Chamber and committees

Audit Scotland''s Financial overview of the NHS in Scotland 2007-08 identified a £5 million underspend by NHS Education for Scotland in their Dental Action Plan allocation.

NHS Education for Scotland were allocated funds under the Dental Action Plan to support five major work streams with 14 distinct projects. Part of the funding was to meet the revenue costs of the educational aspects of new teach and treat centres across Scotland. NHS Education for Scotland has had to commit revenue in support of each NHS board''s business case in respect of these developments. Each major centre''s revenue costs are in the region of £500,000 and NHS Education for Scotland has had to hold this money against future revenue commitments. However, the centres have taken longer to complete than anticipated and this has therefore resulted in a revenue underspend for NHS Education for Scotland.

NHS Education for Scotland protects its Dental Action Plan funding and the underspend in revenue is normally carried forward into the next year for future commitment within NHS Education for Scotland. This resulted in a large underpend being accumulated. Therefore in the interest of proper use of public funds, complete transparency and achieving best value for dental services across Scotland, as a one off exercise, the funds which were not required in 2007-08 were returned by NHS Education for Scotland to the Scottish Government.

As the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Sustainable Growth has made clear on a number of occasions, the Government''s strategic business case for the Scottish Futures Trust (SFT), published in May 2008, does not currently envisage SFT as a direct provider of capital funding. NHS boards are drawing on SFT''s knowledge and expertise in relation to capital projects, for example through the Hub initiative, to help ensure maximum value for public investment in these projects.

We have agreed with COSLA that local authorities will provide an additional 6,000 respite weeks in 2009-10. These additional weeks will be measured using the baseline of Audit Scotland''s Statutory Performance Indicators figures on respite in 2007-08.

This PQ was answered in the Chamber. The answer can be viewed in the Official Report using the following link:

http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/business/officialReports/meetingsParliament/or-09/sor0115-01.htm

The earliest years of a child''s life has been identified as a key stage of development where behaviours and health can be set for life. Therefore the government has made this a priority area for action with several programmes aimed at providing support to families with children under five. These include £19 million made available to health boards over the next three years (£3 million, £6 million and £10 million) to improve maternal and infant nutrition and Play@home to encourage physical activity, which is currently being rolled out across Scotland.

Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR) is available within the NHS in Scotland, particularly for treating those with post traumatic stress disorders. In the broadest sense the treatment aims are to alleviate suffering, boost life stability and assist all patients to fulfil their potential within their daily lives.

Training courses are run regularly throughout Scotland and the wider UK. Clinicians can work towards accreditation by EMDR UK.

The annual rate of chlamydia testing per 1,000 females aged 15 to 24 in each NHS board area is available under figure 1.1 of the most recent Key Clinical Indicator report produced by Information Services Division, which can be found at the following link:

http://www.isdscotland.org/isd/5410.html.

The annual rate of chlamydia testing per 1,000 males aged 15 to 24 in each NHS board area is available under figure 1.2 of the most recent Key Clinical Indicator report produced by Information Services Division, which can be found at the following link:

http://www.isdscotland.org/isd/5410.html.

While savings have not been calculated specifically for NHS Scotland, the National Institute for Clinical Excellence Clinical Guidelines on long-acting reversible contraception clearly state that long-acting reversible methods of contraception are more cost effective than the combined oral contraceptive pill even if continued for only one year.

This outweighs the higher initial costs and time involved in administering the treatment.

The following figures indicate the number of deaths caused by Venous Thromboembolism (VTE) in each of the last five years, broken down by NHS board area, and deaths caused by pulmonary embolism (PE), as the overwhelming majority of these deaths are likely to be as a consequence of VTE.

NHS Board	2003		2004		2005		2006		2007
	VTE	PE	VTE	PE	VTE	PE	VTE	PE	VTE	PE
Scotland	178	380	169	302	147	323	142	262	139	257
Ayrshire and Arran	17	37	14	30	8	26	10	21	5	30
Borders	3	2	5	7	5	11	5	9	3	3
Dumfries and Galloway	3	5	7	6	10	9	12	8	9	7
Fife	14	38	8	17	17	31	14	29	13	20
Forth Valley	13	21	15	16	6	21	8	13	11	22
Grampian	9	25	14	20	13	22	13	20	8	13
Greater Glasgow and Clyde	51	104	35	70	36	58	31	80	31	66
Highland	8	20	16	18	5	15	10	11	6	15
Lanarkshire	19	29	15	40	21	31	17	19	19	21
Lothian	27	61	30	49	20	67	9	35	25	38
Orkney	-	-	1	-	1	-	-	-	2	1
Shetland	1	3	-	2	-	-	2	1	-	1
Tayside	13	31	8	24	4	30	11	13	6	18
Western Isles	-	4	1	3	1	2	-	3	1	2

Source: General Register Office for Scotland.