- Asked by: Ross Finnie, MSP for West of Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Monday, 19 May 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 3 June 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is satisfied that only specifying a requirement to test for hepatitis C in its invitation to tender for its provision of nucleic acid blood testing does not constitute a lowering of standards, given that current nucleic acid testing currently also specifies a requirement to test for HIV.
Answer
The Scottish Government supports the commitment of the Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service to offering a combined nucleic acid test for hepatitis C and HIV.
- Asked by: Ross Finnie, MSP for West of Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Monday, 19 May 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 3 June 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive what information it has on why the current invitation to tender for the provision of nucleic acid testing, which caters for the national blood services in England and Wales and Scotland, only specifies a requirement to test for the presence of hepatitis C.
Answer
The Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service is committed to continuing to carry out HIV nucleic acid testing (NAT) on all donations. It has indicated that it would only consider being a party to this tender if HIV NAT were also offered as part of a combined test.
- Asked by: Ross Finnie, MSP for West of Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Monday, 19 May 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 3 June 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it considers that adopting a nucleic acid testing system as its standard test regime would constitute reasonable grounds for the relevant bodies to reassess the current blanket ban on gay men donating blood.
Answer
Men who have had sex with men, and who fail to acknowledge this at a blood donation session, have consistently the highest incidence of being HIV positive. This is the case with or without the implementation of nucleic acid testing. Securing the safety of the national blood supply in Scotland is a major priority. The Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service follows strict United Kingdom and European rules and regulations when collecting and processing blood to make sure it supplies the NHS in Scotland with the safest possible blood. The regulations are monitored and reviewed on a regular basis by medical and scientific experts. We believe it is important to accept this medical and scientific advice.
- Asked by: Ross Finnie, MSP for West of Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 27 May 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 3 June 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive what representations it has made to the UK Government on the issue of the removal from the Medical Act 1983 of the requirement for pre-registration doctors to be resident at the hospital where they are working.
Answer
The Scottish Executive has made no representations to the UK Government on the issue of the removal from the Medical Act 1983 of the requirement for pre-registration doctors to be resident at the hospital where they are working.
- Asked by: Ross Finnie, MSP for West of Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 27 May 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 3 June 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will commit to holding discussions with doctors’ representatives on the issue of the removal from the Medical Act 1983 of the requirement for pre-registration doctors to be resident at the hospital where they are working.
Answer
There are well established mechanisms, both in Scotland and at UK level for discussing junior doctors pay, terms and conditions. It is of course open to the BMA to raise any matters of concern to their members through these mechanisms.
- Asked by: Ross Finnie, MSP for West of Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 27 May 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 3 June 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive what view it takes on the removal from the Medical Act 1983 of the requirement for pre-registration doctors to be resident at the hospital where they are working.
Answer
The Scottish Government view is that the removal of the residency requirement for F1 trainees represents an improvement in their conditions of service, reflecting the improvements in their working hours. It is also our view that as salaries for doctors in training are already competitive even without free accommodation there is no case for increasing salaries to reflect this change.
- Asked by: Ross Finnie, MSP for West of Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 27 May 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 3 June 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has held with doctors’ representatives, such as the BMA in Scotland, on the removal from the Medical Act 1983 of the requirement for pre-registration doctors to be resident at the hospital where they are working.
Answer
The Scottish Government meets with junior doctors representatives at UK level in the relevant Joint Negotiating Council (Juniors), known as JNC(J). In Scotland, the Scottish Government and NHSS employers meet the BMA Scottish Junior Doctor Committee (SJDC) on a regular basis to discuss all matters relating to Junior Doctor’s terms and conditions. The matter of Junior Doctors accommodation was discussed at the JNC(J) meeting on 27 May. It has not to date been discussed with SJDC, but will form part of the agenda at the next meeting, which will take place on 13 June.
- Asked by: Ross Finnie, MSP for West of Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Thursday, 20 March 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 4 April 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions were held with NHS boards prior to the allocation of the £25 million to tackle alcohol misuse, announced on 20 March 2008.
Answer
We wrote to NHS boards in November 2007 explaining that subject to parliamentary approval of the draft budget, the majority of the £85 million increase in funding for tackling alcohol misuse would be allocated directly to NHS boards to increase access to early intervention, treatment, and for prevention activity.
- Asked by: Ross Finnie, MSP for West of Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Thursday, 20 March 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 4 April 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive on what basis the £25 million to tackle alcohol misuse, announced on 20 March 2008, was allocated to individual NHS boards.
Answer
The £25 million was allocated using the formula for NHS boards' general financial allocations for 2008-09, with an additional weighting factor applied to take account of prevalence of hazardous, harmful and dependent drinkers.
- Asked by: Ross Finnie, MSP for West of Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 25 March 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 4 April 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it considers the prevalence of alcohol misuse in an NHS board area to be the most important criterion in determining the allocation of funding to tackle alcohol abuse.
Answer
Prevalence is one of a number of factors relevant to determining allocation of funding for tackling alcohol misuse. Other factors, including deprivation, are included in the formula used for NHS boards' general financial allocations.
