- Asked by: Willie Coffey, MSP for Kilmarnock and Loudoun, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 28 January 2010
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Current Status:
Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 10 February 2010
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-28429 by Kenny MacAskill on 5 November 2009, what plans it has to amend the initial screening process for (a) young, (b) adult male and (c) adult female prisoners entering the criminal justice system to identify those with a communication impairment.
Answer
I have asked Willie Pretswell, Interim Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service, to respond. His response is as follows:
The approach to literacy alerting and screening for all prisoners is currently being reviewed in conjunction with Learning Connections, the national agency for literacy and numeracy. Literacy is a component of communication impairment.
- Asked by: Willie Coffey, MSP for Kilmarnock and Loudoun, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 28 January 2010
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Current Status:
Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 10 February 2010
To ask the Scottish Executive what research it has commissioned into the extent to which dealing with prisoners’ communication impairments reduces the rate of reoffending.
Answer
I have asked Willie Pretswell, Interim Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. His response is as follows:
The SPS have not commissioned any specific research into this area.
- Asked by: Willie Coffey, MSP for Kilmarnock and Loudoun, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 29 January 2010
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 9 February 2010
To ask the Scottish Executive what consideration it has given to the introduction of (a) age and (b) gender-specific screening programmes for haemochromatosis.
Answer
I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-31263 on 9 February 2010. 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/Apps2/Business/PQA/Default.aspx.
- Asked by: Willie Coffey, MSP for Kilmarnock and Loudoun, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 29 January 2010
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 9 February 2010
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-30253 by Shona Robison on 26 January 2010, what steps it is taking to identify the prevalence of haemochromatosis, broken down by (a) age group and (b) gender.
Answer
There are currently no plans to identify the prevalence of haemochromatosis.
- Asked by: Willie Coffey, MSP for Kilmarnock and Loudoun, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 29 January 2010
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 9 February 2010
To ask the Scottish Executive in how many NHS boards haemochromatosis patients are treated with (a) venesection therapy and (b) phlebotomy in (i) hospital outpatient or community-based clinics and (ii) hospital wards.
Answer
Information on haemochromatosis patients treated with venesection (phlebotomy) therapy is available for acute hospital inpatients and daycases. Information on procedures is not recorded for outpatient attendances and is not available centrally for community-based clinics. The following table shows numbers of patients treated in hospital at which a diagnosis of haemochromatosis and also a procedure venesection is recorded.
Table: patients with a diagnosis of haemochromatosis with venesection also recorded, by NHS board of treatment; financial year 2008-09:
NHS Board of Treatment | Number of Patients |
Ayrshire and Arran | 91 |
Borders | - |
Dumfries and Galloway | - |
Fife | 109 |
Forth Valley | - |
Grampian | 2 |
Greater Glasgow | 390 |
Highland | 8 |
Lanarkshire | 219 |
Lothian | 141 |
Orkney | 2 |
Shetland | 2 |
Tayside | 10 |
Western Isles | - |
Source: Information Services Division: SMR01.
- Asked by: Willie Coffey, MSP for Kilmarnock and Loudoun, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 29 January 2010
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 9 February 2010
To ask the Scottish Executive how many patients being treated for haemochromatosis have been infected with (a) Clostridium difficile and (b) MRSA in each year since the introduction of monitoring for these infections.
Answer
Information is not held centrally on the number of people who have haemochromatosis and have been infected with Clostridium difficile or MRSA.
- Asked by: Willie Coffey, MSP for Kilmarnock and Loudoun, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 29 January 2010
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 9 February 2010
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-30253 by Shona Robison on 26 January 2010 by what methods it is assessing the (a) positive and (b) negative impacts of the introduction of a Scotland-only screening programme for haemochromatosis.
Answer
The Scottish Government has committed to an evidence-based approach to screening and is given expert, independent advice on screening programmes by the UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC). The UK NSC sets out the criteria to assess screening programmes; the introduction of proposed new population screening programmes; the modification and withdrawal of existing programmes, and the quality and management of such programmes.
The UK NSC currently advises that a national screening programme for Haemochromatosis should not be introduced. However, this advice is currently under review.
- Asked by: Willie Coffey, MSP for Kilmarnock and Loudoun, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 25 January 2010
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Current Status:
Answered by Keith Brown on 8 February 2010
To ask the Scottish Executive what the estimated cost is of upgrading each (a) primary and (b) secondary school to the requirements of the Curriculum for Excellence, broken down by local authority.
Answer
Curriculum for Excellence does not require the upgrading of school buildings. Where authorities consider that modifications might be appropriate for individual schools, the assessment of the possible costs are a matter for local authorities, according to local needs and circumstances.
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- Asked by: Willie Coffey, MSP for Kilmarnock and Loudoun, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 28 January 2010
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Current Status:
Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 5 February 2010
To ask the Scottish Executive what evidence it has of a relationship between low levels of education, particularly poor literacy skills, and offending.
Answer
The report Offender Learning: Options for Improvement was published on 14 January 2010 and makes recommendations and observations for offender learning in Scotland. It is recognised that offender behaviour patterns may be influenced by a wide range of issues, including social deprivation, negative peer pressure and poor educational attainment. The report identified that learning and skills acquisition, including improved literacy and numeracy, could be a contributing factor to the route out of offending.
- Asked by: Willie Coffey, MSP for Kilmarnock and Loudoun, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 28 January 2010
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Current Status:
Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 5 February 2010
To ask the Scottish Executive what evidence it has of a relationship between communication impairment and offending.
Answer
Communication impairment is a widespread characteristic of offenders and arises from a range of causes, most commonly from low educational attainment. Poor ability with verbal expression and reasoning is likely to predispose to more aggressive responses to challenge. The Scottish Government is aware of research in this field focussing on offenders with potential clinical needs relating to speech and language, including that highlighted by the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists (RCSLT) to the Parliament''s Equal Opportunities Committee.