- Asked by: Dr Richard Simpson, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 21 February 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 3 March 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive whether any NHS board has (a) renewed or (b) signed any new block contracts with the private sector since May 2007 and, if so, which boards and for what types of service, also showing the number of patients in respect of each board and service.
Answer
Details of contracts between NHS boards and independent health care providers are not available centrally.
The Scottish Government has made clear that NHS boards can use existing private sector capacity, but that we will not invest taxpayers'' money to fund new private sector capacity.
- Asked by: Dr Richard Simpson, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 21 February 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 3 March 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it has taken to end the practice of handcuffing female prisoners under escort, particularly in hospital labour suites, and replacing it with a system that is risk assessed.
Answer
I have asked Mike Ewart, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond.
His response is as follows:
Reliance is responsible for determining the level of security required when handcuffing all prisoners. Their current policy is that, subject to a risk assessment, expectant female prisoners will be single handcuffed. Handcuffs are removed during labour and replaced at an agreed time after the birth and staff will remain outside the labour room. Handcuffs are also removed during bonding sessions between mother and baby
- Asked by: Dr Richard Simpson, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 21 February 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 3 March 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive how many local “mini-centres co-located with out-of-hours services”, as promised in the SNP manifesto, have been established in 2007-08 and how many will be established in 2008-09.
Answer
NHS 24 is committed to a local presence in each NHS board area, as outlined at their annual review in August 2007. Discussions are progressing with NHS board partners about a number of initiatives on the further development of locally integrated services.
- Asked by: Dr Richard Simpson, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 21 February 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 3 March 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive whether the annual Scottish Prison Service’s survey will reinstate the question “How do you rate relationships with your staff?” which was dropped from the 2006-07 survey.
Answer
I have asked Mike Ewart, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) to respond.
His response is as follows:
The section containing questions on prisoner and staff relationships was reinstated in the questionnaire used for the 2007 SPS Annual Prisoner Survey. The content of the questionnaire is reviewed annually.
- Asked by: Dr Richard Simpson, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 21 February 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 3 March 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive what consideration was given by it or the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation to vaccination against the human papilloma virus for teenage boys as well as girls aged from 13 to 18.
Answer
The Scottish Government''s priority is to directly protect females against their future risk of cervical cancer.
The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation, the independent committee which gives advice to the UK government and devolved administrations, considered the merits of vaccinating boys against human papilloma virus (HPV) based on an assessment of the impact on cervical cancer and genital warts. The committee recommended that HPV vaccination for boys would not be cost-effective.
- Asked by: Dr Richard Simpson, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 21 February 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 3 March 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive how many patients of each NHS board have been treated in the private sector in (a) Scotland, (b) the rest of the United Kingdom and (c) abroad, funded by the NHS, in each quarter in (i) 2005, (ii) 2006 and (iii) 2007.
Answer
This information is not available centrally.
For NHS patients treated by independent hospitals in Scotland, information is required to be submitted as part of standard national data returns. However, submissions for independent hospitals are known to be considerably under-reported and thus figures are not published. The Information and Statistics Division of NHS National Services Scotland is working with the Scottish Government, NHS boards, and the independent health care sector to resolve this issue, and data collection is improving.
For NHS patients seen by independent hospitals in England and Wales, information is required to be submitted to the NHS England Information Centre. The quality of information on Scottish residents treated in independent hospitals in England, Wales or Northern Ireland is not known.
The Scottish Government has made clear that NHS boards can use existing private sector capacity, but that we will not invest taxpayers'' money to fund new private sector capacity.
- Asked by: Dr Richard Simpson, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 21 February 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 3 March 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive when it expects to reach a decision as to whether future primary and other health service provision in the Scottish Prison Service will be within the NHS.
Answer
The Prison Healthcare Advisory Board has submitted a detailed report regarding the feasibility of transferring responsibility for prison enhanced primary care services from the Scottish Prison Service to the NHS. The Scottish Government is considering the detailed conclusions and recommendations within that report and will respond later this year.
- Asked by: Dr Richard Simpson, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 21 February 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 3 March 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive whether the Scottish Prison Service will consider reintroducing the collection of data for incidents of attempted suicide and self-harm in prison, aligning the description of these categories with the data protocols of the NHS Information Service Division.
Answer
I have asked Mike Ewart, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond.
His response is as follows:
The collection of attempted suicide and self-harm statistics will commence in April 2008. The Scottish Prison Service definitions are not aligned with the data protocols of NHS Information Services Division.
- Asked by: Dr Richard Simpson, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 21 February 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 3 March 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive whether any NHS boards have declined to participate in any supra-regional health board specialist services and, if so, which boards and for which services.
Answer
NHS boards are expected to deliver comprehensive health care for their resident population. The particular configuration of services to deliver specialist services differs between areas and is a matter for individual NHS boards.
In relation to national services, NHS boards have no choice in whether they participate. Once a specialist service, network or screening programme is designated as national by the Scottish Government it is mandatory and binding on all NHS boards.
- Asked by: Dr Richard Simpson, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 21 February 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 3 March 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive what guidance it has issued to NHS boards since May 2007 in respect of their funding of patient services in the private sector.
Answer
There has been no guidance issued to NHS boards since May 2007 in respect of funding of patient services in the private sector.
NHS boards are responsible for decision making in relation to creating capacity to deliver their commitments to patients, including use of the independent sector where this is deemed appropriate. However, we would expect that NHS boards will always maximise the use of NHS capacity before turning to the private sector.
