- Asked by: Dr Richard Simpson, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 31 January 2011
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 24 February 2011
To ask the Scottish Executive which NHS boards have issued their governance arrangements to permit non-medical staff qualified to prescribe to do so in the field of drug and alcohol treatment.
Answer
This information is not available centrally.
- Asked by: Dr Richard Simpson, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 31 January 2011
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 24 February 2011
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-35505 by Shona Robison on 24 August 2010, when the Society of Chief Officers of Trading Standards in Scotland is expected to publish a report on the progress made under the Enhanced Tobacco Sales Enforcement Programme.
Answer
The Society of Chief Officers of Trading Standards in Scotland expect to publish the report by the end of February 2011.
- Asked by: Dr Richard Simpson, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 01 February 2011
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 24 February 2011
To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to improve the understanding by teenage girls of the human papilloma virus (HPV) vaccine.
Answer
To support the HPV vaccination programme a major awareness raising campaign was funded by the Scottish Government. This campaign has run since the launch of the vaccination programme in 2008. A range of information materials have been produced and made available to girls and parents about the vaccination.
All girls eligible for the HPV vaccine are provided with an information leaflet, either by their school prior to vaccination or from their NHS board if they have left school. Information leaflets are also available for health care professionals and parents and carers of girls eligible for vaccination.
A website, www.fightcervicalcancer.org.uk, has been specifically created to support the vaccination programme. The website contains a range of information materials in addition to electronic versions of the leaflets that have been produced. A free NHS helpline number which girls can call for impartial advice and information is also available.
In addition to this national activity many NHS boards will themselves undertake local awareness raising activity to promote the benefits of the vaccine.
- Asked by: Dr Richard Simpson, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 01 February 2011
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 24 February 2011
To ask the Scottish Executive what the reduction in salt consumption has been as a result of voluntary agreements with the food industry in the last five years.
Answer
A survey of sodium intake was conducted in Scotland in 2006 to measure progress towards the Scottish Dietary Targets. The mean estimated salt intake was found to be 9.1g per day (10.6 and 7.6 g per day for men and women respectively).
A UK survey in 2008 showed a reduction in the UK''s average daily salt consumption to 8.6g. In 2009, a second survey was commissioned to measure any change from 2006 in Scotland. The 2009 sodium survey is ongoing. The report of this survey was submitted for peer review in December 2010 it is expected that the report will be published later in 2011.
- Asked by: Dr Richard Simpson, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 01 February 2011
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 24 February 2011
To ask the Scottish Executive what support it has given to GPs to increase the uptake of breast screening in deprived areas.
Answer
The Scottish Breast Screening Service works closely with GP practices and local NHS boards in advance of screening in their area. All NHS boards undertake local awareness raising in the areas where mobile vans are timetabled to visit. This often includes meetings with staff at GP practices to encourage attendance. Information packs, including posters, are provided to NHS boards and GP practices and they are encouraged to display these to improve informed uptake locally. Posters are also displayed in local supermarkets and the service is made as accessible as possible by stationing mobile screening vans in convenient local locations particularly targeting deprived areas. Other activities that have been supported nationally to improve uptake have included distribution of a DVD targeted for women with learning difficulties. The DVD was designed for use by health professionals or carers with women.
- Asked by: Dr Richard Simpson, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 03 February 2011
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 24 February 2011
To ask the Scottish Executive how many children under 16 years old were admitted to adult psychiatric wards and how many of these admissions were deemed inappropriate, in each of the last three years.
Answer
The number of children under 16 admitted to an adult psychiatric ward are:
2007-08: 28
2008-09: 34
2009-10: 35
The latest figures from the Mental Welfare Commission show that the number of young people under the age of 16 who were admitted to adult mental health beds is similar to that of the previous year. However the number of young males admitted has increased whilst the number of females has decreased. This may be due to young males requiring urgent admission for other mental health problems with young women more likely being admitted on an arranged basis, often for eating disorders.
With regard to the number who were deemed to be admitted inappropriately this information is not available.
Further information can be obtained at:
http://reports.mwcscot.org.uk/annual_monitoring/overview2009-2010/monitoringourpriorityareas2010/young_people_under_18_2010.aspx.
- Asked by: Dr Richard Simpson, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 03 February 2011
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 24 February 2011
To ask the Scottish Executive what information it has on the European average is, per 1 million of population, of beds for mental health admissions for children up to 16 years old.
Answer
This information is not available. The World Health Organization has a European Health for All Database with various indicators, however beds per 1 million of population for mental health admissions for children up to 16 years old are not one of the indicators.
http://www.euro.who.int/en/what-we-do/data-and-evidence/databases/european-health-for-all-database-hfa-db2.
Information on child/adolescent beds for Scotland is published on the ISD website at:
http://www.isdscotland.org/isd/3426.html.
- Asked by: Dr Richard Simpson, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 14 February 2011
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 23 February 2011
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it can give assurances that MS specialist nurse posts will be protected under the NHS budget settlement for 2010-11.
Answer
The Scottish Government is fully committed to protecting the health budget by passing on Barnett consequentials in full from the UK settlement. However, it is for NHS boards to determine their workforce requirements, including specialist nurses, based on the clinical needs of the population and service developments in their area.
- Asked by: Dr Richard Simpson, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 01 February 2011
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 22 February 2011
To ask the Scottish Executive what estimate it has of the possible increased risk of breast cancer resulting from shift working.
Answer
Data on the number of people having an increased risk of breast cancer resulting from shift working is not held centrally. We are aware of a number of published studies suggesting links between shift working and breast cancer, many of which are captured in the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) monograph available at:
http://monographs.iarc.fr/ENG/Monographs/vol98/index.php.
However, evidence of an association is inconclusive and recently published papers which have examined the epidemiological evidence differ in their interpretation of the importance of shift-work as a causative factor in breast cancer. If individuals have any concerns, they should discuss these with their GP in the first instance.
There are steps people can take to reduce their risk of developing breast cancer, for example, being more active, keeping bodyweight within healthy limits and limiting alcohol consumption. The Scottish Government is implementing a wide ranging programme of actions to help people to make healthier lifestyle choices.
- Asked by: Dr Richard Simpson, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 25 January 2011
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 22 February 2011
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will list the items lost or stolen from NHS hospitals and facilities in each year since 2007-08, broken down by (a) date lost or stolen, (b) date reported and (c) value of the item.
Answer
The Scottish Government does not collect information on individual losses or thefts from NHS hospitals and facilities or the dates they are reported but this information should be held on individual NHS board loss registers. The Scottish Government does however obtain a summary report on such losses from boards each year advising of the number of losses and their value and the totals reported are shown in the following table:
| NHS Board | Number of Incidents | 2007-08 £ | Number of Incidents | 2008-09 £ | Number of Incidents | 2009-10 £ |
| Ayrshire and Arran | 564 | 97,567 | 267 | 51,256 | 267 | 46,259 |
| Borders | 7 | 15,000 | 7 | 17,049 | 0 | 0 |
| Dumfries and Galloway | 38 | 22,980 | 56 | 66,686 | 24 | 31,530 |
| Fife | 158 | 23,463 | 86 | 19,722 | 67 | 16,494 |
| Forth Valley | 35 | 11,643 | 77 | 79,879 | 40 | 34,237 |
| Grampian | 10 | 20,313 | 11 | 25,774 | 24 | 47,017 |
| Greater Glasgow and Clyde | 0 | 0 | 26 | 91,000 | 76 | 252,611 |
| Highland | 12 | 3,920 | 6 | 787 | 20 | 166,637 |
| Lanarkshire | 42 | 9,059 | 447 | 66,132 | 293 | 95,526 |
| Lothian | 65 | 124,753 | 29 | 15,707 | 88 | 145,522 |
| Orkney | 3 | 1,236 | 4 | 2,016 | 4 | 2,860 |
| Shetland | 189 | 1,326 | 158 | 4,701 | 160 | 816 |
| Tayside | 107 | 48,228 | 99 | 133,750 | 17 | 111,619 |
| Western Isles | 22 | 12,181 | 2 | 12,370 | 0 | 0 |
| NHS 24 | 0 | 0 | 70 | 49 | 45 | 8,180 |
| NHS Education Scotland | 0 | 0 | 1 | 625 | 29 | 104,192 |
| NHS Health | 3 | 9,108 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 47,506 |
| National Services Scotland | 1 | 300 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 200 |
| State Hospital | 1 | 343 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 9,611 |
| National Waiting Time Centre | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Quality Improvement Scotland | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 48 |
| Scottish Ambulance Service | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 15,940 |
| Total Losses | 1,257 | 401,420 | 1,346 | 587,503 | 1,172 | 1,136,805 |
Source: NHS Boards Annual SFR 18 Return.
Note: The 2008-09 figures have been revised to reflect an amended return.
There have been two principal reasons for the increase in losses recorded by NHS boards:
Revised guidance issued by the Scottish Government has led to a more rigorous reporting of losses of unsettled bills for overseas visitors, previously some boards did not include these on their losses register e.g. NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde and NHS Lothian.
There was a high value of stock write offs of medical products as a result of changes in clinical practice. While these are recorded on the losses register, these items have not been lost or stolen.
