- Asked by: Mr David Davidson, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 05 November 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Andy Kerr on 22 November 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive what support it gives to stem cell research.
Answer
The Chief Scientist Office (CSO) within the Scottish Executive Health Department has responsibility for encouraging and supporting research into health services and patient care within the NHS in Scotland and, as such, is the main Departmentalfunder of NHS-related research. The CSO is currently funding three projects relating to stem cell research to a total value of £401,000.
- 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 22 November 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive what the ratio is between the number of whole-time-equivalent infection control nurses and the total number of beds, broken down by NHS board.
Answer
The numbers are detailed in the following table.
As at 21 May 2004
| NHS Board | Beds | ICNs (WTE) | Ratio (ICN:Beds) |
| NHS Argyll and Clyde | 2,747 | 14.0 | 1:196 |
| NHS Ayrshire and Arran | 2,072 | 5.0 | 1:414 |
| NHS Borders | 628 | 3.0 | 1:209 |
| NHS Dumfries and Galloway | 787 | 3.0 | 1:262 |
| NHS Fife | 1,728 | 5.8 | 1:297 |
| NHS Forth Valley | 1,373 | 4.0 | 1:343 |
| NHS Grampian | 2,950 | 8.2 | 1:358 |
| NHS Greater Glasgow | 5,756 | 20.2 | 1:285 |
| NHS Highland | 1,283 | 6.4 | 1:200 |
| NHS Lanarkshire | 2,763 | 10.4 | 1:265 |
| NHS Lothian | 4,271 | 17.1 | 1:250 |
| NHS Orkney | 94 | 1.0 | 1:94 |
| NHS Shetland | 96 | 1.0 | 1:96 |
| NHS Tayside | 2,936 | 11.6 | 1:253 |
| NHS Western Isles | 228 | 1.2 | 1:190 |
| Special NHS Boards | 282 | 6.6 | 1:43 |
- Asked by: Mr David Davidson, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 22 October 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Andy Kerr on 19 November 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive whether the new guidance on the work and role of the General Dental Council will be laid before the Parliament for approval and, if so, when.
Answer
The new guidance on the work and role of the General Dental Council (GDC) will be presented to the Parliament under The Dentists Act (Amendment) Order 2005. This Order amends The Dentists Act 1984. It is made under sections 60 and 62(4) of the Health Act 1999 and is commonly referred to as a Section 60 Order. The Dentists Act (Amendment) Order includes provisions on devolved subject matters as well as the regulation of professions that have previously been unregulated, therefore it must be passed through the Scottish Parliament in addition to Westminster. The consultation period on the proposals to reform the GDC closed on 30 October 2004. The responses received require consideration before progressing legislation.
- Asked by: Mr David Davidson, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 22 October 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Johann Lamont on 19 November 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to change its policy on when it will intervene on wind farm applications where there is substantial local opposition.
Answer
None. National Planning Policy Guideline 6: Renewable Energy Developments sets out the issues that planning authorities should take into account when dealing with planning applications. Authorities must consider any comments made by local communities before an application is determined.
- 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 18 November 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive how many hospital (a) wards and (b) bays have closed as a result of infection problems in each year since 1997.
Answer
This information is not held centrally. Hospital facilities such as theatre, intensive care units, wards and bays may be temporarily closed on the recommendation of hospital infection control teams to allow investigation of actual or potential causes of infection, to protect patients, and to allow disinfection work to take place.
- 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 18 November 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive what the reasons are for the variations in cleaning costs per square metre in hospitals, as reported in Scottish Health Service Costs (NHS Cost Book 2004).
Answer
There are a number of reasons for variations in cleaning costs per square metre across NHS Scotland, primarily relating to the size of hospitals and the resultant economies of scale. In addition, a number of hospitals outsource cleaning services and therefore a direct comparison year on year is not possible.
- 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 Jim Wallace on 18 November 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive what guidance it has issued to Scottish Enterprise in respect of investment in, and assistance for, scientific research and commercialisation of medical research.
Answer
The Executive has produced guidance for its own officials and those of Scottish Enterprise and Highlands and Islands Enterprise on the Scottish Research and Development Scheme (Bib. number 34477) which forms the basis of State Aids notification no. 650/2002. A copy of the notes has been placed in the Parliament’s Reference Centre.
- 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 18 November 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive what the roles and responsibilities are of (a) it, (b) the Health Protection Agency and (c) NHS boards in relation to hospital-acquired infection.
Answer
The role and responsibilities in relation to Healthcare Associated Infection (HAI) are as follows:
(a) The Scottish Executive Health Department (SEHD) sets strategies and priorities to improve the health and safety of both patients and NHS staff in relation to HAIs, and ensures that systems are in place to monitor standards and progress.
(b) The Health Protection Agency (HPA) has no remit with regard to HAI in Scotland. The equivalent organisation in Scotland is the Scottish Centre for Infection and Environmental Health (SCIEH), which will be subsumed within Health Protection Scotland (HPS) when the latter becomes operational in April 2005. SEHD is leading activity related to the HAI Task Force, and SCIEH is an importantsource of scientific, technical and epidemiological advice to SEHD and NHSScotland. Discussion is currently taking place about the role of HPS in taking these areas forward in future.
(c) NHS boards are required to implement policies and guidance as part of their responsibility for clinical governance and risk management. They are also required to review their own performance in relation to tackling HAIs and to take action to further improve performance.
- 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 18 November 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive how many infection control teams reported that their recommendation to close a ward or hospital to admissions for the purpose of outbreak control was refused or discouraged by their chief executive in each year since 1997.
Answer
The Scottish Executive has no record of any such reports.
- 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 17 November 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive how many temporary agency nursing staff there have been in the NHS since 1995, broken down by NHS board, and what the total annual cost was to the NHS.
Answer
Information relating to agency nursing staff is available on table E12 and E13 of the ISD website
www.isdscotland.org. Note: information on agency usage is only available from 1999. Information on agency costs is only available from 2001.
