The information requestedis given in the following table:

Number ofPatients Aged 65+ with 2+ Emergency Admissions Within 1 Year

Year
2002	35,564
2003	35,526
2004	36,922
2005	37,264
2006	36,953

Source: ISD ScotlandSMR01 return.

The Licensing (Scotland) Act 2005 already sets mandatory conditions for licensedpremises in relation to pricing of alcohol and irresponsible drinks promotions.It also gives the Scottish ministers powers to add such further conditions as theyconsider necessary or expedient for the purposes of any of the licensing objectivesset out in the act. Use of these powers will of course be subject to parliamentaryscrutiny.

NHS boards, in associationwith their cardiac Managed Clinical Networks and their local planning partners,are responsible for the provision of cardiac rehabilitation services in their area,in line with the thinking set out in the national strategy for CHD and Stroke.

Information for 2005onwards can be found at:http://www.isdscotland.org/isd/1347.html.

	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007
Scotland	4.64	5.25	5.35	5.23	5.55
NHS Ayrshire and Arran6			6.14	5.23	5.83
NHS Borders			4.42	4.49	4.62
NHS Argyll and Clyde			5.64	6.10	x
Special Health Boards7			5.39
NHS National Services Scotland				4.10	4.42
NHS 24				7.59	9.88
NHS Education For Scotland				1.22	2.18
NHS Quality Improvement Scotland				2.07	2.05
NHS Health Scotland				2.22	2.86
Scottish Ambulance Service			5.87	5.35	6.10
The State Hospital			6.48	5.67	5.67
Golden Jubilee			2.7	5.35	5.37
NHS Fife			6.27	5.63	6.21
NHS Greater Glasgow			6.37	5.45	x
NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde	X	x	x	x	5.82
NHS Highland			4.56	4.48	5.12
NHS Lanarkshire			5.67	5.98	6.34
NHS Grampian			4.07	4.59	5.10
NHS Orkney			4.43	4.09	4.27
NHS Lothian			5.4	5.04	4.99
NHS Tayside			5.23	5.18	5.46
NHS Forth Valley			6.03	5.44	5.80
NHS Western Isles			4.87	5.42	6.25
NHS Dumfries and Galloway			x	4.66	4.70
NHS Shetland			2.67	4.71	4.41

 

The recruitment andretention of GPs has improved since the introduction of the new GMS contract, asevidence by the continued growth in GP numbers.

The new GMS contractwas introduced on 1 April 2004. For the period 1 October 2004 to 30 September 2006 (inclusive), the(head count) number of GPs in Scotland has increased from 4,456 to 4,639. This constitutesan increase of 4.1 per cent.

These figures excludelocum GPs.

Information on attendancesat accident and emergency departments within NHS Scotland is available on the InformationServices Division (ISD Scotland) website:http://www.isdscotland.org/isd/4156.html.

It is recognised thatout-of-hours services in remote and rural areas face a number of unique challenges.

An out-of-hours strategygroup - made up of representatives from NHS boards, NHS QIS, NES, and NHS 24 - isdeveloping a strategy for future sustainable models of out of hours care. A keycomponent of this strategy will reflect the needs of rural areas, addressing therequirement to redesign services to reflect a multi-disciplinary approach with extendedrole development for nursing staff and other health care professionals. The strategywill also look to promote existing good practice in rural locations, models thatare both sustainable and cost effective in the long-term, but continue to set highstandards of patient care.

The Scottish AmbulanceService, through its Developing Enhanced Skills Project Board and its Reducing HospitalAdmissions Project Board, has developed new roles, new ways of working and supportivetraining and education programmes that are designed to develop the skills of paramedicsto deal with a broader range of patient conditions. The training of all paramedicsin these additional skills is being rolled-out over a three year period.

Officials areworking to ensure that the new community pharmacy contract in Scotland supports an integrated approach to health care bypromoting and facilitating joint working between GPs and community pharmacists.

I have asked Angiolina Foster, Chief Executive of Communities Scotland to respond. Her response is as follows.

The concept of restrictedownership does not form part of the scope of the rural home ownership grant scheme.

The scheme does dealwith restricted opportunity and restricted access and the grants allocated undereach of these categories were as follows:

	Restricted Opportunities			Restricted Access			Total RHOGs
	2004-05	2005-06	2006-07	2004-05	2005-06	2006-07	2004-05	2005-06	2006-07
Total	80	60	71	59	32	20	118	87	87