Chamber and committees

The number of discharges for alcohol poisoning in acute hospitals is presented by local authority area and by hospital. However, because of size constraints the table containing this information has been submitted to the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 48111).

Data for the calendar year 2008 is not currently available and the latest available information is for the financial year ending 31 March 2008.

Information Services Division Scotland (ISD) recently carried out an in-depth review of their core alcohol-related code set and as a result the codes for alcohol poisoning have been changed. Figures may not be directly comparable with those published previously. Full details of the consultation are available at:

http://www.alcoholinformation.isdscotland.org/alcohol_misuse/files/ICD10_codes_final_report.pdf.

The information requested is not available centrally.

The number of vacancies for child and adolescent psychiatrists is unavailable although information about the workforce in NHSScotland is routinely monitored by NHS boards, who are responsible for their own workforce planning, and by the Scottish Government. Data on the number of vacancies for consultants in child and adolescent psychiatry, broken down by NHS board, is provided in the following table:

Table 1. Hospital, Community and Public Health Services (HCHS) Medical Consultants in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Whole-Time Equivalent (WTE) Vacancies as at 30 September 2008

Health Board	Establishment	Staff in Post	Total Vacancies
Scotland	59.7	55.2	4.5
NHS Ayrshire and Arran	4.0	2.0	2.0
NHS Borders	1.5	1.5	0.0
NHS Dumfries and Galloway	2.2	1.6	0.6
NHS Fife	3.4	2.5	0.9
NHS Forth Valley	3.0	3.0	0.0
NHS Grampian	8.0	8.0	0.0
NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde	17.5	16.5	1.0
NHS Highland	2.0	2.0	0.0
NHS Lanarkshire	3.9	3.9	0.0
NHS Lothian	8.9	8.9	0.0
NHS Orkney	0.0	0.0	0.0
NHS Shetland	0.0	0.0	0.0
NHS Tayside	5.3	5.3	0.0
NHS Western Isles	0.0	0.0	0.0

Source: Information Services Division (ISD) Scotland.

Scottish Intercollegiate Guideline Network (SIGN) Guidelines 71 and 56, on the management of osteoporosis, and the prevention and management of hip fracture in older people respectively, recommend the use of DEXA (Dual Energy X-Ray Absorptiometry) scanning in establishing a diagnosis of osteoporosis. SIGN Guideline 56, which is being revised to take account of the most recent evidence on hip fracture care, recommends that the risk of hip fractures and falls in older people should be assessed and those at increased risk offered multiple interventions. NHS boards are expected to implement these guidelines through local protocols.

We have also drawn boards'' attention to the findings of an NHS QIS audit, published at the end of 2005, showing the benefits in preventing future osteoporotic fractures by giving patients who have sustained a fracture direct access to DEXA scanning. All NHS boards have access to (DEXA) scanners, of which there are 18 across Scotland, with a further scanner expected to begin operation at the end of the month.

The Osteoporosis Directed Enhanced Service (DES), introduced in November 2008, provides Scottish GP practices with the incentive to identify women aged 60 and over who have had a fragility fracture and to refer those aged under 75 for a DEXA scan to confirm a diagnosis of osteoporosis. The DES stipulates that bone sparing preventative treatment should be offered to women under 75 who are diagnosed with the condition, and to those over 75 who have sustained a fragility fracture.

We have been taking forward work on falls and fracture prevention in older people and have published guidance for NHS boards and Community Health Partnerships on actions to prevent falls. NHS Quality Improvement Scotland (NHS QIS) has also appointed a national falls programme manager to establish a network of local falls co-ordinators and share best practice.

All acute hospitals in Scotland are part of the Scottish Patient Safety Programme which includes a specific strand of work on preventing adverse drug events. In addition, NHS Quality Improvement Scotland is developing proposals to consider the feasibility of a national reporting approach for adverse events, building on the arrangements currently in place across all NHS boards in Scotland.

In relation to the safety of medicines available on the UK market, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency and the Commission on Human Medicines run the UK''s spontaneous adverse drug reaction reporting scheme, the Yellow Card Scheme. Information about the Scheme can be accessed at www.mhra.gov.uk.

The Chief Officers with responsibility for NHS health professionals are as follows:

Dr Harry Burns, Chief Medical Officer for Scotland with lead responsibility for Doctors and Physicians Assistants.

Dr Margaret McGuire, Acting Chief Nursing Officer for Scotland with lead responsibility for Nurses, Midwives, Allied Health Professions and Healthcare Scientists.

Jacqui Lunday, Chief Health Professions Officer for Scotland with professional responsibility for Allied Health Professionals and Healthcare Scientists.

Margie Taylor, Chief Dental Officer for Scotland with lead professional responsibility matters relating to Dentistry.

Bill Scott, Chief Pharmaceutical Officer for Scotland with lead professional responsibility for matters relating to Pharmacy.

The following table shows for each council the budgeted interest payments for 2008-09 as a percentage of budgeted net expenditure. Actual costs for 2008-09 are not yet available.

The interest costs used to calculate the percentages are interest costs on local authority borrowing. The interest costs do not include PPP/PFI repayments unless the PPP/PFI is on balance sheet. If the PPP/PFI is on balance sheet the arrangement is treated as a finance lease and the local authority is required to separate out the interest cost from the principal repayment cost. In such cases the interest cost will be recognised and included with the total interest cost for the local authority.

Interest Payments as a Percentage of Budgeted Net Expenditure 2008-09

Council
Aberdeen City	5.4%
Aberdeenshire	2.9%
Angus	2.7%
Argyll and Bute	4.0%
Clackmannanshire	4.8%
Dumfries and Galloway	3.1%
Dundee City	3.6%
East Ayrshire	4.0%
East Dunbartonshire	3.1%
East Lothian	3.9%
East Renfrewshire	3.1%
Edinburgh, City of	4.5%
Eilean Siar	8.7%
Falkirk	3.4%
Fife	3.2%
Glasgow City	5.5%
Highland	4.7%
Inverclyde	4.3%
Midlothian	1.8%
Moray	4.6%
North Ayrshire	3.4%
North Lanarkshire	3.4%
Orkney Islands	2.9%
Perth and Kinross	2.7%
Renfrewshire	2.5%
Scottish Borders	3.6%
Shetland Islands	0.2%
South Ayrshire	3.2%
South Lanarkshire	5.0%
Stirling	4.8%
West Dunbartonshire	2.6%
West Lothian	4.6%
All Scotland	4.0%

 

These figures exclude Housing Revenue Account interest and expenditure.

Net expenditure is that to be financed from grants, non-domestic rates, council tax and balances. As such it is expenditure after any income for a specific purpose has been taken into account.

We are working with NHS boards and their partners to deliver the recommendations made in The Mental Health of Children and Young People: A Framework for Promotion, Prevention and Care (Bib. number 38415). This includes a specific commitment to ensuring that frontline staff in primary care, education and the voluntary sector have a basic knowledge and education of mental health issues in young children.

We have also developed the Early Years Framework (Bib. number 47084) to ensure that support is in place to promote children''s emotional wellbeing and help those who are finding things difficult.

The Early Years Framework builds on our existing commitment to Getting it Right for Every Child that has a core component of streamlining planning, assessment and decision-making processes to ensure the right help is delivered at the right time for young people at risk.

Furthermore, our soon to be published policy and action plan for mental health improvement “ Towards a Mentally Flourishing Scotland “ also includes a focus on the mental health of infants, children and young people.

The responsibility for the regulation of NHS psychologists lies within the CMO Directorate who ensure that they comply with UK standards of practice. NHS boards, as employers of psychologists, have direct employee responsibilities. Psychologists also contribute to the work done within the Scottish Government''s Mental Health Division in developing and implementing policy and improving psychology services.

In developing the provisions of the Tobacco and Primary Medical Services (Scotland) Bill we did look carefully at all aspects of the existing law in order to rationalise and update existing tobacco sales law which dates back to 1937. As alluded to in my answer to question S3W-22174 on 31 March 2009, the discussions we had with stakeholders during the review process did not reveal a strong desire for the creation of a new offence of underage purchase in relation to tobacco sales law. We, therefore, decided to maintain the status quo on age restrictions for purchasing tobacco.

While this may seem inconsistent with alcohol licensing law, it is consistent with most other age-restricted products law (i.e. other than laws relating to alcohol and crossbows) where offences relate only to underage sale not underage purchase. However, as indicated in my answer to question S3W-22174, I would be open to discuss the matter with the member if she so wishes.

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.