Chamber and committees

Social care workers are encouraged to receive the seasonal flu vaccine to protect themselves and the vulnerable people they care for. The vaccination of social work staff is the responsibility of individual employers through occupational health services. Data on the update of the vaccine by social care staff is not held at a national level.

The 2010-11 seasonal flu season is the first year in which pregnant women have been eligible for the seasonal flu vaccination. In previous years pregnant women were only eligible for vaccination if they had a clinical risk condition such as chronic heart or lung disease. Uptake data from previous years does not record uptake amongst pregnant women.

Seasonal flu vaccination is offered to all people aged 65 or over. Based on information collected by the Practitioner Services Division of NHS National Services Scotland, uptake in Scotland for those aged 65 and over was 74.1% in 2007-08, 76.3% in 2008-09 and 75% in 2009-10. This data is based on payment claims by GP practices for the vaccination of people aged 65 and over. In each of the three years for which information is provided, the vaccination target set by the Scottish Government for this risk group was 70%.

I announced on 18 August 2010 that safer streets funding of £400,000 will be made available to support community safety partnerships between November 2010 and March 2011. This brings our investment in safer streets since 2007 to £3.06 million.

As in previous years, the funding is to be divided between all 32 local authorities to fund community safety initiatives including high visibility police patrols in hot spot areas, dedicated support for licensed premises, targeting of street drinkers, enhanced CCTV and late night taxi marshals.

I have authorised funding for North Ayrshire of £14,000 for this campaign. This allocation is based on average group 1 crime figures for the relevant local authority over the period 2006-09.

Forestry Commission Scotland, which manages the funding of Timberlink, is currently reviewing the situation before making recommendations on future financing. As part of the review process it has commissioned independent studies of the economic and environmental benefits derived from the Timberlink service. Both reports provided a very good indication of not only the positive benefits of Timberlink, but also the level of support that it has from the local communities and tourist industry, as well as the timber sector

However, I am sure the member will appreciate that I am unable to commit to further resources, until we have a clearer idea of the outcome of the Comprehensive Spending Review.

In 2009-10, 2.6% of people receiving a direct payment had dementia.

Information on clients with dementia was collected for the first time in the 2010
self-directed support (direct payments) survey. In previous surveys, these clients were included in the Other client group category.

The Scottish Government provided Alzheimer Scotland with funding to carry out a study into the use of direct payments for people with dementia and their carers. The findings, published in their report, Let''s get personal, illustrates that self-directed support along with natural supports in the lives of people with dementia can delay the need for institutional care. The dementia and the self-directed support strategies will make it clear that people with dementia and their families should have choice and control in the support provided to them. Alzheimer Scotland is represented on the Self-directed Support Bill Steering Group.

In 2009-10, 97 people receiving a direct payment had dementia.

Information on clients with dementia was collected for the first time in the 2010
self-directed support (direct payments) survey. In previous surveys, these clients were included in the Other client group category.

An independent evaluation of the economic impact of Homecoming Scotland 2009 was done by Glasgow-based EKOS Ltd, a leading independent UK consultancy specialising in economic and social development. EKOS concluded that Homecoming Scotland 2009 generated net additional expenditure for Scotland of £53.7 million. The evaluation did not breakdown this impact on a regional basis.

The number of hospital admissions with hip fractures in patients aged 50 or more in Scotland between 2005 and 2009 by NHS board is provided in the following table.

In relation to how many patients were treated within 48 hours of admission to hospital, I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-36048 on 27 September 2010. 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

NHS Scotland: Number of Hospital Admissions with Hip Fracture* in Patients Aged 50 or Over for the Years 2005 To 2009

NHS Board	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009
Ayrshire and Arran	524	497	512	541	563
Borders	162	143	169	161	161
Dumfries and Galloway	263	225	199	234	250
Fife	425	397	403	394	394
Forth Valley	372	336	345	382	367
Grampian	716	692	690	698	747
Greater Glasgow and Clyde	1,859	1,835	1,934	1,828	1,776
Highland	378	338	382	367	399
Lanarkshire	715	704	737	748	756
Lothian	1,031	1,030	983	1,030	1,050
Orkney	30	29	22	27	26
Shetland	19	22	22	27	28
Tayside	668	670	685	731	688
Western Isles	23	10	28	21	34
Scotland	7,185	6,928	7,111	7,189	7,239

Source:ISD Scotland SMR01

*Hip fracture identified using ICD -10 codes S72.0, S72.1 and S72.2. this may include consecutive fractures to the same hip, but patients were not included more than once per continuous inpatient stay.