Chamber and committees

Questions and answers

Parliamentary questions can be asked by any MSP to the Scottish Government or the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body. The questions provide a means for MSPs to get factual and statistical information.

Written questions must be answered within 10 working days (20 working days during recess)
Other questions such as Topical, Portfolio, General and First Minister's Question Times are taken in the Chamber

Urgent Questions aren't included in the Question and Answers search. There is a SPICe fact sheet listing Urgent and emergency questions.

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Question reference: S2W-02154

Asked by: Mr David Davidson, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 22 August 2003
Current Status: Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 19 September 2003

To ask the Scottish Executive what guidelines it has issued to NHS boards on the provision of support for those suffering from trauma and their carers; how many staff currently provide post-trauma support to sufferers and their families, broken down by NHS board, and whether it plans to provide a level of support equivalent to that provided in England.

Guidance on the provision ofmental health services is contained in the Framework for Mental HealthServices in Scotland which we published in 1997. It is for NHS boards,working within the framework, to determine their own service needs forpost-trauma support, including support for specific conditions such as PostTraumatic Stress Disorder. NHS boards provide support and treatment for posttraumatic conditions across a wide range of clinical disciplines and as part oftheir general mental health services. Information is not held centrally aboutthe number of staff providing these services in each board area.

Question reference: S2W-02155

Asked by: Mr David Davidson, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 22 August 2003
Current Status: Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 19 September 2003

To ask the Scottish Executive what advice it has given to NHS boards to ensure that they share service provision with neighbouring boards where appropriate.

The Health Department issuedguidance to NHS boards on regional planning in March 2002. The guidanceincluded advice on joint planning and provision of services. A copy can befound at:http://www.show.scot.nhs.uk/sehd/mels/HDL2002_10.pdf

Other recent guidance to theNHS has emphasised the importance of collaborative planning and provision ofservices – for example, guidance dated September 2002 on establishing managedclinical networks (MCNs), which may offer services across more than one boardarea. The guidance on MCNs can be found at:

http://www.show.scot.nhs.uk/sehd/mels/HDL2002_69.pdf

In June 2003, the Executivepublished a draft bill, the NHS Reform (Scotland) Bill, which proposes that NHS boards should begiven a new statutory duty to co-operate with each other, and with the special healthboards, to secure and advance the health of the people of Scotland.

Question reference: S2W-02160

Asked by: Mr David Davidson, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 22 August 2003
Current Status: Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 19 September 2003

To ask the Scottish Executive which schemes operated by NHS boards to reduce the number of non-attendances at hospital and GP appointments have been effective.

Question reference: S2W-02161

Asked by: Mr David Davidson, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 22 August 2003
Current Status: Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 19 September 2003

To ask the Scottish Executive what the percentage of non-attendance at hospital and GP appointments was for each of the last three years, broken down by NHS board.

Information on patients whodid not attend their NHS appointment is available for first out-patientappointments only. Information about non-attendance for GP appointments is notcollected centrally. The percentage of patients who did not attend their firstout-patient appointment, in each NHS board area in the last three years, isgiven in the table.

NHSScotland: Percentage ofPatients that Did Not Attend their First Out-patient Appointment , by NHS BoardArea of Residence, in the Years Ended 30 June 2001, 30 June 2002 And 30 June2003^P.

NHS Board	Percentage
Year Ended 30 June 2001	Year Ended 30 June 2002	Year Ended 30 June 2003^P
Argyll and Clyde	11.7%	12.5%	13.4%
Ayrshire and Arran	10.8%	11.5%	11.6%
Borders	6.0%	6.5%	6.7%
Dumfries and Galloway	7.1%	7.2%	6.9%
Fife	10.1%	10.2%	9.3%
Forth Valley	9.8%	10.3%	10.3%
Grampian	8.9%	9.0%	8.8%
Greater Glasgow	15.3%	16.9%	17.1%
Highland	7.1%	7.0%	7.2%
Lanarkshire	13.0%	14.2%	14.0%
Lothian	11.6%	11.2%	11.3%
Orkney	5.3%	5.6%	6.4%
Shetland	4.4%	3.6%	4.1%
Tayside	10.3%	10.5%	9.8%
Western Isles	8.0%	8.3%	9.2%
Scotland	11.5%	12.0%	12.1%

Source: ISD Scotland, SMR00.

^PProvisional.

Question reference: S2W-02157

Asked by: Mr David Davidson, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 22 August 2003
Current Status: Answered by Tom McCabe on 19 September 2003

To ask the Scottish Executive what progress it has made in including pre-hospital treatment assessment of height, weight and blood pressure by community pharmacists in the proposed contract revision for community pharmacy.

Question reference: S2W-02158

Asked by: Mr David Davidson, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 22 August 2003
Current Status: Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 19 September 2003

To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to increase the number of radiologists working in the NHS.

There has been a 9% increasein consultant radiologist staff in post between 1997 and 2002. The Scottish Executive are committed to improving the feeder route to the consultantradiologist grade. There was an increase of 24 training places from April 2001to April 2003, with a further six places planned by April 2004.

The Scottish Executive is adopting an integrated approach to workforce planning anddevelopment at local, regional and national levels and is investing £1.200,000annually for three years, beginning in 2003-04, to help develop more effectiveworkforce development arrangements across NHS Scotland. These arrangements willhelp deliver on the Scottish Executive’s commitment to increasing the capacity of theNHSScotland workforce, including in specific specialities, such as radiology.

Work is under way onmodernising medical careers aimed at improving the training and career path fordoctors in training and also on initiatives to assist in the recruitment andretention of medical staff, through “The Temple Review”, due to report laterthis year. This is a short-life working group commissioned in autumn 2002 toundertake a review of the career structures for all hospital doctors fromPre-Registration House Officer to consultant or principal in general practice,as an integral part of the wider health care workforce.

The findings of this groupwill inform work currently on-going and any subsequent work in the specificarea of medical workforce planning, including the development of professionalroles across the whole health care team in radiology and other specialties.

Question reference: S2W-02003

Asked by: Mr David Davidson, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 12 August 2003
Current Status: Answered by Tom McCabe on 16 September 2003

To ask the Scottish Executive what input its Health Department is making to the initiative to improve access to sporting facilities for all; whether any part of the department's budget will be allocated to that initiative, and when there will be a reduction in demand on the NHS as a result of the initiative.

The Health ImprovementChallenge recognises physical inactivity as a major risk factor affectinghealth and is focussing efforts through the implementation of the PhysicalActivity Strategy to improving access for everyone to all forms of activity,including sport. Between 2003 and 2006, £173 million from the HealthImprovement budget will be distributed across the Executive to support theHealth Improvement Challenge as a whole.

The National PhysicalActivity Co-ordinator is based within the Health Department and is working withsportscotland (and other bodies) to ensure that access to sportingfacilities is achieved in a manner that will improve health and reduceinactivity.

The Physical ActivityStrategy aims to increase the level of activity across the whole population byan average of 1% per year, over a 20-year period.

Question reference: S2W-02000

Asked by: Mr David Davidson, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 12 August 2003
Current Status: Answered by Tom McCabe on 16 September 2003

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will extend the current NHS dentists' "golden hello" scheme to include EU registered dentists who are willing to work in Scotland.

Question reference: S2W-01732

Asked by: Mr David Davidson, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 30 July 2003
Current Status: Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 12 September 2003

To ask the Scottish Executive how many patients have been diagnosed with atrial fibrillation in each of the last three years.

Question reference: S2W-01936

Asked by: Mr David Davidson, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 08 August 2003
Current Status: Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 11 September 2003

To ask the Scottish Executive when it will take action to make payments to those suffering from HIV and hepatitis C through blood transfusions.

	April 1999 to March 2000	April 2000 to March 2001	April 2001 to March 2002
Total	12,404	12,160	12,153
Males	6,213	6,042	6,066
Females	6,191	6,118	6,087