Chamber and committees

Questions and answers

Parliamentary questions can be asked by any MSP to the Scottish Government or the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body. The questions provide a means for MSPs to get factual and statistical information.

Written questions must be answered within 10 working days (20 working days during recess)
Other questions such as Topical, Portfolio, General and First Minister's Question Times are taken in the Chamber

Urgent Questions aren't included in the Question and Answers search. There is a SPICe fact sheet listing Urgent and emergency questions.

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Question reference: S3W-33335

Asked by: Marlyn Glen, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 22 April 2010
Current Status: Answered by Michael Russell on 6 May 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive how many graduates of the University of (a) Dundee and (b) Abertay have participated in the Graduates for Business programme in the last two years.

Question reference: S3W-33339

Asked by: Marlyn Glen, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 22 April 2010
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 5 May 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive what the percentage of (a) female and (b) male smokers has been in NHS Tayside in each year since 2004.

The answer is shown in the following table.

Table 1. Male and Female Smoking Prevalence, Aged 16+ in NHS Tayside, from 2003-04 to 2007-08.

Year	Males	Females
2003-04	26.2	25.2
2005-06	25.2	26.8
2007-08	25.5	23.3

Source: Scottish Household Survey. Two year averages were used for the breakdown of smoking prevalence in males and females because of small numbers.

Question reference: S3W-33338

Asked by: Marlyn Glen, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 22 April 2010
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 5 May 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive how many attempts to quit have been made with smoking cessation services in NHS Tayside in each year since 2005 and what percentage remained successful 12 months later.

Information on quit attempts made via NHS smoking cessation services is available from the agreed national minimum dataset for cessation services. The national smoking cessation database (the primary data collection mechanism) was established in July 2005. Calendar year 2006 is the first year for which national cessation monitoring data are published.

National monitoring is based on clients who set a quit date/make a quit attempt with a cessation service. This will not include persons referred to services or who make initial contact with a service, but who do not go on to set a quit date.

Table 1 shows the number of quit attempts made with smoking cessation services in NHS Tayside and the percentage of these recorded as a successful outcome at 12 months after the quit date. Data for 2009 are not yet published.

Year	Total Quit Attempts	% Successful at 12 Months After Quit Date
2006	2,071	11%
2007	2,960	11%
2008	3,028	9%

Source: Information Services Division (ISD) Scotland. Figures are based on total quit attempts, rather than total number of clients with a quit attempt and could include repeat quit attempts by the same client.

The data shown are based on self-reported not smoked, or smoked no more than five cigarettes, since one month follow-up. The remainder of the quit attempts, those not recorded as successful at 12 months after quit date, will include both known smokers and cases lost to follow-up/smoking status unknown. In Tayside in 2008, for example, the cumulative percentage of cases lost to follow-up/smoking status unknown at 12 months after quit date was 60%, with 31% of cases known smokers and 9% known quits.

Question reference: S3W-33120

Asked by: Marlyn Glen, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 09 April 2010
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 5 May 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive how many dental students at the University of (a) Dundee and (b) Glasgow have received a dental bursary in each year since 2006-07.

The information requested is shown in the following table.

Number of Students who have Received a Dental Bursary at Glasgow and Dundee University for 2006-09 Sessions

Institution	2006-07 Session	2007-08 Session	2008-09 Session	2009-10 Session to Date	Total
Dundee University- Dental Bursary Recipients	214	222	236	239	911
Glasgow University- Dental Bursary Recipients	232	270	295	310	1,107

Question reference: S3W-33119

Asked by: Marlyn Glen, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 09 April 2010
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 5 May 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive how much has been spent on dental bursaries for students at the University of (a) Dundee and (b) Glasgow in each year since 2006-07.

The information requested is shown in the following table.

Spend on Dental Bursaries for Students at Glasgow and Dundee University for 2006-2009 Sessions

Institution	2006-07 Session	2007-08 Session	2008-09 Session	2009-10 Session to Date	Total
Dundee University- Value of Dental Bursaries Awarded	£856,000	£888,000	£944,000	£956,000	£3,644,000
Glasgow University- Value of Dental Bursaries Awarded	£928,000	£1,080,000	£1,180,000	£1,240,000	£4,428,000

Question reference: S3W-33121

Asked by: Marlyn Glen, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 09 April 2010
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 5 May 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive how many dental students at the University of (a) Dundee and (b) Glasgow since 2006-07 who received a dental bursary in their final year of study are now in vocational training in Scotland, also broken down by NHS board area.

Dental vocational training normally lasts for one year and takes place after graduation. 127 dentists who graduated in 2009, and received a dental bursary in their final year of study, are currently in dental vocational training, as follows:

NHS Board	Dundee Dental School	Glasgow Dental School	Total
Ayrshire and Arran	2	8	10
Borders	0	0	0
Dumfries and Galloway	1	0	1
Fife	5	2	7
Forth Valley	2	5	7
Grampian	10	2	12
Greater Glasgow and Clyde	2	19	21
Highland	5	6	11
Lanarkshire	1	16	17
Lothian	6	11	17
Orkney	0	1	1
Shetland	1	1	2
Tayside	16	4	20
Western Isles	0	1	1
Total	51	76	127

In total 316 dentists who graduated in 2007, 2008, and 2009, and received a dental bursary in their final year of study, have been in dental vocational training, which includes the 127 in the above table.

Question reference: S3W-33337

Asked by: Marlyn Glen, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 22 April 2010
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 4 May 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive how many admissions there have been for acute coronary syndrome in NHS Tayside in each year since 2005.

The information requested is provided in the following table. The rise in the number of admissions for acute coronary syndrome since 2008 is thought to be accounted for by the introduction of more sensitive diagnostic tests, using biomarkers such as troponin.

Table: Number of Admissions for Acute Coronary Syndrome¹in NHS Tayside for the Years Ending 31 March

2005	2006	2007	2008	2009
1,495	1,273	1,221	1,516	1,606

Source: ISD Scotland, SMR01.

Note: 1. Acute coronary syndrome includes unstable angina and myocardial infarction. It has been defined using the following International Classification of Disease Codes (version 10) I20.0, I21-I22 and I24.8.

Question reference: S3W-33348

Asked by: Marlyn Glen, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 23 April 2010
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 4 May 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive what the European age-standardised incidence rate of survival for colorectal cancer is at (a) one year and (b) five years in each of the last three four-year periods in Tayside, broken down by gender.

The following table shows the number of colorectal cancer patients in Tayside and the related percent surviving for the period 1996-2007. This data is not available as age standardised.

Table: Number of Colorectal Cancer Patients and Percent Surviving One and Five years, Tayside, 1996-2007

		1996-99	2000-03	2004-07
Males	Registrations	602	592	548
	1 year	68%	71%	75%
	5 years	36%	44%	n/a
Females	Registrations	539	517	515
	1 year	63%	65%	68%
	5 years	34%	39%	n/a

Source: ISD Scotland, Ref: IR2010-01060.

Note: Observed survival was calculated as Kaplan-Meier survival at one and five years from diagnosis for patients aged 15-99, based on the patient''s first cancer registration.

Question reference: S3W-33349

Asked by: Marlyn Glen, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 23 April 2010
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 4 May 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive what the European age-standardised incidence rate of survival for (a) breast and (b) prostate cancer is at (i) one year and (ii) five years in each of the last three four-year periods in Tayside.

The data illustrated in the following tables show the number of breast and prostate cancer patients (respectively) in Tayside and percent surviving for one and five years over the period 1996-2007. The data collected is not routinely age standardised.

Table 1. Number of Breast Cancer Patients and Percent Surviving One and Five Years, Tayside, 1996-2007

	1996-99	2000-03	2004-07
Registrations	1,041	1,036	1,169
1 year	90%	92%	93%
5 years	67%	70%	n/a

Source: ISD Scotland, Ref: IR2010-01060.

Table 2. Number of Prostate Cancer Patients and Percent Surviving One and Five Years, Tayside, 1996-2007

	1996-99	2000-03	2004-07
Registrations	617	652	701
1 year	82%	87%	88%
5 years	45%	54%	n/a

Source: ISD Scotland, Ref: IR2010-01060.

Question reference: S3W-33122

Asked by: Marlyn Glen, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 09 April 2010
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 27 April 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive how many biomedical science bursaries to encourage students to work in the NHS after graduation have been awarded in 2009-10, broken down by institution.

Glasgow Caledonian University	74
Robert Gordon University	49
Abertay University	19
University of West of Scotland	10