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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: S5W-05315

Asked by: Anas Sarwar, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 06 December 2016
Current Status: Answered by Maureen Watt on 14 December 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on adults who have the capacity to make a treatment decision having an absolute right to refuse any treatment.

Question reference: S5W-05320

Asked by: Anas Sarwar, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 06 December 2016
Current Status: Answered by Maureen Watt on 14 December 2016

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason prisons are not included in the national HEAT standard that NHS boards are required to meet regarding waiting times for psychological therapies.

Question reference: S5W-05317

Asked by: Anas Sarwar, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 06 December 2016
Current Status: Answered by Maureen Watt on 14 December 2016

To ask the Scottish Government whether a failure by a mental health tribunal to test the evidence that a patient lacked the ability to make a decision about their treatment could provide grounds for appeal to the sheriff principal.

The Mental Health Tribunal Scotland is an independent organisation and was established by the Mental Health (Care and Treatment) (Scotland) Act 2003 to make decisions on the care and treatment of people who are subject to the Act. The aim of the Tribunal is to provide a responsive, accessible, independent and impartial service when making decisions on the compulsory care and treatment of people with mental disorders.

The rules under which the Tribunal operates are set out in the Mental Health Tribunal for Scotland (Practice and Procedure) Rules 2005.

There is a right under the Mental Health (Care and Treatment) (Scotland) Act 2003 to appeal to the Sheriff Principal (with a further appeal right to the Court of Session). Sections 320 - 322 make such provisions and detail the time limits for bringing in an appeal and the grounds on which an appeal may be brought. The majority of appeals against decisions of the Tribunal are made to the Sheriff Principal under section 320(2). However complex cases, where an appeal is made under section 320(2), may be remitted by the sheriff principal, or on the motion of any party to the appeal, to the Court of Session.

It would be for the sheriff principal and then the Court of Session to review a decision made by the Tribunal. The Court may set aside the decision of the Tribunal and can also substitute its own decision.

Question reference: S5W-05314

Asked by: Anas Sarwar, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 06 December 2016
Current Status: Answered by Maureen Watt on 14 December 2016

To ask the Scottish Government how many psychiatric patients have been registered in each year since 2004, also broken down by NHS board.

ISD publish a quarterly report on the number of people who have started treatment for Psychological Therapies as well as Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services, this data is provided by the NHS in Scotland and is published online at: http://www.isdscotland.org/Publications/. This information has been published quarterly since August 2013 and includes a breakdown by boards as well as Scotland wide figure. Latest published figures for the quarter ending September 2016 show that a total of 11,138 people started treatment for Psychological Therapies in Scotland in Quarter 3 of 2016.

Question reference: S5T-00254

Asked by: Anas Sarwar, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 12 December 2016
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 13 December 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the latest BMA GP survey.

Question reference: S5W-04814

Asked by: Anas Sarwar, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 21 November 2016
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 5 December 2016

To ask the Scottish Government how many whole-time equivalent human resources staff have been employed by each NHS board in each year since 2010-11, and how many there currently are.

Table 1 shows the whole-time equivalent (WTE) of human resources staff presented at 31 March of each year and for the latest published figures as at 30 June 2016.

	Mar-11	Mar-12	Mar-13	Mar-14	Mar-15	Mar-16	Jun- 16
NHSScotland	1087.3	1006.2	987.7	1025.8	1039.1	1030.5	1047.4
NHS Ayrshire & Arran	49.9	45.3	44.3	56.5	58.2	52.1	51.5
NHS Borders	17.5	15.1	12.9	15.4	16.1	16.9	16.4
NHS Dumfries & Galloway	22.2	24.1	25.4	29.9	34.5	35.0	34.5
NHS Fife	46.9	42.1	43.6	37.0	37.2	37.5	41.9
NHS Forth Valley	52.2	46.8	43.6	48.8	47.3	50.5	46.7
NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde	201.1	184.4	188.2	190.3	191.5	187.4	191.9
NHS Grampian	99.4	96.8	93.5	105.1	107.7	104.2	103.8
NHS Highland	99.9	90.7	87.2	94.7	99.0	107.0	111.0
NHS Lanarkshire	54.5	50.1	53.6	58.5	54.6	56.2	55.4
NHS Lothian	111.4	97.0	97.4	99.3	97.7	97.9	96.4
NHS Orkney	10.4	7.0	6.0	8.0	6.7	7.2	6.7
NHS Shetland	8.5	5.8	8.5	9.5	7.9	7.9	7.7
NHS Tayside	80.7	75.0	73.0	76.3	78.8	71.5	76.4
NHS Western Isles	15.3	18.0	16.4	16.0	15.4	15.0	11.7
State Hospital	8.0	6.0	6.5	7.5	5.5	6.5	5.5
National Waiting Times Centre	12.5	12.4	12.4	12.3	12.1	12.1	14.1
Scottish Ambulance Service	43.5	42.8	41.8	42.9	40.7	38.6	38.9
NHS 24	39.7	34.5	36.8	31.2	35.2	33.9	30.1
NHS National Services Scotland	58.7	59.8	49.8	41.0	47.4	53.1	69.3
NHS Education for Scotland	29.6	29.8	25.4	25.7	27.3	25.7	23.5
NHS Health Scotland	13.9	12.1	8.4	7.4	6.7	5.0	4.8
NHS Healthcare Improvement Scotland	11.4	10.6	12.9	12.4	11.4	9.4	9.4

Source: Scottish Workforce Information Standard System (SWISS).

Table1: Number (whole time equivalent) of Human Resources staff in post, by NHS Boards, presented as at 31 March each year.

Further notes:

Further information on the statistics, including information on how the data are collected and notes to aid interpretation, is given in the 'FAQs' section of the Workforce Statistics website at http://www.isdscotland.org/workforce/

Question reference: S5W-04777

Asked by: Anas Sarwar, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 21 November 2016
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 5 December 2016

To ask the Scottish Government how many patients are classified as delayed discharge, code 9 (awaiting completion of complex care arrangements in order to live in their own home), and how many there have been in each of the last five years.

The information requested is shown in the following table. The 'reason for delay code' which you asked about was introduced in May 2012. A change in data definitions and reporting in July 2016 means that figures in the period July to September 2016 are not comparable with earlier census points.

Table 1: Number of people delayed awaiting completion of complex care arrangements in order to live in their own home reported at each monthly census point^1,2; Scotland

	May-12	Jun-12	Jul-12	Aug-12	Sep-12	Oct-12	Nov-12	Dec-12	Jan-13	Feb-13	Mar-13
	3	3	7	9	9	8	8	5	6	11	9
Apr-13	May-13	Jun-13	Jul-13	Aug-13	Sep-13	Oct-13	Nov-13	Dec-13	Jan-14	Feb-14	Mar-14
7	18	18	20	17	19	17	20	20	21	27	24
Apr-14	May-14	Jun-14	Jul-14	Aug-14	Sep-14	Oct-14	Nov-14	Dec-14	Jan-15	Feb-15	Mar-15
28	35	26	28	28	24	31	25	29	29	22	23
Apr-15	May-15	Jun-15	Jul-15	Aug-15	Sep-15	Oct-15	Nov-15	Dec-15	Jan-16	Feb-16	Mar-16
21	15	19	17	18	24	25	28	28	23	20	24
Apr-16	May-16	Jun-16	Jul-16	Aug-16	Sep-16
30	26	27	17	21	36

¹ Figures in the above tables are as at a monthly census point and it is therefore not possible or appropriate to derive any monthly or annual totals from these.

² Data recording and reporting definitions changed with effect from 1^st July 2016. Consequently figures from July 2016 onwards are not comparable with data up to June 2016. Link to summary of changes.

Source: ISD Scotland

Ref: IR2016_02402

Question reference: S5W-04933

Asked by: Anas Sarwar, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 November 2016
Current Status: Answered by Maureen Watt on 5 December 2016

To ask the Scottish Government by what date it will publish the findings of Mental Welfare Commission for Scotland's review of how homicides involving persons with a mental illness are dealt with.

In 2015, the Minister for Sport, Health Improvement and Mental Health, asked the Mental Welfare Commission for Scotland to review how homicides, by people who are users of mental health or learning disability services, are investigated.

A final report was submitted by the Mental Welfare Commission for Scotland in November of this year. The report proposes building on the existing systems of review of investigations undertaken by both Healthcare Improvement Scotland and the Mental Welfare Commission for Scotland. Ministers are currently considering the report and will engage with stakeholders as part of this process.

Question reference: S5W-04932

Asked by: Anas Sarwar, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 November 2016
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 30 November 2016

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-02025 by Shona Robison on 15 September 2016, what steps it has introduced to reduce the risk of future similar litigation regarding informed consent procedures.

The case in question resulted from a medical procedure that was carried out in 1999 and it is recognised that medical practice has advanced significantly in this time. Patients are now better informed and advised of the risks and complications regarding their medical treatment.

As I outlined in my answer to questions S5W-02025 and S5W-04657 on 25 November 2016, I expect all NHS boards and their clinicians to adhere to the long established General Medical Council guidance and to have robust clinical governance arrangements in place to ensure that the principles and framework contained in the guidance are applied by all doctors when seeking informed consent to treatment from patients.

The guidance advocates an approach of patients and doctors making decisions together, an approach which was endorsed by the court ruling in 2015.

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: S5F-00580

Asked by: Anas Sarwar, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 28 November 2016
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 1 December 2016

To ask the First Minister what steps the Scottish Government is taking to address workforce issues in the NHS.