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: S3W-20570

Asked by: Jackson Carlaw, MSP for West of Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 February 2009
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 25 February 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive how many days were lost in the NHS through sickness absence in each year since 1999, broken down by NHS board.

Information on sickness absence rates is based on hours lost at a national level and is available from 2001 onwards. NHS board level information is available from 2005 onwards:

http://www.isdscotland.org/isd/servlet/FileBuffer?namedFile=Sickness%20Absence.xls&pContentDispositionType=inline.

Sickness absence information is based on hours lost to take account of part-time workers whose standard day is different to a whole-time worker''s standard day.

Sickness absence is a complex issue and it is difficult to identify cause and effect, which impacts on where best to target interventions. Much work has been done at the national level, including publishing a Health at Work PIN (Partnership Information Network) guideline. A specialist group (The Promoting Attendance and Managing Sickness Absence Group) has also been established at national level with membership from NHS management, trade unions and the Scottish Government and has within its remit responsibility to identify, disseminate and promote good practice. All Boards have agreed to a target of 4% by March 2009 (with the exception of the Scottish Ambulance Service and NHS 24, whose targets are 5% and 6% respectively). Each board has a sickness absence policy in place and the sickness absence targets have been integrated into objectives for individuals and operational units.

Question reference: S3W-20571

Asked by: Jackson Carlaw, MSP for West of Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 February 2009
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 25 February 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive how many days were lost in the Scottish Ambulance Service through sickness absence in each year since 1999, broken down by division.

To ensure comparability of data the Scottish Ambulance Service record sickness absence rates as a percentage which allows benchmarking against other health boards. Sickness absence information is based on hours lost to take account of part-time workers whose standard day is different to a whole-time worker''s standard day.

The following table shows sickness absence figures from 2002 onwards. This information is not available from 1999-2001.

2002-03	5.7%
2003-04	5.4%
2004-05	5.9%
2005-06	5.5%
2006-07	5.6%
2007-08	5.8%
2008-09	5.3% (to end January 2009)

Scottish Ambulance Service are currently working towards a target of 5% absence rate by 31 March 2009.

Question reference: S3W-21146

Asked by: Jackson Carlaw, MSP for West of Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 February 2009
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 24 February 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive what proportion of school children in each local authority area in the west of Scotland attended an independent (a) primary and (b) secondary school in each year since 1997.

This information is not collected centrally.

Figures for the number of pupils in independent schools are published each year on the government website at the following link:

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Statistics/Browse/School-Education/PubIndSchoolCensus.

However, since pupils attend independent schools outwith their area and information on the location of residence of pupil in independent schools is not collected, the requested information is not available.

Question reference: S3W-20427

Asked by: Jackson Carlaw, MSP for West of Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 02 February 2009
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 24 February 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive, in light of its press release of 14 October 2008, how many senior charge nurses are operating within the senior charge nurse framework.

All senior charge nurses (SCN) in hospitals across NHS Scotland will be working within the context of this revised role by the end of 2010. At present, around 700 SCNs have either completed or are undertaking training, which includes one to one facilitation, taught training programmes and action learning. Whilst this process is at an early stage, we are putting in place arrangements to monitor NHS board progress.

The transition of SCNs to the revised role is being led by NHS board nurse Directors, supported by a national steering group. The success of embedding and sustaining the role change depends on a range of factors and all NHS boards have produced action plans to work towards achieving this goal. Work currently underway includes analysis of training needs, development and implementation of training programmes, and development of roll-out programmes.

Question reference: S3W-20428

Asked by: Jackson Carlaw, MSP for West of Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 02 February 2009
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 24 February 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive how many senior staff charge nurses it expects to be operating within the senior charge nurse framework in (a) six months’, (b) 12 months’ and (c) 18 months’ time.

Question reference: S3W-20572

Asked by: Jackson Carlaw, MSP for West of Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 February 2009
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 24 February 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive how many days were lost in the Scottish Police Service through sickness absence in each year since 1999, broken down by police force.

Police working days lost due to sickness absence 1999-2000 to 2007-08

Force	1999-2000	2000-01	2001-02	2002-03	2003-04	2004-05	2005-06	2006-07	2007-08
Central	8,673	9,869	8,944	9,592	9,807	7,596	5,959	7,357	5,881
Dumfries and Galloway	3,413	3,687	3,052	2,598	4,532	3,952	3,596	3,315	3,707
Fife	8,818	7,920	9,804	8,870	9,044	10,341	9,427	11,454	9,715
Grampian	7,522	7,035	7,561	10,519	11,742	11,075	10,295	11,629	10,548
Lothian and Borders	30,624	32,222	30,840	33,967	34,168	28,845	31,227	31,239	30,822
Northern	6,234	5,436	6,095	6,213	6,789	6,439	7,908	8,595	7,203
Strathclyde	88,017	76,113	79,542	82,037	83,153	73,221	73,389	81,788	81,716
Tayside	16,246	16,003	14,910	13,893	12,543	12,019	11,870	12,749	11,832
Scotland	169,547	158,285	160,748	167,689	171,778	153,488	153,671	168,126	161,424

Sources:

1999-2000 to 2001-02 police force annual statistical returns to Her Majesty''s Inspectorate of Constabulary for Scotland.

2002-03 to 2006-07 Audit Scotland.

2007-08 Scottish Police Performance Framework collection.

Note: Days lost refer to police officers and do not include support staff.

Question reference: S3W-20359

Asked by: Jackson Carlaw, MSP for West of Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 30 January 2009
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 23 February 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive how many NHS patients were treated via the private or independent sector in each year since 1999, also broken down by NHS board.

The Information and Statistics Division of NHS National Services Scotland continues to work with the Scottish Government, NHS boards, and independent health care providers to improve the quality of this data, and ensure high levels of completion. It is intended that this information should be published on a regular basis, when the data is of sufficient quality and completeness.

The apparent increase in independent sector activity in some health boards for the year ending 31 December 2007 can be attributed to (a) improvement in the collection of these data in recent months, particularly at independent locations other than private hospitals (e.g. private nursing homes; hospices; homes run by local authorities or charities), and (b) the opening of the Scottish Regional Treatment Centre at Stracathro Hospital in 2006. However, as submission levels are believed to vary by location and over time, the figures should be considered of limited use and should be interpreted with caution.

The following table shows available information for in-patient / day case activity that has been submitted for NHS patients treated by independent healthcare providers in Scotland.

NHSScotland In-Patient and Day Case Episodes - Numbers of Records that have been Submitted for Private Health Care¹ in Scotland; by NHS Board of Residence; Years Ending 31 December²

	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007
Scotland	1,929	1,700	2,036	1,867	2,285	2,075	2,710	3,193	3,994
NHS Board area of residence
Ayrshire and Arran	200	44	32	39	13	121	284	276	295
Borders	70	78	53	59	105	74	99	71	153
Dumfries and Galloway	-	-	1	-	16	251	306	409	125
Fife	17	29	98	125	1	31	192	126	202
Forth Valley	3	12	6	2	168	254	256	267	439
Grampian	92	136	125	107	350	519	764	826	729
Greater Glasgow and Clyde	41	36	191	320	432	73	93	172	233
Lanarkshire	284	283	304	268	297	123	86	268	146
Lothian	996	876	975	767	720	463	490	633	1,089
Highland	185	182	183	139	158	143	120	112	114
Orkney	-	-	-	-	2	-	-	6	6
Shetland	-	-	-	-	-	1	5	11	2
Tayside	-	12	45	25	9	2	4	1	426
Western Isles	-	-	-	1	2	-	1	-	-
England/Wales/Northern Ireland	16	5	13	8	5	13	9	11	16
No Fixed Abode	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-
Not Known	25	6	9	6	6	6	-	2	19
Outside UK	-	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	-

Source: ISD Scotland [Form SMR01] Date: 3 February 2009.

Notes:

1. Comprises the following: private hospitals; private nursing homes; hospices; other independent providers (including homes run by local authorities or charities)

2. It is emphasised that the figures shown are based on incomplete returns. Submission levels are believed to vary by location and over time. For this reason, the figures will be of limited use and should be treated with caution.

Question reference: S3W-20569

Asked by: Jackson Carlaw, MSP for West of Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 February 2009
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 23 February 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive how many days were lost in local authorities through sickness absence in each year since 1999, broken down by local authority area.

This information is not held centrally. The management of sickness absence within local authorities is a matter for individual local authorities as employers.

Local authorities are required by law to provide Audit Scotland with information on sickness absence levels among local government staff on an annual basis. This information can be accessed on the Audit Scotland website www.audit-scotland.gov.uk.

Question reference: S3F-01455

Asked by: Jackson Carlaw, MSP for West of Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 12 February 2009
Current Status: Answered by Alex Salmond on 12 February 2009

To ask the First Minister, in light of the decision to prevent local authorities from charging pensioners for assistance with food preparation, what guarantees the Scottish Government will offer that charges hitherto levied will be refunded.

Question reference: S3O-05870

Asked by: Jackson Carlaw, MSP for West of Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 12 February 2009
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 12 February 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it has taken to secure an agreement over funding between St Margaret of Scotland Hospice and NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde.