Questions and answers

Question reference: S4W-20596

Asked by: Dr Richard Simpson, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 10 April 2014
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 6 May 2014

To ask the Scottish Government what the evidence base is for providing free eye tests (a) annually for age groups under 16 and over 60 and (b) every two years for the age group between 16 and 59 for people who do not qualify for a free supplementary eye test other than those who should have a repeat test because of personal or family conditions.

Free NHS eye examinations are available annually, where required, for children aged under 16 and adults aged 60 and over.

For children rapid growth may require them to attend for eye examinations annually. Cases where it is particularly important for annual eye examinations in children include the detection and up to date correction of refractive error and early and regular intervention to reduce visual loss due to squints.

For adults the incidence of eye disease increases dramatically with age and with poor general health. Cataract, glaucoma, and macular degeneration are common causes of visual loss in older people. Frequent refractive error changes, and the screening and monitoring of disease development and progression are vital to maintain optimal vision. Good vision does not rule out the possibility of sight threatening eye disease and regular eye examinations in older people are most important.

Less frequent examinations may be recommended by the optometrist where the likelihood of ocular disease and refractive change is low.

Supplementary eye examinations are available to all, free of charge, where required. Supplementary eye examinations are undertaken for a range of reasons including follow up or repeat tests or procedures to monitor an abnormality or suspect abnormality; referral refinement before deciding if a patient requires referral to secondary care; where a patient has a problem with their eyes before their next primary eye examination is due.

Question reference: S4W-20778

Asked by: Dr Richard Simpson, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 April 2014
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 6 May 2014

To ask the Scottish Government what action it has taken to implement each of the recommendations set out in the 2011 report, A TB Action Plan for Scotland.

The Scottish Government published the first annual report of the TB Action Plan for Scotland in November 2013. The report sets out the progress made towards implementation of the action plan’s 42 recommendations and includes key recommendations following on from the action plan.

These include the development of a strategic monitoring framework to manage implementation and measure progress towards the achievement of the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) target ‘To eliminate, by 2050, TB as a public health problem (incidence <1 per million population)’. A suite of key performance indicators has been developed to track progress with Scottish recommendations and this is in addition to annual reporting against ECDC indicators. To facilitate implementation a national multidisciplinary TB network has been set up and is chaired by an NHS board.

The report can be viewed at:

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Resource/0043/00437667.pdf.

Question reference: S4O-03187

Asked by: Dr Richard Simpson, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 30 April 2014
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 7 May 2014

To ask the Scottish Government what health-related programmes it is supporting in Malawi.

Question reference: S4W-20765

Asked by: Dr Richard Simpson, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 22 April 2014
Current Status: Answered by Alex Neil on 30 April 2014

To ask the Scottish Government how many bed days were occupied by patients categorised as code 9 in each of the five years to March 2014, also broken down by NHS board.

Information showing bed days occupied by patients categorised as code 9 is available on the Information Services Division website from April 2012 to December 2013 at Scotland and NHS board level. Information is only available from April 2012 as this was the first time this data was collected.

The information can be found in Table 1 at:

http://www.isdscotland.org/Health-Topics/Health-and-Social-Community-Care/Publications/2014-02-25/BedDays_Occupied_Tables_To_December_2013.xls

Question reference: S4W-20792

Asked by: Dr Richard Simpson, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 22 April 2014
Current Status: Answered by Alex Neil on 30 April 2014

To ask the Scottish Government whether each of the four proposed trauma centres will have air ambulance access.

Trauma is the leading cause of death for people under 40. Each year in Scotland, around 5000 people are seriously injured, with around 1100-1200 cases being defined as ‘major trauma’. The four specialist major trauma centres, which will be operational from 2016, will be located at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh, Aberdeen Royal Infirmary, Ninewells Hospital in Dundee and the new Southern General Hospital in Glasgow.

Edinburgh Royal Infirmary: A helicopter landing site is on the campus and a land ambulance then transfers patients from the landing site to the hospital building. The fixed wing air ambulance can land at Edinburgh airport and a land ambulance then transfers patients to the hospital.

Aberdeen Royal Infirmary: A helicopter landing site is adjacent to the A&E Department and a land ambulance then transfers patients from the landing site to the hospital building. The fixed wing air ambulance can land at Aberdeen airport and a land ambulance then transfers patients to the hospital.

Ninewells Hospital, Dundee: A helicopter landing site is adjacent to the A&E Department and a land ambulance then transfers patients from the landing site to the hospital building. The fixed wing air ambulance can land at Dundee airport or the base at RAF Leuchars and a land ambulance then transfers patients to the hospital.

Southern General, Glasgow: A helicopter landing site is currently adjacent to the hospital entrance and a land ambulance then transfers patients from the landing site to the hospital building. The fixed wing air ambulance can land at Glasgow airport and a land ambulance then transfers patients to the hospital. The design for the new Southern General includes provision for a rooftop helicopter landing pad.

Question reference: S4W-20518

Asked by: Dr Richard Simpson, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 April 2014
Current Status: Answered by Alex Neil on 30 April 2014

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4W-20146 by Alex Neil on 25 March 2014, for what reason the interim evaluation of the alert line was not published until 26 March 2014, and what information it has on how satisfied users of the service have been.

The interim evaluation helped inform our consideration of the pilot and future options for the NHSScotland Confidential Alert Line service. It was published alongside the announcement of the enhanced continued service, which it helped inform.

Public Concern at Work (PCaW), the independent whistleblowing charity contracted to run the alert line pilot and provide evaluation, has expertise in advising on whistleblowing across different sectors in the UK. They are clear that, in their experience, it is not helpful to seek feedback from clients until there has been a reasonable time lapse. This allows cases, where appropriate, to be investigated and hopefully concluded and allows people time to consolidate their thoughts and emotions leading to more measured and constructive feedback on users satisfaction of the service. PCaW is currently undertaking this exercise where contact details are available and clients are willing to provide this feedback.

It is important to continue to recognise and respect the confidential nature of this service, however, a mechanism to record feedback from users of the service, where possible, is included as a requirement in tenders for provision of the enhanced continued service.

Question reference: S4W-20440

Asked by: Dr Richard Simpson, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 April 2014
Current Status: Answered by Alex Neil on 24 April 2014

To ask the Scottish Government whether Scottish hospitals have adopted a vital signs scoring system similar to that in Wales or the national early warning score system adopted in the Republic of Ireland.

The Scottish Patient Safety Programme places a focus on supporting NHS boards to test and implement evidence based interventions to improve outcomes for patients. Early warning scoring is a key intervention in the general ward work stream to improve reliable detection and escalation of deteriorating patients. Early warning scoring was identified as one of the 10 essentials of safety which sets an expectation that it will be delivered to all patients, in acute health care, who can benefit from it. The Scottish Patient Safety Programme continues building on this progress and working with NHS boards to further improve the reliable response to a raised early warning score to provide appropriate escalation and care planning for patients who deteriorate in acute hospitals.

Question reference: S4W-20436

Asked by: Dr Richard Simpson, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 27 March 2014
Current Status: Answered by Alex Neil on 4 April 2014

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4W-19958 by Alex Neil on 12 March 2014, how much each NHS board (a) has been allocated in each of the last five years and (b) is expected to be allocated in 2014-15; how this compares with how much would have been allocated using the formula, and what each board’s expected total surplus or deficit against the formula is for the period 2009-10 to 2014-15.

The NHS Scotland Resource Allocation Committee (NRAC) formula was first used to inform the allocation of health funds in 2009-10. When accepting the recommendations of the committee, the then Secretary for Health and Wellbeing noted that she placed “high importance on the need to avoid turbulence in NHS board funding and can confirm that no board will receive less funding than it does at present and any changes will be phased in over a number of years, as has been the practice under both the previous SHARE and Arbuthnott formulae.” For that reason, though the pattern of actual funding received by health boards is informed by the target shares derived using the NRAC formula, it is not identical to them.

The following tables set out information on actual allocations and target shares of NRAC-related funds for the years 2009-10 to 2013-14. Table 1 sets out the actual funds provided to health boards and Table 2 sets out the NRAC target shares.

Table 1: NRAC-Related Health Board Actual Funding, 2009-10 to 2014-15, £m

Health Board	09-10	10-11	11-12	12-13	13-14	14-15*
NHS Ayrshire and Arran	557.2	570.2	573.7	585.3	601.7	618.9
NHS Borders	162.2	166.0	167.1	170.7	175.4	179.8
NHS Dumfries and Galloway	232.9	238.3	241.1	245.8	252.7	259.7
NHS Fife	490.3	502.9	506.4	520.8	539.5	557.3
NHS Forth Valley	383.9	393.8	402.1	413.7	429.4	449.6
NHS Grampian	660.7	678.5	689.8	711.7	742.4	773.3
NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde	1,825.0	1,871.4	1,891.7	1,933.5	1,990.6	2,047.2
NHS Highland	469.6	480.6	484.0	495.4	509.2	525.2
NHS Lanarkshire	777.4	798.4	815.3	836.5	863.7	890.3
NHS Lothian	987.1	1,018.2	1,053.3	1,088.3	1,136.6	1,188.0
NHS Orkney	30.5	31.3	31.5	32.8	34.3	35.8
NHS Shetland	35.9	36.8	36.6	37.6	38.7	39.6
NHS Tayside	578.6	592.9	595.4	608.3	626.2	645.0
NHS Western Isles	56.6	58.1	57.6	59.1	60.7	62.2
Unified Boards	7,247.8	7,437.4	7,545.6	7,739.5	8,001.1	8,271.9

Table 2: NRAC Target Shares, 2009-10 to 2014-15, %

Health Board	09-10	10-11	11-12	12-13	13-14	14-15*
NHS Ayrshire and Arran	7.44%	7.41%	7.40%	7.38%	7.36%	7.50%
NHS Borders	2.08%	2.08%	2.09%	2.10%	2.10%	2.11%
NHS Dumfries and Galloway	3.02%	3.01%	3.01%	3.01%	3.00%	3.01%
NHS Fife	6.88%	6.89%	6.87%	6.89%	6.90%	6.79%
NHS Forth Valley	5.48%	5.49%	5.48%	5.49%	5.51%	5.45%
NHS Grampian	9.45%	9.48%	9.60%	9.63%	9.68%	9.77%
NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde	24.53%	24.37%	24.25%	24.12%	24.01%	24.17%
NHS Highland	6.26%	6.32%	6.31%	6.34%	6.36%	6.49%
NHS Lanarkshire	11.01%	10.99%	10.95%	10.95%	10.88%	10.94%
NHS Lothian	14.50%	14.61%	14.72%	14.76%	14.86%	14.36%
NHS Orkney	0.42%	0.42%	0.42%	0.42%	0.43%	0.49%
NHS Shetland	0.44%	0.45%	0.45%	0.45%	0.46%	0.48%
NHS Tayside	7.84%	7.84%	7.85%	7.86%	7.84%	7.73%
NHS Western Isles	0.63%	0.63%	0.61%	0.61%	0.62%	0.70%
Unified Boards	100.00%	100.00%	100.00%	100.00%	100.00%	100.00%

Note: * the 2014-15 data is shown on the old health board boundaries, consistent with the rest of the data.

Question reference: S4W-20257

Asked by: Dr Richard Simpson, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 20 March 2014
Current Status: Answered by Alex Neil on 3 April 2014

To ask the Scottish Government how many non-medical (a) endoscopists, (b) colonoscopists and (c) cystoscopists there are in each NHS board, also expressed per 100,000 of population.

Question reference: S4W-20260

Asked by: Dr Richard Simpson, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 March 2014
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 2 April 2014

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the press release from the European Medicines Agency of 24 January 2014, Review of emergency contraceptives started, what steps it has taken to ensure that no woman weighing over 80kg is given an emergency contraceptive containing levonorgestrel and that women weighing over 75kg are warned of reduced efficacy and what guidance it has issued regarding alternative emergency contraception.

Seòmar agus comataidhean