- Asked by: Ross Finnie, MSP for West of Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
-
Date lodged: Thursday, 20 March 2008
-
Current Status:
Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 3 April 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive what proportion of (a) nurses, (b) midwives and (c) doctors were working in the NHS in Scotland three years after they qualified in Scotland, broken down by NHS board in each of the last five years and what information it has on how these figures compare with those for each category who qualified across the United Kingdom.
Answer
The Scottish Government is committed to ensure that there are sufficient numbers of health care workers trained to meet health care demand. Through our established process for workload and workforce planning, the Scottish Government will continue to plan for appropriate numbers that reflect both issues of supply and demand across Scotland.
The specific information requested is not centrally available. Workforce details for NHSScotland are published on the Scottish health statistics website under Workforce Statistics at:
www.isdscotland.org/workforce.
Latest available data is at 30 September 2007.
- Asked by: Ross Finnie, MSP for West of Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
-
Date lodged: Wednesday, 12 March 2008
-
Current Status:
Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 19 March 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive what proportion of the ambulance fleet currently in service will be (a) modernised or (b) replaced as a result of the £525 million capital funding announced on 10 March 2008.
Answer
The Scottish Government has provided the Scottish Ambulance Service (SAS) with a revenue allocation of £183.4 million for 2008-09, an increase of 3.15% over the equivalent 2007-08 allocation. Decisions on funding levels for 2009-10 and 2010-11 have yet to be made.
The SAS is allocated capital resources based on their approved financial plans. They have been given a capital allocation of £15.18 million for 2008-09 and notified of indicative capital allocations of £13.2 million and £12.35 million for 2009-10 and 2010-11 respectively. Funding for vehicles and equipment programmes over £5 million (such as defibrillators) are allocated in addition to basic allocations following approval of required business cases by the Capital Investment Group.
The service replaces one seventh of it''s accident and emergency units and one tenth of its patient transport units each year at an annual capital cost of £8 million. Increasingly, the service is investing in fast response units, which are typically cars or Standard Utility Vehicles (4x4''s) staffed by paramedics. This allows quicker face to face assessment and if necessary quicker treatment at scene. Over the next year the SAS intends to invest in a further 70 fast response units.
- Asked by: Ross Finnie, MSP for West of Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
-
Date lodged: Wednesday, 12 March 2008
-
Current Status:
Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 18 March 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive whether the £525 million capital funding for NHS facilities and the upgrade of equipment and IT systems, announced on 10 March 2008, will assist in shifting the balance of healthcare from acute to community settings.
Answer
Yes. Capital programmes are established by NHS boards to support NHSScotland objectives and priorities, including those associated with shifting the balance of health care from acute to community settings. Because capital funding is distributed directly to NHS boards this means that NHS boards can determine, based on local needs, how this money should be spent in achieving such objectives.
- Asked by: Ross Finnie, MSP for West of Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
-
Date lodged: Wednesday, 12 March 2008
-
Current Status:
Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 18 March 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions were held with NHS boards about their particular infrastructure needs for the delivery of care in their respective communities prior to the announcement of 10 March 2008 of £525 million capital funding.
Answer
No discussions are held with NHS boards prior to the allocation of capital funding. Capital resources have been allocated directly to geographic NHS boards on a formula basis since 2002. The capital funding formula used is the Arbuthnott formula (as used for revenue allocations) adjusted for cross boundary flows and weighted for the provision of regional specialities. This means that boards can determine, based on their local knowledge or the local needs of the local area how this money should be spent.
- Asked by: Ross Finnie, MSP for West of Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
-
Date lodged: Wednesday, 12 March 2008
-
Current Status:
Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 18 March 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive what proportion of the £525 million capital funding for NHS facilities and the upgrade of equipment and IT systems, announced on 10 March 2008, it anticipates will be spent on (a) acute and (b) community health services.
Answer
The information requested is not held centrally. NHS boards have long-term financial plans in place which determine planned spending including expenditure on acute and community health services. Since 2002, capital funding has been distributed to NHS boards by an Arbuthnott-based formula adjusted for cross boundary flows and tertiary services. This means that NHS boards decide, based on their knowledge of the needs of the local area, how this money should be spent.
- Asked by: Ross Finnie, MSP for West of Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
-
Date lodged: Tuesday, 05 February 2008
-
Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 29 February 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of women who gave birth in each of the last five years received all nine of the routine care antenatal appointments set out in A Framework for maternity services in Scotland, broken down by NHS board.
Answer
The information requested is not centrally available.
The NHS QIS Maternity Standards also include a standard that relates to the number and scheduling of antenatal clinic appointments that should be offered. At an organisational level, NHS boards have been audited against these standards, the reports were published in 2007 and are on the QIS website.
- Asked by: Ross Finnie, MSP for West of Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
-
Date lodged: Tuesday, 05 February 2008
-
Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 29 February 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive what measures are currently in place to identify women with current and ongoing health conditions likely to impact on the outcome of their pregnancy, as set out in A Framework for maternity services in Scotland.
Answer
The antenatal care that a woman receives in accordance to the Framework for maternity services in Scotland, is supported by the report of the Expert Group on Acute Maternity Services (EGAMS) 2002, which outlines principles, guidelines and local action that boards will consider within their own local maternity strategies, to ensure each woman is cared for in a clinically effective, multi-professional, evidence based network of care, before, during and after childbirth.
NHS QIS has produced maternity care standards against which all NHS maternity services in Scotland are audited.
The Maternity Services Action Group will also consider NHS board maternity strategies to ensure that they are in line with national guidelines.
The booking assessment is the starting point at which women are assessed and their level of risk determined to plan for their future care. Each further contact with a health professional is an opportunity to assess her current health and situation, and thus her current risk of future complications. If her situation changes, then care will be altered to meet her needs, which will be manage under local guidelines and referral arrangements.
- Asked by: Ross Finnie, MSP for West of Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
-
Date lodged: Tuesday, 05 February 2008
-
Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 29 February 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive what criteria are applied to determine whether or not a patient will be referred for an osteoporosis scan.
Answer
The criteria are set out in SIGN Guideline 71 on the management of osteoporosis.
- Asked by: Ross Finnie, MSP for West of Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
-
Date lodged: Monday, 04 February 2008
-
Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 29 February 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to develop health promotion initiatives for people with physical disabilities.
Answer
All NHS boards are expected to design and deliver health improvement activities which meet the needs of all in their local population and reduce inequalities in health.
The Fair for All programme of work and the Equality and Diversity Impact Assessment Toolkit for NHS boards provide a framework to support the NHS in meeting statutory and policy requirements. The Scottish Government is committed to continuing and further developing its Fair for All approach across NHS Scotland, and to impact assessing all new health and wellbeing policies to ensure that they promote equality and diversity.
A Directorate of Equalities and Planning will be established in Health Scotland by April 2008 to build on Fair for All and support NHS boards deliver equality and tackle discrimination in the delivery of health services, considering the specific needs of all people, including people with physical disabilities, in providing health services.
- Asked by: Ross Finnie, MSP for West of Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
-
Date lodged: Tuesday, 05 February 2008
-
Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 29 February 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive what preventative measures are currently being taken with regard to osteoporosis.
Answer
Our work on smoking, diet and exercise will help reduce the risk of people developing osteoporosis. The Scottish Medicines Consortium has also provided advice to NHSScotland on drug therapy for the primary and secondary prevention of osteoporosis.
Falls and bone health also form one of the topics NHS boards can choose under the Scottish Enhanced Services Programme, to help improve such services locally. HDL(2007) 13 requires NHS boards to have a falls and prevention strategy linked operationally to bone health services. NHS QIS, NHS Health Scotland and NHS Education for Scotland are now putting in place a programme of work which will stress that bone health needs to be addressed in combination with prevention and management of falls.
