Chamber and committees

All patients are seen andtreated on the basis of clinical priority. The Executive has set nationalmaximum waiting times for first out-patient appointments and for hospital in-patientand day case treatment. These apply to patients waiting to be seen or treated inthe specialty of neurology. Within these maximum waiting times for routineattendances and admissions, patients are prioritised and treated according toclinical priority.

The majority of patients whorequire in-patient or day case treatment are treated quickly. 53% of patientstreated in NHSScotland hospitals are admitted immediately and never join awaiting list. Of those who do wait, 40% are admitted within one month and over70% within three months. For those who have to wait longer, the nationalmaximum waiting time was reduced from 12 months to nine months at the end of2003 and to six months at the end of 2005. This guaranteed waiting time will befurther reduced to 18 weeks by the end of 2007. NHSScotland is making excellentprogress towards this commitment. On 30 June 2006,4,027 patients with a guarantee had waited more than 18 weeks for in-patient/daycase treatment – the lowest figure ever recorded.

With regard to out-patientwaiting times, the majority of patients referred by a general medical or dentalpractitioner for a first out-patient appointment at a consultant-led clinic areseen quickly, with nearly 32% of patients being seen within one month ofreferral and 57% within nine weeks. For those who have to wait longer, the nationalmaximum waiting time is 26 weeks. This will be reduced to 18 weeks from the endof 2007. NHSScotland is making excellent progress towards this commitment. On 30 June 2006, 11,319patients without an availability status code had waited more than 18 weeks for in-patient/daycase treatment – the lowest figure ever recorded.

There are no current plans toextend rail links into the Formartine and Buchan area.

We currently have no plans toextend rail links into the Deeside area. However, we are committed to deliveringa more accessible transport network in Scotland and we are willing to consider proposals for rail enhancementsand improvements which demonstrate viability and local support. Local authoritiesand Regional Transport Partnerships are best placed to assess their local transportneeds in conjunction with rail industry partners, and proposals of this nature arenormally developed by such bodies before being submitted to the Scottish Executive.

The Regional Transport Partnershipfor this area is NESTRANS. They are currently developing a transport strategy forthe area due for completion in March 2007.

The following table shows thenumber of NHS general dental practitioners in Scotland by local authority areaat 30 September 2005. Information on the number of NHS general dental practitionersin each local authority area at 31 March 2006 will be published by ISDScotland inSeptember 2006.

Information on NHS dentists workingin the Hospital and Community Dental Services is not available by local authorityarea.

Local Authority Area1	Number of NHS General Dental Practitioners2,3
Aberdeen City	92
Aberdeenshire	64
Angus	42
Argyll and Bute	39
Scottish Borders	34
Clackmannanshire	18
West Dunbartonshire	37
Dumfries and Galloway	41
Dundee City	80
East Ayrshire	41
East Dunbartonshire	67
East Lothian	43
East Renfrewshire	49
City of Edinburgh	255
Falkirk	45
Fife	150
Glasgow City	318
Highland	96
Inverclyde	33
Midlothian	26
Moray	27
North Ayrshire	54
North Lanarkshire	136
Orkney Islands	10
Perth and Kinross	73
Renfrewshire	86
Shetland Islands	10
South Ayrshire	54
South Lanarkshire	125
Stirling	44
West Lothian	65
Comhairle nan Eilean Siar	8
Scotland	2,100

Source: MIDAS (Management Informationand Dental Accounting System).

Notes:

1. Based on location of dentalpractice.

2. Comprises non-salaried andsalaried NHS principal general dental practitioners, including joint appointments.Excludes assistants and Vocational Trainees.

3. An NHS general dental practitionermay enter into more than one arrangement with an NHS board if he/she has more thanone practice, or an arrangement with more than one NHS board if he/she practisesin more than one NHS board area. As a result, the sum of the number of dentists in each local authority areaexceeds the number of dentistspractising in Scotland.

This information is not heldcentrally. The overall responsibility for provision of NHS dental servicesrests with NHS boards, whom we encourage to maintain lists of patients who wishto have access to NHS primary care dental services.

The following table shows thenumber of NHS general dental practitioners in each local authority area, brokendown by deprivation category of dental practice. Information on NHS dentists workingin the Hospital and Community Dental Services is not available by local authorityarea.

Number of NHSGeneral Dental Practitioners^1,2 by Deprivation Category of Dental Practiceand Local Authority Area³ at 30 September 2005

	SIMD4
Local Authority Area	1	2	3	4	5
Aberdeen City	42	5	16	25	4
Aberdeenshire	33	21	8	5	4
Angus	9	3	22	9	4
Argyll and Bute	2	8	20	13	3
Scottish Borders	2	10	24	-	-
Clackmannanshire	2	-	5	5	9
West Dunbartonshire	-	-	9	19	9
Dumfries and Galloway	2	10	20	9	11
Dundee City	6	3	11	34	28
East Ayrshire	2	1	1	24	13
East Dunbartonshire	31	6	6	27	1
East Lothian	6	15	20	4	2
East Renfrewshire	27	13	3	5	1
City of Edinburgh	124	53	37	30	21
Falkirk	4	12	8	22	-
Fife	21	70	42	22	11
Glasgow City	15	13	85	86	141
Highland	8	40	25	31	6
Inverclyde	2	2	14	9	7
Midlothian	9	7	4	-	7
Moray	6	4	15	2	-
North Ayrshire	2	4	4	23	26
North Lanarkshire	16	5	24	60	34
Orkney Islands	2	8	-	-	-
Perth and Kinross	9	21	15	31	-
Renfrewshire	6	7	15	44	25
Shetland Islands	-	10	1	-	-
South Ayrshire	3	11	13	17	11
South Lanarkshire	12	23	44	27	22
Stirling	17	18	5	5	-
West Lothian	3	9	11	39	3
Comhairle nan Eilean Siar	-	-	5	3	-
Scotland	412	407	520	620	395

Source: MIDAS (Management Informationand Dental Accounting System).

Notes:

1. Comprises non-salaried andsalaried NHS principal general dental practitioners, including joint appointments.

2. An NHS general dental practitionermay enter into more than one arrangement with an NHS board if he/she has more thanone practice, or an arrangement with more than one NHS board if he/she practisesin more than one NHS board area. As a result, the sum of the number of dentistsin each local authority area and each SIMD exceeds the number of dentists practisingin Scotland.

3. Based on location of dentalpractice.

4. Scottish Index of MultipleDeprivation (SIMD 2004). one is least deprived, five most deprived.

The following table shows thenumber of NHS general dental practitioners per 100,000 population in each localauthority area at 30 September 2005. Information on NHS dentists working in Hospital andCommunity Dental Services is not available by local authority area.

Local Authority Area1	Number of NHS General Dental Practitioners2,3 per 100,000 Population4
Aberdeen City	45.2
Aberdeenshire	27.5
Angus	38.7
Argyll and Bute	42.8
Scottish Borders	31.1
Clackmannanshire	37.3
West Dunbartonshire	40.2
Dumfries and Galloway	27.7
Dundee City	56.4
East Ayrshire	34.2
East Dunbartonshire	62.9
East Lothian	47.0
East Renfrewshire	54.7
City of Edinburgh	56.2
Falkirk	30.5
Fife	42.3
Glasgow City	55.0
Highland	45.4
Inverclyde	40.0
Midlothian	32.7
Moray	30.8
North Ayrshire	39.7
North Lanarkshire	42.1
Orkney Islands	51.3
Perth and Kinross	53.1
Renfrewshire	50.4
Shetland Islands	45.6
South Ayrshire	48.3
South Lanarkshire	40.9
Stirling	50.9
West Lothian	39.9
Comhairle nan Eilean Siar	30.5
Scotland	41.4

Sources: MIDAS (Management Informationand Dental Accounting System); GROS (General Register Office for Scotland) mid-year2004 population estimates.

Notes:

1. Based on location of dentalpractice.

2. Comprises non-salaried andsalaried NHS principal general dental practitioners, including joint appointments.

3. An NHS general dental practitionermay enter into more than one arrangement with an NHS board if he/she has more thanone practice, or an arrangement with more than one NHS board if he/she practisesin more than one NHS board area. As a result, the sum of the number of dentists in each local authority areaexceeds the number of dentistspractising in Scotland.

The Scottish Executive’s consultationon the National Language Strategy will provide the opportunity for organisationsrepresenting the regional forms of Scots to submit their views to the Scottish Executive.Following Scottish ministers’ consideration of all of the views submitted on thestrategy we expect to publish a final version of the National Language Strategyand take any other steps which we consider necessary. At this stage we have no plansto set up a Scots language advisory group.

The principal responsibilityfor Scots language issues, as well as for co-ordinating the development of the widerNational Language Strategy, rests with the Cultural Policy Division of the ScottishExecutive’s Education Department. Five civil servants are directly employed withinthe Division’s Language Unit, whilst others have responsibility for literature andbroadcasting. However, a wide range of other officials in the Scottish Executiveand Scottish public bodies have duties relating to language issues.

I refer the member to the answer to question S2W-27710 on 28 August 2006. All answers to writtenparliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facilityfor which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.