Chamber and committees

I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-03214 on 3 November 2011. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at:

http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx.

The Welfare Reform Bill will not change the strategic aims of the Child Poverty Strategy for Scotland, which are to maximise household resources and to improve children’s wellbeing and life chances. However, as the Supplementary Legislative Consent Memorandum lodged by the Scottish Government in respect of the UK Welfare Reform Bill makes clear, our ability to develop in-depth analysis of the UK Government’s changes is constrained by the limited information available and we have ongoing concerns regarding the impact of these changes on our ability to effectively tackle poverty in Scotland.

The Supplementary Legislative Consent Memorandum is available at:

http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/LegislativeConsentMemoranda/WelfareReformBill-lcm.pdf .

Under the Primary Medical Services (Scotland) Act 2004, every health board must, to the extent that they consider necessary to meet all reasonable requirements, provide or secure the provision of primary medical services. This must be for all patient groups, including children. During the out-of-hours period, these services are largely GP led services delivered directly by NHS Boards and it is for them to configure their services in a way that meets the needs of their local communities, in line with the Healthcare Quality Strategy for NHSScotland.

It is for NHS boards to determine the appropriate configuration and staffing mix for their services, including for accident and emergency departments and primary care emergency centres, to meet the needs of patients who attend. Similarly NHS boards must determine the staffing resource and skills mix required to meet the needs of those patients who may require an out-of-hours home visit by a primary care practitioner.

Where it is considered clinically appropriate, an ambulance can be organised to transport patients. NHS boards also have discretion to pay for or reimburse patient travelling expenses where it is viewed to be an extension of the treatment costs and deemed to be clinically necessary. This also applies to any escort expenses that are considered to be appropriate in the circumstances. In addition, both the Patients Travelling Expenses Scheme and the Highlands and Islands Travel Scheme provide for the reimbursement of travelling expenses for those eligible under the qualifying criteria for each scheme, including children under the age of 16. The means tested Patients Travelling Expenses Scheme is aimed at reimbursing those on low income, while the Highlands and Islands Travel Scheme provides for the reimbursement of travelling expenses in excess of £10 for patients attending hospital who reside in that area.

I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-03642 on 2 November 2011. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at:

http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx.

I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-03642 on 2 November 2011. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at:

http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx.

I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-03642 on 2 November 2011. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at:

http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx.

In the financial years 2007-08, 2008-09 and 2009-10 there were six, two and three persons convicted where the main offence was under section 129 of Roads (Scotland) Act 1984.

Information for 2010-11 will not be available until publication of the Criminal Proceedings in Scotland, 2010-11 Statistical Bulletin. This is due to be published in December 2011.

The dates of all Scottish Government Official and National Statistics publications are pre-announced, and the up to date list of future publications can be found at: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Statistics/Search/Forthcoming.

In the financial years 2007-08, 2008-09 and 2009-10 there were seven, three and three persons prosecuted where the main offence was under section 129 of Roads (Scotland) Act 1984.

Information for 2010-11 will not be available until publication of the Criminal Proceedings in Scotland, 2010-11 Statistical Bulletin. This is due to be published in December 2011.

The dates of all Scottish Government Official and National Statistics publications are pre-announced, and the up to date list of future publications can be found at: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Statistics/Search/Forthcoming.

This information is not collected centrally.

It is for individual NHS boards to plan and deliver healthcare services to ensure that the needs of their local population are met. This includes the provision of consultant led multidisciplinary teams.

Although Scottish Government pump prime funding is available to support NHS boards that might wish to consider developing MCNs for ME-CFS, it is ultimately for NHS boards to decide whether the MCN service model best suits the needs of their local population.

The recommendations of the ME-CFS needs assessment are, however, being considered by NHS boards. For example, NHS Lothian has started work on a revised pathway for ME-CFS based on the Scottish Good Practice Statement on ME-CFS for GPs. The pathway will seek to ensure that people living with ME-CFS are recognised early by their GP and receive the appropriate clinical investigation, treatment and support. This work will be taken forward over the next few months in discussion with the board’s partners, including patient and carer representatives.

In addition, as part of the work under way to support the implementation of the Healthcare Improvement Scotland’s clinical neurological standards, a short-life reference group has been established which will provide guidance to NHS boards on how to support people referred to neurology with functional symptoms. The group will publish a report of their findings early next year.