Chamber and committees

This information is not held centrally. I will ask the Chief Executive of Skills Development Scotland to write to you with the information you have requested.

The following table provides the number of drug-resistant tuberculosis cases since 2007:

NHS Board	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011
Ayrshire and Arran	0	0	2	0	0
Borders	1	0	0	0	0
Dumfries and Galloway	0	0	0	0	1
Fife	0	0	2	2	1
Forth Valley	0	0	0	0	0
Grampian	5	3	1	2	1
Greater Glasgow and Clyde	5	7	9	6	8
Highland	0	0	1	1	7
Lanarkshire	1	1	0	0	2
Lothian	2	3	5	4	7
Orkney	0	0	0	0	0
Shetland	0	0	0	0	0
Tayside	1	2	2	1	0
Western Isles	0	0	0	0	0
Total	15	16	22	16	27

Notes:

*All data for 2011 is still provisional.

**Excludes M bovis resistance to pyrazinamide.

The information requested is given in the following table. For the purpose of producing statistics on causes of death, deaths registered in Scotland are classified using the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems, Tenth Revision (ICD-10), and normally counted on the basis of the underlying cause of the death.

The table gives the numbers of deaths for which the ICD-10 code for the underlying cause of the death was one of the specified codes:

(a) silicosis - code "J62" for "pneumoconiosis due to dust containing silica" and code "J65" for "pneumoconiosis associated with tuberculosis", in cases where "silicosis" was mentioned in the text of the cause of death given in the death certificate;

(b) related diseases - all other deaths coded "J60" to "J65". These cover other forms of pneumoconiosis, such as aluminosis, asbestosis, anthracosilicosis and anthracosis.

Underlying cause of death

Year of Registration of Death 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011

Silicosis1	2	1	1	2	0	3	3	2	0
Related diseases2	24	15	17	20	15	12	17	18	11
Total silicosis and related diseases	26	16	18	22	15	15	20	20	11

Notes:

1. ICD-10 code J62, plus any deaths coded J65 for which “silicosis” was mentioned in the text of the cause of death given in the death certificate.

2. ICD-10 codes J60, J61, J63 and J64, plus deaths coded J65 for which “silicosis” was not mentioned in the cause of death.

NHS boards recently reported to the Scottish Government on progress made in relation to the recommendations in the TB Action Plan for Scotland. This information will form the basis of the annual report which will be published by the end of this year.

<>In March 2011, the Scottish Government published a TB Action Plan for Scotland which aims to reduce the incidence of tuberculosis. The Action Plan is primarily intended for those involved in the delivery of TB-related services in Scotland and sets out a range of actions on key themes such as laboratory services, clinical services, surveillance and public health services. The plan can be accessed at http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2011/03/18095603/0.

Work is ongoing to take forward the recommendations, and an Action Plan Monitoring Group has been established by the Scottish Government with representatives from NHS boards, Health Protection Scotland and professional bodies involved in work across TB.

We are not aware of any systematic evidence to suggest that Scottish patients are being disadvantaged in terms of access to medicines or devices of proven effectiveness.

To help ensure that patients can gain appropriate access to new treatments, boards are supported by robust mechanisms on advice and guidance, including the Scottish Medicines Consortium, the Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network (SIGN) and the Scottish Health Technologies Group.

There has been substantial investment and redesign in cardiology services over the last 15 years. The Audit Scotland report (February 2012) shows that there has been significant progress in tackling heart disease and developing services. Premature mortality has dropped by 40 per cent in 10 years, more patients are getting better treatment and waiting times for treatment have fallen.

The Scottish Government’s policy on heart disease is set out in our “Better Heart Disease and Stroke Care Action Plan” which reaffirms the expectation that all NHS boards provide safe, effective and person-centred services. Implementation of the Action Plan will support further reductions in the number of deaths from heart disease.

The Scottish Government does not recognise the use of the term “separation” in the context of Scottish independence. Scottish independence would be based on new relationships to make our nation more successful and to improve the lives of the people who live in Scotland. Decisions on defence budgets in an independent Scotland would be subject to future consideration and approval by the Scottish Government and the Scottish Parliament.

General medical services budget allocations are subject to the outcome of UK negotiations which are currently ongoing.

The Scottish Government undertook a public consultation on proposals for integration of adult health and social care early this year, which included seeking views on new legislation. In addition, officials undertook a period of full and extensive engagement before and during the consultation process with health and social care professionals, carers, service users and their families. The Scottish Government will continue to work closely and constructively with all stakeholders throughout the development of the bill.

The health resource budget is increasing significantly in cash terms by over half a billion pounds, or 5.2 per cent, over the next two year period which means that spend on day-to-day health services has been protected in real terms.

Territorial health boards who provide frontline point of care services will receive above inflation increases in 2013-14 and 2014-15 of 3.3 per cent and 3.1 per cent which represents real terms increases of 0.8 per cent and 0.6 per cent respectively.

In addition, the short to medium-term outlook will see capital resources under severe pressure given the significant real terms reduction in capital resources available to the Scottish Government over the 2010 Comprehensive Spending Review period from 2011-12 to 2014-15. In response to this situation however, the Scottish Government has put in place arrangements to support a programme of £2.5 billion of revenue financed investment across Scotland to boost infrastructure investment. Of this total investment, £750 million is being directed towards projects within health as Non Profit Distributing (NPD) projects or via the hub initiative.