Chamber and committees

The Health Education Board for Scotland (HEBS) receives a global financial allocation from the Scottish Executive each year. It is then a matter for the board to apportion these resources according to Operational Plan priorities.HEBS has, since 1999, undertaken a number of initiatives relating to the promotion of mental health issues. Because mental health issues are integrated into most of HEBS' work, the following figures therefore only reflect what has been ring-fenced and is not necessarily an accurate reflection of the amount of work covering mental health promotion, that is undertaken by HEBS. Nor can the figures be broken down into specific age/sex groups.

1999-2000	£290,000
2000-01	£843,000
2001-02	£1,800,000 (estimate)

I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-23422.

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a complex condition which has been the subject of a considerable body research world-wide. While there is evidence that the condition may have an organic basis and that there could be a genetic contribution, there is no definitive proof that these are the only factors. The Department of Health maintains a National Research Register, with details of all on-going and recent research into a wide variety of medical conditions, including ADHD. This is available on regularly updated CD-ROM in the Parliament's Reference Centre and online at:http://www.update-software.com/nrr/CLIBINET.EXE?A=1&U=1001&P=10001.

In 2000-01, the majority of local authorities paid an average of £346 per week for each individual placed in the care of a private nursing home. The net cost per in-patient week for geriatric continuing care in 2000-01 was £845.

An audit of NHS trusts, conducted in December last year, revealed restrictions to a very small number of out-patient waiting lists. The following list gives names of NHS trusts which identified waiting lists for psychological services which had been closed:Lothian Primary Care NHS Trust; Lanarkshire Primary Care NHS Trust; Lomond and Argyll Primary Care NHS Trust, and Renfrewshire and Inverclyde Primary Care NHS Trust. Following the audit, the Chief Executive of NHSScotland and the Chief Medical Officer issued guidance to the Health Service in Scotland instructing NHS Chief Executives to ensure that no patient who has been referred for assessment, or treatment, is refused admission to an appropriate waiting list.

The Chief Scientist Office (CSO) within the Scottish Executive Health Department has responsibility for encouraging and supporting research into health services and patient care within the NHS in Scotland. CSO has no plans to commission research into attention deficit hyperactive disorder (ADHD), but would be pleased to consider proposals for research into ADHD, which would be subject to the usual peer and committee review.

There are a wide range of measures in place to allow elderly patients to remain in their own homes, including shopping, laundry, intensive home care and respite services. The Scottish Executive has made available to local authorities, £24 million this year, rising to £48 million in 2003-04 (an increase of 30% on current spending), to expand the range and quality of home care services, specifically to enable people to remain in their own homes.

In deciding whether to prescribe methylphenidate, for the treatment of attention deficit hyperactive disorder (ADHD), clinicians would be expected to take account of advice and guidance about the drug, including the Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network (SIGN) Guideline 52 on ADHD and the advice issued by the National Institute for Clinical Excellence in October 2000.The National Research Register (NRR), records two recently completed research projects on side effects and long-term effects to children who have taken methylphenidate. Details of these projects are available from the NRR, a copy of which is in the Parliament's Reference Centre (Bib. number 17404).Details of the relevant research programmes used to provide guidance for the prescription of methylphenidate, are given in the SIGN Guideline and the NICE advice.

Clinical guidelines are prepared by expert working groups, who use the best available definitions of a given condition world-wide. Such definitions are usually prepared by professional bodies, though the World Health Organisation (WHO) issues a publication called International Classification of Diseases (ICD) which is regularly revised.The Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network guideline on Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorders in Children and Young People, published in June 2001, gives detailed advice on the definition, diagnosis and treatment of these conditions, informed by more than 150 publications, including the WHO classification.

The control of medicines is a reserved matter. The Scottish Executive are consulted on matters relating to the licensing and control of medicines under the Medicines Act 1968.