Chamber and committees

I refer the member to the answer question S3W-19421 on 26 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.

I discussed the plans for the development of the Community Hospital in Irvine with NHS Ayrshire and Arran at the Annual Review meeting on 6 October 2008. The Scottish Government Capital Investment Group approved the Initial Agreement for the North Ayrshire Community Hospital in May 2008.

The information is published on the Scottish Health Statistics website under the SPIMMR (Scottish Perinatal Mortality and Morbidity Report) web pages and can be found at Table 1 at the following address http://www.isdscotland.org/isd/3113.html.

Information on late fetal death rates (per 1,000 total births [live and still], plus late fetal deaths) is published on the Scottish Health Statistics website under the SPIMMR (Scottish Perinatal and Infant Mortality and Morbidity Report) web pages and can be found at table 19b in the individual reports for years 2002-07.

http://www.isdscotland.org/isd/information-and-statistics.jsp?pContentID=3112&p_applic=CCC&p_service=Content.show&.

Information on stillbirth rates per 1,000 total births (live and stillbirths) for years 2002-07 is published on the Scottish Health Statistics website under the SPIMMR (Scottish Perinatal Mortality and Morbidity Report) web pages and can be found at table 16 at the following address.

http://www.isdscotland.org/isd/information-and-statistics.jsp?pContentID=3119&p_applic=CCC&p_service=Content.show&.

Information on stillbirth rates per 1,000 total births (live and stillbirths) for years  2002-07 is published on the Scottish Health Statistics website under the SPIMMR (Scottish Perinatal Mortality and Morbidity Report) web pages and can be found at table 16 at the following address.

http://www.isdscotland.org/isd/information-and-statistics.jsp?pContentID=3119&p_applic=CCC&p_service=Content.show&.

Mandatory surveillance on the total number of cases of Clostridium difficile reported by NHS board was introduced in September 2006. This information is collected by Health Protection Scotland (HPS) and is published in quarterly reports on their website. The second annual report of the mandatory National Surveillance Programme was published on Wednesday, 14 January 2009.

The Surveillance Programme is retrospective (i.e. three months in arrears) and so the latest annual report provides data up to the third quarter of 2008 only  (July-September 2008). Information for the period October to December 2008 will not be published by HPS until it''s next quarterly report in April 2009. The web link to the latest annual report is http://www.hps.scot.nhs.uk/ewr/article.aspx.

From January 2009 all NHS boards are required to complete a healthcare associated infection (HAI) reporting template with information on infection rates by hospital and specialty in all health board areas. The outcome of the analysis of all cases must be published and reported at bi-monthly board meetings. The member will therefore be able to access real time Clostridium difficile data from the NHS board''s website from this point forward.

I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-19424 on 19 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.

I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-16500 on 2 October 2008.

Discussions have taken place with representatives from North Ayrshire Council, Statutory Consultees and the land owners likely to be affected by the proposals with a view to identifying the preferred route for a Dalry Bypass.

Transport Scotland will continue to engage in such discussions throughout the preparation of detailed design programmes for all projects and strategic interventions resulting from the Strategic Transport Projects Review, including the proposed bypass at Dalry.

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.

The report published in The Lancet on the 27 August 2005 concluded that there was weak evidence for a specific effect of homoeopathic remedies but strong evidence for specific effects of conventional interventions. This finding is compatible with the notion that clinical effects of homoeopathy are placebo effects. The Scottish Government accepts that homoeopathic or complementary medicine are considered to be beneficial by patients suffering from a wide range of conditions and it is open to NHS boards to provide homoeopathic medicine and other complementary treatment based on their assessments of local needs.

One of the conclusions of The Lancet paper is that future research efforts should focus on the nature of the perceived benefits of homoeopathy and the place of homoeopathy in health care systems. The Chief Scientist Office would welcome research proposals in this area which would be subject to the usual peer and committee review.