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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: S2W-03662

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 27 October 2003
Current Status: Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 10 November 2003

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-1500 by Malcolm Chisholm on 19 August 2003, whether the responses to the consultation paper on the reform of the NHS complaints procedure have now been published and, if so, whether they are publicly available and whether the minister's response to that consultation paper has been made and, if so, whether it is publicly available.

The responses to the consultationpaper on the reform of the NHS complaints procedure have now been published onthe Scottish Health on the Web site. The URL is as follows http://www.show.scot.nhs.uk/complaints/.

We have commissionedScottish Health Feedback to provide independent analysis of these responses andtheir document will be made available on this website.

My response to this analysisand the Scottish Health Feedback report will be available very shortly at theURL above.

Question reference: S2W-03409

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 10 October 2003
Current Status: Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 7 November 2003

To ask the Scottish Executive what programmes are in place to enable and encourage doctors to return to practice after career breaks.

The doctors retainer schemehelps to re-introduce general practitioners back into general practicefollowing a career break. GP retainees are employed by suitable trainingpractices as assistants and can work up to four half day sessions per week. Theretainer scheme can last for a period of up to five years following which timethe retainee is expected to consider becoming a GP principal.

There is also the golden helloscheme which aims to attract newly qualified GPs into general practices andalso GPs wishing to return to general practice following a career break. Thescheme offers a range of incentive payments.

For other grades of doctorswho are in training, they would approach the Postgraduate Dean of Director ofPostgraduate General Practice, who would provide career advice and, subject toavailable funding, these doctors would be placed in supernumeracy placements toregain confidence and then compete with other doctors to enter a trainingprogramme of their choice.

For consultants, they wouldapproach their Postgraduate Dean and, dependant on how long the doctor has beenout of practice, would be placed on a programme to re-orientate them back intopractice.

Question reference: S2W-03410

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 10 October 2003
Current Status: Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 7 November 2003

To ask the Scottish Executive what funding is available to enable doctors to return to practice after career breaks.

Funding is available underthe terms of the doctors retainer scheme which is aimed at re-introducing GPsback into general practice following a career break. Retainees receive a salaryfrom their employing practice who in turn are re-imbursed, currently at therate of £53.80 per half day. The retainee also receives an annual retainer feeof £300 to help meet the costs of educational courses and subscription tomedical journals.

The golden hello scheme isdesigned to attract newly qualified GPs into general practice and also GPsreturning to general practice by offering a package of incentive payments.Under the terms of the scheme GPs can receive a payment of £5,000 on taking upa new post. Further payments of between £2,500 and £7,500 are also available ifthe post is in a remote and rural are or a deprived area of Scotland.

For doctors in training ordoctors who are fully qualified, they would normally approach theirPostgraduate Dean or Director of Postgraduate General Practice Education whowould, subject to available funding through NHS Education for Scotland,arrange training or placements on an individual basis.

Question reference: S2W-03335

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 October 2003
Current Status: Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 6 November 2003

To ask the Scottish Executive what the average waiting times have been from GP referral to first appointment with a consultant psychiatrist for each NHS board area in each year since 1999.

The median waiting times fora first out-patient appointment with a consultant in the speciality of psychiatry,following referral by a general medical practitioner, in the years ended 30June 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002 and 2003, by NHS board area of residence, are givenin the following table.

NHSScotland:Median Waiting Times for a First Outpatient Appointment with a Consultant in theSpecialty of Psychiatry, Following Referral by a General Medical Practitioner, byNHS Board of Residence. Years Ended 30 June 1999, 30 June 2000, 30 June 2001, 30 June 2002 and 30 June 2003^P.

NHS Board	Median Wait (days)
	Year Ended 30 June 1999	Year Ended 30 June 2000	Year Ended 30 June 2001	Year Ended 30 June 2002	Year Ended 30 June 2003^P
Argyll and Clyde	31	34	35	35	35
Ayrshire and Arran	15	18	23	25	26
Borders	14	14	16	20	20
Dumfries and Galloway	19	19	21	27	-¹
Fife	24	21	21	23	28
Forth Valley	21	20	21	25	-¹
Grampian	21	21	22	28	-¹
Greater Glasgow	29	28	31	31	35
Highland	24	19	21	19	17
Lanarkshire	45	44	46	45	-¹
Lothian	19	22	25	23	-¹
Orkney	12	11	26	18	-¹
Shetland	25	21	36	31	-¹
Tayside	15	18	22	26	28
Western Isles	39	32	35	35	43
NHSScotland	23	24	27	28	29

Source: ISD Scotland, SMR00.

Notes:

^Pprovisional

¹Information not shown due to incomplete unrepresentative data.

The £4.5 million investment in the Doing Well by People with Depression programme will engage service users, carers, clinical leaders and staff in the redesign and improved use of resources to provide better care with improved and timely access to evidence-based intervention including referral to psychiatrists where appropriate.

Question reference: S2W-03339

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 October 2003
Current Status: Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 6 November 2003

To ask the Scottish Executive what target it has set for the average waiting time from an initial hearing test to a first appointment with a consultant.

Question reference: S2W-03338

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 October 2003
Current Status: Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 6 November 2003

To ask the Scottish Executive what target it has set for the average waiting time from referral by a GP to an initial appointment for a hearing test.

A hearing testwill normally be conducted at a first out-patient appointment at aconsultant-led clinic in the specialty of ear, nose and throat, followingreferral by a general medical practitioner.

The Executivehas included a commitment in the white paper Partnership for Care andthe partnership agreement A Partnership for a Better Scotland that nopatient will wait longer than 26 weeks for a first out-patient appointmentfollowing GP referral, by the end of 2005.

Question reference: S2W-03336

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 October 2003
Current Status: Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 5 November 2003

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-31193 by Mrs Mary Mulligan on 13 November 2002, how many unfilled vacancies currently exist in the NHS for consultant psychiatrists in all disciplines.

Information on the number ofvacancies is collected centrally by Information Statistics Division, via theannual medical and dental census.

The latest information onthe number of vacancies in NHS Scotland for consultant psychiatrists in alldisciplines is contained in the table below.

Table 1: ConsultantPsychiatrist Vacancies as at 30 September 2002

	Establishment	Total Vacancies	Vacancies as % of establishment
Psychiatric Specialties	484	56	11.6
Child and Adolescent Psychiatry	68	12	17.6
Forensic Psychiatry	32	5	15.6
General Psychiatry	273	29	10.6
Psychiatry of Learning Disability	29	4	13.8
Old Age Psychiatry	66	6	9.1
Psychotherapy	16	0	0

The Medical and DentalCensus was completed on 30 September 2003 and will be available in spring 2004.

Question reference: S2W-03002

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 30 September 2003
Current Status: Answered by Euan Robson on 28 October 2003

To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it will take, with schools and colleges, to educate pupils and students in foster care issues in order to reduce ignorance of the circumstances of fostered children.

Schools have designatedteachers whose role is to champion the interests of looked after children intheir school and act as an information point within the school for others toaid their understanding of what it means to be looked after. Seminars for designated teachers will be held inDecember to share best practice and start a network of such teachers to providesupport and information.

The Fostering Network alsoundertake training in individual schools to educate young people and teacherson fostering issues.

Question reference: S2W-03337

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 October 2003
Current Status: Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 22 October 2003

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-23840 by Malcolm Chisholm on 3 April 2002, how many training places there are for clinical psychologists.

Question reference: S2W-02901

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 24 September 2003
Current Status: Answered by Andy Kerr on 21 October 2003

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-2500 by Cathy Jamieson on 23 September 2003, what the amount of exceptional additional funding for a joint police station and courthouse at Rosetta Road, Peebles, would have been.