- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 10 January 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Lewis Macdonald on 23 January 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive what support, financial or otherwise, it is giving to the RNID campaign, “Breaking the Sound Barrier”, and, in particular, to the telephone hearing test.
Answer
The Executive supports this campaign by the Royal National Institute for the Deaf and is keen to work with the RNID to help those with, or who may have, a hearing loss.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 10 January 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Lewis Macdonald on 23 January 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive what the audiology waiting times are in each NHS board.
Answer
This information is not collected by the National Waiting Times Unit as audiology is not a consultant-led service. Information Services Division has developed a data collection system for audiology services which is currently being tested to ensure quality assurance. This will produce centrally collected, validated data for publication.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 10 January 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Lewis Macdonald on 23 January 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive how many incidents of self harm there have been in each NHS board area in each year since 1999, broken down by month and into age groupings.
Answer
The information requested is shown in the table, Hospital discharges from acute hospitals with a diagnosis of deliberate self-harm, year ending December 1999-2004 a copy of which has been placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib number 38627).
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 10 January 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Lewis Macdonald on 23 January 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive what measures it has taken to encourage individuals to have their hearing tested, given that there is typically a 15-year delay between the onset of hearing loss and seeking help, as compared to a four-year gap between sight deterioration and obtaining spectacles, and that hearing impairment can lead to social isolation.
Answer
I refer the member to the answer to question S2W-22096 on 23 January 2006. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at
http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 10 January 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Tavish Scott on 23 January 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive what the order of strategic priority is of current and proposed rail developments.
Answer
Our first priority is to implement the major rail infrastructure projects, as set out in the Partnership Agreement, i.e. the rail links to Glasgow and Edinburgh airports, the upgrade at Waverley station, opening the Stirling to Alloa line, the Airdrie to Bathgate line, and the Borders rail link. In addition, we are considering what the rail strategy for the next 15 to 20 years should be. We have consulted on the strategic priorities, commissioned a Scottish Planning Assessment and Network Rail are conducting a Route Utilisation Study. These will provide the building blocks for considering what further rail developments will make the most positive impacts on the economy, society and environment of Scotland in future. We expect to produce the rail strategy in the summer and this will guide the potential investments to be considered for future funding by the Executive in the subsequent Strategic Projects Review. Transport Scotland has the operational responsibility for this area and can be contacted for more information if required.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 10 January 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Lewis Macdonald on 23 January 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-10217 by Malcolm Chisholm on 29 September 2004, how the £20 million was allocated to each NHS board; how the allocations were applied, and what impact these had on waiting times for audiology appointments.
Answer
The following table details the breakdown of the funds allocated to modernise and improve audiology services:
| | 2003–04 | 2004–05 | 2005-06 | Totals |
| Argyll and Clyde | 226,000 | 587,000 | 633,000 | 1,446,000 |
| Ayrshire and Arran | 201,000 | 357,000 | 324,000 | 882,000 |
| Borders | 39,000 | 115,000 | 146,000 | 300,000 |
| Dumfries and Galloway | 80,000 | 265,000 | 125,000 | 470,000 |
| Fife | 39,000 | 147,000 | 309,000 | 495,000 |
| Forth Valley | 111,000 | 125,000 | 234,000 | 470,000 |
| Grampian | 181,000 | 771,000 | 458,000 | 1,410,000 |
| Greater Glasgow | 699,000 | 1,177,000 | 1,064,000 | 2,940,000 |
| Highland | 108,000 | 264,000 | 311,000 | 683,000 |
| Lanarkshire | 336,000 | 395,000 | 478,000 | 1,209,000 |
| Lothian | 451,000 | 329,000 | 378,000 | 1,158,000 |
| Orkney | 7,000 | 0 | 97,000 | 104,000 |
| Shetland | 5,000 | 0 | 75,000 | 80,000 |
| Tayside | 246,000 | 623,000 | 344,000 | 1,213,000 |
| Western Isles | 38,000 | 81,000 | 65,000 | 184,000 |
| NHS Education for Scotland | 100,000 | 463,000 | 0 | 563,000 |
| Totals | 2,867,000 | 5,699,000 | 5,041,000 | 13,607,000 |
The direct allocations to each NHS board area for 2003-06 cover expenditure on accommodation, information technology, digital hearing aids and training of staff to use the modernised patient journey.
In addition there has been expenditure of £1,264,000 on national staff training events and other central staff costs.
Final allocations to boards for 2006-07 have yet to be decided.
Waiting times have been reduced in most NHS boards. An important part of the modernisation agenda is focussed on monitoring and encouraging the reduction in waiting times and providing support to boards where required.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 10 January 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Tavish Scott on 23 January 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is aware of the extent of the litter on the roadside verges of the A1 between Haddington and Newcraighall and, if so, what communications it has had with Amey Highways Ltd in this regard.
Answer
Amey Infrastructure Services is required to clear litter from the A1 special road between Old Craighall Roundabout and Haddington in accordance with the standards laid down in the Environmental Protection Act 1990 and the associated Code of Practice on Litter and Refuse. Transport Scotland and the independent Performance Audit Group are not aware of any significant issues regarding litter on this section of the A1 trunk road and no specific communications have been made with Amey on this matter. The Performance Audit Group’s recent inspection on 12 January 2006 did not highlight any accumulations of litter on the section of the A1 under Amey’s control.
The A1 between Old Craighall Roundabout and Newcraighall is not a trunk road and litter clearance is therefore a matter for the local roads authority.
Transport Scotland has the operational responsibility for this area, and can be contacted for more information if required.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 10 January 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Tom McCabe on 23 January 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive how many gifts ministers have received from private sector firms or businesses (a) within and (b) outwith Scotland in each year since 2000, broken down by firm or business.
Answer
Details of all gifts received by ministers are published annually on the Scottish Executive website. These are currently shown from 1999 to 2004. We plan to issue the details for 2005 shortly.
Details can be found at http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Resource/Doc/1066/0008094.pdf.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 12 January 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Lewis Macdonald on 23 January 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive how many additional audiologists it estimates will be required to meet any increasing demand following the introduction of a telephone hearing test by the RNID, which has been based on a Dutch model and as a consequence of which it is estimated that two or three out of 10 people taking the test will thereafter contact their GP with regard to their hearing.
Answer
The Royal National Institute for the Deaf (RNID) has indicated to the Executive, based on the experience in the Netherlands, that they expect one in 10 people who take the telephone hearing test may then contact their general practitioner to be referred to an audiologist. There may, therefore, be an increase in referrals across NHSScotland. NHS boards currently have the option of using a private sector national contract to meet audiology needs, and this could be used to meet any increase in demand.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 12 December 2005
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Current Status:
Answered by Lewis Macdonald on 23 January 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive what the expenditure on secondary mental health services was in real terms in each of the last five years for which figures are available and what this represents as a percentage of the hospital and community health services budget in each of these years.
Answer
The information requested is shown as follows. The level of expenditure on mental health and all other care services is determined by each NHS Board from within their share of the record resources made available to NHS Scotland. Local decisions on spend have shown a year on year increase in real terms over the last five years.
| Financial Year | Expenditure on Mental Health Services (Real Terms) (£000) | % of Total Expenditure on Hospital and Community health Services |
| 2004-05 | 625,531 | 13.2 |
| 2003-04 | 593,666 | 13.7 |
| 2002-03 | 587,969 | 14.2 |
| 2001-02 | 562,235 | 14.5 |
| 2000-01 | 525,772 | 14.4 |
The grants paid by the Scottish Executive under the Mental Health Specific Grant and other schemes, currently over £20 million per year, should be added over and above the above amounts spent by NHS boards. The spend made by local authorities and other partners on mental health should also be taken into account.
