Chamber and committees

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Parliamentary questions can be asked by any MSP to the Scottish Government or the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body. The questions provide a means for MSPs to get factual and statistical information.

Written questions must be answered within 10 working days (20 working days during recess)
Other questions such as Topical, Portfolio, General and First Minister's Question Times are taken in the Chamber

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Question reference: S3W-22866

Asked by: Ross Finnie, MSP for West of Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 April 2009
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 29 April 2009

Information on the number of prescriptions dispensed between 2006 and 2008, by prescribing NHS board is shown in the following table.

NHS Board	Calendar Year
NHS Board	2006	2007	2008
NHS Scotland	3,605,541	3,796,815	3,946,116
NHS Ayrshire and Arran	280,078	294,526	307,984
NHS Borders	83,579	89,459	92,714
NHS Dumfries and Galloway	119,814	127,193	131,736
NHS Fife	237,361	247,851	257,465
NHS Forth Valley	206,236	215,862	223,694
NHS Grampian	291,833	312,468	323,627
NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde	995,638	1,040,057	1,078,504
NHS Highland	200,692	211,009	220,185
NHS Lanarkshire	436,254	459,682	474,474
NHS Lothian	440,587	467,947	489,897
NHS Orkney	10,543	11,831	12,302
NHS Shetland	13,047	13,930	14,820
NHS Tayside	271,174	285,051	297,230
NHS Western Isles	18,705	19,949	21,484

We have a published target to reduce the levels of antidepressant prescribing in Scotland and action continues to expand accessible alternatives to prescribing in those cases where this is appropriate. The clinician in consultation with colleagues and the service user will continue in all cases to decide the best care option for the needs presented.

Question reference: S3W-23084

Asked by: Ross Finnie, MSP for West of Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 20 April 2009
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 29 April 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive how many (a) men and (b) women aged (i) under 36 and (ii) between 36 and 45 have been admitted to hospital with a heart attack in each of the last five years, broken down by NHS board.

Information on the number of emergency admissions involving acute myocardial infarction (heart attack) in the last five years is shown in the following table.

NHS Board Residence	Year End 31 March	Gender by Age Group (Years)
		Males				Females				Both Sexes
		<36	36-45	46+	All Ages	<36	36-45	46+	All Ages	<36	36-45	46+	All Ages
NHSScotland	2004	50	377	5,227	5,654	13	104	3,427	3,544	63	481	8,654	9,198
	2005	56	360	5,003	5,419	10	88	3,440	3,538	66	448	8,443	8,957
	2006	50	311	4,886	5,247	10	75	3,327	3,412	60	386	8,213	8,659
	2007	45	322	4,529	4,896	12	90	3,042	3,144	57	412	7,571	8,040
	2008^P	27	319	4,405	4,751	7	73	2,739	2,819	34	392	7,144	7,570

Scotland	2004	50	361	5,043	5,454	13	102	3,325	3,440	63	463	8,368	8,894
	2005	54	350	4,787	5,191	10	86	3,354	3,450	64	436	8,141	8,641
	2006	44	297	4,648	4,989	10	75	3,235	3,320	54	372	7,883	8,309
	2007	45	300	4,357	4,702	12	90	2,962	3,064	57	390	7,319	7,766
	2008^P	27	305	4,231	4,563	7	71	2,685	2,763	34	376	6,916	7,326
Ayrshire and Arran	2004	5	25	403	433	1	8	304	313	6	33	707	746
	2005	1	32	421	454	2	10	285	297	3	42	706	751
	2006	4	14	317	335	1	7	237	245	5	21	554	580
	2007	2	19	285	306	0	1	199	200	2	20	484	506
	2008^P	1	14	239	254	2	5	160	167	3	19	399	421
Borders	2004	0	3	119	122	0	3	79	82	0	6	198	204
	2005	0	11	116	127	0	1	76	77	0	12	192	204
	2006	1	9	207	217	0	0	113	113	1	9	320	330
	2007	1	7	136	144	0	0	101	101	1	7	237	245
	2008^P	0	6	165	171	0	3	88	91	0	9	253	262
Dumfries and Galloway	2004	1	5	113	119	0	2	78	80	1	7	191	199
Dumfries and Galloway	2005	0	6	130	136	0	2	77	79	0	8	207	215
	2006	2	4	142	148	0	2	57	59	2	6	199	207
	2007	0	7	103	110	0	1	60	61	0	8	163	171
	2008^P	0	6	102	108	0	1	54	55	0	7	156	163
Fife	2004	4	20	325	349	0	8	190	198	4	28	515	547
	2005	5	25	362	392	1	8	234	243	6	33	596	635
	2006	1	25	359	385	0	3	241	244	1	28	600	629
	2007	2	17	375	394	0	9	218	227	2	26	593	621
	2008^P	2	19	337	358	0	5	185	190	2	24	522	548
Forth Valley	2004	3	22	278	303	0	4	162	166	3	26	440	469
	2005	3	16	243	262	0	3	179	182	3	19	422	444
	2006	2	16	239	257	0	3	127	130	2	19	366	387
	2007	4	13	173	190	2	7	115	124	6	20	288	314
	2008^P	2	15	224	241	1	5	119	125	3	20	343	366
Grampian	2004	5	29	534	568	1	7	358	366	6	36	892	934
	2005	2	28	490	520	0	2	385	387	2	30	875	907
	2006	2	16	508	526	0	4	363	367	2	20	871	893
	2007	5	26	501	532	1	7	392	400	6	33	893	932
	2008^P	4	28	564	596	0	3	419	422	4	31	983	1,018
Greater Glasgow and Clyde	2004	12	107	1,155	1,274	4	32	844	880	16	139	1,999	2,154
Greater Glasgow and Clyde	2005	19	80	1,078	1,177	4	25	849	878	23	105	1,927	2,055
	2006	14	83	1,036	1,133	6	29	816	851	20	112	1,852	1,984
	2007	13	70	931	1,014	6	31	748	785	19	101	1,679	1,799
	2008^p	7	86	869	962	1	19	599	619	8	105	1,468	1,581
Highland	2004	3	18	345	366	2	3	194	199	5	21	539	565
	2005	4	27	357	388	0	6	198	204	4	33	555	592
	2006	1	18	341	360	0	3	226	229	1	21	567	589
	2007	0	22	360	382	0	0	219	219	0	22	579	601
	2008^P	4	16	341	361	0	7	210	217	4	23	551	578
Island Boards*	2004	0	0	72	72	0	0	39	39	0	0	111	111
	2005	0	3	64	67	0	1	33	34	0	4	97	101
	2006	0	4	64	68	0	1	35	36	0	5	99	104
	2007	0	2	75	77	0	2	40	42	0	4	115	119
	2008^P	0	3	85	88	0	3	38	41	0	6	123	129
Lanarkshire	2004	7	63	576	646	2	11	398	411	9	74	974	1,057
	2005	11	57	507	575	1	11	344	356	12	68	851	931
	2006	10	52	486	548	2	7	359	368	12	59	845	916
	2007	12	44	491	547	1	12	310	323	13	56	801	870
	2008^P	3	47	439	489	1	7	270	278	4	54	709	767
Lothian	2004	4	48	627	679	1	17	389	407	5	65	1,016	1,086
	2005	4	46	617	667	1	14	381	396	5	60	998	1,063
	2006	5	38	601	644	1	12	420	433	6	50	1,021	1,077
	2007	5	56	635	696	2	14	358	374	7	70	993	1,070
	2008^P	4	54	584	642	2	9	384	395	6	63	968	1,037
Orkney*	2004	*	*	*	22	*	*	*	15	*	*	*	37
	2005	*	*	*	23	*	*	*	7	*	*	*	30
	2006	*	*	*	33	*	*	*	19	*	*	*	52
	2007	*	*	*	40	*	*	*	17	*	*	*	57
	2008^P	*	*	*	32	*	*	*	17	*	*	*	49
Shetland*	2004	*	*	*	22	*	*	*	10	*	*	*	32
	2005	*	*	*	15	*	*	*	6	*	*	*	21
	2006	*	*	*	15	*	*	*	8	*	*	*	23
	2007	*	*	*	21	*	*	*	9	*	*	*	30
	2008^P	*	*	*	28	*	*	*	11	*	*	*	39
Tayside	2004	6	21	496	523	2	7	290	299	8	28	786	822
	2005	5	19	402	426	1	3	313	317	6	22	715	743
	2006	2	18	348	368	0	4	241	245	2	22	589	613
	2007	1	17	292	310	0	6	202	208	1	23	494	518
	2008^P	0	11	282	293	0	4	159	163	0	15	441	456
Western Isles*	2004	*	*	*	28	*	*	*	14	*	*	*	42
	2005	*	*	*	29	*	*	*	21	*	*	*	50
	2006	*	*	*	20	*	*	*	9	*	*	*	29
	2007	*	*	*	16	*	*	*	16	*	*	*	32
	2008^P	*	*	*	28	*	*	*	13	*	*	*	41

Source: ISD SMR01.

^PProvisional.

Notes:

In recent years, a number of sensitive and specific diagnostic tests have helped clinicians refine the way in which acute myocardial infarction (AMI) is diagnosed and treated. These tests measure the amounts of troponin and creatine kinase released into the blood when part of the heart muscle is damaged. The incorporation of these biomarker levels in definitions of AMI may have affected the recording of AMI over recent years. Since it is likely that cases previously undiagnosed would now be correctly determined as AMI, it may be that the size of downward trends in the incidence of AMI has been understated in the source data used in the table.

NHSScotland total includes non-Scottish residents.

*ISD''s Disclosure Control procedure has been applied to reduce the risk of releasing sensitive information as a result of presenting small numbers of cases for individual Island NHS boards (Orkney, Shetland and Western Isles). See:

http://www.isdscotland.org/files/Protocol_ISDOnline_April09.pdf.

Variations in the definition, recording and coding of AMI may also affect inter-hospital and inter-health board comparisons of AMI incidence, prevalence and post-AMI survival.

Question reference: S3W-23085

Asked by: Ross Finnie, MSP for West of Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 20 April 2009
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 29 April 2009

The following table provides the number of whole-time equivalent (WTE) and head count school nurses broken down by NHS board for 2007 and 2008. These figures are collected by Information Services Division (ISD) Scotland and available from the link below:

http://www.isdscotland.org/isd/servlet/FileBuffer?namedFile=Nursing%20and%20midwifery%202008.xlsandpContentDispositionType=attachment.

Data for 2006 is unavailable due to the non-direct match between Whitley Council grades and new Agenda for Change bands.

School nurses by NHS Board	Whole-Time Equivalent as at 30 September 2007	Head Count as at 30 September 2007	Whole-Time Equivalent as at 30 September 2008	Head Count as at 30 September 2008
NHS Ayrshire and Arran	28.6	38	31.2	42
NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde	45.5	63	52.5	70
NHS Lanarkshire	37.2	47	33.6	42
NHS Forth Valley	12.0	19	13.5	22
NHS Dumfries and Galloway	5.6	10	5.8	9
NHS Borders	4.0	6	4.7	8
NHS Fife	25.9	32	22.2	27
NHS Lothian	13.9	24	12.2	21
NHS Highland	16.9	23	19.8	27
NHS Grampian	27.4	43	33.5	57
NHS Orkney	1.4	2	1.4	2
NHS Tayside	2.7	4	1.5	2
NHS Western Isles	-	-	-	-
NHS Shetland	0.7	1	-	-
Total	221.8	312	232.0	329

Source: Information Services Division (ISD) Scotland.

Question reference: S3O-06581

Asked by: Ross Finnie, MSP for West of Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 April 2009
Current Status: Answered by Michael Russell on 23 April 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive whether the scope for Scottish civil servants to hold positions in the UK Permanent Representation to the European Union has been addressed in any of its discussions with the UK Government on a devolved civil service.

Question reference: S3W-22434

Asked by: Ross Finnie, MSP for West of Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 30 March 2009
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 15 April 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive what measures have been put in place to prevent abuse of NHS hospital car parks since the removal of parking charges.

Question reference: S3W-22433

Asked by: Ross Finnie, MSP for West of Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 30 March 2009
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 15 April 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has issued guidance to NHS boards on avoiding abuse of hospital car parks since the removal of parking charges.

Question reference: S3F-01594

Asked by: Ross Finnie, MSP for West of Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 March 2009
Current Status: Answered by Alex Salmond on 26 March 2009

To ask the First Minister what forecast the Scottish Government has made of how many junior doctors will be working more than 48 hours per week from August 2009.

Question reference: S3O-06443

Asked by: Ross Finnie, MSP for West of Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 March 2009
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 26 March 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it agrees with Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Prisons for Scotland that the conditions for young women at Cornton Vale are unacceptable.

Question reference: S3O-06276

Asked by: Ross Finnie, MSP for West of Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 March 2009
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 19 March 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will seek a joint legal opinion with the UK Government on the Scottish Government’s fishing quota and licensing proposals.

Question reference: S3W-21151

Asked by: Ross Finnie, MSP for West of Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 19 February 2009
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 18 March 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive what guidance it provides to local authorities on measures to promote healthy eating and what the cost was of providing such guidance in each year for which information is available.

The Scottish Executive have issued guidance to local authorities to promote healthy eating as follows:

	Hungry for Success	H4S Training Manual	Free Fruit in Schools	Nutrient Specifications	Healthy Eating in Schools	Totals
2002-03	£29,514.63					£29,514.63
2003-04			£259.00	£24,474.67		£24,733.67
2004-05		£6,144.50		£11,828.28		£17,972.78
2005-06
2006-07				£3,829.50		£3829.50
2007-08
2008-09					£26,734.65	£26,734.65
Totals	£29,514.63	£6,144.50	£259.00	£40,132.45	£26,734.65	£102,785.23