- Asked by: Mary Scanlon, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 November 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 10 January 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive whether patient groups are represented on drug and therapeutic committees.
Answer
Drug and therapeutic committees are expert technical committees of the health board and Trust and do not normally have patient representation.
- Asked by: Mary Scanlon, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 08 December 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Susan Deacon on 10 January 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1O-2606 by Susan Deacon on 30 November 2000, whether the single vaccinations for mumps, measles and rubella are available to patients who cannot receive the combined vaccine and what clinical reasons are necessary to allow the single vaccinations to be made available.
Answer
The licensing and safety of medicines is a reserved matter. Single dose measles and mumps vaccines are not licensed for sale or use in the UK.
The Medicines Control Agency will not object on safety grounds to the import of unlicensed single vaccines if the responsible clinician has declared that the licensed MMR vaccine cannot meet the special needs of an individual patient e.g. where the patient is sensitive to any of the ingredients in the MMR vaccine. The MCA has also accepted that where a patient has begun a course of treatment of single vaccines, it is in the interests of public health that the course be completed.
- Asked by: Mary Scanlon, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 08 December 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Susan Deacon on 10 January 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive how many unfilled physiotherapist vacancies exist in each health Trust.
Answer
11 NHS Trusts in Scotland had vacancies which remained unfilled after three months or more as at 31 March 2000.A breakdown of the vacancies in these Trusts is shown in the table.Physiotherapist Vacancies in the NHS in Scotland by Provider
| NHS Trust | WTE vacant for more than 3 months |
| Argyll & Clyde Acute | 4.0 |
| Renfrewshire & Inverclyde Primary Care | 1.0 |
| Fife Acute | 1.0 |
| Yorkhill | 2.7 |
| North Glasgow University | 3.0 |
| Highland Acute | 2.5 |
| Highland Primary Care | 2.5 |
| Lanarkshire Primary Care | 3.2 |
| Lothian University | 1.0 |
| Lothian Primary Care | 1.5 |
| Tayside Primary Care | 0.4 |
| TOTAL | 22.8 |
- Asked by: Mary Scanlon, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 November 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Susan Deacon on 10 January 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive how the #39 million earmarked for public health in 2000-01 was allocated in terms of priorities and targets.
Answer
The priorities and targets addressed by the £39 million identified for public health in 2000-01 are the creation of the Health Improvement Fund, matters relating to the implementation of the White Paper Towards a Healthier Scotland, AIDS/HIV health promotion, demonstration projects in areas of poor health, the Scottish Diet Action Group, drug misuse education and training, alcohol misuse education and prevention and tobacco control.
- Asked by: Mary Scanlon, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 31 October 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 9 January 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive whether the assessment, referred to in Investing In You, being carried out by the Scottish Development Centre for Mental Health Services relating to the care proposals for mentally disordered offenders, has been carried out and when the results will be published.
Answer
The review has been completed and the findings are being considered. Area digests will be provided to all local agencies involved in the review and outcome guidance will issue in due course addressing the multi-agency dimension required for safe care and accommodation for this group.
- Asked by: Mary Scanlon, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 31 July 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Susan Deacon on 8 January 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-6762 by Susan Deacon on 7 June 2000, which health boards now operate specific primary care initiatives in relation to osteoporosis.
Answer
Local initiatives are in place across Scotland to help with the prevention of osteoporosis (including alcohol, smoking and diet initiatives). In addition, many specific primary care initiatives are in place. Detailed information on individual initiatives is available from Primary Care Trusts.
- Asked by: Mary Scanlon, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 30 October 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Susan Deacon on 8 January 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to enhance and integrate the IT system throughout the NHS to ensure that intentions regarding organ donations are made known.
Answer
A computerised Organ Donor Register covering the whole of the United Kingdom is run by UK Transplant for all Health Departments. One of several methods for new donors to signify their intentions is when registering with a new general practitioner. Data on such donors is collected through the Community Health Index operated by the Practitioner Services Division (PSD) of the Common Services Agency to the NHS in Scotland, and is transmitted electronically to UK Transplant. Improvements are currently being planned to the electronic software which among other information will cover the transfer of donor information from GPs to PSD. These arrangements will form part of the ongoing process of updating and enhancing IT systems for GPs.
- Asked by: Mary Scanlon, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 12 December 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Susan Deacon on 4 January 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is reviewing the treatments available for mental illnesses, particularly those aimed at relieving positive schi'ophrenic symptoms, given the documented side effects of some current treatments.
Answer
The ultimate decision regarding the use of a particular treatment for an individual patient is a matter for the specialist responsible for that patient's care, taking into account any national or local guidance and advice from various sources including from Health Boards' Area Drugs and Therapeutics Committees.
In relation to the side-effects of some current treatments for schizophrenia, the Medicines Control Agency and the Committee on Safety of Medicines monitor the safety of all medicines marketed in the UK and, where necessary, provide health professionals with advice on the safe use of these medicines.
- Asked by: Mary Scanlon, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 12 December 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 4 January 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive how it will ensure that local authorities give patients with a mental illness appropriate care and treatment in the community, based on assessment of need.
Answer
Health boards and NHS Trusts are expected to work with local authorities to develop services for the treatment and rehabilitation of patients with mental illness, based on a proper assessment of needs.
The Framework for Mental Health Services in Scotland provides a template for the best inter-agency organisation of such services and support, based on the aim that all needs are met. Guidance on the best organisation of mental health services was published in the service elements section of the Framework for Mental Health Services in Scotland (bib. no.7392). A copy is available in the Parliament's Reference Centre.
- Asked by: Mary Scanlon, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 12 December 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 4 January 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive how it will ensure that NHS Trusts and local authorities have precise information about the numbers of people with a mental disorder whom it is agreed require community care, but who remain in hospital.
Answer
The Framework for Mental Health Services in Scotland provides guidance for mental health agencies in how best to meet the needs of individuals with mental health problems. The pre-discharge, multi-agency assessment process recommended in the framework will inform numbers and responses in each case.
