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: S3W-40422

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 08 March 2011
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 17 March 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive what a (a) P1, (b) P2 and (c) P3 category call is as defined by NHS24.

NHS24 receives around 1.5 million calls a year, and around 75% are dealt with on an inbound basis. Of these, it is important to recognise that all calls identified as serious or immediately life threatening are dealt with immediately by NHS24 on an inbound basis.

However, less serious conditions can be assigned a clinically appropriate timescale within which they can be called back and these account for around 25% of calls to NHS24. This mechanism is utilised, particularly at times of peak demand, to ensure the clinically effective management of all patients. These calls are assigned a priority status (P1, P2, or P3) in line with the rigorous assessment process applied to inbound calls. The priority categorisation is as follows:

P1 “ Priority 1 patients to be called back within 60 minutes

P2 “ Priority 2 patients to be called back within 120 minutes

P3 “ Priority 3 patients to be called back within 180 minutes.

In deciding which patients/conditions are suitable to be called back, a range of factors will be considered including, but not limited to, presenting symptoms, previous medical history, recent health interventions, age of patient, social circumstances etc.

An electronic call streaming functionality has been introduced within NHS24, allowing call handlers to advise patients of an indicative timeframe within which they will be called back, improving the patient experience. This enhancement also supports the robust real time monitoring by senior clinicians of patients who are waiting to be called back. All patients are advised to contact the service immediately if their condition deteriorates while they are waiting to be called back.

Question reference: S3W-40424

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 08 March 2011
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 17 March 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive what the maximum waiting time for a category P3 call to NHS24 has been in 2010-11.

Question reference: S3W-40426

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 08 March 2011
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 17 March 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive for what reason data categorised by NHS24 as P3 are not available.

All calls to NHS24 that are categorised as P3 have been through a rigorous process of assessment. As such, these calls are not considered to have an clinical urgency associated with them and will be most likely to require advice on self management.

Information about category P3 calls to NHS24 is not held centrally by the Scottish Government, however these calls are monitored internally by NHS24.

Question reference: S3W-40443

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 08 March 2011
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 17 March 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive for what reason NHS24 uses an external public relations company for the NHS Inform website.

Question reference: S3W-40444

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 08 March 2011
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 17 March 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive for what reason NHS24 does not use its inhouse media team for the NHS Inform website.

Question reference: S3W-40423

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 08 March 2011
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 17 March 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it receives all data from NHS24 regarding (a) P1, (b) P2 and (c) P3 category calls.

The Scottish Government receives weekly, monthly and annual performance information from NHS24 in relation to performance against P1 and P2 calls to the service. As agreed in their 2010-11 Local Delivery Plan, target responses are as follows:

Commence 100% of calls prioritised as P1 within 60 minutes

Commence 90% of calls prioritised as P2 within 120 minutes.

Performance against these targets is reported publically within the monthly NHS24 Board papers, the most recent report can be found at:

http://www.nhs24.com/content/default.asp?page=s21_8&monthNo=2&yearNo=2011.

Performance against calls prioritised as P3 (commence call within 180 minutes) is monitored internally by NHS24 and is not reported to the Scottish Government.

Question reference: S3W-40446

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 08 March 2011
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 17 March 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive which NHS boards have used external public relations companies in the last year; who provided these services, and what the cost was of each contract.

Question reference: S3W-40425

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 08 March 2011
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 17 March 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive how many calls have been categorised by NHS24 as (a) P1, (b) P2 and (c) P3 in 2010-11.

Question reference: S3W-40432

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 08 March 2011
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 17 March 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive how many staff are employed by each Special Health Board, broken down by pay scale.

Question reference: S3W-40442

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 08 March 2011
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 17 March 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive how much NHS24 is paying the BIG Partnership for public relations services for the NHS Inform website.

NHS24 has not employed the BIG Partnership specifically for public relations services for the NHS inform website. However, they have been used by NHS24 to support national campaigns and the development of social media channels.

NHS24''s own communications team is entirely responsible for managing and delivering all communications functions for NHS inform. This includes the marketing, stakeholder engagement and public relations work relating to the service.