In developing and proving a telehealth application, a number of steps are required in order to show that the application is ethical, legal, feasible, acceptable to the users, safe, and finally clinically and cost effective. The early stages are normally carried out in the laboratory, pilot trials are then done which involve patients or volunteers, and then clinical trials with patients are carried out to assess the costs and benefits.

Note: *Health Technology Assessments apply to all interventions used to promote health, prevent and treat disease, and improve rehabilitation and long-term care including:

Drugs: such as antidepressants, contraceptives, antibiotics;

Devices: such as pacemakers, dialysis machines, hearing aids;

Procedures: such as surgical techniques, acupuncture, counselling;

Settings of care: such as general practice, hospitals, care homes, and

Screening: for cancer, sexually transmitted diseases, stroke.

Research carried out in late August 2008 near the end of the first phase of the campaign indicated that awareness of the National Care Standards in the general population had more than doubled. Demand for copies of the appropriate National Care Standards increased by an average of 170% during the first phase of the campaign.

Phase two of the campaign was launched on 2 February 2009. It includes all the elements of the first phase plus engagement with social work professionals aimed at encouraging them to make their clients aware of the standards and how to use them.

We intend to re-measure awareness levels when the campaign concludes in April.

Before the proposed HMP Highland opens, the Scottish Prison Service needs to select and acquire a suitable site, obtain planning permission for the proposed development, conduct a procurement process for the design and construction of the prison and then prepare the prison for operation. These steps will take a number of years, with the date of opening being largely dependent on the time required to acquire a site and secure planning permission. A target date for HMP Highland opening will be set following completion of these key stages.

Source ISD.

http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/business/officialReports/meetingsParliament/or-09/sor0305-01.htm

Information on body mass index (BMI), derived from height and weight measurements recorded in primary seven, is available for NHS boards which use the Child Health School system (CHSP-S) and routinely collect BMI measurement. Data for school years 2007-08 are shown in the following table.

Table 1: Recording of Height and Weight in Primary Seven

Source: ISD Scotland, CHSP-S Nov 2008 and General Register Office for Scotland (GROS) Ref: IR2009-00320.

Notes:

1. Data are not available for the following NHS boards: NHS Grampian, former NHS Greater Glasgow, NHS Highland, NHS Orkney and NHS Shetland.

2. For the period shown, the school system was not implemented in all areas of former NHS Argyll and Clyde.

3. A proportion of the height and weight measurements recorded on CHSP-School may be invalid.

4. The GRO mid-year population estimate of 11-year-olds has been used to approximate the number of children in primary seven in the NHS boards participating in CHSP “ School.

BMI statistics were recorded for primary 7 children and published until 2004-05. This information is available from the following link. http://www.isdscotland.org/isd/3640.html.

Source: General Register Office for Scotland.

As the figures demonstrate, the vast majority of these deaths are caused by clots in the coronary arteries, which result in certain types of heart attack, and clots in the brain, which result in certain types of stroke.

In view of the responses generated by the answer given to the question S3W-12541 on 9 May 2008, it should be emphasised that of the 12,289 deaths in 2007, 257 were related to pulmonary embolism and there were also 112 deaths in which Deep Vein Thrombosis was recorded as the underlying cause of death.

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 Scottish Prison Service, working in conjunction with Highland Council, has identified possible sites for the proposed HMP Highland and further work is now being carried out to evaluate the suitability of these sites.