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: S4W-06381

Asked by: Dr Richard Simpson, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 23 March 2012
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 17 April 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive what quality assurance has been carried out on the New Ways waiting times system in relation to the removal of patients from lists.

<>I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-06483 on 17 April 2012. 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/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx.

No specific quality assurance has been carried out on removal of patients from waiting lists since the New Ways Data Quality Assessment Project published in 2008. A copy can be found at: http://www.isdscotland.org/Health-Topics/Waiting-Times/Inpatient-Day-Cases-and-Outpatients/Data-Quality/DQA1%20Exec%20Summary%20Jan%2009.pdf.

Question reference: S4W-06250

Asked by: Dr Richard Simpson, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 15 March 2012
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 28 March 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive how many hospital departments have a derogation from the European working time directive for junior doctors, broken down by (a) post and (b) hospital.

Question reference: S4W-06259

Asked by: Dr Richard Simpson, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 16 March 2012
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 27 March 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive which local authorities have not implemented the Food Hygiene Information Scheme.

All local authorities in Scotland intend to implement the scheme, subject to FSA agreeing support arrangements with those most recently coming on board.

Twenty local authorities have already launched the scheme. Information on these can be found at the following link:

http://www.food.gov.uk/scotland/safetyhygienescot/foodhygieneinfoscot/

The remaining 12 local authorities are at various stages of implementation; please see the following table for further information.

Local authorities at various stages of implementation but not yet at the launch stage:

1. Highland Council - due to launch in May 2012

2. East Ayrshire Council - due to launch in December 2012

3. Orkney Islands Council – launch date to be advised

4. Comhairle nan Eilean Siar – launch date to be advised

5. Dumfries and Galloway Council - launch date to be advised

6. North Ayrshire Council - launch date to be advised

7. Falkirk Council - launch date to be advised

8. North Lanarkshire Council - launch date to be advised

9. Shetland Islands Council - launch date to be advised

10. South Lanarkshire Council - launch date to be advised

11. West Lothian Council – launch date to be advised

12. East Dunbartonshire Council - launch date to be advised.

Question reference: S4W-06260

Asked by: Dr Richard Simpson, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 16 March 2012
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 27 March 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive which local authorities (a) are and (b) are not awarding Eat Safe awards.

There are currently 23 out of 32 Scottish local authorities awarding Eat Safe Awards.

The 23 local authorities that are awarding Eat Safe are:

Aberdeen City Council

Aberdeenshire Council

Argyll and Bute Council

City of Edinburgh Council

Clackmannanshire Council

Dumfries and Galloway Council

East Ayrshire Council

Falkirk Council

Fife Council

Glasgow City Council

Highland Council

Midlothian Council

Moray Council

North Ayrshire Council

North Lanarkshire Council

Renfrewshire Council

Scottish Borders Council

Shetland Islands Council

South Ayrshire Council

South Lanarkshire Council

Stirling Council

West Dunbartonshire Council

West Lothian Council.

The nine local authorities that are not awarding Eat Safe are:

Angus Council

Comhairle nan Eilean Siar

Dundee Council

East Dunbartonshire Council

East Lothian Council

East Renfrewshire Council

Inverclyde Council

Orkney Islands Council

Perth and Kinross Council.

Question reference: S4W-06247

Asked by: Dr Richard Simpson, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 15 March 2012
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 26 March 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive what the current guidance is on the value of identifying single nucleotide polymorphisms in the CYP2C9 and VKORC1 genes in patients being treated with warfarin.

There is no current guidance on the value of identifying single nucleotide polymorphisms in the CYP2C9 and VKORC1 genes in patients being treated with warfarin. Current expert guidance from the British Committee for Standards in Haematology (BCSH) does not recommend genotype testing. The Summary of Product Characteristics (SPC) for warfarin advises that genetic variability, particularly in relation to CYP2C9 and VKORC1 can significantly affect the dose requirements for warfarin and that if a family association with these polymorphisms is known then extra care is warranted during initiation and early titration.

Question reference: S4W-06094

Asked by: Dr Richard Simpson, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 16 March 2012
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 26 March 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it can guarantee that the registration of nurses seeking to return to work after a career break will be protected if it expires during their job search, without the need to undergo retraining at their own expense.

Regulation of the nursing profession is specifically reserved to the UK Government by the Scotland Act 1998. The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) has UK-wide statutory responsibility for safeguarding the public by maintaining the register of nurses who are qualified and competent to work in the UK. The roles of the NMC include setting the Continuing Professional Development criteria for maintaining registration and the educational requirements for returning to the register when registration has been allowed to lapse.

Question reference: S4W-06249

Asked by: Dr Richard Simpson, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 15 March 2012
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 26 March 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive whether the two newly agreed software systems for primary care to replace G-Pass include recording and updating of family history and the ability to link intergenerational data.

Question reference: S4W-06248

Asked by: Dr Richard Simpson, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 15 March 2012
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 26 March 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it has taken to develop validated questionnaires to capture family history data in primary care.

Question reference: S4W-06093

Asked by: Dr Richard Simpson, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 16 March 2012
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 26 March 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive what its position is on the sale of different sizes of multipack of the same container of alcohol whereby a larger multipack is sold at a lower price.

Question reference: S4O-00849

Asked by: Dr Richard Simpson, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 21 March 2012
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 29 March 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive when it last met Skills Development Scotland and what issues were discussed.