Questions and answers

Question reference: S5F-01852

Asked by: Edward Mountain, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 18 December 2017
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 21 December 2017

To ask the First Minister what action the Scottish Government takes to acknowledge seasonal workers and companies that operate over the festive season.

Question reference: S5O-01504

Asked by: Edward Mountain, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 November 2017
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 22 November 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the Scottish Funding Council’s statistics on teacher vacancies, particularly regarding the Highlands.

Question reference: S5W-11552

Asked by: Edward Mountain, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 26 September 2017
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 2 November 2017

To ask the Scottish Government how much NHS Highland has paid other NHS boards in the UK in each of the last three years, broken down by the (a) board paid and (b) treatment category.

It is not unusual for patients to move to other health boards for specialist treatment. Some specialist services, such as plastic surgery and neurosurgery, are provided on a regional basis. NHS Highland has service level agreements with other NHSScotland Boards in the central belt and Aberdeen for tertiary services such as specialist paediatrics and transplant surgery.

NHS Highland paid other NHSScotland Boards £100.9m in 2016-17; £98.4m in 2015-16; and £92.5m in 2014-15. The breakdown by Board is provided in the following table.

NHS Highland made payments to NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde in excess of £68 million in 2016-17. This primarily related to Acute Services in the Argyll and Bute area provided by NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde under a service level agreement with NHS Highland.

The Scottish Government does not hold data on treatment category.

NHSScotland Board

2016-17	2015-16	2014-15
£'000	£'000	£'000

NHS Ayrshire and Arran	311	329	300
NHS Borders	73	59	36
NHS Dumfries and Galloway	35	28	32
NHS Fife	252	242	237
NHS Forth Valley	151	135	163
NHS Grampian	6,969	7,319	6,522
NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde	68,030	65,987	61,998
NHS Lanarkshire	183	197	164
NHS Lothian	4,687	5,103	5,609
NHS Orkney	40	31	44
NHS Shetland	43	20	24
NHS Tayside	3,830	2,965	2,405
NHS Western Isles	58	69	59
NHS National Services Scotland	13,605	13,485	12,736
NHS Scottish Ambulance Service	421	406	356
NHS Education for Scotland	14	13	21
The State Hospitals Board for Scotland	0	0	1
NHS 24	0	0	0
Mental Welfare Commission for Scotland	0	0	0
NHS Health Scotland	0	0	1
Healthcare Improvement Scotland	0	1	1
NHS National Waiting Times Centre Board	2,189	2,018	1,831
Total	100,891	98,407	92,540
Health bodies outside Scotland (England, Wales and Northern Ireland)	599	936	933

Question reference: S5W-11629

Asked by: Edward Mountain, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 28 September 2017
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 30 October 2017

To ask the Scottish Government when the post in NHS Highland for the radiologist who retired in June 2017 was publically advertised; whether the board has written to other NHS boards to request assistance with the provision of radiologists, and what additional employment incentives have been offered and implemented to attract radiologists to the region.

While the Scottish Government sets strategic policies for the NHS in Scotland, it is the responsibility of NHS Boards – including NHS Highland – to plan and recruit their workforce to ensure that enough professional staff and facilities are available to provide the best possible care for patients in a variety of settings.

NHS Highland have advised that they currently have 5 vacant radiology posts, which are advertised on a rolling basis. The vacant posts cover a variety of sub-specialty interests. The individual who occupied the radiology post which became vacant in June has now returned to work in the Board on a part-time, fixed-term basis.

A national working group, is currently exploring the potential for an international recruitment campaign to attract more radiologists to come and work within NHSScotland.

Question reference: S5W-11551

Asked by: Edward Mountain, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 26 September 2017
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 27 October 2017

To ask the Scottish Government how much NHS Highland spent on (a) agency and (b) locum staff in each of the last three years.

In the last three years NHS Highland has spent the following on both agency and bank staff:

Nursing	Agency *	Staff Bank
	£'000	£'000
2016-17	1,296.3 *	6,585.6
2015-16	1,017.8 *	6,411.8
2014-15	730.2 *	6,811.5


Medical	Agency ^	Staff Bank
	£'000	£'000
2016-17	11,742.2 ^	2,993.3
2015-16	12,229.3 ^	2,948.0
2014-15	8,673.3 ^	1,626.9

* source: ISD Scotland (ISD(M)18)

^ sources: NHS Boards and Managed Agency Service Network (MASNet)

Question reference: S5W-11627

Asked by: Edward Mountain, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 28 September 2017
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 26 October 2017

To ask the Scottish Government how was radiologist cover in NHS Highland organised for the weekend of 19-20 August 2017.

Question reference: S5W-11630

Asked by: Edward Mountain, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 28 September 2017
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 25 October 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on there being enough radiologists in NHS Highland to deliver services, including on-call services, should there be any further resignations in the region.

The Scottish Government is working closely with NHS Highland to support improved performance of its Radiology service and are taking forward a comprehensive range of actions to address concerns around staffing levels.

We have welcomed the Royal College of Radiologists’ offer to support clinical leadership with Consultants in NHS Highland and more widely in the North of Scotland, with the aim of maximising recruitment potential and to develop effective cross-Board regional working for Radiology.

Steps are being taken to ensure there is capacity to accommodate demand, including the development of an evidence-based staffing model in order to support the Radiology service in NHS Highland in future.

We have also asked NHS Education for Scotland to examine the distribution of Radiology trainees in the North region to ensure maximum value and optimal utilisation of the training potential within NHS Highland.

In addition to these measures, an independent review into the number of Radiologists required by NHS Highland to meet the needs of their local population is currently being undertaken.

Furthermore, the National Radiology Implementation Programme will see radiology information systems connected across every NHS Board in Scotland over the next
1-2 years. The programme will rely on NHS Boards working together in a joined-up service approach to maximise available services.

Question reference: S5W-11628

Asked by: Edward Mountain, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 28 September 2017
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 25 October 2017

To ask the Scottish Government whether NHS Highland has carried out a review of how many radiologists it requires based on population and work requirements.

Question reference: S5W-11624

Asked by: Edward Mountain, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 28 September 2017
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 25 October 2017

To ask the Scottish Government how many radiologists have left NHS Highland in the last year and, of those, how many have been replaced on the on-call list.

Trend information on the number of Consultants with a specialty of Radiology working in NHS Highland is published by ISD Scotland and is available at the following link:-

https://www.isdscotland.org/Health-Topics/Workforce/Publications/2017-09-05/Consultant_Staff_In_Post_J2017.xls

Information on scheduling for on-call lists within NHS Boards is not centrally held. Specific local information may be available from NHS Highland.

The Scottish Government is working closely with NHS Highland to support improved performance of its Radiology service and are taking forward a comprehensive range of actions to address concerns around staffing levels.

I refer the Member to the answer to Question S5W-11630 on 25 October 2017 for further details on these actions. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx.

Question reference: S5W-11626

Asked by: Edward Mountain, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 28 September 2017
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 25 October 2017

To ask the Scottish Government for how many weekends in 2017 has NHS Highland had no radiologist cover arranged by midday on the Friday before.

While the Scottish Government sets strategic policies for the NHS in Scotland, it is the responsibility of NHS Boards – including NHS Highland – to plan their workforce to ensure that enough professional staff and facilities are available to provide the best possible care for patients in a variety of settings.

Information on NHS Board staffing rotas is not held centrally. Specific local information may be available from NHS Highland.

Chamber and committees