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: S5W-08190

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 16 March 2017
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 28 March 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what information it has regarding how many consultations GPs have conducted by telephone in each year since 1999, broken down by NHS board.

This information is not held centrally by the Scottish Government.

Access to GP services is an important issue for the Scottish Government and I’m aware that many of general practices have, for many years, adjusted appointment arrangements in order to try to prioritise urgency, and support quality and continuity of patient care.

We recognise that local situations vary and so practice partners are responsible for designing their own patient appointment and consultation arrangements. We expect them to use their professional judgement to make decisions which enable them to run the best possible service and deliver for their patient needs. GPs are encouraged to develop technology and deploy the talents of their staff appropriately to introduce new, innovative ways of working to benefit their patients by prioritising urgency, and supporting quality and continuity of patient care.

Question reference: S5W-08196

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 16 March 2017
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 28 March 2017

To ask the Scottish Government how many GPs surgeries have closed in each year since 1999, broken down by NHS board.

Question reference: S5W-08195

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 16 March 2017
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 28 March 2017

To ask the Scottish Government how many GPs have resigned from NHS practices in each year since 1999, broken down by NHS board.

This information is not held centrally by the Scottish Government.

NHS boards have various means of supporting independently contracted practices which request assistance. We expect Health Boards to work with practices as constructively and as flexibly as is appropriate to ensure that all patients have access to GP services. The Scottish Government is aware of concerns around recruitment issues in Scotland, these will be taken into account as the 2017 GMS contract negotiations go forward.

Question reference: S5W-08198

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 16 March 2017
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 28 March 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to conduct a review of the provision of specialist nurses.

Question reference: S5W-08194

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 16 March 2017
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 28 March 2017

To ask the Scottish Government how many complaints regarding GP surgeries each NHS Board has received in each year since 1999.

Information on how many complaints regarding GP surgeries by each NHS Board since 1999 is not held centrally.

The Information Services Division (ISD) of NHS National Services Scotland publishes information submitted by NHS Boards about complaints relating to Family Health Services (FHS). Five broad service/contractor types are included within the FHS complaints statistics: Medical, Dental, Pharmaceutical, Ophthalmic and Administration. This information can be found at http://www.isdscotland.org/Health-Topics/Quality-Indicators/Publications/data-tables.asp?id=1754#1754.

When reviewing these statistics it is worthwhile to note that the Patient Rights (Scotland) Act 2011 and the Regulations and Directions made under Section 15 of the Act put new complaints arrangements in place, including requirements to record, report, review and learn from complaints about Primary Care services.

Question reference: S5W-08210

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 16 March 2017
Current Status: Answered by Derek Mackay on 27 March 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what the (a) budget and (b) annual expenditure is of Information Services Division and how many (i) full- and (ii) part-time staff it employs.

The Information Services Division (ISD) forms part of a strategic business unit within NHS National Services Scotland.

For the 2016-17 financial year, ISD is forecast to have a break-even position for the budgeted income and expenditure. For the ISD as a whole this is £26.34M. This total can be broken down to pay costs of £23.55M and non-pay costs of £2.79M.

The staff establishment figures for 2016-17 are shown in the following table. This includes the total number of staff broken down into full- and part- time. Also included is the whole time equivalent (WTE) for the total staff number:

Number of Full Time Staff	Number of Part Time Staff	Total Number of Staff		Total Number of WTE
465	151	616		553

Question reference: S5W-08192

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 16 March 2017
Current Status: Answered by Aileen Campbell on 27 March 2017

To ask the Scottish Government how many couples who have children from a previous relationship have received NHS-IVF treatment in each year since 1999.

Question reference: S5W-07805

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 07 March 2017
Current Status: Answered by Aileen Campbell on 27 March 2017

To ask the Scottish Government how many prisoners who tested positive for hepatitis C in (a) 2015-16 and (b) 2016-17 began treatment while still in prison.

Question reference: S5W-07160

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 10 February 2017
Current Status: Answered by Maureen Watt on 23 March 2017

To ask the Scottish Government how many children have been treated in adult mental health wards in each year since 1999, broken down by NHS board.

Children and young people referred to Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) will generally be treated in the community. There may be times when it is necessary to admit them to hospital for specialist treatment. Should this be the case they would be admitted to one of the three regional CAMHS inpatient units. There are however occasions when a young person is admitted to an adult ward. This may happen for example when it may be clinically judged to be more appropriate to admit that young person to an adult ward or the young person and their family have a preference for an admission to a local adult ward.

Question reference: S5W-08199

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 16 March 2017
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 22 March 2017

To ask the Scottish Government how many school counsellors each local authority has hired in each year since 1999 to support young people with mental health issues.