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-15364

Asked by: Dr Richard Simpson, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 30 May 2013
Current Status: Answered by Alex Neil on 13 June 2013

To ask the Scottish Government who is responsible for auditing national service standards in respect of stoma care.

Question reference: S4W-15362

Asked by: Dr Richard Simpson, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 30 May 2013
Current Status: Answered by Alex Neil on 13 June 2013

To ask the Scottish Government how stoma care services are monitored.

Question reference: S4W-15343

Asked by: Dr Richard Simpson, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 30 May 2013
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 13 June 2013

To ask the Scottish Government whether (a) the Food Standards Agency or (b) Health Protection Scotland has given it advice on (i) monitoring the incidence of neural tube abnormalities or (ii) fortifying flour with folic acid.

The Food Standards Agency (FSA) has a function of advising Ministers on matters relating to the composition of foods. The FSA has recommended the mandatory fortification of bread or flour with folic acid in order to reduce the risk of neural tube defects in foetuses, along with provisos including, controls on voluntary fortification (e.g. breakfast cereals and fat spreads) and limits on the amount of folic acid in food supplements. The Scottish Government is considering the mandatory fortification of flour with folic acid with the other UK administrations.

The FSA has not provided advice to the Scottish Government on monitoring the incidence of neural tube defects as this is not within its remit.

Health Protection Scotland has not provided advice to the Scottish Government on either monitoring the incidence of neural tube abnormalities or on fortifying flour with folic acid as this does not fall within its remit.

Neural tube defects are recorded in the Scottish Perinatal and Infant Mortality and Morbidity Report. The latest version of this report is available online at:

http://www.isdscotland.org/Health-Topics/Maternity-and-Births/Publications/2013-03-26/2013-03-26-SPIMMR2011-report.pdf?57358950377.

Question reference: S4W-15360

Asked by: Dr Richard Simpson, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 30 May 2013
Current Status: Answered by Alex Neil on 13 June 2013

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to review the arrangements for the provision of stoma care appliances to patients in the community.

Question reference: S4W-15344

Asked by: Dr Richard Simpson, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 30 May 2013
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 13 June 2013

To ask the Scottish Government whether pharmacists that sell over-the-counter pregnancy kits are (a) encouraged or (b) incentivised to advise customers on the need for early use of folic acid in the event of pregnancy.

The Royal Pharmaceutical Society, as the professional body, provides information and guidance to their members on health promotion including preconception care and pregnancy.

In 2011, NHS Health Scotland launched an updated information leaflet for the public and briefing for health professionals with information on folic acid before and during pregnancy.

This resource is freely and widely available and gives basic information on folate from foods, folic acid from supplements or fortified food products and recommendations on intake for women before pregnancy and up to their 12th week of pregnancy.

There is also a professional briefing available, which underlines the importance of recommending folic acid supplements by all health professionals.

Question reference: S4W-15357

Asked by: Dr Richard Simpson, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 30 May 2013
Current Status: Answered by Alex Neil on 13 June 2013

To ask the Scottish Government what action it has taken to improve stoma care services across the country.

Question reference: S4W-15376

Asked by: Dr Richard Simpson, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 30 May 2013
Current Status: Answered by Alex Neil on 13 June 2013

To ask the Scottish Government how many and what percentage of clinical nurse specialists in stoma care have been trained in prescribing in each year since 2006, broken down by NHS board.

Question reference: S4W-15358

Asked by: Dr Richard Simpson, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 30 May 2013
Current Status: Answered by Alex Neil on 13 June 2013

To ask the Scottish Government how many new ostomy patients there have been in each year since 2006 and how many people currently require stoma care appliances.

The numbers of patients that have had a new ostomy fitted each year since 2006 are provided in the following table:

Year	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012
Ostomy	2,025	1,999	2,157	2,179	2,373	2,120	2,113

Source: Information Services Division (ISD).

The number of people currently requiring stoma care appliances is not held centrally. However ISD data suggests that the number of patients who were being prescribed stoma devices at the end of December 2012 was 33,200.

Question reference: S4W-15342

Asked by: Dr Richard Simpson, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 30 May 2013
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 13 June 2013

To ask the Scottish Government what information it has on the proportion of pregnant women who take the recommended folic acid supplements during the period of neural tube closure in early pregnancy and whether it has changed in recent years.

Question reference: S4W-15356

Asked by: Dr Richard Simpson, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 30 May 2013
Current Status: Answered by Alex Neil on 13 June 2013

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to review the provision of stoma care.

Day to day responsibility for the local provision and monitoring of stoma care services within a national framework falls to individual NHS boards. The last national review was preparatory to the establishment of the current commercial arrangements for the provision of this service which have been in place since July 2011.

It is now planned that a new quality and cost effectiveness review will be established to be led from within NHS Scotland to help plan for the future, to which patient groups will as in the past be invited to contribute. Further information for interested parties will follow in due course.