The number of people usinghospital or home haemodialysis for established renal failure on 31 December inthe years 2002 to 2006 by NHS Board of residence is set out in the table below:

NHS Board	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006
Argyll and Clyde1	113	117	130	133	128
Ayrshire and Arran	97	102	113	118	144
Borders	21	20	22	27	26
Dumfries and Galloway	46	52	50	54	51
Fife	80	92	94	107	108
Forth Valley	73	82	86	98	98
Glasgow	288	298	294	314	326
Grampian	157	143	156	175	187
Highland	54	72	76	81	80
Lanarkshire	171	177	171	168	180
Lothian	174	188	197	204	229
Orkney	1	3	3	4	5
Shetland	3	3	3	2	2
Tayside	113	122	126	133	135
Western Isles	2	2	3	2	3
NHS Board Not Known2	1	2	2	2	2
Total	1394	1475	1526	1622	1704

Source: ScottishRenal Registry.

Notes:

1 Patientsin the former NHS Argyll and Clyde now comeunder NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde or NHSHighland. For ease of comparison with older data, they are still shown asArgyll and Clyde.

2 Twopatients who were on RRT during the period 2002 to 2006 had no fixed abode andit has not been possible to allocate an NHS board of residence. Both attendedthe renal unit at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh.

The UK National ScreeningCommittee (NSC) has advised that chronic kidney disease (CKD) is not an areaswhere the evidence supports screening of the adult population. Guidelines arehowever available to clinicians to enable them to target high-risk groups andsubsequently jointly manage the condition with the person with CKD, theircarers and other agencies. Publication of a SIGN guideline on chronic kidney diseaseis expected before the end of this year.

Since April 2006, CKD hasbeen included as a clinical area in the Quality and Outcomes Framework of theGMS contract, and this encourages GP practices to identify CKD early so thatappropriate measures can be taken to slow or prevent the progression to moreserious CKD and also to combat the major risk of illness or death due tocardiovascular disease.

The number of peopleresident in Scotland currently awaiting a kidney transplant is set out inthe following table.

Status	Kidney	Kidney/Pancreas	Total
Active	589	11	600
Suspended*	150	4	154
Total	739	15	754

Source: UKTransplant.

Note: *Suspended means the patient has been temporarilyremoved from the list. This happens for such reasons as being too ill toundergo the operation or being away on holiday.

 

All 10 adult renal units areoperating above 80% capacity.

I refer themember to the answer to question S3W-832 on 22 June 2007 which listed those boards routinely carrying out foetalanomaly scans at 18–22 weeks. All boards offer ultrasound scans at booking.

All answers towritten parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website thesearch facility for which can be found at:

http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.

NHS boards receive aspecific allocation to help provide alcohol treatment services. However, fundingfor these services could also be made available from the general allocationreceived by boards for the provision of services to their local communities.

The varied range of alcoholdetoxification and rehabilitation services and the different ways of accessingthese services has meant it is not possible to collect waiting timeinformation.

We will give furtherconsideration to the feasibility of collecting such information in the future.

Specific information onaverage waiting times for methadone prescriptions is not held centrally.

A national waiting timesinformation framework was implemented in April 2004, to enable alcohol and drugaction teams (ADATs) and local services to monitor waiting times for drugtreatment and care in their local areas.

Table 1 presentsinformation, by ADAT, on the number of clients by length of time waited for clientswho have been offered an appointment date for prescribed drug treatment for theperiod January to March 2007.

Table 2 presentsinformation, by ADAT, on the number of clients by length of time waited forclients who are still waiting for an appointment date for prescribed drugtreatment for the period January to March 2007.

The waiting times frameworkdoes not include information on methadone prescribed by General Practitioners.

Table 1: Drug TreatmentWaiting Times - time between date care plan is agreed/ decision on treatment ismade and date offered for prescribed drug treatment¹; clients offeredan appointment, Jan-Mar 2007

 

Number of Clients Offered anAppointment Date²

Drug Action Team	< 7 Days	8-14 Days	15-21 Days	22-28 Days	5-8 Weeks	9-12 Weeks	13-26 Weeks	27-52 Weeks	52+ Weeks	Total
Aberdeen City	27	3	3	0	2	0	0	0	0	35
Aberdeenshire	25	9	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	38
Angus	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	4
Argyll and Clyde	62	9	6	1	4	3	1	0	0	86
Ayrshire and Arran3
Borders	5	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	5
Dumfries and Galloway	12	2	1	1	9	2	2	0	0	29
Dundee City	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2
East Lothian	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Edinburgh City	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3
Fife	9	3	2	2	0	0	0	0	0	16
Forth Valley	35	4	1	3	7	8	12	0	0	70
Glasgow	108	39	19	4	9	0	0	0	0	179
Highland	16	3	21	1	4	0	1	0	0	46
Lanarkshire	12	7	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	20
Midlothian	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Moray	9	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	10
Orkney3
Perth and Kinross	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Shetland	2	1	2	2	2	0	0	0	0	9
West Lothian	14	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	16
Western Isles	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Scotland4	345	82	60	15	37	13	16	0	0	568

1. Prescribed drug treatment- the prescribing of a substitute drug, (e.g. methadone, lofexidine, subutex)for facilitating the complete cessation of the use of illicit drugs,controlling withdrawal symptoms or reducing illicit drug use.

2. Time between date careplan is agreed / decision on treatment is made/ date client ready for treatmentand the first appointment date offered for prescribed drug treatment (for thoseoffered an intervention date during the reporting period).

3. Data from Ayrshire &Arran and Orkney are unavailable for this quarter.

4. Scotlandfigure excludes Ayrshire & Arran and Orkney data.

Source: National DrugTreatment Waiting Times Information FrameworkTable 2: Drug Treatment Waiting Times - time between date care plan isagreed/ decision on treatment is made and date offered for prescribed drugtreatment¹; clients still waiting for an appointment, Jan-Mar 2007

 

Number of Clients StillWaiting for an Appointment Date as at 31 March 2007²

Drug Action Team	< 7 Days	8-14 Days	15-21 Days	22-28 Days	5-8 Weeks	9-12 Weeks	13-26 Weeks	27-52 Weeks	52+ Weeks	Total
Aberdeen City	1	0	0	0	1	4	2	11	6	25
Aberdeenshire	3	3	0	2	0	0	0	0	1	9
Angus	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Argyll and Clyde	4	2	1	3	7	5	11	6	5	44
Ayrshire and Arran3
Borders	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Dumfries and Galloway	1	4	1	4	1	2	0	0	0	13
Dundee City	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
East Lothian	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Edinburgh City	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	21	21
Fife	0	0	2	0	0	0	23	0	0	25
Forth Valley	1	2	2	2	10	14	17	30	57	135
Glasgow	3	3	5	2	2	1	11	10	54	91
Highland	1	1	2	0	0	1	0	0	0	5
Lanarkshire	2	1	0	0	0	3	5	0	14	25
Midlothian	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Moray	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Orkney3
Perth and Kinross	0	0	0	0	0	2	1	0	0	3
Shetland	2	2	0	0	1	0	0	1	0	6
West Lothian	5	3	2	1	2	6	15	8	2	44
Western Isles	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Scotland4	23	21	15	14	24	38	85	66	160	446

Notes:

1. Prescribed drug treatment- the prescribing of a substitute drug, (e.g. methadone, lofexidine, subutex)for facilitating the complete cessation of the use of illicit drugs,controlling withdrawal symptoms or reducing illicit drug use.

2. Time between date careplan is agreed/decision on treatment is made / date client ready for treatmentand the end of the reporting period (for those still waiting to be offered anintervention date).

3. Data from Ayrshire andArran and Orkney are unavailable for this quarter.

4. Scotlandfigure excludes Ayrshire and Arran and Orkney data.

Source: National DrugTreatment Waiting Times Information Framework.

In determining whether anapplicant is a fit and proper person to be registered as a landlord, localauthorities are expected to make a balanced judgement on the basis of all theinformation available. Local authorities are currently giving due considerationto such information as they process applications. We are not aware that anyapplications have been rejected yet.

Funding arrangements forspecialist palliative care provided by independent voluntary hospices in Scotland areset out in HDL (2003)18. This guidance was agreed between Hospices, the NHS andthe Scottish Government. Since 1990 there has been a commitment that NHS boardsshould meet 50% of the agreed running costs of hospices providing specialistpalliative care for adults. This 50% target was set so as not to compromise theindependence of hospices. It is a matter for individual hospices to agree theirfunding requirements with their local NHS board.