Chamber and committees

The Scottish Executive's Scottish Health Plan, Our National Health: A plan for action, a plan for change, sets out a comprehensive series of actions to help ensure that our record investment in health achieves our aims of improving the health of people living in Scotland and of providing high-quality healthcare services.The Health Plan also sets out our plans for promoting challenging and consistent national service standards for the NHS, improved and integrated NHS planning and decision making, and increased local and national accountability across NHSScotland.

I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-13966 on 21 March 2001.

I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-10675 on 9 November 2000.

We intend to pursue this matter with the UK Government with a view to including the Scottish Commission for the Regulation of Care as a prescribed body under this Act. We also intend to take similar steps regarding the Scottish Social Services Council.

The Scottish Executive over the past two years in particular has been working with health boards and others on the planning and re-structuring of mental health inpatient services for children and adolescents.In terms of recent change, the children's inpatient unit and services at Glasgow Yorkhill hospital have expanded and the hospital is now the main national centre for inpatient child psychiatry with the inpatient unit in Tayside mainly serving Fife and the North East of Scotland.Overall the number of children requiring hospital admission is small and the current provision, which has been the subject of a detailed needs assessment, is likely to meet anticipated demand. The position will however be kept under ongoing review.

Currently, there is no forensic mental health unit for adolescents in Scotland. The very small number of adolescents who require such care are referred to one of two adolescent forensic units in Newcastle or Manchester. These units receive referrals from across the United Kingdom.A Scottish Needs Assessment Programme assessment of child and adolescent mental health services will report later this year.

Co-codamol is a drug that is considered by the Joint Formulary Committee, under whose authority the British National Formulary is published, as "less suitable for prescribing". Although preparations labelled in this way may not be considered as drugs of first choice, their use may be justifiable in certain clinical circumstances. The decision whether or not to prescribe a particular treatment for a patient is a matter for the clinical judgement of the patient's responsible medical practitioner.For further information on action which is taken to tackle excess prescribing of drugs I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-13966 on 21 March.

Type 2 diabetes, previously known as non-insulin dependent diabetes (NIDDM) or adult-onset diabetes, usually occurs after the age of 35 years and is more common in people who are overweight. Type 2 diabetes accounts for nearly 90% of all cases of diabetes.Risk Factors for Type 2 diabetes include obesity (insulin resistance increases with body weight), a high-fat diet (a key cause of obesity) and a sedentary lifestyle.The Scottish Executive has introduced a range of initiatives to promote healthier lifestyles. These initiatives, set out in Towards a Healthier Scotland, Eating for Health and Our National Health, introduce measures such as the appointment of a National Diet Action Co-ordinator and the establishment of a Physical Activity Task Force. Such measures will help to prevent obesity and, thus, the development of Type 2 diabetes in later life.

The Executive is committed to increasing the resources of NHS Scotland. However, it is up to each local health board to decide on the allocation of resources to meet the needs of its area.

Continuing Professional Development (CPD) is the personal responsibility of the dental practitioner as a professional. The Scottish Executive already makes a significant contribution to postgraduate dental education via the Scottish Council for Postgraduate Medical and Dental Education (SCPMDE) by means of the provision of courses. Because of this, recent Scottish survey figures estimate that 72% of General Dental Practitioners (GDPs) and 85% of Community Dental Service (CDS) dentists have already achieved the General Dental Council's (GDC) recommended level of verifiable CPD. Discussions are continuing with the dental profession regarding the future levels of remuneration and expenses for CPD.