- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 10 December 2009
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 12 January 2010
To ask the Scottish Executive how many children aged 0 to 5 have contracted the influenza A (H1N1) virus and how many of them have been hospitalised.
Answer
An estimated 7,991 children aged 0 to four years in Scotland contracted H1N1, experienced symptoms and were taken to see a GP. An estimated 21,036 children aged five to 14 years in Scotland also contracted H1N1, experienced symptoms and were taken to see a GP.
A total of 1,482 H1N1 laboratory confirmed individuals have been admitted to hospital. Where the age had been specified or was known, 255 (17.2%) were aged under five years.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 09 December 2009
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 12 January 2010
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-28778 by Shona Robison on 23 November 2009, when all NHS boards will be fully compliant with national guidance on IVF treatment.
Answer
All NHS boards in Scotland recently completed a detailed questionnaire on the provision of infertility services in their area, and this question was included. Infertility Network Scotland are currently following up responses to the questionnaire, and will meet with NHS boards who are not compliant with national guidance on infertility early in 2010.
Once complete, a summary of responses from NHS boards will be placed in the Scottish Parliament''s Information Centre (Bib. number 49114).
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 09 December 2009
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 12 January 2010
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-28892 by Shona Robison on 25 November 2009, how it monitors the impact of the £19 million in improving maternal nutrition.
Answer
The £19 million has been allocated to health boards under a number of broad criteria. That is to give heath boards flexibility to implement strategies and interventions appropriate to their local areas. It is expected that health boards will monitor and evaluate interventions locally and we will also be asking health boards to provide us with information on action taken.
We will be able to monitor the impact nationally through the annual breastfeeding rate statistics, the numbers of maternity units attaining Baby Friendly status, and the number of beneficiaries claiming Healthy Start benefit.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 09 December 2009
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 12 January 2010
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-28778 by Shona Robison on 23 November 2009, whether it considers self-assessment by NHS boards to be appropriate in considering whether they are meeting national guidance on IVF treatment.
Answer
All NHS boards in Scotland recently completed a detailed questionnaire on the provision of infertility services in their area. Infertility Network Scotland is following up responses to the questionnaire. Whilst Infertility Network Scotland will concentrate their efforts initially on NHS boards who indicated in the questionnaire that they were not meeting the national guidance, the charity do plan to meet with all NHS boards in Scotland.
A summary of responses from NHS boards will, when finalised, be placed in the Scottish Parliament''s Information Centre (Bib. number 49114).
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 15 December 2009
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 12 January 2010
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-28899 by Shona Robison on 19 November 2009, whether all local authorities have confirmed that their local arrangements for access to social care services and timescales for access to personal and nursing care services are compatible with the national definitions and standards set out in the guidance, National Standard Eligibility Criteria and Waiting Times for the Personal and Nursing Care of Older People.
Answer
Yes. All 32 local authorities have confirmed that their local arrangements for access to social care services and timescales for access to personal and nursing care services are consistent with the guidance.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 15 December 2009
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 12 January 2010
To ask the Scottish Executive how much was spent on employing bank nurses in (a) 2007-08 and (b) 2008-09 and will be spent in 2009-10, broken down by NHS board.
Answer
The cost of employing NHS Scotland bank nurses by NHS board in (a) 2007-08 and (b) 2008-09 can be found on the ISD website
http://www.isdscotland.org/isd/5685.html. Information on NHS Scotland Bank nurse spend in 2009-10; broken down by NHS board will be published in June 2010.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 07 December 2009
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 12 January 2010
To ask the Scottish Executive how it will ensure that those people with Asperger syndrome who are placed in non-specialist hospital facilities receive treatment appropriate to their needs.
Answer
The Scottish Government is supporting NHS boards to take forward a change programme to address the health inequalities facing people with a learning disability and/or autism spectrum disorder. A learning network of NHS boards will give them a forum to share learning and good practice. The first meeting of the full learning network is scheduled for February.
More generally, the Fair for All agenda looks to ensure that whatever the individuals circumstances, they have access to the right health services for their needs.
Guidance entitled Achieving Fair Access was issued to the NHS in April 2007 and is available at http://www.healthscotland.com/documents/2033.aspx.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 07 December 2009
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 12 January 2010
To ask the Scottish Executive how many individuals were infected with norovirus during the period (a) December 2007 to December 2008 and (b) December 2008 to December 2009.
Answer
The number of laboratory confirmed cases of norovirus infection are presented in the following table.
These data are based on voluntary reporting by clinical laboratories in Scotland to HPS on a weekly basis and include cases originating in both healthcare and community settings.
Laboratory confirmed cases do not include those infected with norovirus, who did not seek medical attention or have a stool sample submitted. Thus, the figures below may underestimate the absolute number of people infected with norovirus.
Laboratory Confirmed Cases of Norovirus Reported to HPS, by Four-week Reporting Period 2007-09
| Four-week Reporting Period | 2007 | 2008 | 2009* |
| 1 | 129 | 641 | 144 |
| 2 | 132 | 363 | 305 |
| 3 | 133 | 269 | 219 |
| 4 | 253 | 200 | 153 |
| 5 | 134 | 182 | 98 |
| 6 | 161 | 121 | 74 |
| 7 | 62 | 49 | 50 |
| 8 | 28 | 23 | 13 |
| 9 | 19 | 26 | 6 |
| 10 | 90 | 22 | 27 |
| 11 | 205 | 47 | 133 |
| 12 | 211 | 95 | 288 |
| 13 | 486 | 133 | 532 |
| Total | 2,043 | 2,171 | 2,042 |
Source: Health Protection Scotland.
Note: * Data for 2009 are provisional.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 10 December 2009
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 12 January 2010
To ask the Scottish Executive when the influenza A (H1N1) vaccination programme for children aged 0 to 5 will commence.
Answer
Phase two of the vaccination programme to offer vaccination to children aged over six months and under five years has now commenced and will continue over the next few weeks. We anticipate that this will be completed by the end of January with some mop up activity into mid-February.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 07 December 2009
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 12 January 2010
To ask the Scottish Executive what the revised estimate is of the cost for (a) small and (b) large retailers of compliance with the ban on the display of tobacco as contained in the Tobacco and Primary Medical Services (Scotland) Bill.
Answer
There is no single estimate of the cost to a retailer of complying with the tobacco display ban, as the Tobacco and Primary Medical Services (Scotland) Bill and the relevant draft regulations do not stipulate how tobacco should be stored to comply with the display ban. The financial memorandum sets out estimated costs provided by retailers to comply with the legislation. The Scottish Government makes clear in the financial memorandum that these figures were supplied by industry representatives based on the assumption that refitting would require under the counter units and have not been adjusted to account for more innovative, cost effective solutions for concealing displays.
In line with the commitment made to the Finance Committee, officials have been working with retailers to minimise the cost to them of complying with the display ban. Draft regulations allow retailers to modify their gantries rather than having to refit their shop, significantly reducing the cost to comply with the legislation. The least expensive option offered by the National Federation of Retail Newsagents would involve installing a white plastic fronting to each row on the gantry. It has been estimated that such a solution could cost as little as £20 for the materials for each fronting with minimal installation costs. If they so wished, retailers of all sizes could install such a solution in order to comply with the legislation.
The Scottish Government will continue to work with retailers of all sizes to support them in complying with this legislation.