Chamber and committees

It is not possible to determine from national sources patients who were treated specifically in beds allocated for acute care. The following table shows the total number of individuals who were informally admitted to a psychiatric hospital or unit, excluding patients admitted to the specialty of Psychiatry of Old Age, on at least one occasion during the year specified. It is likely that some of the patients included in the table will have been admitted for reasons other than for acute care. The figures for year ending March 2002 are not yet available.Patients Informally Admitted^1,2 to Mental Illness Hospitals or Psychiatric Units in Scotland³; April 1997 to March 2001⁴; Psychiatric Specialties Excluding Psychiatry of Old Age

Health Board of Residence5	1998	1999	2000	2001P
Scotland	13,588	13,629	13,290	13,044
Argyll and Clyde	1,533	1,490	1,507	1,445
Ayrshire and Arran	1,183	1,139	1,045	1,011
Borders	286	293	273	266
Dumfries and Galloway	460	423	379	405
Fife	803	805	762	696
Forth Valley	627	609	529	603
Grampian	1,040	1,171	1,093	1,058
Greater Glasgow	2,568	2,554	2,590	2,607
Highland	580	675	648	745
Lanarkshire	1,231	1,244	1,278	1,335
Lothian	1,989	1,970	1,979	1,717
Tayside	1,200	1,235	1,158	1,101
Island Boards	139	77	120	119

^PProvisional.Notes:1. An informal admission is defined as the status of the patient at the time of admission with respect to the Mental Health Act (Scotland) 1984. In the analysis an informal admission refers to the status at the actual time of admission and gives no indication of current status, or of changes during the period in hospital.2. Excludes formal admissions.3. Excludes patients with any admission to the specialty of Psychiatry of Old Age within these four years.4. Analysis based on year of admission.5. Health board of residence is that at the time of admission.

It is not possible to determine from national information the number of beds available specifically for acute psychiatric care. Nationally, beds are classified by clinical specialty and by clinical facility (e.g. standard specialty ward, adolescent unit) only. The following table shows the trend in daily average available beds in all psychiatric specialties excluding Psychiatry of Old Age. In the latter specialty the majority of patients using hospital beds will be in hospital for non-acute reasons. It should also be noted that some of the available beds in general psychiatry, which are included in the table, will be occupied by patients receiving continuing care.Average Available Staffed Beds¹; All Psychiatric Specialties Excluding Psychiatry of Old Age; by Health Board Area: Years Ending 31 March 1998-2002

Health Board of Treatment	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002P
Scotland	4,375	4,212	3,951	3,753	3,577
Argyll and Clyde	570	521	496	483	468
Ayrshire and Arran	264	248	238	227	221
Borders	82	75	67	64	64
Dumfries and Galloway	182	178	140	106	82
Fife	280	279	287	281	276
Forth Valley	261	261	207	195	195
Grampian	324	310	307	295	295
Greater Glasgow	716	733	695	656	637
Highland	142	142	142	142	142
Lanarkshire	402	392	358	356	338
Lothian	663	637	599	553	536
Orkney	-	-	-	-	-
Shetland	-	-	-	-	-
Tayside	479	427	408	387	317
Western Isles	10	10	6	6	7

^PProvisional.Note:1. Includes joint-user and contractual hospitals.

This is an operational matter for NHS Lothian to address.

The Health Department has kept in regular contact with NHS Argyll and Clyde over the recent difficulties experienced with mental health staffing north of the Clyde.I am assured that NHS Argyll and Clyde is recruiting and taking the other action necessary to ensure that mental health services are available to meet health care needs in the area.

The information requested is not held centrally.Following the report of the 2001 Review of PACE (Partnership Action for Continuing Employment), work is in hand to develop a monitoring and evaluation framework which identifies a range of performance measurement indicators, so that local PACE teams share and learn from each other and in doing so continue to improve PACE performance.

This information requested is not held centrally.

The information requested is not held centrally. Following the report of the 2001 Review of PACE (Partnership Action for Continuing Employment), work is in hand to develop a monitoring and evaluation framework which identifies a range of performance measurement indicators, so that local PACE teams share and learn from each other and in doing so continue to improve PACE performance.

The information requested is not held centrally. Under the provisions contained in Part IV of the Trade Union and Labour Relation (Consolidation) Act 1992, employers must notify the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, in writing, if they intend to make 20 or more redundancies within a month. The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) therefore hold information on those intended redundancies that fall within the scope of the act. However, individual companies cannot be identified as the information is potentially commercially sensitive and is treated in the strictest confidence by DTI. Nor is it known how many of the notified redundancies actually took place.

The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) has been allocated additional resources of £11.2 million over the next three years under Spending Review 2002. The new allocations will allow SEPA to extend the implementation of the National Waste Strategy to include non-municipal waste, undertake additional waste data collection, regulate the treatment and disposal of agricultural waste, develop and implement the Water Environment and Water Services Bill, carry out additional monitoring of shellfish waters and bathing waters, develop an online pollution emissions inventory and implement new statutory controls aimed at enhancing and protecting Scotland's environment.

I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:Drug therapy, group and individual work is available, together with education, work and prisoner programmes as appropriate, as identified by an individual needs assessment.