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-06547

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 25 January 2017
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 6 February 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what the target for the treatment of hepatitis C is for 2017-18, also broken down by the target for each NHS board, and how much it will make available to (a) the NHS and (b) each board to help achieve this.

The National target for 2017-18 has not yet been finalised. NHS Boards will be advised of the target for 2017-18 before the start of the new financial year.

The hepatitis C treatment target is a national minimum target for the whole of Scotland and there are no local NHS Board targets. The incidence and prevalence of hepatitis C varies across Scotland, as does the distribution of genotypes of the disease. This means the scale and nature of hepatitis C infection in different Boards can necessitate a different response and targets for each NHS Boards are not appropriate.

Funding for the Sexual Health and Blood Borne Virus Framework is now included in the £161m Outcomes Framework budget. Boards have flexibility to allocate funding from that budget towards hepatitis C treatment appropriate to their local needs

Question reference: S5W-06554

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 25 January 2017
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 3 February 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to develop the A720 as a smart motorway.

The Scottish Government is committed to making best use of available road capacity as we deliver an efficient transport system which can support sustainable economic growth. Work is underway to explore how best Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) can be applied on key parts of the trunk road network, including the A720.

This is in addition to on-going route specific work to identify required improvements to the A720.

I refer the Member to the answer to question S5W-06030 on 19 January 2017 for further information. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at: http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx

Question reference: S5W-05783

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 20 December 2016
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 3 February 2017

To ask the Scottish Government how many health visitors have been employed in the NHS in each year since 1999, broken down by NHS board.

Information on the number of Health Visitors employed by NHSScotland Health Board in each year since 1999 is published by ISD Scotland and can be found at the following links:-

http://www.isdscotland.org/Health-Topics/Workforce/Historic-Data/WFE01_HB_REG.xls=

http://www.isdscotland.org/Health-Topics/Workforce/Publications/2012-11-27/Nursing_and_Midwifery_SIP_S2012.xls?52391154

https://www.isdscotland.org/Health-Topics/Workforce/Publications/2016-12-06/Non-Medical_Trend_S2016.xls

https://www.isdscotland.org/Health-Topics/Workforce/Publications/2016-12-06/Health_Visitors_S2016.xls

Question reference: S5W-06168

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 13 January 2017
Current Status: Answered by Aileen Campbell on 31 January 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what information it has regarding how many expectant mothers have been turned away from maternity units due to capacity issues in each year since 1999, broken down by hospital.

Question reference: S5W-05973

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 05 January 2017
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 31 January 2017

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-05450 by Aileen Campbell on 22 December 2016, by what date the £10 million investment will be made available to NHS boards.

Question reference: S5W-05999

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 10 January 2017
Current Status: Answered by Aileen Campbell on 26 January 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the possible savings to the NHS if fewer people developed conditions related to vitamin D deficiency.

The Scottish Government has not carried out this assessment. We are however aware of the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) economic evaluation of Interventions to Improve the Uptake of Vitamin D Supplements in England and Wales, published in 2014. The results of this analysis are available online at https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ph56/evidence/economic-evaluation-final-69290605

Question reference: S5W-05965

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 05 January 2017
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 26 January 2017

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-01096 by John Swinney on 25 July 2016, whether it will provide the information for 2016.

Please see in the following table how many and the percentage of pupils with additional support needs in each local authority for 2016.

The information on hours of support provision is not held centrally.

	Pupils with an ASN	Percentage of pupils with an ASN
Aberdeen City	4,883	21.70%
Aberdeenshire	13,490	38.00%
Angus	1,685	11.20%
Argyll & Bute	2,208	21.40%
Clackmannanshire	1,815	27.60%

Dumfries & Galloway	5,585	29.90%
Dundee City	3,438	19.10%
East Ayrshire	3,941	24.70%
East Dunbartonshire	3,161	19.20%
East Lothian	3,031	21.50%

East Renfrewshire	3,189	19.00%
Edinburgh City	12,694	26.20%
Na h-Eileanan Siar	1,147	34.10%
Falkirk	4,075	18.80%
Fife	10,396	21.10%

Glasgow City	21,232	31.70%
Highland	11,243	36.50%
Inverclyde	2,597	26.20%
Midlothian	2,979	24.10%
Moray	3,336	27.90%

North Ayrshire	5,081	27.80%
North Lanarkshire¹	7,903	16.20%
Orkney Islands	719	26.60%
Perth & Kinross	5,837	32.40%
Renfrewshire	3,660	15.70%

Scottish Borders	4,217	29.00%
Shetland Islands	809	25.00%
South Ayrshire	1,712	12.20%
South Lanarkshire	9,874	22.50%
Stirling	3,145	25.30%

West Dunbartonshire	4,475	35.90%
West Lothian	6,565	24.50%

All local authorities	170,122	24.90%

Grant aided	207	16.70%

Scotland	170,329	24.90%

Question reference: S5W-06238

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 17 January 2017
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 26 January 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what the remit and purpose is of the Effective Prescribing Group.

The Effective Prescribing Programme (EPP) has been set up by NHS National Services Scotland, NHS Boards and the Scottish Government to facilitate and support the quality of prescribing and medicines use. The EPP was established to accelerate change through clinical leadership, removing barriers to change and adding focus and pace.

The challenge of an aging population with increasingly complex multiple long term conditions requires that the NHS finds new and innovative ways of using its resources. An important guiding principle of this is, where possible, to adopt a ‘once for Scotland’ approach, ensuring best use of resources through joint working in order to improve patient healthcare outcomes.

The Effective Prescribing Programme Board (EPPB) sits within the governance arrangements of the member organisations. The EPPB reports, via the Scottish Association of Medical Directors, to the Sustainability and Value Board which in turn reports to NHS Chief Executives. The EPPB is chaired jointly by an NHS Medical Director and a Scottish Government official. All territorial Boards are represented on the EPPB.

Question reference: S5W-06240

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 17 January 2017
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 26 January 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what the (a) current and (b) future areas of focus are for the Effective Prescribing Group and its subgroups.

The Effective Prescribing Programme is currently focusing on: the clinical effectiveness of biological medicines; developing a clinical consensus approach to particular clinical areas; scaling up the holistic review of patients on multiple medicines; supporting the implementation of Prescribing Strategies; and Review of NHS Boards’ use of formularies to support effective use of medicines.

Future areas of focus have yet to be considered and agreed.

Question reference: S5W-06242

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 17 January 2017
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 26 January 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what arrangements have been put in place to ensure that (a) patients, (b) clinicians and (c) the pharmaceutical industry are able to inform the decisions of the Effective Prescribing Group.