- Asked by: Margaret Jamieson, MSP for Kilmarnock and Loudoun, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 28 July 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Peter Peacock on 18 August 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive what the child:nursery nurse ratio is in each local authority.
Answer
The Scottish Executive does not currently collect comprehensive data on local authority staff by occupational group and qualification. It is not therefore possible to derive a child:nursery nurse ratio for all early education and childcare services. It is, however, estimated that at September 1999 the average child:staff ratio in local authority pre-school education centres and partner pre-school education centres in the private and voluntary sectors was 6.2:1.
- Asked by: Margaret Jamieson, MSP for Kilmarnock and Loudoun, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 July 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Ross Finnie on 9 August 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it was consulted by the Ministry for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food regarding the organic livestock products regulations, (EC) 1804/1999, or by the United Kingdom Register of Organic Food Standards regarding its further consultation on this issue in April and May 2000.
Answer
The Scottish Executive and other UK administrations were a party to the negotiations in Brussels leading to the introduction of Council Regulation (EC) No 1804/1999 which concerns organic livestock production. Following on from the adoption of the regulation, in April and May, the Scottish Executive consulted industry organisations about the standards to be adopted in this area.
- Asked by: Margaret Jamieson, MSP for Kilmarnock and Loudoun, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 18 July 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Ross Finnie on 7 August 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will introduce measures to give consumers more information about chicken and egg products such as (a) the country of origin, (b) a traceable source, (c) a recognised mark of quality assurance and (d) confirmation that they have been produced in accordance with animal welfare regulations.
Answer
The Scottish Executive has no plans to require information which is additional to the existing statutory requirements to be provided on food labels.
European legislation prohibits member states insisting on country of origin labelling on products produced within the European Union. However, recent guidance to local authorities has made it clear that labelling a product "British" when the main raw material is imported could be interpreted as misleading.
Packaged food products must contain a "lot" mark which enables them to be traced to their factory and production batch. Eggs must contain details of their packing station and may only be marketed as "free range" or "barn or perchery" where certain specified criteria are met. All food production methods must conform to existing animal welfare regulations.
- Asked by: Margaret Jamieson, MSP for Kilmarnock and Loudoun, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 06 June 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Susan Deacon on 27 July 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive what the incidence is of prolonged side effects following the use of corticosteroids.
Answer
This information is not held by the Executive. Suspected adverse reactions to medicinal products are reported to the Committee on Safety of Medicines and to the Medicines Control Agency, who are jointly responsible for monitoring drug safety in the UK.
- Asked by: Margaret Jamieson, MSP for Kilmarnock and Loudoun, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 06 June 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Susan Deacon on 20 July 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to ensure that all patients are provided with product information for drugs prescribed and dispensed.
Answer
The Executive supports the aim of providing all patients with full and useful information about prescribed and over-the-counter medicines. UK law requires medicines to be supplied to consumers with specified information on the label and with an accompanying leaflet to ensure safe and correct use. There has therefore been a general move by manufacturers towards supplying medicines in packs which have patient information leaflets sealed into them.
- Asked by: Margaret Jamieson, MSP for Kilmarnock and Loudoun, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 04 February 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Sarah Boyack on 12 July 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it intends to extend the powers currently available to local authorities in respect of dangerous buildings to cover dangerous trees.
Answer
No. The Building (Scotland) Act 1959, which deals with dangerous buildings, relates to the risks of buildings affecting the health and safety of people and is not suitable for dealing with more general safety concerns.
- Asked by: Margaret Jamieson, MSP for Kilmarnock and Loudoun, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 21 June 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Susan Deacon on 5 July 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive whether a system is in place to record side effects experienced by patients from prescribed drugs.
Answer
Yes. The Yellow Card Scheme underpins drug safety monitoring in the UK. Under the scheme, doctors, pharmacists, dentists and coroners are encouraged to report any suspected adverse drug reactions to the Committee on Safety of Medicines and the Medicines Control Agency, jointly responsible for running the scheme.
- Asked by: Margaret Jamieson, MSP for Kilmarnock and Loudoun, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 21 June 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Susan Deacon on 5 July 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive what the total expenditure has been on surgery required by patients who have experienced side effects from prescribed drugs in each of the last five years.
Answer
This information is not held centrally.
- Asked by: Margaret Jamieson, MSP for Kilmarnock and Loudoun, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 21 June 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Susan Deacon on 5 July 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive what the total expenditure has been on corrective medicines for patients who have experienced side effects from prescribed drugs in each of the last five years.
Answer
This information is not held centrally. The NHS prescription form does not record the medical diagnosis for which a medicine has been prescribed and there is no information held centrally on medicines dispensed over-the-counter without a prescription.
- Asked by: Margaret Jamieson, MSP for Kilmarnock and Loudoun, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 25 May 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Susan Deacon on 26 June 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it plans to publish the outcome of accountability reviews of health boards and health trusts.
Answer
I expect health boards and NHS Trusts to hold full and open discussions about the outcome of Accountability Reviews at public sessions of their board meetings. It is important that key messages given and actions agreed at the reviews are promulgated locally in this way and through incorporation in public documents such as Health Improvement Programmes, Corporate Contracts and Trust Implementation Plans. The Scottish Executive has no plans to publish separate records of the Accountability Reviews.
