Questions and answers

Question reference: S2W-23199

Asked by: Alasdair Morgan, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 20 February 2006
Current Status: Answered by Andy Kerr on 28 February 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-21935 by Mr Andy Kerr on 23 January 2006, whether the figures refer to the numbers of people whose deaths were registered in each NHS board area or the numbers of people resident in each NHS board area where cancer was cited as the primary cause of their death.

The information presented in the answer to question S2W-21935 was compiled by the General Register Office for Scotland using its standard methodology. For residents of Scotland, deaths are allocated to the area of usual residence. For persons usually resident outside Scotland, deaths are allocated to the area where the death occurred. The latter category generally covers under 1 per cent of all deaths in Scotland. 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.

Question reference: S2W-23108

Asked by: Alasdair Morgan, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 February 2006
Current Status: Answered by Andy Kerr on 28 February 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-21935 by Mr Andy Kerr on 23 January 2006, how many deaths where cancer has been cited as other than the primary cause there were in each NHS board area in each of the 10 years prior to the Chernobyl incident.

I refer the member to the answer to question S2W-21936 on 23 January 2006. 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 following tables provide the absolute number of deaths in Scotland where malignant neoplasms were mentioned on the death certificate but were not the underlying cause of death. Data for 1986 is for the part year up to and including 25 April.

	Year of Registration
NHS Board Area	1976	1977	1978	1979	1980	1981
Scotland	1,535	1,537	1,614	1,632	1,623	1,713
Argyll and Clyde	120	121	138	129	140	131
Ayrshire and Arran	101	125	122	112	101	118
Borders	40	33	33	39	43	35
Dumfries and Galloway	38	55	37	32	49	50
Fife	86	88	115	128	92	120
Forth Valley	80	87	73	55	73	101
Grampian	151	154	153	152	167	159
Greater Glasgow	341	303	340	316	355	348
Highland	52	50	56	59	68	52
Lanarkshire	107	98	139	143	100	143
Lothian	255	255	257	283	263	286
Orkney	3	7	6	9	3	9
Shetland	6	3	8	4	5	6
Tayside	145	152	123	159	151	146
Western Isles	10	6	14	12	13	9

	Year of Registration
NHS Board Area	1982	1983	1984	1985	1986
Scotland	1,883	1,776	1,772	1,831	625
Argyll and Clyde	132	113	135	153	58
Ayrshire and Arran	125	129	109	142	51
Borders	42	43	41	57	9
Dumfries and Galloway	52	54	58	42	11
Fife	121	128	126	115	38
Forth Valley	91	80	73	98	35
Grampian	185	175	160	188	56
Greater Glasgow	361	330	353	359	116
Highland	63	68	75	79	21
Lanarkshire	173	156	163	145	53
Lothian	315	298	288	244	97
Orkney	8	6	4	11	4
Shetland	7	6	14	8	2
Tayside	194	178	160	182	66
Western Isles	14	12	13	8	8

Notes:

1976 - 78, ICD8 codes 140 to 209.

1979 - 86, ICD9 codes 140 to 208.

Question reference: S2W-23109

Asked by: Alasdair Morgan, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 February 2006
Current Status: Answered by Andy Kerr on 28 February 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-21935 by Mr Andy Kerr on 23 January 2006, how many deaths where cancer has been cited as other than the primary cause there were in each NHS board area in each year since the Chernobyl incident.

I refer the member to the answer to question S2W-21936 on 23 January 2006. 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 following tables provide the absolute number of deaths in Scotland where malignant neoplasms were mentioned on the death certificate but were not the underlying cause of death. Data for 1986 is for the part year 26 April to 31 December.

	Year of Registration
NHS Board Area	1986	1987	1988	1989	1990	1991	1992
Scotland	1,195	1,878	1,839	1,875	1,900	1,911	1,944
Argyll and Clyde	86	149	140	142	168	151	157
Ayrshire and Arran	81	155	117	139	152	152	127
Borders	19	30	40	61	57	49	48
Dumfries and Galloway	31	61	51	53	72	41	50
Fife	73	137	118	135	125	148	149
Forth Valley	69	90	109	80	93	81	104
Grampian	118	167	167	171	155	170	191
Greater Glasgow	222	364	371	363	384	349	397
Highland	35	75	65	60	59	70	77
Lanarkshire	114	171	160	159	154	189	166
Lothian	202	294	305	298	304	329	309
Orkney	4	5	4	5	5	6	8
Shetland	6	8	3	8	6	3	6
Tayside	128	163	175	197	158	157	143
Western Isles	7	9	14	4	8	16	12

	Year of Registration
NHS Board Area	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998
Scotland	2,071	1,960	1,999	2,047	2,100	2,033
Argyll and Clyde	190	155	175	173	198	183
Ayrshire and Arran	150	149	146	150	151	153
Borders	48	46	42	47	65	47
Dumfries and Galloway	52	53	61	74	64	74
Fife	146	142	135	141	143	141
Forth Valley	123	115	96	112	121	133
Grampian	192	177	191	165	178	167
Greater Glasgow	401	403	390	390	379	351
Highland	81	78	73	82	71	83
Lanarkshire	165	190	221	215	218	204
Lothian	310	279	286	326	325	295
Orkney	4	4	2	8	7	11
Shetland	9	6	5	7	10	7
Tayside	190	146	165	139	157	172
Western Isles	10	17	11	18	13	12

	Year of Registration
NHS Board Area	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004
Scotland	2,134	1,823	1,847	1,921	2,141	1,958
Argyll and Clyde	157	151	165	179	195	170
Ayrshire and Arran	192	153	171	160	185	157
Borders	40	38	50	46	60	52
Dumfries and Galloway	55	58	50	53	73	58
Fife	117	122	119	128	133	138
Forth Valley	106	103	93	110	110	109
Grampian	182	172	165	180	197	188
Greater Glasgow	439	346	346	366	348	326
Highland	96	71	72	82	73	79
Lanarkshire	226	174	171	191	220	221
Lothian	314	274	278	259	320	268
Orkney	11	10	4	10	6	8
Shetland	9	4	6	12	7	3
Tayside	180	136	143	134	198	174
Western Isles	10	11	14	11	16	7

Notes:

1986 - 1999, ICD9 codes 140 to 208.

2000 - 2004, ICD10 codes C00 to C97.

Question reference: S2W-22690

Asked by: Alasdair Morgan, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 27 January 2006
Current Status: Answered by Nicol Stephen on 13 February 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive when it will respond to the results of its Finding Practical Solutions to Complex Needs consultation.

Question reference: S2W-22673

Asked by: Alasdair Morgan, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 26 January 2006
Current Status: Answered by George Lyon on 31 January 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive what estimate it has made of the cost to local authorities of implementing section 9 of the UK Electoral Administration Bill.

Question reference: S2W-22459

Asked by: Alasdair Morgan, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 January 2006
Current Status: Answered by Andy Kerr on 26 January 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive whether paracetamol co-formulations, such as Paradote™, which contain methionine antidote are available in Scotland on NHS prescription.

The licensing and safety of medicines is reserved and is the responsibility of the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA).

The MHRA has advised that a methionine containing paracetamol product (co-methiamol) is authorised in the UK as a pharmacy only product under the brand name Paradote. The addition of methionine may be helpful as an antidote if an overdose is taken. Methionine, however, has been associated with side effects of nausea, vomiting, drowsiness and irritability, and it may be harmful in the presence of liver disease. Furthermore, there is some evidence of a link between dietary methionine and risk of development of heart disease. The risk of such side effects is considered acceptable when balanced against the possible benefit of preventing the consequences of paracetamol overdose in patients at risk of exceeding the recommended dose. However incorporation of an antidote in all paracetamol products is considered inappropriate as the millions of people, who take paracetamol safely, as recommended, would be exposed to the possible side effects of methionine without any benefit.

Question reference: S2W-22460

Asked by: Alasdair Morgan, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 January 2006
Current Status: Answered by Andy Kerr on 26 January 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive what the annual cost would be to NHS Scotland of prescribing paracetamol co-formulations containing methionine, rather than formulations without any antidote.

Question reference: S2W-21814

Asked by: Alasdair Morgan, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 15 December 2005
Current Status: Answered by Lewis Macdonald on 24 January 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive how many people have died from the effects of paracetamol overdose in each year since 1999.

The following table gives the numbers of deaths from poisoning where paracetamol (including compound preparations containing paracetamol) was known to be involved. The figures include deaths where other drugs were known to be involved. For some of these, the principal cause of death may not have been paracetamol poisoning.

Deaths from Poisoning Involving Paracetamol, Scotland

1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004
77	120	127	117	85	107

Question reference: S2W-21815

Asked by: Alasdair Morgan, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 15 December 2005
Current Status: Answered by Andy Kerr on 17 January 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive whether paracetamol co-formulations containing acetylcysteine antidote are available in Scotland.

Question reference: S2W-21816

Asked by: Alasdair Morgan, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 15 December 2005
Current Status: Answered by Andy Kerr on 17 January 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive what the estimated annual cost would be to the NHS of prescribing paracetamol co-formulations with acetylsteine rather than paracetamol formulations without any antidote.

Chamber and committees