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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: S3W-13147

Asked by: Jackson Carlaw, MSP for West of Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 16 May 2008
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 30 May 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive whether Agenda for Change was discussed during the recent meeting between Scottish and Welsh health ministers and, if so, whether (a) problems and (b) solutions of a common nature were identified.

Question reference: S3W-13144

Asked by: Jackson Carlaw, MSP for West of Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 16 May 2008
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 30 May 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will outline its current assessment of the Agenda for Change pay system.

Question reference: S3W-13146

Asked by: Jackson Carlaw, MSP for West of Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 16 May 2008
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 30 May 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to deal with the issue of leapfrogging arising from the Agenda for Change pay system.

Question reference: S3W-13149

Asked by: Jackson Carlaw, MSP for West of Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 16 May 2008
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 30 May 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it considers that the recommendations of the independent review into Agenda for Change in Wales addresses matters of comparable concern to those experienced in Scotland.

Question reference: S3W-13150

Asked by: Jackson Carlaw, MSP for West of Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 16 May 2008
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 30 May 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it agrees with the recommendations of the independent review into the Agenda for Change pay system that took place in Wales and whether any of these recommendations could be implemented in Scotland.

Question reference: S3W-13008

Asked by: Jackson Carlaw, MSP for West of Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 14 May 2008
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 30 May 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive what services have been removed from each hospital since 1997.

Question reference: S3W-13010

Asked by: Jackson Carlaw, MSP for West of Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 14 May 2008
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 28 May 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive how many attacks there have been on GPs and their staff in each year since 1997, also broken down by NHS board.

The number of physical attacks is not recorded.

The arrangements for primary medical services are set out in regulations. These provide that practices may request the immediate removal of patients who commit an act of violence or behave in such a way that a person connected with the practice or present in the premises has feared for their safety. Removals for other reasons do not take effect immediately.

The numbers of removals under the violence provisions since 1997 are as follows.

NHS Board	1997-98	1998-99	1999-2000	2000-01	2001-02
Argyll and Clyde	4	-	4	2	6
Ayrshire and Arran	4	5	8	7	14
Borders	4	-	-	-	1
Dumfries and Galloway	-	2	-	1	1
Fife	9	7	14	16	24
Forth Valley	7	3	3	1	4
Grampian	-	-	-	12	17
Greater Glasgow	34	110	29	15	26
Highland	1	2	-	1	5
Lanarkshire	17	6	30	6	52
Lothian	31	36	18	29	33
Orkney	-	1	-	-	-
Shetland	-	2	-	-	1
Tayside	14	23	3	6	4
Western Isles	-	-	-	-	-
Total	125	197	109	96	188

NHS Board	2002-03	2003-04	2004-05	2005-06	2006-07
Argyll and Clyde	4	7	7	2	Na
Ayrshire and Arran	9	9	9	15	7
Borders	1	3	3	-	-
Dumfries and Galloway	-	2	2	1	3
Fife	16	13	9	9	7
Forth Valley	7	3	6	5	8
Grampian	10	19	7	3	2
Greater Glasgow	17	26	25	16	24
Highland	4	5	2	-	4
Lanarkshire	10	10	12	7	6
Lothian	18	19	19	23	25
Orkney	-	-	-	-	-
Shetland	-	-	-	-	-
Tayside	-	4	9	2	3
Western Isles	-	-	-	-	-
Total	96	120	110	83	89

Note: *Greater Glasgow and Clyde in 2006-07.

Question reference: S3W-13009

Asked by: Jackson Carlaw, MSP for West of Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 14 May 2008
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 21 May 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive how many attacks there have been on hospital staff in each year since 1997, also broken down by (a) NHS board and (b) hospital in (i) NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde and (ii) NHS Ayrshire and Arran.

The Scottish Executive does not hold information centrally on attacks on NHS staff.

We do know that violence against staff is a major concern. The 2006 NHS Staff Survey reports that 28% of respondents have personally experienced a violent or aggressive incident. Paramedics and nurses are the most likely staff groups to experience an incident.

The Occupational Health and Safety Services Policy Advisory Group is in the process of establishing a sub-group to look specifically at reviewing the occupational health and safety minimum dataset, which will consider, as part of its remit, appropriate statistical data collection on violent assaults on staff.

Question reference: S3W-12835

Asked by: Jackson Carlaw, MSP for West of Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 09 May 2008
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 20 May 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive how many hospital beds were available in each NHS board in each year since 1997, also broken down by hospital in (a) NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde and (b) NHS Ayrshire and Arran.

Details are as follows:

Board	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007
Ayrshire and Arran	2,234	2,163	2,147	2,149	2,137	2,114	2,068	2,044	1,976	1,906
Borders	754	734	688	654	643	625	658	623	626	635
Dumfries and Galloway	1,076	1,104	980	835	808	766	806	828	810	801
Fife	2,097	2,029	1,979	1,914	1,822	1,771	1,738	1,760	1,676	1,649
Forth Valley	2,106	2,028	1,862	1,735	1,630	1,493	1,366	1,338	1,281	1,258
Grampian	3,892	3,732	3,589	3,464	3,303	3,106	2,973	2,915	2,874	2,889
Greater Glasgow and Clyde	10,932	10,289	9,732	9,335	8,947	8,558	8,372	8,015	7,843	7,682
Highland	2,153	2,088	2,049	1,992	1,979	1,892	1,780	1,764	1,740	1,677
Lanarkshire	3,726	3,661	3,590	3,421	3,182	3,058	3,000	2,835	2,633	2,542
Lothian	5,117	4,819	4,525	4,376	4,455	4,455	4,249	4,131	4,117	4,047
Orkney	147	131	102	95	94	94	94	94	77	70
Shetland	116	100	101	100	100	100	100	100	100	99
Tayside	3,374	3,235	3,106	2,842	2,606	2,549	2,455	2,332	2,254	2,124
Western Isles	274	263	248	248	224	224	227	229	201	204
Scotland	37,998	36,376	34,696	33,160	31,930	30,793	29,886	29,069	28,291	27,650

Notes:

Data as at 31 March for all specialties.

Data for year ending 31 March 2007 are provisional.

Specialty definitions in Scotland were revised from 1 April 1997. As a result directly comparable information prior to 1997-98 is not available.

Ayrshire and Arran	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007
Abbey Carrick Glen Hospital	2	3	0	0	0	-	-	-	-	-
Ailsa Hospital	371	336	325	298	283	282	280	279	270	269
Arran War Memorial Hospital	22	21	22	23	23	22	22	22	22	21
Arrol Park Resource Centre	67	71	71	71	68	67	67	67	67	52
Ayr Hospital	342	347	345	347	351	351	352	352	353	342
Ayrshire Central Hospital	357	307	308	311	298	295	286	282	277	226
Ballochmyle Hospital	53	53	54	20	-	-	-	-	-	-
Biggart Hospital	167	167	167	167	167	167	167	166	166	166
Brooksby House Hospital	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	12	-
Crosshouse Hospital	593	596	594	605	616	614	608	609	606	651
Davidson Cottage Hospital	30	30	0	28	28	24	26	25	26	26
East Ayrshire Community Hospital	-	-	-	48	74	74	72	72	74	74
Holmhead Hospital	56	56	56	56	56	56	36	30	6	-
Kirklandside Hospital	89	89	89	89	86	85	81	72	66	66
Lady Margaret Hospital	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14
Strathlea Resource Centre	56	56	56	56	55	47	42	38	17	-

Greater Glasgow and Clyde	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007
2-4 Waterloo Close	-	-	7	8	8	7	8	8	7	8
Belvidere Hospital	46	11	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Birdston Nursing Home	-	47	64	64	59	60	60	63	63	63
Blythe Wood House	-	-	-	-	10	12	7	-	-	-
Bridge of Weir Hospital	148	113	63	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Canniesburn Hospital	189	163	114	60	62	64	70	66	65	64
Cowglen Hospital	148	131	138	135	18	-	-	-	-	-
Darnley Court Nursing Home	115	120	120	114	118	120	120	120	120	119
Deanfield Nursing Home	-	-	15	15	14	15	15	15	15	15
Dumbarton Joint Hospital	60	60	58	58	47	40	40	42	16	11
Dykebar Hospital	393	365	325	338	326	314	309	303	304	255
East Park Home	1	1	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Elderslie Hospital	8	8	4	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Erskine Home	-	10	5	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Four Hills Nursing Home	120	118	120	120	123	123	109	97	83	67
Gartnavel Royal Hospital	368	365	365	370	355	322	299	246	242	241
Glasgow Royal Infirmary	725	741	684	698	713	738	716	722	740	745
Greenfield Park Care Centre	120	120	120	120	120	120	120	120	104	60
Hawkhead Hospital	166	166	155	110	85	59	47	32	0	-
Hunters Hill Marie Curie Centre	30	30	30	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Inverclyde Royal Hospital	405	398	388	393	454	454	435	395	395	391
Johnstone Hospital	106	106	104	104	91	87	99	65	59	60
Larkfield Unit	-	-	-	-	17	26	28	28	28	28
Lennox Castle Hospital	584	463	399	300	177	-	-	-	-	-
Lenzie Hospital	60	48	29	4	-	-	-	-	-	-
Leverndale Hospital	483	471	409	404	370	356	340	314	317	318
Lightburn Hospital	120	118	120	120	120	119	120	120	120	118
Mansionhouse Unit	248	230	220	220	228	244	242	231	237	234
Mearnskirk House	71	72	72	72	72	72	72	72	72	72
Merchiston Hospital	239	214	209	208	173	132	92	63	56	52
Mohsen Nursing Home	-	-	30	30	30	30	30	30	30	30
Netherton	-	-	-	-	6	8	8	8	7	8
Newark Lodge	36	10	10	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Parkhead Hospital	197	160	125	131	133	133	141	133	130	130
Pineview	-	-	3	4	4	3	4	4	4	4
Prince & Princess of Wales Hospice	21	14	14	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Queen Mother''s Hospital	103	100	99	97	97	98	98	98	98	89
Ravenscraig Hospital	288	247	281	332	240	231	205	191	179	171
Rodgerpark Nursing Home	60	60	60	60	50	30	30	30	30	30
Rowantree Nursing Home	120	120	100	120	120	120	120	119	116	112
Royal Alexandra Hospital	752	740	732	714	713	685	722	739	729	743
Royal Hospital for Sick Children	279	275	270	274	268	273	267	261	260	253
Ruchill Hospital	19	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Rutherglen Maternity Hospital	60	17	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Seafield Unit	-	-	-	-	-	18	18	18	17	18
Southern General Hospital	795	802	778	746	817	834	875	906	911	900
St Margaret''s Hospice	82	55	55	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Stobhill Hospital	603	532	501	685	668	649	640	626	594	585
Stobhill Nursing Home	28	29	22	14	2	-	-	-	-	-
The Princess Royal Maternity Unit	122	119	113	111	108	108	108	105	105	112
Vale of Leven General Hospital	307	299	290	299	295	266	224	195	185	178
Victoria Infirmary	477	484	485	480	478	420	379	367	355	360
Western Infirmary/Gartnavel General	1,231	1,181	1,157	1,139	1,137	1,139	1,142	1,063	1,051	1,038
Woodilee Hospital	398	334	242	32	-	-	-	-	-	-
Wyndford Locks Nursing Home	-	23	29	30	24	30	16	-	-	-

Notes:

Data as at 31 March for all specialties.

Data for year ending 31 March 2007 are provisional.

Specialty definitions in Scotland were revised from 1 April 1997. As a result directly comparable information prior to 1997-98 is not available

Question reference: S3W-12661

Asked by: Jackson Carlaw, MSP for West of Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 02 May 2008
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 19 May 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-11099 by Nicola Sturgeon on 14 April 2008, how it accounts for the rise in clinical negligence payouts between 2005-06 and 2006-07; what impact these payouts had on budgets originally aimed at delivering frontline services; what steps are being taken to ensure that there is accountability for errors made; how many staff have been disciplined and by what methods, and whether it believes that steps can be taken to reduce the incidence of clinical negligence in the NHS in future years.

The rise in clinical negligence payments between 2005-06 and 2006-07 is attributed to a larger than normal number of high-value settlements, mostly birth related cases which can take several years to settle.

The Scottish Government operates an insurance scheme to indemnify boards against fluctuations in the awards of claims each year. This covers most of the value of claims that boards expect to be awarded and their contributions are based on an actuarial assessment of claims outstanding each year to minimise the impact on their funding.

NHS boards are required to comply with clinical governance standards advised and monitored by NHS Quality Improvement Scotland. They are also required to comply with Scottish Government Staff Governance Standards. NHS boards are subject to audit and are required to sign a Statement on Internal Control that includes compliance with these standards. This should ensure that appropriate disciplinary procedures are applied in respect of failures to apply appropriate guidance by NHS bodies and their staff.

Information on disciplinary action resulting from cases of medical negligence is not held centrally.

Patient safety is a major strategic development priority for NHS Scotland. The Scottish Patient Safety Alliance and Programme will systematically aim to reduce harm to patients as a result of health care interventions. This is the first time that a patient safety programme will have been implemented across a whole health care system, and it signals the Scottish Government''s absolute determination to secure improvements for those using the NHS, and for those who work in it.