- Asked by: Mr David Davidson, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 18 June 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Tom McCabe on 30 June 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive what progress it is making in ending the distinction between payments to care homes operated by local authorities and homes in the voluntary and independent sectors.
Answer
Section 22 of the National Assistance Act 1948 requires local authorities to set the fees for local authority care home places at an amount equivalent to the full cost to the authority of providing them. Under section 26 of that act, payments for independent sector care home places are simply the contract rates agreed between the local authority and the provider. The Executive has no plans to amend this legislation.
- Asked by: Mr David Davidson, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 18 June 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Andy Kerr on 30 June 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking to promote a higher population and birth rate.
Answer
Population levels are the result of birth rates, death rates and patterns of migration. Birth rates reflect decisions which are for individuals rather than government. Where people do decide to have children the Scottish Executive is providing support through the increased resources being made available for childcare and school education, while the UK Government also has a range of measures to help families with children through the tax and benefit system. As a result of better health care, many more people now survive into adulthood and later life. Managed migration can play an important role in ensuring that we have a vibrant and diverse population, which aids economic growth. The initiative on fresh talent promotes such migration.
- Asked by: Mr David Davidson, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 18 June 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Tom McCabe on 30 June 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive what action it will take in order to continue funding free personal care, in light of the projected increase in the si'e of the elderly population over the next 30 years.
Answer
The existing policy on free personal care has been in place for less than two years and the Executive is still monitoring its operation, including in light of the latest population projections.
- Asked by: Mr David Davidson, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 18 June 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 30 June 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had with the General Medical Council (GMC) regarding the registration of non-EU doctors.
Answer
Registration is a matter reserved to the GMC. The Scottish Executive regularly keeps in contact with UK regulatory bodies and statutory authorities to ensure that these bodies give due regard to NHS Scotland in the exercise of their functions.
- Asked by: Mr David Davidson, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 15 June 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Frank McAveety on 28 June 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive how current fee-paying members of area tourist boards (ATBs) will be able to guide local policy on tourism and whether the cost of membership of accreditation schemes will rise as a consequence of removal of such fee-paying membership of ATBs, when ATBs have been absorbed into VisitScotland.
Answer
Businesses, including but not limited to those who are currently members of area tourist boards, will be able to engage with the new tourism network through their local tourism hub, which will act as a focal point for area tourism policy and the development of specific initiatives.
The cost of Quality Assurance (QA) accreditation schemes is an operational matter for VisitScotland. However, VisitScotland has confirmed that fees for QA accreditation will not be increased in order to replace area tourist board membership income.
- Asked by: Mr David Davidson, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 25 May 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Tom McCabe on 25 June 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will publish details of its discussions with the dental profession about the provision of free dental check-ups from (a) NHS and (b) non-NHS dentists.
Answer
No. We are continuing our discussionswith the dental profession on the method of implementing free dental check-ups.
- Asked by: Mr David Davidson, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 01 June 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Tom McCabe on 23 June 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-7453 by Mr Tom McCabe on 5 May 2004, which local access forums have representation from deaf and hard of hearing people.
Answer
This information is currently being collected. Once this has been done it will be 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: Wednesday, 09 June 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 22 June 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive what funding was available for research into a cure for myeloma in each of the last five years and what future funding will be made available.
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. The CSO is largely a response mode funder and this role is well advertised throughout the health care and academic community. The CSO has not funded any research projects in the recent past into a cure for myeloma and has no future expenditure commitments in this area. However, cancer is a research priority and the CSO would be pleased to consider proposals for research on myeloma which would be subject to the usual peer and committee review.
- Asked by: Mr David Davidson, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 09 June 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 22 June 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive what recent research and studies it has undertaken regarding the cause of myeloma.
Answer
I refer the member to the answer given to question S2W-8897 on 22 June 2004.All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at:
http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/search_wa.
- Asked by: Mr David Davidson, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 09 June 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 22 June 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking to ensure that the treatment and management of myeloma after diagnosis is adequate if prevention screening is not undertaken and in light of delays in the diagnosis of myeloma.
Answer
There are no proven methods of screening for myeloma. The cancer strategy
Cancer in Scotland: Action for Change recognises that patients should have clinically effective treatment which is delivered safely. Qualitative assessment of tumour-specific cancer services is underway within some of the multi-disciplinary cancer networks and others are in development.
Referral guidelines are also in place to help identify those patients requiring urgent investigation to confirm a diagnosis of cancer.
Cancer in Scotland includes a commitment that by 2005 the maximum waitfrom urgent referral to treatment for all cancers will be two months.
