Chamber and committees

NHS treatment for unintentional injuries may be provided in a number of health settings including general practice, accident and emergency departments and as an inpatient in a hospital. Data available nationally at a level of detail that would allow the place of the injury (e.g. home) to be identified are only available for those patients admitted as an inpatient to a hospital. In general, it is likely that patients admitted to hospital will have a more serious injury than those treated in general practice or within accident and emergency departments.

Information on the number of those admitted as an inpatient to hospital in the period 2003-04 by council area is shown in the following table. Information split by council ward area is not held centrally.

Table 1. Number of Emergency In-Patient Hospital Admissions as a Result of anUnintentional Injury by Council Area, Year Ending 31 March 2004¹

Council Area		Home	All
Injuries2	Injuries3	%
Total	16,676	60,339	27.6
1	Aberdeen City	1,031	3,529	29.2
2	Aberdeenshire	864	3,015	28.7
3	Angus	376	1,092	34.4
4	Argyll and Bute	371	1,383	26.8
5	Scottish Borders	461	1,075	42.9
6	Clackmannanshire	220	519	42.4
7	West Dunbartonshire	169	1,264	13.4
8	Dumfries and Galloway	526	1,198	43.9
9	Dundee City	609	1,824	33.4
10	East Ayrshire	599	1,802	33.2
11	East Dunbartonshire	148	914	16.2
12	East Lothian	161	752	21.4
13	East Renfrewshire	248	868	28.6
14	Edinburgh, City of	946	3,700	25.6
15	Falkirk	558	1,363	40.9
16	Fife	1,140	3,193	35.7
17	Glasgow City	1,269	8,390	15.1
18	Highland	1,084	3,527	30.7
19	Inverclyde	327	1,253	26.1
20	Midlothian	190	673	28.2
21	Moray	361	937	38.5
22	North Ayrshire	602	1,961	30.7
23	North Lanarkshire	849	3,703	22.9
24	Orkney Islands	163	357	45.7
25	Perth and Kinross	588	1,664	35.3
26	Renfrewshire	322	2,265	14.2
27	Shetland Islands	52	223	23.3
28	South Ayrshire	673	1,657	40.6
29	South Lanarkshire	763	3,376	22.6
30	Stirling	395	934	42.3
31	West Lothian	461	1,619	28.5
32	Eilean Siar	150	309	48.5

^PProvisional.

Source: ISD Scotland (SMR01).

Notes:

1. These statistics are derived from data collected on discharges from non-obstetric and non-psychiatric hospitals (SMR01) in Scotland.

2. Home injuries are identified using SMR01 admission type code 33 – Patient Injury (including poisoning in the home).

3. Unintentional INJURIES are identified using SMR01 admission type codes 32-35, these include;

32 – Patient injury, Road Traffic Accident (RTA).

33 – Patient injury, home injury (including accidental poisoning in the home).

34 – Patient injury, injury at work.

35 – Patient injury, other injury (inc. accidental poisoning other than in the home), not elsewhere classified.

A regulatory impact assessment on bodies likely to be affected by the legislation was carried out prior to the introduction of the Protection of Children (Scotland) Bill in September 2002. The results of that assessment were published in the Financial Memorandum accompanying the bill.

The following numbers of GP practices were accredited as training practices in each of the relevant years:

1999	282
2000	282
2001	273
2002	276
2003	283
2004	282

 

Over the same period the number of trainers increased by 22%, from 314 to 384, with two accredited trainers now available in the majority of training practices.

Following our consultation on proposals to revise existing animal welfare legislation, issued earlier this year, we intend to introduce legislation during the course of this Parliament.

Shortly. Proposals for Phase 2 are being considered in the light of the issues raised by Phase 1 which include how to ensure the system delivers positive outcomes for all children referred through interagency working, how to engage better with parents and highlight their responsibilities, and the fit betweenthe children’s hearings system and other services for children.

The Scottish Executive liaises closely with all partners within the children’s hearings system on an on-going basis in order to identify and address issues of concern. In 2002 independent research was undertaken to identify reasons why panel members resign. A retention strategy was prepared and consulted on with panel interests. The research and the strategy are available on the children’s hearings website www.childrens-hearings.co.uk.

The strategy has been monitored by the Publicity Working Group, which advises the Scottish Executive on recruitment and comprises representatives from all parts of the hearings system. Most measures have been implemented.

The information requested is given in a table Children's Panel Member Turnover, 1999-2000 – 2003-04, which has been placed in the Parliament’s Reference Centre (Bib. number 34684).

Apart from Grant Aided support to the local authorities for social work the Scottish Executive allocated specific financial resources as follows:

Budget	1999-2000	2000-01	2001-02	2002-03	2003-04
(£000)	(£000)	(£000)	(£000)	(£000)
Training	393	393	393	643	665
Recruitment and Support	242	242	300	642	792
Legal Representation of Children	n/a	n/a	500	3	3
SCRA	12,265	13,747	15,751	16,506	21,176
Total	12,9	14,382	16,944	20,8791	25,633

 

In addition, the Scottish Executive provided staff to co-ordinate news letters, a website, development of software, training etc.

Children’s Panel Advisory Committees monitor panel member availability on an on-going basis. Target membership figures are not meaningful, as the number of panel members required in a local authority area at any time depends on the number of hearings called and the current level of availability of the existing members, which can vary. However, projections on recruitment needs for the coming year are determined in advance of the annual recruitment campaign. Since 2000 the national recruitment target has been exceeded by the number appointed. Turnover statistics can be referenced in the answer given to question S2W-12921, answered on 22 December 2004. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search. Detailed information on projected recruitment needs compared with numbers of new panel members appointed since 2000 is given in a table Children's Panel Member Recruitment by Local Authority Area, 1999-2000 – 2003-04, which has been placed in the Parliament’s Reference Centre (Bib. number 34685).

The objective of the review is to develop and improve the children’s hearings system while respecting its fundamental principles, one of which is a single system for dealing with children who offend or who are in need of care and protection.