- Asked by: Dr Richard Simpson, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 01 October 2009
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Current Status:
Answered by Stewart Stevenson on 10 November 2009
To ask the Scottish Executive whether investigations have been carried out into how rail passenger services between Alloa and Kincardine could be developed.
Answer
The Scottish Executive has not carried out investigations into how rail passenger services between Alloa and Kincardine could be developed.
I understand that SESTRAN is undertaking a study into the possibility of services between Alloa and Edinburgh. I have expressed an interest in the outcome of the proposed study.
- Asked by: Dr Richard Simpson, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 07 October 2009
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Current Status:
Answered by Stewart Stevenson on 10 November 2009
To ask the Scottish Executive when it will issue its determination on the planning application for the new slip road at Glenbervie that will service the new acute hospital at Larbert.
Answer
Scottish ministers issued their decision to authorise this project on 3 November 2009.
- Asked by: Dr Richard Simpson, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 29 October 2009
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 10 November 2009
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-26832 by Shona Robison on 7 September 2009, what additional steps it has taken or will take to promote the take-up of free eye health checks in deprived communities as part of its Equally Well strategy and implementation.
Answer
We will remind community health partnerships about the need to issue the leaflet Your Guide to Free NHS Eye Examinations in Scotland to vulnerable groups within their communities in order to raise awareness.
- Asked by: Dr Richard Simpson, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 14 October 2009
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 6 November 2009
To ask the Scottish Executive how many generic, as opposed to forensic, beds there are for children and adolescents with mental health problems following the opening of the new 24-bed unit in Glasgow; what its target is for bed numbers for (a) 2009, (b) 2010 and (c) 2011; what the longer-term target is for such beds, and whether the longer-term target has been agreed with the clinical practitioners in child and adolescent psychiatry.
Answer
I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-28218 on 5 November 2009. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament''s website, the search facility for which can be found at
http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/Apps2/Business/PQA/Default.aspx.
Officials met with child and adolescent mental health clinicians involved in providing care at the three regional inpatient units as recently as 10 September as part of the ongoing support. Bed numbers were discussed in the context of the impact that the enhanced specialist community services, when fully available, will have on reducing admissions.
- Asked by: Dr Richard Simpson, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 29 October 2009
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 5 November 2009
To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to encourage NHS boards to transfer retinal camera digitised recording follow-up in diabetes and glaucoma to optometrists.
Answer
The Scottish Diabetic Retinopathy Screening (DRS) Programme offers retinopathy screening to all eligible people with diabetes in Scotland. Implementation of the DRS Programme is adapted to each board''s geography and population and diabetic retinopathy information is shared with optometrists in NHS Borders and NHS Highland as part of ongoing pilots. We will evaluate the pilots to determine whether this model meets the needs of the local diabetes populations.
There are already examples of shifting the balance of care from the hospitals to community optometrists in some parts of Scotland. In NHS Fife, collaboration between hospital ophthalmologists and community optometrists has enabled the transfer of images between optometry and ophthalmology.
- Asked by: Dr Richard Simpson, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 29 October 2009
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 5 November 2009
To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to digitise General Ophthalmic Services forms.
Answer
A number of options are being considered to allow for the electronic submission of general ophthalmic services claim forms.
- Asked by: Dr Richard Simpson, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 14 October 2009
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 5 November 2009
To ask the Scottish Executive how many beds for children and adolescents with mental health problems will be available with the opening in Glasgow of the new mental health inpatient unit for adolescents; how many further beds are planned; where such further beds will be located, what additional staff are planned to meet any increase in beds, and when any additional beds will be operational.
Answer
For children, there are currently nine beds provided on a national basis at the Royal Hospital for Sick Children (Yorkhill).
For young people, the recently opened inpatient unit in the West of Scotland with
24 beds brings the total number of beds in Scotland to 42. There are also currently 12 beds in Edinburgh in the South East of Scotland, and six in Dundee in the North of Scotland, with consideration being given to increasing this to 12.
The potential figure of 48 beds, though less than previously announced, reflects the significant additional investment in intensive community services intended to reduce the need for admission to inpatient care. To support this, we have made £2 million available to NHS boards on a recurring basis to accelerate the development of specialist child and adolescent mental health community services.
We are working closely with all NHS boards to increase the specialist CAMHS workforce to deliver a service which meets all our expectations and takes account of the changing needs and increasing demand for role flexibility to support appropriate care models. CAMHS workforce planning is now firmly embedded in NHS board''s workforce plans.
To support this increase, we are making an additional £6.5 million available to NHS boards over the next three years to increase the number of psychologists working in specialist CAMHS.
- Asked by: Dr Richard Simpson, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 14 October 2009
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 5 November 2009
To ask the Scottish Executive how many beds for forensic psychiatry adolescent patients there are; how many additional beds are planned, and when it plans to have them operational.
Answer
There are no beds in Scotland specifically dedicated for forensic psychiatric adolescent patients and none are planned at present given the small numbers of such patients. For the last 12 years NHS National Services Scotland, National Services Division has instead commissioned the secure forensic service for young people, resident in Scotland, from the National Commissioning Group and this service is provided on a UK wide basis. The Scottish Government continues to monitor the demand for forensic psychiatric adolescent inpatient services and whether that demand is sufficient to justify creating a service in Scotland.
- Asked by: Dr Richard Simpson, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 14 October 2009
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 5 November 2009
To ask the Scottish Executive how many adolescent patients with mental health problems requiring specialist inpatient forensic beds were referred to facilities outwith Scotland in each of the last four years.
Answer
Current figures for 2009-10 show four referrals and two admissions. Figures for the last four years are detailed in the following table.
| Year | Referrals | Admissions |
| 2005-06 | 1 | 1 |
| 2006-07 | 2 | 2 |
| 2007-08 | 2 | 1 |
| 2008-09 | 5 | 2 |
- Asked by: Dr Richard Simpson, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 14 October 2009
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 5 November 2009
To ask the Scottish Executive, in light of the opening in Glasgow of the new mental health inpatient unit for adolescents, what increase there will be in staffing, particularly for consultant and junior doctors, nurses, allied health professionals, social workers and teachers.
Answer
The new unit provides a range of dedicated services for young people aged 12 to 18 years, from across the West of Scotland, who have serious mental health problems. Staffing issues are therefore a matter for the West of Scotland NHS Boards (Ayrshire and Arran, Dumfries and Galloway, Forth Valley, Greater Glasgow and Clyde and NHS Lanarkshire) who are responsible jointly for delivering a service for patients in their areas.
We are working closely with all NHS boards to increase the specialist CAMHS workforce to deliver a service which meets all our expectations and takes account of the changing needs and increasing demand for role flexibility to support appropriate care models. CAMHS workforce planning is now firmly embedded in NHS board''s workforce plans.
To support this, we are making an additional £6.5 million available to NHS boards over the next three years to increase the number of psychologists working in specialist CAMHS as well as an additional £2 million on a recurring basis to accelerate the development of specialist child and adolescent mental health community services.
