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-20107

Asked by: Richard Lyle, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 13 March 2014
Current Status: Answered by Alex Neil on 21 March 2014

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will introduce a national service delivery model for anticoagulation international normalisation ratio (INR) testing.

Question reference: S4W-20110

Asked by: Richard Lyle, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 13 March 2014
Current Status: Answered by Alex Neil on 21 March 2014

To ask the Scottish Government how it will ensure that patients receiving paediatric care at hospital who self-test or self-manage their international normalisation ratio (INR) testing and who receive warfarin are supported when moving to adult anticoagulation services regardless of where they live.

Local protocols for the delivery of models of anticoagulation management vary across Scotland, but are in line with Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network (SIGN) Guideline 129 Antithrombotics: indications and management published in June 2013. At transition from paediatric care into adult services, ongoing warfarin management (including self testing) would be agreed as part of the overall plan of healthcare.

Question reference: S4W-20108

Asked by: Richard Lyle, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 13 March 2014
Current Status: Answered by Alex Neil on 21 March 2014

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the 2020 Vision objectives that “the person should be at the centre of all decisions” and “people [should be able to] get back into their home or community environment as soon as appropriate”, how it will support warfarin patients who want to self-test or self-manage their international normalisation ratio (INR) testing so that they can maintain their condition without the need for frequent or inconvenient hospital or GP visits.

<>The Scottish Government’s ambition for NHS Scotland is for a safe, effective and person centred care which enables people to live well at home or in a homely setting. The decision on which drug to take, and if that is warfarin, how best to manage international normalisation ratio testing, should be taken on a case by case basis jointly by people, with their clinicians in line with current evidence which can be found at: http://www.sign.ac.uk/guidelines/fulltext/129/index.html and: http://www.healthcareimprovementscotland.org/our_work/technologies_and_medicines/shtg_-_evidence_notes/evidence_note_50.aspx. They may or may not opt for self testing

Question reference: S4W-20111

Asked by: Richard Lyle, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 13 March 2014
Current Status: Answered by Alex Neil on 21 March 2014

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the comment on anticoagulation monitoring in the Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network (SIGN) guideline 129 that "self monitoring and self dosing is safe and effective and can be considered for some patients"; whether it plans to implement the recommendations in the guideline and, if so, what action it will take to identify and overcome any barriers to its implementation by GPs.

The Scottish Government expects health boards and clinicians to take account of Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network (SIGN) guideline 129 Antithrombotics: indications and management (published in June 2013) recommendations, when effective practice in the management of clinical conditions requiring anticoagulation therapy are being developed and delivered. This includes considering self monitoring, which may be considered for some patients, specifically ‘remote and rural residents or for frequent travellers’.

Question reference: S4O-03085

Asked by: Richard Lyle, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 20 March 2014
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 27 March 2014

To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body, in light of a member of the public recently accessing the Parliament's roof, whether it plans to implement extra security measures.

Question reference: S4O-02826

Asked by: Richard Lyle, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 January 2014
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 22 January 2014

To ask the Scottish Government what action it would take to improve the situation of farmers in an independent Scotland.

The member will know that this Scottish Government has always sought to put the best interests of our farmers, and indeed our wider rural communities, at the very forefront of our decisions. However, there is no doubt that we could do much more if we were an independent nation in Europe, negotiating and pressing hard on the issues that really matter to Scotland’s farmers and crofters.

Of course, the additional funding that Scotland would gain is well documented. Not only would it enable us to target areas where it is most needed, but it would also transform our rural development programme. But we would also argue strongly for other policy measures, such as the need for a level playing field on the voluntary coupled support scheme to support our livestock sector, rather than the unacceptable two-tier system that is currently in place.

There are many benefits of Scotland being independent and that I why I urge all farmers and crofters to vote Yes.

Question reference: S4W-19035

Asked by: Richard Lyle, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 20 December 2013
Current Status: Answered by Alex Neil on 15 January 2014

To ask the Scottish Government what the highest recorded number of whole time equivalent staff employed by NHS Lanarkshire was and how many it employed in September 2013.

The number of whole time equivalent (WTE) staff employed by NHS Lanarkshire (excluding General Practitioners and General Dental services) is 10,131.2 WTE as at 30 September 2013.

This is the highest number of staff in NHS Lanarkshire on record.

The number of staff employed by NHS Lanarkshire from 2002 to 2013 can be found at:

https://isdscotland.scot.nhs.uk/Health-Topics/Workforce/Publications/2013-11-26/Overall_Trend_S2013.xls?35312397.

Question reference: S4W-19069

Asked by: Richard Lyle, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 06 January 2014
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 14 January 2014

To ask the Scottish Government whether NHS Lanarkshire has stopped supplying bump support belts free of charge to pregnant women and, if so, for what reason.

The Scottish Government has contacted NHS Lanarkshire which has provided the following response:

Bump support belts have not been supplied by NHS Lanarkshire for the last few years. The decision to stop supplying the belts was taken by the physiotherapy service four years ago. This was based on feedback from women who had used the belts and lack of evidence of their effectiveness. The board’s understanding is that there have been no negative reports regarding the withdrawal of bump support belts, but it is undertaking a further review.

Question reference: S4W-18888

Asked by: Richard Lyle, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 16 December 2013
Current Status: Answered by Alex Neil on 8 January 2014

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it has taken to encourage the exchange of factual evidence prior to legal proceedings in the pursuit of claims, as recommended in the Report of the Expert Group on Financial and Other Support.

Question reference: S4W-18887

Asked by: Richard Lyle, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 16 December 2013
Current Status: Answered by Alex Neil on 8 January 2014

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has encouraged NHS boards to make ex-gratia payments for lesser injuries to resolve disputes at an early stage, as recommended in the Report of the Expert Group on Financial and Other Support.