Questions and answers

Question reference: S4W-18645

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 02 December 2013
Current Status: Answered by Alex Neil on 12 December 2013

To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) planned and (b) unplanned service outages there have been on NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde's IT systems since 1 October 2013.

NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde’s statistics for “Outage” include incidents where systems remain fully available to users, but elements are undergoing maintenance or remedial activities. In the period 2 October to 3 December there have been 10 planned outages (all restricted to either individual applications or sites. All occurred either out of hours when no users dependent on the services, or by pre-arrangement such that no risk to services occurred). There have been four periods of unplanned partial/total individual server outages during the period under review. These ranged between five and 60 minutes and on none of these occasions were patient services disrupted. This must be placed within the context of an IT estate with over 400 applications, supporting 11 major hospitals, over 250 GP and Health Centres and 40,000 staff.

Question reference: S4W-18639

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 02 December 2013
Current Status: Answered by Alex Neil on 12 December 2013

To ask the Scottish Government on what basis the report, Technical Assurance Review: NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde: Critical Incident - 1 October 2013, concluded that "the design and implementation of the XGGC Microsoft Active Directory with associated services is a fit for purpose and resilient implementation" given that it found that the error was "associated with the Active Directory software environment".

Question reference: S4W-18649

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 02 December 2013
Current Status: Answered by Alex Neil on 12 December 2013

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde becoming "paper-light" over the next 12 months in light of the IT failure of 1 October 2013 and what guidance the Scottish Government will give to clinicians on treating patients when no patient information is available.

The position of Scottish Government and NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde remains unchanged. The eHealth Strategy makes clear the commitment for all health boards to become ‘paper-light’ in a controlled and incremental fashion because of the considerable benefits that this brings (including better service continuity and information availability compared to paper). Paper workarounds do have their place in certain circumstances, but increasingly health boards are deploying more resilient ICT which means that information can still be available from alternative digital sources. Each board has business continuity plans, and associated guidance in this area.

Question reference: S4W-18641

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 02 December 2013
Current Status: Answered by Alex Neil on 12 December 2013

To ask the Scottish Government, in relation to the IT failure at NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde on 1 October 2013, whether active directory auditing was switched off and, if so, for what reason.

Question reference: S4W-18690

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 03 December 2013
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 11 December 2013

To ask the Scottish Government whether the implementation plans produced by NHS boards for Neonatal Care in Scotland: a Quality Framework will be made public and, if so, in what form.

The new Local Delivery Plan format, focusing on the 12 priority areas for action in the Routemap to the 2020 Vision for Health and Social Care, will give NHS boards the opportunity to set out the action they are taking to implement Neonatal Care in Scotland: A Quality Framework.

Considerable progress has already been made, with the vast majority of statements in Neonatal Care in Scotland: A Quality Framework already being met, and full implementation taking place over the next five to 10 years.

Question reference: S4W-18691

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 03 December 2013
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 11 December 2013

To ask the Scottish Government how regularly it will meet (a) NHS boards and (b) managed clinical networks to discuss progress toward implementing Neonatal Care in Scotland: a Quality Framework.

Discussions with NHS boards and managed clinical networks are underway to determine what the process will be for monitoring the implementation of Neonatal Care in Scotland: A Quality Framework. Once agreed with Ministers, the governance process will form part of this discussion.

Considerable progress has already been made, with the vast majority of statements in Neonatal Care in Scotland: A Quality Framework already being met, and full implementation taking place over the next five to 10 years.

Question reference: S4T-00540

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 09 December 2013
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 10 December 2013

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to tackle alcohol misuse.

Question reference: S4W-18290

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 12 November 2013
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 22 November 2013

To ask the Scottish Government what the PAS2030 requirements are for a green deal installer.

PAS 2031:2012 requires both the installation service process evaluation (desk based assessment) and installation service delivery evaluation (on-site assessment) to take place in order for an accredited Green Deal certificate to be issued to an applicant installer, in line with the requirements of BS EN 45011 standard.

Certification requirements will vary depending on the applicants existing qualifications, experience and size of their organisation.

Further information on the PAS 2030 requirements for a Green Deal Installer can be found at the following link:

http://gdorb.decc.gov.uk/installers/installer-guidance.

Question reference: S4W-18288

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 12 November 2013
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 22 November 2013

To ask the Scottish Government how the requirements for PAS2030 certification differ from those for being gas safe approved.

The Green Deal Oversight and Registration Body (GDORB) has been working very closely with the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC), Gas Safe Register and other stakeholders to identify a solution that would recognise the existing qualifications and competencies of Gas Safe registered businesses.

The technical requirements for installers under the Green Deal are set out in the BSI standard PAS 2030. Following the initial gap analysis, it has been concluded that being Gas Safe registered alone is not sufficient to allow Gas Safe registered business to operate under the Green Deal and certification to PAS 2030 is required in addition to holding current certificates of competence and Gas Safe registration. In addition, the installers are required to sign up to the Green Deal Code of Practice, which sets out the obligations around the conduct of Green Deal participants, such as selling practices and contracting.

As the assessment by Green Deal Certification Bodies of companies installing gas measures will include an assessment of compliance with gas safety regulations, it has been agreed that Gas Safe registration for relevant types of work will be accepted as a method for demonstrating compliance with the gas safety elements of PAS 2030. However, the installation company will still be required to be approved and certified against PAS 2030 (in particular the quality management systems and installation processes requirements) by a Certification Body accredited by United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS).

Further information can be found at:

The Green Deal - Gd Orb Announcement Regarding Green Deal Registration For Gas Safe Registered Businesses.

Question reference: S4W-18289

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 12 November 2013
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 22 November 2013

To ask the Scottish Government what qualifications a green deal assessor is required to have.

To become a Green Deal Assessor you must:

Be certified by a Green Deal Certification Body against the Green Deal Assessor Specification

Comply with the Green Deal Code of Practice

Be listed on the Green Deal Participant Register

More information on the qualification requirements for a Green Deal Assessor can be found on the UK Government website at the following link:

http://gdorb.decc.gov.uk/assessors/become-a-green-deal-assessor.

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