Chamber and committees

(a) Data are provided below for the total number of Accident & Emergency incidents attended by the Scottish Ambulance Service in each financial year from 2001-02 to 2010-11.

Source: Scottish Ambulance Service.

(b) Data are provided below for the total number of fires, false alarms and special service incidents that Scotland’s Fire and Rescue Services attended in each financial year from 2001-02 to 2010-11.

Sources: Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Fire Services for Scotland annual reports (2001-02 to 2007-08) and Fire Statistics Scotland (2008-09 and 2009-10)

1. Does not include incidents that occurred during the national industrial action in November 2002, January 2003 and February 2003.

2. This figure does not have special services included in it as there was a break in the data collection in 2008-09.

3. Revised

4. Provisional

(c) Data are provided below on the number of 999 calls the police service received in each financial year from 2001-02 to 2009-10. The 2010-11 data will be published in October 2011 in the 2010-11 Scottish Policing Performance Framework annual report.

Sources: Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary for Scotland: Annual Statistical Return (2001-02 to 2006-07) and Scottish Government: Scottish Policing Performance Framework annual report (2009-10)

1. Please note that not all 999 calls received will result in an emergency call-out and there may be more than one 999 call received relating to the same incident. It is not possible to disaggregate these figures further.

2. Data for Tayside Police are not available.

3. Data for Grampian Police are not available.

The information requested can be found in the ISD website by following this link http://www.isdscotland.org/Health-Topics/Workforce/Nursing-and-Midwifery.

I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-01191 on 8 July 2011. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at: http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx.

Asthma is a variable condition and how regularly a patient’s condition is reviewed is a matter of professional judgement for their healthcare provider based on the individual’s clinical need.

The Quality and Outcomes Framework (QOF) element of the GP contract recognises the general benefits of a proactive structured review approach and rewards GP practices on the percentage of patients on their asthma register who have had an asthma review in the preceding 15 months.

Full information on the QOF clinical indicator set for identifying and managing patients with asthma, including review arrangements, can be found in the Quality and Outcomes Framework Guidance for GMS Contract 2011/12 published in
April 2011 on the NHS Employers website at the following link:

http://www.nhsemployers.org/Aboutus/Publications/Pages/QOF_guidance_GMS_contract_2011_12.aspx.

The categories of patients eligible to access the Minor Ailment Service (MAS) are: people aged 60 years or over, those under 16 years of age, 16 to 18 year olds in full time education, those with medical, maternity or war pension exemption certificates and those with income related exemptions; a Low Income Scheme HC2 certificate holder, a person in receipt of either Income Support, Pension Credit Guarantee Credit, income based Jobseeker’s Allowance, income related Employment Support Allowance or is named on an NHS Tax Credit Exemption certificate. There are no plans to extend MAS to additional groups at this time.

I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-1193 on 4 July 2011. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/Apps2/Business/PQA/Default.aspx.

Officials from the Scottish Government met with officials from Moray Council in February 2011 to discuss a range of issues. During this meeting, the council highlighted the problems with the Elgin High School buildings.

The Suitability Core Fact document provides guidance to local authorities on the assessment and reporting of the suitability ratings of their schools to ensure there is consistency between authorities in the data which is collected by the Scottish Government for the annual school estate statistics publication. The document does not prescribe any actions for either the Scottish Government or authorities if a school is reported as having any particular suitability rating.

We will commence discussions with local authorities shortly to identify at least 18 more school projects for the third phase of the Scotland’s Schools for the Future programme, focusing on those in the worst condition and suitability categories. Elgin High School will be considered as part of that process, alongside other schools which require investment.

The Condition Core Fact document provides guidance to local authorities on the assessment and reporting of the condition ratings of their schools to ensure there is consistency between authorities in the data which is collected by the Scottish Government for the annual school estate statistics publication. The document does not prescribe any actions for either the Scottish Government or authorities if a school is reported as having any particular condition rating.