- Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 16 November 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 3 December 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has plans to review the air ambulance service.
Answer
The ScottishAmbulance Service and its constituent operating divisions, which includes theair ambulance service, are the subject of continuous performance management bythe Scottish Government.
- Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 16 November 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 3 December 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive what emergency plans are in place in the event of the air ambulance service being unable to attend an incident due to adverse weather conditions.
Answer
The AmbulanceService will use the services of the Ministry of Defence or HM Coastguard forincidents where the weather is below the minimum safe operating limits, asgoverned by the Civil Aviation Authority, and the patient’s condition has thepotential to be life or limb threatening.
- Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 16 November 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 3 December 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive how many air ambulance flights have been subject to delay due to adverse weather conditions in each of the last three years.
Answer
This informationis not collected. However, where there is likely to be a delay due to weatherconditions, the Scottish Ambulance Service will discuss this with the clinicianwho is requesting transport. In circumstances where the clinician decides thatthe patient’s condition is life or limb threatening then the Ambulance Servicewill follow its contingency which is to task the Ministry of Defence (MOD) orHM Coastguard to carry out the mission. In 2005-06, MOD/Coastguard were used on115 occasions, in 2006-07, they were used 118 times and in the seven months tothe end of October 2007 this has occurred on 51 occasions.
- Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 16 November 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 3 December 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive what specific financial support it provides to local authorities and individual NHS boards for hydrotherapy facilities.
Answer
NHS boards andtheir local planning partners are expected to provide facilities such as thesefrom the budgets available to them, based on their assessment of local needs.
- Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 16 November 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 3 December 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it considers that hydrotherapy pools are beneficial to arthritis sufferers and, if so, what level of access it considers to be desirable.
Answer
There is growingevidence to suggest that hydrotherapy pools are beneficial to people witharthritis, who often report perceived benefit and improved quality of life. Asthere is still limited evidence around the cost-effectiveness and quantitativeoutcomes of this intervention when compared with other therapies, there is alack of clear evidence that hydrotherapy should be preferred over othertherapeutic interventions.
It is for NHS boardsand their local planning partners to determine the levels of services which areprovided for people with arthritis, including the provision of hydrotherapy.
- Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 16 November 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 3 December 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive what representations it has received from (a) Shetland Islands Council, (b) Orkney Islands Council, (c) Comhairle nan Eilean Siar, (d) Highland Council and (e) Argyll and Bute Council regarding air ambulance services.
Answer
The new airambulance contract began on 1 April 2006. Since then,Orkney Islands Council have written to and met with the previous Minister forHealth and Community Care to discuss air ambulance services. The Convenor ofOrkney Islands Council has also written to the Scottish Government about thisand has discussed the issue with me when I was in Kirkwall for the NHS Orkney annual review in September. There have been norepresentations from the other Councils about air ambulance services.
- Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 16 November 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 3 December 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive how many air ambulance flights have been subject to delay as a result of shift changes in each of the last three years.
Answer
This informationis not collected. The vast majority of missions carried out by the ScottishAmbulance Service’s air ambulance service are planned missions and are not timecritical. For such missions, shift changes can be worked into the schedule ofjourneys to be undertaken within the timeframe for the response agreed with theclinician making the request.
The duty hours offlight crew are regulated in law by the Civil Aviation Authority. The ScottishAmbulance Service has to ensure that its crews strictly adhere to theregulations in the interests of safety - of the patient, the aircraft and thecrew. Some leeway does however exist where the condition of the patient isassessed by a clinician as “life or limb threatening”. In such circumstancesthe duty hours of the flight crew may be extended where that is required forthe mission to be carried out within the timeframe requested by the clinician.
- Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 16 November 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Adam Ingram on 29 November 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive what allowances will be paid to kinship carers who are legal guardians of children.
Answer
Local authoritieshave discretionary powers to make payments to kinship carers of children who arenot looked after. These are:
1. Section 22 of theChildren (Scotland) Act 1995
2. Section 50 of theChildren Act 1975.
In addition, whena child becomes orphaned, the kinship carer of the child can apply for a Guardian’sAllowance paid for by the Department of Work and Pensions.
- Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 16 November 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Adam Ingram on 29 November 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive what allowances will be paid to kinship carers who have taken on the care of a child prior to local authority involvement.
Answer
I refer the memberto the answer to question S3W-6505 on 29 November 2007. All answers to written parliamentary questions are availableon the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at
http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.
- Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 16 November 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Adam Ingram on 29 November 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive what allowances will be paid to kinship carers of children who have been orphaned and have not come under local authority care.
Answer
I refer the memberto the answer to question S3W-6505 on 29 November 2007. All answers to written parliamentary questions are availableon the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at
http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.