- Asked by: Dr Richard Simpson, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Thursday, 22 January 2009
-
Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 2 February 2009
To ask the Scottish Executive what the breastfeeding rates were in maternity wards or units dedicated to women suffering from substance misuse in the last year during which such wards or units existed.
Answer
The information requested is not centrally available as maternity ward or unit level information cannot be identified from national data collected on breastfeeding rates.
- Asked by: Dr Richard Simpson, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Thursday, 22 January 2009
-
Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 2 February 2009
To ask the Scottish Executive what the outcome was of each of the 19 investigations undertaken by supervisors of midwives or the local midwives supervising authority in 2007-08 and what the method was for reporting each of the outcomes.
Answer
Notification of the outcomes of supervisory investigations is provided in the same way in all Local Supervising Authority regions within Scotland. The Local Supervising Authority Midwifery Officer (LSAMO), midwives involved in the investigation and their named Supervisor of Midwives will be informed in writing of the outcome. The Head of Midwifery in the relevant NHS board will also be informed if a midwife requires developmental or supervised practice. Issues relating to system failures highlighted during the investigation will be discussed by the LSAMO and the Head of Midwifery.
The outcomes of the investigations carried out in 2007-08 are set out in the following table.
| No issues identified | 4 |
| No further action | 4 |
| Developmental support or supervised practice required | 13 |
| Referred to NMC | 2 |
| Suspended | 1 |
| Contract terminated | 2 |
- Asked by: Dr Richard Simpson, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Thursday, 22 January 2009
-
Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 2 February 2009
To ask the Scottish Executive what additional remuneration and dedicated resources it would recommend as incentives for midwives to become supervisors.
Answer
Under current nationally agreed terms and conditions, an allowance of £500 per annum is available for supervisory midwives in recognition of the statutory regulatory duties they perform. The provision of any additional resources is a matter for NHS boards.
- Asked by: Dr Richard Simpson, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Tuesday, 20 January 2009
-
Current Status:
Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 29 January 2009
To ask the Scottish Executive, in light of the emergence of the 078 ribotype of Clostridium difficile, how many isolates have been detected since the Scottish Salmonella Shigella and Clostridium difficile Reference Laboratory was established, broken down by NHS (a) facility and (b) board.
Answer
The Scottish Reference Laboratory advise that a total of 583 isolates (all strains) were received and typed between 20 November 2007 and September 2008. It is not possible to provide a breakdown by facility but a breakdown by NHS board is provided in the following table:
| NHS Board | Total Number of Ribotypes |
| Ayrshire and Arran | 137 |
| Borders | 4 |
| Dumfries and Galloway | 14 |
| Fife | 58 |
| Forth Valley | 14 |
| Grampian | 32 |
| Golden Jubilee | 1 |
| Greater Glasgow and Clyde | 180 |
| Highland | 21 |
| Lanarkshire | 18 |
| Lothian | 53 |
| Orkney | 0 |
| Shetland | 0 |
| Tayside | 51 |
| Total | 583 |
I also refer the member to the answer to question S3W-20033 on 29 January 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.
- Asked by: Dr Richard Simpson, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Thursday, 15 January 2009
-
Current Status:
Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 28 January 2009
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has estimated the cost of sending a prisoner to a hospital appointment and whether this varies depending on the category of prisoner.
Answer
I have asked Mike Ewart, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) to respond. His response is as follows:
Escorts are not paid for individually and therefore do not vary depending on the category of prisoner. Charges for the movement of prisoners are linked to the total number of escorts carried out. Details as to how the costs are structured are outlined in Schedule 4 of the contract which is published on the SPS website at www.sps.gov.uk/keydocs/contracts.
- Asked by: Dr Richard Simpson, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Thursday, 22 January 2009
-
Current Status:
Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 28 January 2009
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it considers that it is appropriate for a patient who has diarrhoea to be discharged to (a) home or (b) a household where there is a vulnerable person.
Answer
It would not be appropriate for me to comment on individual cases. Decisions on the fitness of patients to be discharged are made by clinicians on the basis of their own clinical judgement and on a case-by-case basis.
- Asked by: Dr Richard Simpson, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Thursday, 15 January 2009
-
Current Status:
Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 28 January 2009
To ask the Scottish Executive how many prisoners travelled from prison to attend appointments at (a) out-patient and (b) accident and emergency departments in 2007-08.
Answer
I have asked Mike Ewart, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:
(a) The number of prisoners who have travelled from prison to attend appointments at out-patient departments from May 2007 to April 2008 is 5,683.
(b) This information is not centrally held and cannot be easily obtained.
- Asked by: Dr Richard Simpson, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Tuesday, 13 January 2009
-
Current Status:
Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 23 January 2009
To ask the Scottish Executive, in light of (a) recent publications suggesting ribotype 027 may not be more toxic that other ribotypes, (b) the likelihood of ribotype 078 emerging and (c) a need to have a national and regional picture of ribotypes and antibiotic resistance, when it intends to amend the guidance of November 2007 with regard to what isolates of Clostridium difficile should be typed.
Answer
Health Protection Scotland (HPS) issued revised guidance to diagnostic laboratories in November 2008 which requires labs to provide a proportionate number of isolates of all Clostridium difficile cases received in addition to those submitted for routine typing. This exercise began on 5 January 2009 and will allow Health Protection Scotland to build a picture of ribotype distribution and antibiotic resistance in Scotland.
- Asked by: Dr Richard Simpson, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Thursday, 15 January 2009
-
Current Status:
Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 23 January 2009
To ask the Scottish Executive whether NHS Scotland has estimated the cost of staff travelling to prisons to treat patients.
Answer
No estimate has been made. Travel costs for health service visits to prisons are not identified separately by NHS boards.
- Asked by: Dr Richard Simpson, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Thursday, 15 January 2009
-
Current Status:
Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 23 January 2009
To ask the Scottish Executive how many (a) nurses and allied health professionals and (b) doctors travelled to prisons to see or treat patients in 2007-08.
Answer
This information is not held centrally. A wide range of NHS health professionals, including forensic psychiatrists, physicians, specialist nurses and therapists visit prisons on a regular basis to treat patients.
