Chamber and committees

The information requested is not held centrally.

I refer the member to the answer to question S2W-20693 on 25 November 2005. 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/webapp/wa.search.

The numbers of Scottish Office/Scottish Executive files destroyed each year for the last 10 years is given below. It is not possible to break these figures down by topic or name, as this information either does not exist or could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Year	Files Destroyed
1996	40,154
1997	56,850
1998	59,482
1999	96,654
2000	77,600
2001	70,676
2002	42,938
2003	34,239
2004	37,192
2005	16,222

 

These file deletions followed the normal practices of the Executive whereby files are recommended for destruction in accordance with retention and disposal schedules agreed with the National Archives of Scotland (NAS) and only after reviewing officers are satisfied that they contain no papers that are likely to be of continuing or historic interest. No files are destroyed without the agreement of NAS, whose staff work alongside Executive staff to ensure that the proper procedures are followed.

The information requested is given in the following tables.

 

(a) Number of Deaths due to Liver Cirrhosis¹, by NHS Board, Scotland, 1985-2004

NHS Board	1985	1986	1987	1988	1989	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994
Scotland	306	253	260	281	234	274	267	232	276	253
Argyll and Clyde	35	24	32	32	20	30	25	24	30	23
Ayrshire and Arran	18	25	18	22	13	30	20	10	17	11
Borders	3	3	-	5	1	4	3	2	3	6
Dumfries and Galloway	8	6	14	2	8	5	5	6	6	8
Fife	15	12	17	12	19	14	12	7	17	14
Forth Valley	15	7	8	13	10	13	13	20	12	11
Grampian	24	25	14	14	15	16	17	9	19	24
Greater Glasgow	83	68	61	73	62	70	59	52	77	57
Highland	9	7	7	11	8	6	13	15	10	15
Lanarkshire	29	33	35	43	24	32	38	36	40	35
Lothian	46	24	25	37	33	35	40	29	25	37
Orkney	-	5	1	3	1	1	1	1	-	-
Shetland	-	-	-	1	1	1	1	1	-	2
Tayside	19	12	25	13	17	15	20	20	19	10
Western Isles	2	2	3	-	2	2	-	-	1	-

 

NHS Board	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004
Scotland	264	284	276	263	288	305	289	298	329	298
Argyll and Clyde	28	38	28	37	37	35	40	32	27	26
Ayrshire and Arran	15	17	25	21	20	14	14	33	29	23
Borders	6	5	7	11	4	4	1	9	-	11
Dumfries and Galloway	3	3	3	2	6	5	3	5	12	5
Fife	14	18	9	14	12	16	9	10	19	12
Forth Valley	13	8	19	18	14	20	24	19	17	18
Grampian	26	14	21	12	26	20	21	23	27	22
Greater Glasgow	63	78	56	51	57	60	64	48	61	62
Highland	10	11	18	12	14	16	11	17	24	11
Lanarkshire	32	34	35	28	31	33	37	36	28	28
Lothian	36	38	31	31	49	55	42	43	55	56
Orkney	1	-	-	3	-	1	4	-	-	-
Shetland	-	1	2	-	-	1	1	-	1	-
Tayside	15	18	22	22	17	24	18	20	28	20
Western Isles	2	1	-	1	1	1	-	3	1	4

Note:

1. 1984-1999, ICD9 codes 571.2, 571.5, 571.6.

2000-2004, ICD10 codes K70.3, K74.3-K74.6.

(b) Number of Deaths Due to Liver Cirrhosis¹, by Gender, Scotland, 1985-2004

Year	Persons	Males	Females
1985	306	180	126
1986	253	146	107
1987	260	138	122
1988	281	156	125
1989	234	132	102
1990	274	156	118
1991	267	144	123
1992	232	123	109
1993	276	161	115
1994	253	138	115
1995	264	144	120
1996	284	168	116
1997	276	165	111
1998	263	154	109
1999	288	167	121
2000	305	192	113
2001	289	175	114
2002	298	180	118
2003	329	194	135
2004	298	190	108

Note:

1. 1984-1999, ICD9 codes 571.2, 571.5, 571.6.

2000-2004, ICD10 codes K70.3, K74.3-K74.6.

The figures presented above exclude deaths coded to alcoholic liver disease, unspecified. The number of deaths coded to this more general cause has increased rapidly in recent years and it is generally accepted that a significant, but unknown, proportion of these deaths involves liver cirrhosis.

The information requested is given in the following table.

Deaths in Hospitals Caused by Clostridium Difficile

Years	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004
Scotland	38	53	65	69	93

 

This data should be treated with caution. At present, detailed information on healthcare associated infections (HAI) as a cause of death is very difficult to interpret accurately. At present, laboratory testing protocols for Clostridium difficile vary across the country. Recording of HAIs as a cause of death is often based on the clinical judgement of individual doctors, so analysis is subjective and recording is prone to variation.

The Ministerial HAI Task Force has completed a major three-year programme of work to improve prevention and control of HAI. It has developed a raft of measures, based on evidence and best practice, including surveillance, professional guidance, education and training programmes, and clear reporting and accountability structures. For example, guidance on the prudent use of antibiotics, which is one of the main factors in controlling Clostridium difficile, issued in September 2005.

This year, the task force will begin a new programme of work to ensure these measures are firmly embedded into every day practice in health care settings across Scotland. It will also oversee further developments to tackle HAI. As part of this new programme of work, we are enhancing monitoring and surveillance measures, and it will be mandatory for NHS laboratories to report all cases of Clostridium difficile from April 2006.

The Executive reviews and disposes of its records in accordance with the Public Records Acts of 1958 and 1967. Although these acts have no legal force in Scotland, they have been applied by the Executive in reviewing and disposing of its records by agreement with the UK Cabinet Office. Records are recommended for destruction in accordance with retention and disposal schedules and only when reviewing staff are satisfied that they contain no papers that are likely to be of continuing or historic interest. No Scottish Executive record is destroyed without the agreement of the National Archives of Scotland, whose staff work alongside Executive reviewing staff to ensure that proper procedures are followed. The Executive’s Records Management Manual sets out the policies and procedures which staff and records managers follow, and is available for inspection on its website.

The Executive manages its records in accordance with the UK Public Records Acts of 1958 and 1967. Although these acts have no legal force in Scotland, they have been applied by the Executive in managing its records by agreement with the UK Cabinet Office, in the absence of modern Scottish public records legislation. The Executive takes the management of its records very seriously and has produced guidance for all staff regarding best practice, in consultation with the National Archives of Scotland. The Executive’s Records Management Manual sets out the policies and procedures which staff and records managers follow, and is available for inspection on its website.

We expect each primary medical services practice to establish appropriate access arrangements in accordance with local circumstances and to meet the requirement of the guarantee. Funding is provided to this end through the Scottish General Medical Services Contract arrangements.

The 48 hour access target is currently included in the Quality and Outcomes Framework (QOF) under the new GP contract arrangements. This means that practices participating in the QOF are rewarded for the achievement of the 48 hour access target. In 2004-05, some 97% of participating Scottish practices qualified for and received the “access bonus” through the QOF. Similarly high levels of compliance were reported by NHS boards through the 2004-05 Performance Assessment Framework.

The 48 hour access target should not preclude the ability of patients and practitioners to pre-book routine appointments.

Information on the guarantee and the guidance issued to NHS boards is available publicly from the 48 hour access website http://www.show.scot.nhs.uk/sehd/48houraccess.

Information on staff in post by NHS board in Scotland is published on the Scottish Health Statistics website under Workforce Statistics, at www.isdscotland.org/workforce.

Section B gives details of medical staff employed in NHS Scotland. In particular, tables B8 and B9 show the whole-time equivalent (WTE) and headcount number of consultants in obstetrics and gynaecology, for years 1994-2004, broken down by NHS board. Between 1994-2004 there was an increase of 18%.

Information for the years 1980 to 1994 is not held electronically and it would incur disproportionate cost to determine.

The information requested isnot collected centrally in the form requested. The data available on violence andaggression related incidents can be seen on the Scottish Health Statistics websiteunder workforce statistics, www.isdscotland.org/workforce.

The information requestedis not available centrally. Data collected centrally relate to prescribed itemsdispensed by community pharmacists and dispensing doctors and do not include itemsdispensed through hospitals or hospital-based services. In addition, the availabledata are not patient-specific and cannot be used as a proxy for the number of patientsreceiving treatment with any particular drug.