- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 27 May 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 5 June 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive how many paramedics are rostered on each ambulance across each shift pattern in the Vale of Leven, Helensburgh and Arrochar stations.
Answer
The Scottish Ambulance Service has advised that crews are rostered to achieve at least one paramedic on each double crewed shift, as well as to provide the paramedic cover required for the shifts operated by the rapid response vehicle operating out of the Vale of Leven.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 27 May 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 5 June 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive how many ambulances are available on each shift pattern in the Vale of Leven, Helensburgh and Arrochar stations.
Answer
The Scottish Ambulance Service has provided the following table.
| Station | Resource | Mon | Tues | Wed | Thur | Fri | Sat | Sun |
| Vale of Leven | Day shift double crew Ambulance | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 |
| | Night shift double crew Ambulance | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 |
| | Day shift FRV Single crew paramedic 7-3 Mon-Fri & Sat/Sun 9am to 9pm | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| | Back shift FRV Single crew paramedic up to 11pm Mon-Fri | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Helensburgh | Day shift double crew Ambulance | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| | Night shift double crew Ambulance | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Arrochar | Day shift double crew Ambulance | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| | Night shift double crew Ambulance | o/c | o/c | o/c | o/c | o/c | o/c | o/c |
Notes:
o/c = on call from home address.
FRV = Fast Response Vehicle paramedic car.
Excludes Patient Transport Ambulances.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 27 May 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 5 June 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive whether all ambulances are double-crewed, and what the reasons are for its position on the matter.
Answer
The service operates a range of vehicle types deployed according to the clinical condition of the patient. Rapid Response Vehicles tend to be single responders, accident and emergency units should be double crewed, as should mid tier and urgent tier units.
The statement to Parliament on 4 June by the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Wellbeing made clear the position of the Scottish Government on these matters.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 27 May 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 5 June 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive what the overtime budget was for the Scottish Ambulance Service for 2007-08 and what it is for 2008-09.
Answer
The Scottish Ambulance Service has advised that the final overtime budget in 2007-08 was £2.615 million. The current planned overtime budget for 2008-09 is £3.247 million though this figure is subject to revision over the course of the year.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 27 May 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 5 June 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is concerned that a claim of bullying and harassment has been submitted to NHSScotland against senior management of the Scottish Ambulance Service.
Answer
The Scottish Government takes very seriously all claims of bullying and harassment.
However, it is important that such claims are dealt with thoroughly and appropriately by the board of the Scottish Ambulance Service as the employer, ensuring that due process is followed and that rights under employment law and NHSScotland’s staff governance framework are respected.
The statement to Parliament on 4 June by the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Wellbeing made clear the position of the Scottish Government on these matters.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 27 May 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 5 June 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive how many ambulances have been unable to be deployed on shifts at the Vale of Leven, Helensburgh and Arrochar stations due to staff sickness during the last six months, also broken down by month.
Answer
It is not possible to provide the information in the format requested. However, the Scottish Ambulance Service has provided the following table which sets out all shifts not covered. These may be seen in the context of more than 2,000 rostered shifts across the three stations over the last six months. Reasons for shifts not covered will include staff sickness and vacancies.
| | December 2007 | January 2008 | February 2008 | March 2008 | April 2008 | May 2008 | Total |
| Vale of Leven | 5 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 29 |
| Helensburgh | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 10 |
| Arrochar | 0 | 2 | 7 | 14 | 0 | 14 | 37 |
| Total | 7 | 8 | 12 | 20 | 8 | 21 | |
As the Cabinet Secretary made clear in her statement to the Parliament on 4 June 2008, the Scottish Ambulance Service must make every effort to cover all shifts and budget controls should not determine decisions about whether or not to cover shifts.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 27 May 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 5 June 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive what the response times were for ambulances attending patients in (a) Dumbarton, (b) the Vale of Leven, (c) Helensburgh and (d) the Rosneath Peninsula set against national targets, in each of the last six months.
Answer
The national response time target for category A calls (life threatening) across mainland Scotland is that, by March 2009, 75% of all incidents should be reached within eight minutes.
The national response time target for category B calls (serious but not life threatening) across mainland Scotland is that, by March 2009, 95% of all incidents should be reached within 14, 19 or 21 minutes depending on population density. For the locations requested, the target is 21 minutes.
The information requested has been provided by the Scottish Ambulance Service and has been placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 45730).
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 22 May 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 5 June 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive how many people have been screened for thrombophilia since May 2007.
Answer
This information is not held centrally. We have accepted the advice from the National Screening Committee that population screening for thrombophilia should not be offered. As with all the topics on which it offers advice, however, the committee keeps the evidence base under review.
It is usual in Scotland, however, for adult relatives of those with Factor V Leiden, the most common genetic mutation which gives rise to thrombophilia, to be offered genetic testing and given appropriate advice in the light of the result of that test.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 27 May 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 4 June 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-11294 by Nicola Sturgeon on 23 April 2008, whether it will publish the 41 pre-moderated comments removed after publication on the website.
Answer
The Scottish Government currently has no plans to publish the 41 comments removed after publication on the website. The comments were removed following reconsideration against the criteria used to moderate the site. It would therefore be inappropriate for the Scottish Government to publish elsewhere comments which were deemed not to meet the standards for the site.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 27 May 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 4 June 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive what the cost was of temporary and agency staff in the Scottish Ambulance Service for 2007-08 and what it is for 2008-09.
Answer
The Scottish Ambulance Service has advised that the final budget for temporary and agency staff in 2007-08 was £96,800. The current planned budget for 2008-09 is £85,500 though this figure is subject to revision over the course of the year.
