Chamber and committees

Questions and answers

Parliamentary questions can be asked by any MSP to the Scottish Government or the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body. The questions provide a means for MSPs to get factual and statistical information.

Written questions must be answered within 10 working days (20 working days during recess)
Other questions such as Topical, Portfolio, General and First Minister's Question Times are taken in the Chamber

Urgent Questions aren't included in the Question and Answers search. There is a SPICe fact sheet listing Urgent and emergency questions.

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Question reference: S1W-08849

Asked by: Mary Scanlon, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 25 July 2000
Current Status: Answered by Susan Deacon on 13 September 2000

To ask the Scottish Executive how many breast surgeons will be fully trained in 2000-01 and 2001-02.

Details of the number of trainees who will become fully trained and will be awarded a Certificate of Completion of Specialist Training (CCST) for the years requested is given in Table 2, Annex B of NHS MEL (2000) 24, published on 28 April 2000. A copy of this is available in the Parliament's Reference Centre (Bib. number 7379).

The numbers of consultants employed by the NHS in Scotland in the specialties referred to in questions asked by Mary Scanlon on 25 July 2000 are shown in attached Table 1. The information is as at 30 September 1999 and has been obtained from the Medical and Dental Manpower Census, General Medical Practitioner Database, ISD Scotland. The number of fully trained consultants employed in these specialties in 2000-01 and 2001-02 cannot be predicted with accuracy because it is affected by individual decisions to retire, but the whole time equivalent (WTE) number rose by 28% between 1994 and 1999, and increases are expected to continue.

Information on breast surgeons is not shown or collected as a separate data item in either the NHS MEL or the census referred to above. Such surgeons are recorded within one of the surgical specialties detailed in the MEL and the table.

Table 1: Consultants Employed by the NHSiS in Selected Specialties Headcount at 30 September 1999

Specialty	No.
Accident & Emergency	44
Anaesthetics	436
Cardiology	45
Geriatrics	93
Clinical Oncology	40
Paediatrics	99
Cardiothoracic Surgery	21
General Surgery	194
Ophthalmology	73
Orthopaedic Surgery	140
Paediatric Surgery	13
Plastic Surgery	22
Community Child Health	32

Question reference: S1W-08851

Asked by: Mary Scanlon, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 25 July 2000
Current Status: Answered by Susan Deacon on 13 September 2000

To ask the Scottish Executive how many anaesthetists will be fully trained in 2000-01 and 2001-02.

Question reference: S1W-08858

Asked by: Mary Scanlon, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 25 July 2000
Current Status: Answered by Susan Deacon on 13 September 2000

To ask the Scottish Executive how many paediatricians will be fully trained in 2000-01 and 2001-02.

Question reference: S1W-08853

Asked by: Mary Scanlon, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 25 July 2000
Current Status: Answered by Susan Deacon on 13 September 2000

To ask the Scottish Executive how many geriatric consultants will be fully trained in 2000-01 and 2001-02.

Question reference: S1W-08850

Asked by: Mary Scanlon, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 25 July 2000
Current Status: Answered by Susan Deacon on 13 September 2000

To ask the Scottish Executive how many accident and emergency consultants will be fully trained in 2000-01 and 2001-02.

Question reference: S1W-08856

Asked by: Mary Scanlon, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 25 July 2000
Current Status: Answered by Susan Deacon on 13 September 2000

To ask the Scottish Executive how many clinical radiologists will be fully trained in 2000-01 and 2001-02.

Question reference: S1W-08859

Asked by: Mary Scanlon, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 25 July 2000
Current Status: Answered by Susan Deacon on 13 September 2000

To ask the Scottish Executive how many general surgeons will be fully trained in 2000-01 and 2001-02.

Question reference: S1W-08677

Asked by: Mary Scanlon, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 12 July 2000
Current Status: Answered by Susan Deacon on 8 September 2000

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-6945 by Susan Deacon on 22 June 2000, whether it has any plans to collect centrally information on the number of flu vaccines administered.

Question reference: S1W-07468

Asked by: Mary Scanlon, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 01 June 2000
Current Status: Answered by Susan Deacon on 8 September 2000

To ask the Scottish Executive what measures are in place to achieve 20% fewer deaths from cancer in the under 75s by 2010.

Improvements in survival from cancer are already evident. For example, five-year survival from breast cancer is now 75%, compared to 66% in the 1980s. Cervical cancer incidence and deaths have been reduced by 34% since 1986. In men with testicular cancer, more than 90% are alive after five years. These improvements reflect better treatment as well as earlier diagnosis for most cancers.

A great deal of work is under way to achieve the target set in Towards a Healthier Scotland. Health boards are working in partnership with other agencies to promote healthy lifestyles in relation to diet and nutrition, smoking cessation and physical exercise, all of which have been shown to reduce the risk of cancer. A range of measures are in place to raise awareness and to encourage people to recognise symptoms and seek early advice.

More generally, the Executive have made clear our continuing commitment to the Scottish breast and cervical screening programmes, a pilot programme of colorectal cancer screening, the introduction of cancer Managed Clinical Networks underpinned by planned programmes of audit and quality assurance, SIGN Guidelines, the development and monitoring of clinical standards through the Clinical Standards Board and the establishment of additional one-stop clinics to reduce waiting times for cancer diagnosis and treatment.

The work of the Scottish Cancer Group will continue to inform policy and investment decisions and provide a strategic framework for the development of cancer services across Scotland. With regard to prevention, the focus now being placed on public health, including the creation of a Public Health Institute for Scotland, will help to drive further improvements in lifestyle and life circumstances which will help to reduce the incidence of cancer in future.

Question reference: S1W-07539

Asked by: Mary Scanlon, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 02 June 2000
Current Status: Answered by Susan Deacon on 8 September 2000

To ask the Scottish Executive whether doctors who are struck off the register by the General Medical Council can continue to practice in the private sector in Scotland.