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: S3W-18380

Asked by: Dr Richard Simpson, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 01 December 2008
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 10 December 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive how many arrest-referral schemes are funded on contracts of (a) less than three years and (b) three years or more and how many are funded on permanent contracts.

Scottish Government funding towards the cost of operating arrest referral schemes is provided under section 27 of the Social Work (Scotland) Act 1968. Local authorities as the ultimate recipients of section 27 funding are responsible for drawing up any contractual arrangements which might be needed in delivering arrest referral schemes within their areas. Information on such contracts is not held centrally.

In common with other areas of Government funding, section 27 grant is linked to the duration of the 2007 Spending Review, which covers the financial years to end March 2011.

Question reference: S3W-18258

Asked by: Dr Richard Simpson, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 November 2008
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 8 December 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is ensuring that pay protection is being extended beyond the originally planned three-year period, pending the conclusion of appeals under Agenda for Change.

The number of NHSScotland staff requiring pay protection under the new system is actually very low. It is currently running at just over 1.5% overall and this figure will continue to come down as Agenda for Change pay catches up with these protected salaries through incremental progression and yearly uplifts. Whilst Agenda for Change pay protection arrangements in England end five years after the date of implementation, Scotland has had a longstanding commitment to extend protection for as long as it is needed for the small number who will still require protection beyond that point. There are no plans to change this.

Question reference: S3W-18262

Asked by: Dr Richard Simpson, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 November 2008
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 8 December 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive what arrangements are in place for ensuring that medical information on prisoners is transferred to their GPs on release, including (a) primary care information, (b) screening information and test results, (c) information on programmes addressing issues such as drugs and alcohol use or anger management and other behavioural programmes and (d) information about the nature of their offences where that may relate to future health issues, such as alcohol, drugs, domestic violence, anger control or other forms of abuse.

I have asked Mike Ewart, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) to respond. His response is as follows:

Clinical practice in SPS conforms to current General Medical Council guidance regarding confidentiality and the protection and provision of information.

Any prisoner in receipt of prescribed medication at point of planned release, or who has served a prison sentence of six months or more, should have a discharge summary completed by the prison medical officer and issued to the prisoner''s GP where this is known. Arrangements are also in place to ensure that any substitute prescribing to address drug misuse issues are continued in the community upon release.

Question reference: S3W-18260

Asked by: Dr Richard Simpson, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 November 2008
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 8 December 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to ensure that clinically important information obtained by members of the primary care team or the primary care network is recorded on a single accessible record.

Question reference: S3W-18254

Asked by: Dr Richard Simpson, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 November 2008
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 8 December 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive with the exception of the new Southern General Hospital, what plans there are to build hospitals with single rooms only.

Question reference: S3W-18257

Asked by: Dr Richard Simpson, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 November 2008
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 8 December 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive how many vacancies there are for hospital pharmacists and how many of these posts have been vacant for more than (a) three and (b) six months, also broken down by NHS board.

Question reference: S3W-18252

Asked by: Dr Richard Simpson, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 November 2008
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 8 December 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive whether savings made by national e-drug procurement programmes are being passed to NHS boards and, if so, whether boards are allowed to count them towards efficiency savings.

Question reference: S3W-18246

Asked by: Dr Richard Simpson, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 November 2008
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 8 December 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it considers it appropriate for NHS boards to cut improvement and support budgets as part of efficiency savings.

Only schemes that comply with the definition of an efficiency saving would be accepted. The definition of a cash‘releasing efficiency saving is where the organisation delivers the same service at a reduced cost, demonstrated by delivering the same outcome(s) or output(s) for a reduced input or delivering a reduced unit cost allowing an increased volume of service for the same cost.

Potential efficiencies are considered on a case-by-case basis.

Question reference: S3W-18243

Asked by: Dr Richard Simpson, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 November 2008
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 8 December 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive how many of the 18 known deaths due to, or associated with, Clostridium difficile at the Vale of Leven Hospital between December 2007 and May 2008 were identified by type (a) before the patient’s death, (b) within two weeks of the patient’s death, (c) within one month of the patient’s death and (d) more than one month after the patient's death.

Question reference: S3W-18245

Asked by: Dr Richard Simpson, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 November 2008
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 8 December 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will list all NHS hospitals or units where external cleaning and catering contracts are (a) in operation, (b) subject to best value reviews or test marketing, (c) in operation under extended PFI/PPP contracts or (d) planned to operate in hospitals or under construction.

With regard to cleaning services I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-15208 on 22 August 2008. 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/Apps2/Business/PQA/Default.aspx.

The hospitals and NHS board with outsourced or PFI catering contracts are as follows:

NHS Ayrshire and Arran:

East Ayrshire Community Hospital. PFI contract over 25 years benchmarked on a five yearly basis.

NHS Highland:

New Craigs Hospital, Inverness. PFI contract due for benchmarking in 2010.

NHS Lanarkshire:

Hairmyres Hospital. PFI contract for 30 years commencing March 2001. Next benchmark exercise due in 2012, and

Wishaw Hospital. PFI contract for 30 years commencing June 1998. Next benchmark exercise will be on 2013.

NHS Lothian:

Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh. PFI contract, benchmarking in five years.

Ellensglen House - PFI to be market tested in 2008-09.

Ferryfield House - PFI to be market tested in four years time.

Tippethill - PFI to be market tested in five years time.

NHS Shetland:

Contract awarded for five years in 2007.

NHS Tayside:

Carseview - PFI 25 years commencing 2001.

The new acute hospital in Larbert is under construction as a PFI and both cleaning and catering services will be provided by the external provider but will be subject to value testing after five years of operation. Due to commence in 2010.