- Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 16 November 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicol Stephen on 9 January 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive what progress is being made with regard to the one stop approach for vulnerable teenagers.
Answer
A working group, comprising representatives of local authorities, relevant public agencies and voluntary bodies representing the interests of young people leaving local authority care, is considering carefully the best way to achieve a "one stop" service providing advice, guidance and financial assistance.
We expect to receive its report early this year.
- Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 November 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Susan Deacon on 9 January 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any plans to undertake a mass media campaign, along the lines of the Department of Health's "Don't Give Up Giving Up" campaign, offering practical tips to smokers on giving up.
Answer
The Scottish Executive is taking forward a range of measures to reduce the levels of smoking. These include the HEBS "Think About It" advertising campaign for young people and several "Top Tips" adverts launched last February which focus on practical aspects of stopping smoking. Follow-up support, advice and information, "You Can Stop Smoking" is also provided through the freephone helpline "Smokeline".The Executive has provided HEBS with additional funding from the £26 million Health Improvement Fund which will enable a new mass media campaign for teenagers to be delivered in the New Year. Other multi-agency work is also intended on tobacco issues covering adults, young people, prevention and cessation and the particular needs of ethnic minority groups and vulnerable young people.
- Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 05 September 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 8 January 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive why the mental health of young people has deteriorated in recent years as outlined in its document 1999 Health in Scotland.
Answer
There is no single reason. The Chief Medical Officer in his annual report
Health in Scotland 1999 (bib. no. 8112) sets out a range of contributory factors.
Our task is to respond to individual needs, and to attack the causes at source. Our social inclusion agenda, combined with the three-level approach to public health set out in our White Paper Towards a Healthier Scotland (bib. no. 3036) and the service response proposals within the Framework for Mental Health Services in Scotland (bib. no. 7392), combined with other initiatives, form the basis of a broad, co-ordinated approach in this regard.
Copies of the publications referred to are available from the Parliament's Reference Centre.
- Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 06 December 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Susan Deacon on 8 January 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to reduce general practitioner list si'es in areas of deprivation and greatest health need.
Answer
While the statutory Regulations set overall limits on list size, they do not provide a mechanism to control list size in particular circumstances.
The needs of areas of deprivation and greatest health need are addressed through other means - e.g. through additional payments to GPs practising in deprived areas. These payments are made in recognition of the increased workload involved and to assist GPs in providing a high quality of service. The deprivation payments scheme was enhanced from 1 April 1999, increasing payments by £2.4 million to a total of £7.3 million in 1999-2000.
As indicated in Our National Health published on 14 December, we will also develop new contractual arrangements for GPs, building on Personal Medical Services pilots already underway, to allow Trusts to employ GPs directly to work in socially deprived areas.
- Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 22 December 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Susan Deacon on 5 January 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive over what timescale all local authorities will be expected to comply with Lord Hardie's recent judgement in the Court of Session in the recent Arthur McGregor case.
Answer
I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-12200 on 6 March 2001.
- Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 22 December 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Susan Deacon on 5 January 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive what additional funding it will make available to local authorities to meet the costs of providing a permanent place in a nursing home for the 2,000 pensioners currently on waiting lists, following Lord Hardie's recent judgement in the Court of Session in the recent Arthur MacGregor case.
Answer
I refer the member to the answer to question S1W-12200 on 6 March 2001.
- Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 21 December 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Susan Deacon on 4 January 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive what measures it will require of each health board to identify the action boards are taking to tackle homelessness and address inequalities, as outlined on page 20 of Our National Health - A Plan for Action, a Plan for Change.
Answer
The Scottish Executive's commitment to tackling health inequalities is part of our wider commitment to tackling poverty and creating social justice. Guidance to each health board on addressing health and homelessness issues will be issued by March 2001 and a health and homelessness co-ordinator will be appointed in February 2001 to support the action by boards and Trusts.
- Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 14 December 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 4 January 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive how many people in each local authority area received "meals on wheels" in each of the last four years for which figures are available.
Answer
The following table details the number of people receiving a "meals on wheels" service in each local authority. These figures are based on results of a voluntary survey of local authorities. Estimates for missing values have been included in the Scotland totals. Figures relating to the Scottish unitary authorities commenced in 1997. Since 1998, this survey is conducted on a three-yearly basis. The figures for 2001 will be published later this year.
Meals-on-Wheels Service 31 March 1998
Local Authority | Number of Clients |
1997 | 1998 |
Aberdeen City | 503 | 343 |
Aberdeenshire | 939 | 718 |
Angus | 419 | 427 |
Argyll & Bute | 319 | 305 |
Clackmannanshire | 278 | 247 |
Dumfries & Galloway | 577 | 660 |
Dundee City | 147 | n/a |
East Ayrshire | 866 | n/a |
East Dunbartonshire | 187 | 153 |
East Lothian | 962 | 1,035 |
East Renfrewshire | 248 | 165 |
Edinburgh, City of | 950 | 1,003 |
Falkirk | n/a | n/a |
Fife | 1,792 | 2,261 |
Glasgow City | 2,008 | n/a |
Highland | 1,281 | 1,387 |
Inverclyde | 214 | 225 |
Midlothian | 290 | 271 |
Moray | 603 | 620 |
North Ayrshire | 527 | 375 |
North Lanarkshire | 802 | 1,472 |
Orkney Islands | 8 | 7 |
Perth & Kinross | 325 | 339 |
Renfrewshire | 384 | 364 |
Scottish Borders | 463 | 468 |
Shetland Islands | 232 | 225 |
South Ayrshire | 429 | 396 |
South Lanarkshire | n/a | 850 |
Stirling | 421 | 273 |
West Dunbartonshire | 204 | 335 |
West Lothian | n/a | n/a |
Western Isles | n/a | 0 |
Scotland1 | 18,068 | 18,975 |
Source: SEHD, Community Care Statistics, H2 Return
Notes:
1. Scotland totals have been estimated.
- Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 14 December 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 4 January 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-9245 by Iain Gray on 30 October 2000, why the number of clients receiving home help fell by 9,558 between 1997 and 1999 and what steps it is taking to reverse this decline.
Answer
The figures reflect a shift in the nature of local authority provided or commissioned home care to a more intensive service involving personal care with each client on average receiving more help. Over the period, the number of home care hours provided or commissioned by local authorities rose from 335,668 to 375,300.
The Minister for Health and Community Care announced a range of measures on 5 October 2000, which will considerably increase home care provision.
- Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 20 December 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Susan Deacon on 4 January 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive what additional resources it will provide to Glasgow, Lothian, Lanark and Argyll and Clyde Ambulance Services to ensure that they reach their 999 response time targets.
Answer
The Scottish Ambulance Service is funded to provide services across Scotland. This year's allocation is £94.3 million - up by £4.1 million on last year.
The allocation includes £500,000 specifically for 20 more front-line staff in Glasgow and a further £485,000 to train 75 more paramedics across Scotland.
Areas round Glasgow will benefit from deployment of extra front-line staff in the city. In addition, the Scottish Ambulance Service regularly reviews performance in all health board areas to ensure that it is providing the services people need.
