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: S5W-06343

Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 19 January 2017
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 31 January 2017

To ask the Scottish Government how many vacancies there are for colorectal consultants in each NHS board.

Question reference: S5W-06134

Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 12 January 2017
Current Status: Answered by Aileen Campbell on 31 January 2017

To ask the Scottish Government whether there is a managed clinical network for Parkinson's disease.

National Managed Clinical Networks (MCNs) are the responsibility of NHS National Services Scotland’s National Services Division. A list of MCNs, including the commissioning process and establishment criteria, can be found on their dedicated website at: http://www.mcns.scot.nhs.uk/.

Our National Advisory Committee for Neurological Conditions has recently convened a subgroup dedicated to Parkinson’s disease. This subgroup will look at driving regional and national improvement in services and outcomes for people who live with the condition.

Question reference: S5W-06348

Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 19 January 2017
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 31 January 2017

To ask the Scottish Government how many patients have waited more than 12 weeks for a colorectal outpatient appointment in each of the last five years.

Question reference: S5W-06357

Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 19 January 2017
Current Status: Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 31 January 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on establishing a national park in the Western Isles.

There are no current plans to designate new national parks in Scotland. The creation of new national parks requires considerable planning and carries cost implications which must be considered against the backdrop of the current financial climate and competing priorities.

The Scottish Government will continue to work across the country to protect the environment and promote Scotland as a world class visitor destination, whilst building a sustainable economic future for the people of Scotland.

Question reference: S5F-00841

Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 30 January 2017
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 2 February 2017

To ask the First Minister what action the Scottish Government is taking to support people who have been newly-diagnosed with dementia.

Question reference: S5W-06184

Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 16 January 2017
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 25 January 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the College of Occupational Therapists' report, Reducing the pressure on hospitals: A report on the value of occupational therapy in Scotland.

The Scottish Government recognises the valuable contribution that occupational therapists make to reducing admissions to hospital and to discharge planning and we welcome this report.

Our Active and Independent Living Improvement Programme, currently in development, will help maximise the contribution occupational therapists, and other Allied Health Professionals, make to Scotland's health and social care services. The programme will be wide ranging, delivering interventions that emphasise early intervention and enablement within the home or community setting. A key aim of the programme will be to reduce demand and impact on acute services.

Question reference: S5W-06091

Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 12 January 2017
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 25 January 2017

To ask the Scottish Government how many people were assessed as requiring NHS Continuing Healthcare in each year until it was replaced on 1 June 2015.

Question reference: S5W-06132

Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 12 January 2017
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 25 January 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what research it is funding into Parkinson's disease.

The Scottish Government provides annual funding of over £490,000 for the Scottish Dementia and Neuroprogressive Disease Research Network. The network supports a wide range of research studies in Neuroprogressive disease, including Parkinson’s. The network is currently supporting 5 Parkinson’s studies, which in total have recruited over 500 patients.

The Chief Scientist Office funds research through its competitive response mode funding committees. Research proposals in Parkinson’s Disease (including research into the underlying mechanisms and causes, diagnosis, prevention, disease-modifying treatments, care pathways etc.) would be welcomed. In common with all other applications, any such proposals would be subject to the Chief Scientist Office’s standard independent expert review process.

Question reference: S5W-06089

Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 12 January 2017
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 25 January 2017

To ask the Scottish Government whether there has been any assessment of the Hospital Based Complex Clinical Care system since it was introduced on 1 June 2015.

Question reference: S5W-06067

Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 January 2017
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 25 January 2017

To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) GPs, (b) nurses, (c) midwives and (d) consultants have taken early retirement since 2007, broken down by NHS board.

GPs, as practitioners, are in a different part of the NHSScotland Pension Scheme from directly employed staff. It is therefore possible to provide specific figures for GP early retirements from records held by the Scottish Public Pensions Agency (SPPA).

The figures in the following table cover practitioners whose records indicate Voluntary Early Retirement with an Actuarial Reduction (VERA) and Preserved VERA (i.e. situations where someone has left the NHSScotland Pension Scheme with preserved benefits then decided to take these at an actuarially reduced level before what would have been their normal pension age).

Note that where data is available that identifies less than 5 in any Health Board area, the actual figures have been removed for data protection reasons to guard against the possibility of identifying the specific individuals who have retired under these terms.

Board Area	2007 -08	2008 -09	2009 -10	2010 -11	2011 -12	2012 -13	2013 -14	2014 -15	2015 -16	2016 -17¹
A&A	0	<5	<5	0	<5	<5	9	<5	<5	7
Borders	0	0	<5	<5	<5	<5	5	0	<5	<5
D&G	0	0	<5	<5	<5	0	5	0	<5	<5
Fife	<5	<5	0	5	6	7	5	<5	<5	6
Forth Valley	<5	<5	<5	<5	<5	5	8	<5	<5	<5
Grampian	<5	<5	<5	5	<5	<5	8	<5	7	7
GG&C	5	5	<5	<5	7	13	14	16	10	20
Highland	0	<5	<5	<5	5	<5	<5	<5	6	5
Lanarkshire	<5	<5	<5	<5	6	11	11	15	7	<5
Lothian	<5	6	<5	<5	6	9	13	9	9	5
Orkney	<5	<5	0	<5	0	0	0	<5	0	0
Tayside	<5	7	<5	<5	<5	<5	5	5	8	<5
Shetland	0	0	<5	<5	0	<5	0	0	0	0
Western Isl.	0	<5	0	0	<5	<5	0	<5	<5	0
Not Traced²	<5	<5	<5	<5	<5	<5	<5	7	<5	<5
Total	22	34	27	33	52	63	91	70	67	64

1. Figures cover the year so far.

2. Cases where no Board area could be identified.

It is not possible to break down early retirals according to all the other staff groups specified, as SPPA pension records focus on scheme entitlements rather than staff group. However, the following table covers all staff who were directly employed and whose records indicate VERA or Preserved VERA, in addition to two further categories which do not apply to GPs - Voluntary Early Retirement with No Reduction (VER) and Premature Retirement (PREM). As the recording system changed in 2010, it is not possible to extract consistent or reliable data on the categories above before this point. The table therefore begins in 2010.

Board Area	2010 -11	2011 -12	2012 -13	2013 -14	2014 -15	2015 -16	2016 -17¹
Ayrshire & Arran	9	22	22	18	19	36	22
Borders	9	<5	6	<5	14	15	9
Dumfries & Galloway	10	9	12	15	11	18	13
Fife	13	21	18	22	25	29	18
Forth Valley	13	32	22	17	14	19	17
Grampian	19	34	21	22	31	36	23
Grt. Glasgow & Clyde	47	55	66	65	72	96	64
Highland	17	12	13	15	20	31	27
Lanarkshire	25	30	22	25	35	46	35
Lothian	20	32	26	29	29	49	45
Orkney	7	<5	<5	<5	<5	<5	<5
Shetland	<5	<5	<5	0	<5	<5	<5
Tayside	22	23	29	36	35	46	42
Western Isles	0	0	<5	0	<5	<5	<5

NHS Ed. for Scotland	<5	7	<5	5	<5	5	<5
NHS Health Scotland	<5	<5	5		<5	<5	0
Nat. Services Scotland	9	19	23	13	18	13	10
National Waiting Times	<5	<5	<5	<5	<5	<5	<5
Scot. Ambulance Serv.	14	19	21	30	39	27	21
State Hospital	<5	<5	8	<5	0	0	<5

Small Employers²	32	25	16	22	35	28	21
Dental³	<5	5	9	6	8	8	7
Highland Council⁴	0	0	0	0	<5	0	0

Total	276	357	350	349	418	512	387

1. Figures cover the year so far.

2. Small Employers – GP Practice Staff (Admin, Support and Nurses) and Small Direction Bodies

3. Dental Practitioners

4. Highland Council Direction Body