available. However, I have agreed to provide further transitional support by allowing carry forward of any unspent pipeline resource from 2004 -05 into 2005-06.
- Asked by: Mr David Davidson, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 02 December 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Andy Kerr on 22 December 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will ensure that it has a stockpile of vaccinia immune globulin sufficient to conduct a mass vaccination should an outbreak of smallpox occur.
Answer
Yes. The UK Government launched a procurement exercise, which included Scotland, for vaccinia immunoglobulin on 19 November 2004 to augment the small strategic stock currently stockpiled to support preparedness for mass vaccination on a UK-wide basis.
Expressions of interest for the supply of vaccinia immunoglobulin have been received and are being reviewed. Selected suppliers will then be invited to submit tenders. Information about how much vaccinia immunoglobulin can be produced and the timescale for its supply will only become apparent at the tender evaluation stage. A decision on the quantity to be purchased will then be made.
- Asked by: Mr David Davidson, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 02 December 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Andy Kerr on 22 December 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive what the rate of MRSA is per 1,000 bed days, broken down by NHS board.
Answer
A national mandatory hospital surveillance system was introduced in 2001 to monitor MRSA blood infections. The surveillance system is operated by Health Protection Scotland (formerly Scottish Centre for Infection and Environmental Health) and it produces quarterly reports (see
www.show.scot.nhs.uk/scieh/) whichshow rates per 1,000 bed days.
Overall rates are stabilising and may be beginning to show signs of reduction.
- Asked by: Mr David Davidson, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 02 December 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Andy Kerr on 15 December 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will respond to requests by Coeliac UK for coeliac patient care to be moved into the primary care sector to make more use of community pharmacists and repeat prescriptions.
Answer
We have no record of representations from Coeliac UK. The Primary Care Sector including community pharmacy is already involved in providing care to Coeliac patients. Prescribing is a matter for the responsible medical practitioners.
- Asked by: Mr David Davidson, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 02 December 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Andy Kerr on 15 December 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive how many jobs will be lost within the NHS in (a) administration, (b) estates management, (c) health promotion, (d) non-clinical staffing areas in hospitals such as portering, (e) the ambulance service, (f) NHS 24 and (g) its Health Department following the publication of Building a Better Scotland: Efficient Government — Securing Efficiency, Effectiveness and Productivity.
Answer
Building a Better Scotland: Efficient Government – Securing Efficiency, Effectiveness and Productivity does not contain any targets for job reductions. Any job changes resulting from efficiency measures will not be known until detailed projects plans have been drawn up for efficiency projects and the impact on jobs properly assessed.
