Chamber and committees

Since 1994-95,data has been collected by the Education, Transport and Lifelong LearningDepartment on the number of dentistry graduates in Scotland in each year. This is brokendown to identify the domicile of the graduates and the first destination of dentistrygraduates from Scottish higher education institutes (categorised into Scotland,rest of the UK, rest of the world, and unknown first destination).

Themost recent information within this “first destination study” is correct as at 2001-02when 80% of these graduates had a first destination in Scotland.

Further tracking is donethrough employment in the NHS. Through this system, first year vocational traineescan be tracked to subsequent jobs in NHSScotland.

In terms of the hospital andcommunity dental services, as at 30 September 2003, there were fiveconsultant vacancies out of an establishment of 115. Three of the five postshad been vacant for six months or more.

The number of dentist postsvacant in the general dental service (high street dentistry) is not held centrally.

Approval has been grantedfor 113 salaried dentist posts. Not all of these posts are full-time. Theyrange from 0.1 whole time equivalent to 1 whole time equivalent.

The number ofdentists who finished their vocational training in July 2003 was 92.

The Food Standards Agencyhas informed me that the European Commission is reviewing the nutritionlabelling rules and preliminary papers suggest that the issue of labelling oftrans fatty acid content may be discussed.

The Food Standards Agencyhas not carried out, and is not currently funding, any research investigatingthe links between trans fats or hydrogenated vegetable oils and coronary heartdisease.

Hydrogenation is a processof turning liquid oil into solid fat. During this process, a type of trans fatmay be formed that raises cholesterol levels in the blood. This increases therisk of coronary heart disease. The Food Standards Agency does therefore advisethat as part of a healthy diet, we should try to reduce the amount of saturatedfats and trans fats we eat and replace them with unsaturated fats.

The following table provides information on the number of clients receiving direct payments, by local authority, for the years ending 31 March 2001, 2002 and 2003.

This information was not collected prior to the year 2000-01.

Information on eligibility is not available.

Number of Direct Payments by Local Authority

Local Authority	2000-01	2001-02	2002-03
Aberdeen City	4	4	11
Aberdeenshire	8	6	11
Angus	4	23	30
Argyll and Bute	0	0	0
Clackmannanshire	1	4	18
Dumfries and Galloway	7	25	27
Dundee City	0	0	0
East Ayrshire	0	0	17
East Dunbartonshire	0	0	0
East Lothian	5	7	7
East Renfrewshire	0	0	0
Edinburgh, City of	67	49	89
Eilean Siar	0	3	5
Falkirk	0	0	0
Fife	30	64	120
Glasgow City	17	16	15
Highland	14	23	43
Inverclyde	0	0	0
Midlothian	0	0	0
Moray	0	5	7
North Ayrshire	0	0	0
North Lanarkshire	3	10	11
Orkney Islands	0	0	1
Perth and Kinross	4	4	19
Renfrewshire	3	3	3
Scottish Borders	12	20	50
Shetland Islands	0	0	0
South Ayrshire	22	18	31
South Lanarkshire	0	0	0
Stirling	0	0	0
West Dunbartonshire	0	0	0
West Lothian	6	8	19
Scotland	207	292	534

Source: SEHD – F1 Return.

The target of achieving a10% increase in the number of new clients attending drug treatment services ismonitored through returns to the Scottish Drug Misuse Database and figures arepublished annually by financial years.

Data for 2003-04 will not beavailable until the autumn.

This informationwas not collected. Local authorities were asked about systems in place tomonitor and improve waiting times as reported in Equipment and Adaptation Services in Scotland: ASurvey of Waiting Times for Social Work Provision, published in December 2001, copies of whichare available in the Parliaments Reference Centre (Bib number 18415).

The same as you? recommended in May 2000 that all long stay hospitalsfor people with learning disabilities should close by 2005. Six have closedsince May 2000, with seven remaining for closure by 2005. On 12 January Thesame as you? national implementation group published the Home at Last?report on progress with hospital closures and service reprovision, a copy of whichis available in the Parliament’s Reference Centre (Bib. number 31309). It setsout a number of action points that aim to assist local authorities and NHS boardsin meeting the 2005 target, including a programme of work by NHS QualityImprovement Scotland (NHSQIS) to monitor the hospital closure programme in therun up to 2005. NHSQIS has set up a project group to work with all partners todeliver the closure of all long stay hospitals for people with learningdisabilities by 2005.