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: S1O-04739

Asked by: Shona Robison, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 20 February 2002
Current Status: Answered by Ross Finnie on 28 February 2002

To ask the Scottish Executive what recent discussions it has had with Dundee City Council in regard to the operation of the Baldovie incinerator.

Question reference: S1W-22601

Asked by: Shona Robison, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 31 January 2002
Current Status: Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 14 February 2002

To ask the Scottish Executive which health boards operate waiting lists for anti-TNF(tumour necrosis factor) treatments.

Question reference: S1W-22599

Asked by: Shona Robison, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 31 January 2002
Current Status: Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 14 February 2002

To ask the Scottish Executive how long the current waiting lists are for joint replacement surgery, broken down by NHS board.

The median waiting times for hip and knee joint replacement surgery for the year ended 30 September 2001, by NHS Board of residence, are given in the following table:NHSScotland: Median Waiting Times For Hip And Knee Joint Replacement Surgery, By NHS Board Of Residence: Year Ended 30 September 2001.

NHS Board	Hip Joint Replacement	Knee Joint Replacement
Argyll and Clyde	187 days	207 days
Ayrshire and Arran	138 days	141 days
Borders	173 days	186 days
Dumfries and Galloway	206 days	169 days
Fife	184 days	179 days
Forth Valley	218 days	284 days
Grampian	108 days	115 days
Greater Glasgow	217 days	224 days
Highland	112 days	133 days
Lanarkshire	132 days	133 days
Lothian	207 days	215 days
Orkney	45 days	34 days
Shetland	147 days	162 days
Tayside	127 days	145 days
Western Isles	56 days	28 days
Scotland	158 days	172 days

Source: ISD, Scotland.

Question reference: S1W-22600

Asked by: Shona Robison, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 31 January 2002
Current Status: Answered by Mary Mulligan on 14 February 2002

To ask the Scottish Executive how many rheumatologists are currently employed within the NHS and how many were employed in each of the past five years, broken down by NHS board.

Information on the number of rheumatologists directly employed in each health board in NHSScotland in the last six years for which data is available is shown in the following table. The tables should be read in conjunction with the notes.Rheumatology staff directly employed by NHSScotland by Health BoardHeadcount at 30 September¹

	Consultants						Other Career Grades²						Training Grades³
	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000
Scotland	16	17	19	20	22	22	12	10	10	8	10	12	13	17	18	19	22	18
Argyll & Clyde	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	-
Ayrshire & Arran	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Borders	-	-	-	1	1	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	-
Dumfries & Galloway	-	-	-	1	1	1	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	-	-	-
Fife	1	-	1	1	1	1	-	-	-	1	1	1	-	-	-	-	-	-
Forth Valley	1	1	1	1	1	1	2	2	2	2	2	2	-	-	-	-	-	-
Grampian	3	4	4	4	4	4	4	2	2	1	1	2	3	3	3	3	4	3
Greater Glasgow	4	4	4	4	4	4	2	2	1	1	1	1	6	8	9	10	11	8
Highland	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	-	-	-	-	-
Lanarkshire	2	2	2	2	3	3	1	1	1	-	1	1	-	1	-	-	-	-
Lothian	3	4	5	5	6	6	-	-	1	-	1	1	3	5	4	5	6	5
Orkney	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Shetland	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Tayside	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	1	-	-	-	1	1	2
Western Isles	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Source: Medical and Dental Census, ISD Scotland.Notes:1. Headcount includes honorary appointments.2. "Other career grades" comprises associate specialist, staff, hospital practitioner and GMP (para. 94 appointment) grades.3. "Training grades" comprises specialist registrar, registrar and senior house officer grades.4. The specialty record is that identified by trust HR departments as being the main specialty of the consultant. There may be other consultants who contribute to the workload in rheumatology.5. These data are released under National Statistics.

Question reference: S1W-22598

Asked by: Shona Robison, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 31 January 2002
Current Status: Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 14 February 2002

To ask the Scottish Executive which NHS boards have adhered to the (a) Scottish Prospective Evaluation of the Clinical Effectiveness of TNF Alpha Inhibitors in Rheumatoid Arthritis (SPECTRA) and (b) Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network guidelines on the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis.

Question reference: S1W-22597

Asked by: Shona Robison, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 31 January 2002
Current Status: Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 14 February 2002

To ask the Scottish Executive how many people have been prescribed anti-TNF (tumour necrosis factor) treatments on the NHS in each of the past five years, broken down by NHS board area.

The information requested is not held centrally. Infliximab and Etanercept are available on NHS prescription. However, their use depends on the clinical judgement of specialists experienced in the management of rheumatoid arthritis. Data on drugs dispensed in hospitals is not held centrally. Centrally collected data relates to items dispensed in the community by community pharmacists and dispensing doctors.

Question reference: S1W-21988

Asked by: Shona Robison, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 16 January 2002
Current Status: Answered by Patricia Ferguson on 30 January 2002

To ask the Scottish Executive how many amendments to a bill it has undertaken to lodge at Stage 3 of the legislative process during Stages 1 and 2 of the process and how many amendments it has actually lodged at Stage 3 since 1999.

Question reference: S1W-20976

Asked by: Shona Robison, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 12 December 2001
Current Status: Answered by Andy Kerr on 26 December 2001

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to its news release SE4934/2001 of 27 November 2001, whether it intends to use Scotland's share of the #1 billion extra funding for health to improve the delivery of public services in general and, if so, what criteria it will use for allocating this funding and when it will announce where the funding is to be allocated.

Question reference: S1O-04299

Asked by: Shona Robison, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 05 December 2001
Current Status: Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 13 December 2001

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is holding talks with drug manufacturers in order to find a strategy that would enable beta interferon to be obtained for patients in Scotland on the NHS and what progress has been made in any such talks.

Question reference: S1W-19249

Asked by: Shona Robison, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 19 October 2001
Current Status: Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 12 December 2001

To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of people in Scotland who need a hearing aid have access to free digital hearing aids from the NHS in Scotland.