- Asked by: Dr Richard Simpson, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 December 2010
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 17 January 2011
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is taking steps to address health inequalities by boosting training in deprived practices in light of the report by Russell and Lough in the November 2010 edition of the British Journal of General Practice.
Answer
Tackling health inequalities remains a priority for the Scottish Government and features prominently in a range of initiatives and activities that impact on both primary and secondary care services. The Keep Well and Well North initiatives, which have primarily focussed on GP practices as the main route to deliver targeted health checks, has enabled some 91,000 individual health checks, and are being mainstreamed across NHSScotland. In tandem with NHS Education for Scotland, further efforts to boost training places in deprived areas are progressing through expanding health inequality fellowships, and delivering the Childsmile programme in dentistry.
- Asked by: Dr Richard Simpson, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 December 2010
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 17 January 2011
To ask the Scottish Executive what its position is on the report by the Scottish Sleep Forum that in 18,000 to 25,000 affected individuals the prevalence of obstructive sleep apnoea hypopnoea syndrome in (a) men aged 30 to 65 is usually 1-2% and (b) women 0.5-1%.
Answer
The report makes clear that obstructive sleep apnoea/hypopnoea syndrome is a significant public health issue. In view of the link between the condition and obesity, it would be helpful for the report to be read in conjunction with our Obesity Roadmap, in order to tackle the increase in referrals highlighted in the report.
- Asked by: Dr Richard Simpson, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 December 2010
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 17 January 2011
To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to ensure that people referred for obstructive sleep apnoea hypopnoea syndrome are seen within the 18-week maximum waiting time.
Answer
The Scottish Government has made significant resources available to NHS boards, £250 million over the three years to 2010-11, to deliver the challenging 18 weeks referral to treatment time target by the end of this year.
To ensure delivery of the target the Health Delivery Improvement and Support Team are working with all boards to redesign and transform services and ensure that good practice is shared across the whole of NHS Scotland.
- Asked by: Dr Richard Simpson, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 December 2010
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 17 January 2011
To ask the Scottish Executive what the average waiting time is for assessment of more complex cases of obstructive sleep apnoea hypopnoea syndrome in (a) Glasgow and (b) Edinburgh.
Answer
The specific information requested is not available centrally.
- Asked by: Dr Richard Simpson, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 13 December 2010
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Current Status:
Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 13 January 2011
To ask the Scottish Executive what emergency planning simulation exercises were undertaken by (a) transport planning authorities and (b) the NHS following the difficulties and disruption caused by bad weather in the winter of 2009-10.
Answer
Individual responder organisations are responsible for training and preparing their own staff, and therefore information on emergency planning simulation exercises carried out by transport planning authorities and the NHS is not held centrally.
The Scottish Government does however provide (largely through the Scottish Resilience Development Service) multi-agency training and exercising opportunities for responders. Scottish emergency planning and response is based on the principles of integrated emergency management which focuses on the effects of events rather than their causes. Since 1 February 2010, the Scottish Resilience Development Service has co-ordinated numerous training events and exercises for responders, which will support agencies in planning for, and responding to, to a range of major incidents (including adverse weather) and their consequences.
- Asked by: Dr Richard Simpson, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 17 December 2010
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 11 January 2011
To ask the Scottish Executive how many Category A calls to the Scottish Ambulance Service in Glasgow, or the smallest area including the city for which calls are recorded, were made in (a) 2008 and (b) 2009 in respect of drug overdoses due to heroin or other opiates (i) alone or (ii) in combination with other substances and what the outcome was in each case
Answer
The Scottish Ambulance Service (SAS) has provided the following tables, which set out all overdose/poisoning related calls for Glasgow (postcode sectors G1 to G5).
The information is recorded by dispatch code so the SAS is unable to provide definitive numbers of heroin/opiate related overdoses as some may have been categorised as not alert, for example. On that basis, a full breakdown of relevant codes, extracted from the most up-to-date version of the dispatch codes at that time, has been provided.
| Chief Complaint (at dispatch) | 2008 |
| Overdose/Poisoning: Accidental Antidepressants Tricyclic | 1 |
| Overdose/Poisoning: Accidental Police Attending | 3 |
| Overdose/Poisoning: Accidental Severe Respiratory Distress | 1 |
| Overdose/Poisoning: Accidental Unconscious | 24 |
| Overdose/Poisoning: Accidental Unknown Status | 10 |
| Overdose/Poisoning: Intentional Antidepressants Tricyclic | 10 |
| Overdose/Poisoning: Intentional Cocaine Derivative | 4 |
| Overdose/Poisoning: Intentional Narcotics Heroin | 9 |
| Overdose/Poisoning: Intentional No Priority Symptoms | 72 |
| Overdose/Poisoning: Intentional Unconscious | 79 |
| Overdose/Poisoning: Intentional Unknown Status | 143 |
| Overdose/Poisoning: Intentional Violent Patient | 34 |
| Overdose/Poisoning: Accidental Abnormal Breathing | 7 |
| Overdose/Poisoning: Accidental Not Alert | 35 |
| Overdose/Poisoning: Intentional Abnormal Breathing | 34 |
| Overdose/Poisoning: Intentional Not Alert | 144 |
| Total Overdose/Poisoning | 610 |
| Chief Complaint (at dispatch) | 2009 |
| Overdose/Poisoning: Accidental Narcotics Heroin | 2 |
| Overdose/Poisoning: Accidental Police Attending | 4 |
| Overdose/Poisoning: Accidental Unconscious | 12 |
| Overdose/Poisoning: Accidental Unknown Status | 15 |
| Overdose/Poisoning: Intentional Antidepressants Tricyclic | 6 |
| Overdose/Poisoning: Intentional Cocaine Derivative | 2 |
| Overdose/Poisoning: Intentional Narcotics Heroin | 12 |
| Overdose/Poisoning: Intentional No Priority Symptoms | 78 |
| Overdose/Poisoning: Intentional Unconscious | 76 |
| Overdose/Poisoning: Intentional Unknown Status | 157 |
| Overdose/Poisoning: Intentional Violent Patient | 31 |
| Overdose/Poisoning: Accidental Abnormal Breathing | 9 |
| Overdose/Poisoning: Accidental Not Alert | 35 |
| Overdose/Poisoning: Intentional Abnormal Breathing | 29 |
| Overdose/Poisoning: Intentional Not Alert | 118 |
| Total Overdose/Poisoning | 586 |
Notes:
1. While all overdose/poisoning chief complaints are 999 emergency calls, the codes can be Category A, B or C determinants.
2. The dispatch code is determined through questioning of a caller and is based on information available at the time of call. As such, the numbers within the specific heroin and cocaine determinant cannot be considered as a complete picture of overdose in respect of these two drugs as in many cases, the reason for overdose will not be apparent until paramedics arrive on scene.
3. SAS does not currently record incidents where drugs and/or alcohol have been a factor beyond that provided above. SAS cannot, therefore, provide any analysis on a combination of drugs or whether drugs were a factor in any other incidents
4. SAS does not record details of outcomes for patients as their data systems only record ambulance service information; that is, up to the point at which they have completed treatment on scene or handed a patient over at hospital.
- Asked by: Dr Richard Simpson, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 December 2010
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Current Status:
Answered by Fergus Ewing on 10 January 2011
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-37596 by Fergus Ewing on 17 November 2010, whether it has a timescale for announcing the funding that will be given to alcohol and drug partnerships in 2011-12.
Answer
The Scottish Government will announce the funding that will be given to alcohol and drug partnerships in 2011-12 following parliamentary approval of the Budget Bill.
- Asked by: Dr Richard Simpson, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 30 November 2010
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Current Status:
Answered by Jim Mather on 22 December 2010
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it can confirm that the environmental effects of undergrounding the proposed Beauly to Denny power line will be during construction only and that the area affected will subsequently return to its pre-construction condition.
Answer
Depending on the habitat and land use of a particular area, apart from the sealing end compound required at each end of an undergrounded stretch of transmission line, the majority of environmental effects will be during construction.
While there can be no guarantee that the area affected will be perfectly returned to its pre-construction condition, any undergrounding of the main Beauly to Denny line would be undertaken in accordance with the appropriate environmental regulations and best practice to ensure that its impact was minimised.
- Asked by: Dr Richard Simpson, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 07 December 2010
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Current Status:
Answered by Richard Lochhead on 21 December 2010
To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has for the premises currently occupied by Marine ScotlandScience in Almondbank following the expected closure of the facility in March 2011.
Answer
Scientific work at Almondbank is being discontinued with an anticipated closure in March 2011. Options for the future status of the site are currently being developed.
- Asked by: Dr Richard Simpson, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 02 December 2010
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 17 December 2010
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-37464 by Shona Robison on 22 November 2010, what the budget in real terms for smoking cessation-related activity was in (a) 2009-10 and (b) 2010-11 and will be for 2011-12.
Answer
Using 2009-10 figure of £13,128,096 as the baseline figure the actual 2010-11 figure of £13,013,096 in real terms is £12,621,820.
However, the 2009-10 figure contains short-term funding for NHS Tayside that came to an end during that period. Without this short-term funding the actual budget would have been £12,946,096 compared to the core budget for 2010-11 of £13,013,096.
The exact budget for 2011-12 is still to be determined but as things stand we envisage that the specific funding made available will remain at 2010-11 levels.
The above figures are in 2009-10 prices and are based on the GDP deflator http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/data_gdp_fig.htm.
