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-23222

Asked by: Dr Richard Simpson, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 18 November 2014
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 27 November 2014

To ask the Scottish Government what the target net income for GPs will be for (a) 2014-15 and (b) 2015-16.

The vast majority of GP practices in Scotland operate as independent contractors with funding provided to the GP practice, not to individual GPs, for the delivery of primary medical services.

It is for the practice partners to determine the best use of that funding in order to meet the contracted care requirements of their patients and to deliver the services required by its contract, as well as their own pay.

For 2014-15 the Scottish Government implemented the recommendations of the doctor and dentists’ pay review body in full, investing an additional £1.8 million in to GP services and allowing for a 1% increase in GP pay. In addition we have invested a further £4.2 million into the contract and fully funded the 2013-14 population growth of over 30,000, bringing the total increase in funding for the GP contract to £8.2 million.

Question reference: S4O-03763

Asked by: Dr Richard Simpson, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 November 2014
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 3 December 2014

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to address teachers' workload issues.

Question reference: S4W-23231

Asked by: Dr Richard Simpson, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 18 November 2014
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 26 November 2014

To ask the Scottish Government which body inspects hospital food and whether its reports are publicly available.

Health Facilities Scotland report every six months on compliance with the NHSScotland Food in Hospitals National Catering and Nutrition Specification, based on self-assessment by health boards. The most recent report, published in August 2014, showed that compliance had increased by 0.4% to 96.7% and that all health boards in Scotland achieved overall compliance of over 90%. These reports are made public and can be found on the Health Facilities Scotland website.

In addition, Healthcare Improvement Scotland are also undertaking a programme of inspections of care for older people in acute hospitals. The inspection programme focuses on several key areas, including nutritional care and hydration. These reports are made public and can be found on the Healthcare Improvement Scotland website.

On 17 November 2014, the then Cabinet Secretary for Health and Wellbeing announced new measures to improve the quality of food in hospitals, including improved nutrition and catering standards introduced in the new year, supported by increased inspections of hospital meals and a move away from self-reporting.

Question reference: S4W-23227

Asked by: Dr Richard Simpson, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 18 November 2014
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 26 November 2014

To ask the Scottish Government how it advertises eligibility for treatment under the minor ailment service.

The Scottish Government publishes a patient information leaflet which includes details about who the minor ailment service is for (eligibility), how to register and how registration works, and the advice and treatments available through the service.

The leaflet is available in the English, Polish, Punjabi and Urdu languages, and is distributed to GP practices and pharmacy premises for public display and retention.

A copy of the current leaflet is available on the Scottish Government website at:-

www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2013/09/5918/downloads

Information is also available on the NHS 24 website.

Question reference: S4W-23209

Asked by: Dr Richard Simpson, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 18 November 2014
Current Status: Answered by Maureen Watt on 26 November 2014

To ask the Scottish Government whether, when designing the new drug and alcohol information system (DAISy), the steering group (a) consulted a Caldicott guardian, (b) consulted the Scottish Drugs Forum and (c) examined the findings of The Munro Review of Child Protection: Final Report.

The drug and alcohol information system (DAISy) is governed by a project board which has a range of subgroups tasked to deal with specific issues.

The DAISy information governance subgroup ensures necessary approvals are gained from Caldicott guardian and information governance leads. Consultation has taken place with Caldicott guardians and will continue throughout the duration of the project.

The Scottish Drugs Forum (SDF) has been consulted throughout the duration of the DAISy project. The SDF is now a member of the DAISy project board in addition to both the DAISy dataset and information governance subgroups.

The findings of The Munro Review of Child Protection: Final Report will be examined to ensure we are complying with any recommendation that may affect the dataset.

Question reference: S4W-23229

Asked by: Dr Richard Simpson, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 18 November 2014
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 26 November 2014

To ask the Scottish Government how many people have registered for the chronic medicines prescription scheme and what action it is taking to encourage registration, other than literature being made available in community pharmacies.

As at week commencing 24 November 2014, there were 417,200 patients registered for the chronic medication service (CMS) in community pharmacies across Scotland. In the context of Prescription for Excellence, the Scottish Government is working with health boards to further promote and strengthen the clinical benefits of the service to people with long terms conditions.

There will also be an increased emphasis on promoting the serial prescribing and dispensing element of the service which, as well as improving the patient’s overall experience of CMS, helps to facilitate shared care between the patient’s GP and pharmacist.

Question reference: S4W-23228

Asked by: Dr Richard Simpson, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 18 November 2014
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 26 November 2014

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the reported increase in GP workloads, whether it will reintroduce the requirement for a prescription exemption application form to be completed in order to be eligible for treatment under the minor ailment service.

<>Patients with a valid medical exemption certificate can apply to register for the minor ailment service. The medical conditions by which a patient qualifies for a medical exemption certificate are set out in the NHS (Free Prescriptions and Charges for Drugs and Appliances) (Scotland) Regulations 2011, which can be found at:www.legislation.gov.uk/ssi/2011/55/contents/made

These arrangements remain in place, and there are no current plans for review.

Question reference: S4W-23210

Asked by: Dr Richard Simpson, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 18 November 2014
Current Status: Answered by Maureen Watt on 26 November 2014

To ask the Scottish Government what process of consent will be incorporated into the proposed drug and alcohol information system (DAISy).

Question reference: S4W-23203

Asked by: Dr Richard Simpson, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 18 November 2014
Current Status: Answered by Derek Mackay on 26 November 2014

To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) serious and (b) other accidents there have been in each of the last seven years at the Keir roundabout on the M9, broken down by (i) the number of fatalities and (ii) how often the roundabout had to be repaired.

The following table shows the number of reported personal injury accidents at and within 300 metres of the Keir roundabout, on the trunk roads, in the last seven full calendar years, 2007-2013.

Year	Fatal	Serious	Slight	TOTAL
2007	0	3	5	8
2008	0	0	7	7
2009	0	1	4	5
2010	0	0	5	5
2011	0	0	2	2
2012	0	0	8	8
2013	1	1	5	7
TOTAL	1	5	36	42

There have been 1 fatal, 5 serious and 36 slight injury accidents. The fatal accident took place in November 2013 and resulted in 1 person being killed.

In the same period, our operating company recorded 17 instances of damage requiring repair at the roundabout.

The figures quoted may differ slightly from those published elsewhere because they were extracted on a different date and the database may have changed between the two dates, e.g. due to late returns or corrections to earlier returns.

Question reference: S4W-23221

Asked by: Dr Richard Simpson, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 18 November 2014
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 26 November 2014

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to pay GPs the £55 fee for each diagnosis of dementia as announced for GPs in England.

An accurate, timely dementia diagnosis is the gateway to effective care, treatment and support. The GP contract in Scotland already supports the dementia care pathway by incentivising appropriate clinical activity through the quality and outcomes framework.

The last comparable UK-wide dementia diagnosis data, published by the UK Alzheimer Society in 2013, showed that, nationally, Scotland’s diagnosis rate was 20% higher than England and 26% higher than Wales. This in large, part reflects the success of our 2008-11 national diagnosis target, which was achieved by working collaboratively with local teams including GPs on the value of diagnosis.

Decisions regarding the care and treatment of individual patients are always a matter of professional judgement for the clinician responsible for the patient’s care.

GPs follow national clinical guidelines as well as locally agreed referral pathways to manage a patient’s healthcare, referring them for the appropriate diagnostic tests and to specialist services for their condition.

Funding to improve dementia services continues to be drawn from the overall funds allocated to NHS Scotland and local authorities by the Scottish Government.