- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 15 June 2010
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 23 June 2010
To ask the Scottish Executive when it will publish the interim report from Infertility Network Scotland on IVF services.
Answer
Infertility Network Scotland''s interim report will be published shortly on the Maternity Services website
www.maternityservices.scot.nhs.uk.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 10 June 2010
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 23 June 2010
To ask the Scottish Executive what the family-friendly policies for NHS employees are and how they are monitored.
Answer
The Family Friendly Policies for NHS Scotland employees are covered in the Supporting Work Life Balance Partnership Information Network (PIN) Policy. This policy can be found at
http://www.staffgovernance.scot.nhs.uk/partnership/partnership-information-network/.
This policy framework covers job share policy, career break policy, reduced working year policy, flexible working policy, annualised hours policy, home working policy, phased retiral policy, maternity leave, paternity leave, breastfeeding policy, parental leave policy and adoption and fostering leave policy.
These policies support staff to balance home life with the demands of work by encouraging both the service and its staff to adopt flexible working practices. The ability to work flexibly opens up career opportunities to a greater range of individuals, which in turn leads to development of equality of opportunity.
These policies support the Staff Governance Standard, and their implementation within each health board is monitored through the Staff Governance Self-Assessment Audit Tool, which is completed at a local level by the Area Partnership Forum and Staff Governance Committee, and is then used by the Scottish Government to inform discussions during the annual review process.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 10 June 2010
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 21 June 2010
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-33665 by Nicola Sturgeon on 7 June 2010, what the likely cost of voluntary severance is based on workforce planning projections for individual NHS boards in 2010-11 and what the impact will be on future years.
Answer
The information requested is not centrally held.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 10 June 2010
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 21 June 2010
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-33664 by Nicola Sturgeon on 7 June 2010, whether it will define small scale in the context of over 4,000 job losses in the NHS.
Answer
The reference to small scale was not made in relation to the overall projected staff changes in NHSScotland. The reference is in relation to NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde and NHS Grampian who are considering voluntary severance for a small number of their total planned reductions. The majority of the reductions will be achieved through a combination of natural turnover, vacancy management and early retirement.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 10 June 2010
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 21 June 2010
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-33643 by Nicola Sturgeon on 7 June 2010, whether it will provide an exact number, to the nearest 100, of the people it expects to be employed in the NHS as of 1 April 2011.
Answer
Numbers of people working in the NHS as at April 2011 will be published in the normal manner.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 10 June 2010
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 21 June 2010
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-33663 by Nicola Sturgeon on 7 June 2010, when the (a) Cabinet Secretary for Health and Wellbeing and (b) Health Directorate held discussions with NHS boards on the specific issue of workforce planning or voluntary severance.
Answer
Scottish Government Health Directorates officials and I hold regular meetings with chairs and senior managers of NHS boards, at which a range of issues are discussed, including workforce planning and staff management.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 10 June 2010
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 21 June 2010
To ask the Scottish Executive what the policy on paternal leave for NHS employees is and how it is monitored.
Answer
The Policy on Paternal Leave for NHS Employees is part of the Supporting Work Life Balance Partnership Information Network (PIN) Policy.
This policy recognises that fathers (including same-sex partners) and adoptive parents have a need and desire to spend time at home during a period of family extension, be that the birth or adoption of a child. Employees meeting the required qualifying criteria have a statutory entitlement to take up to two working weeks'' paternity leave within eight weeks of the birth of a child or placement of a child for adoption.
Each board has developed, or is developing, a policy on paternal leave based on the model PIN Policy, including the mechanisms for monitoring implementation. Local issues regarding the implementation and application of policies would be discussed and resolved in partnership with trades unions and professional organisations at the NHS Board Area Partnership Forum.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 10 June 2010
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 21 June 2010
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-33664 by Nicola Sturgeon on 7 June 2010, what funding will be set aside for the voluntary severance schemes in NHS (a) Greater Glasgow and Clyde and (b) Grampian.
Answer
No funding is being set aside centrally for the voluntary severance schemes that are being considered by NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde and NHS Grampian.
Boards have been advised that, when planning for service redesign or other organisational changes, they should only consider a voluntary severance scheme as a last resort and that these schemes require to be financed from within their existing budgets.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 11 June 2010
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 21 June 2010
To ask the Scottish Executive what it estimates the total cost of physical inactivity in Scotland to be.
Answer
The National Physical Activity Strategy, Let''s Make Scotland More Active was published in 2003. As part of the development of that strategy it was estimated that £85.2 million could be saved if levels of inactivity were reduced by 1% each year for the next five years. These economic benefits are associated with the number of life years saved due to preventing 2,162 premature deaths from coronary heart disease, 128 deaths from strokes and 117 deaths from colon cancer.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 10 June 2010
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 21 June 2010
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it relies on self-assessment by NHS boards to monitor their performance against the Staff Governance Standard.
Answer
The self assessment audit tool (SAAT) associated with the Staff Governance Standard is one element of the monitoring process. This tool is supplemented by a staff governance action plan that is formulated in partnership with trade unions/professional organisations. These submissions are also subject to audit both from the boards independent auditors and by the Staff Governance Unit within Scottish Government.
Following analysis and verification of the SAAT return, the information provided forms the basis for the workforce element of the Annual Review process where the board''s performance against the Staff Governance Standard is examined and discussed at a meeting with members of the Area Partnership Forum.
