Questions and answers

Question reference: S2W-17661

Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 June 2005
Current Status: Answered by Andy Kerr on 1 August 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive how many alcohol-related incidents required a response by ambulance services in each year since 1997, broken down by NHS board area.

Question reference: S2W-17579

Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 23 June 2005
Current Status: Answered by Andy Kerr on 1 August 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive how many people attending accident and emergency departments were not registered with a GP in each of the last three years, broken down by NHS board.

Question reference: S2W-17580

Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 23 June 2005
Current Status: Answered by Andy Kerr on 1 August 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive what the ratio of the number of GPs to population was in each NHS board area in each of the last five years.

The table shows the average number of patients per whole-time-equivalent GP to in each of Scotland’s NHS boards.

Average Number of Patients Per Whole-Time-Equivalent General Practitioner¹ in Scotland by NHS Board Area; As At 1 October, 2000 - 2004

	Average Number of Patients per WTE² GP¹:
	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004
Argyll and Clyde	1,411	1,408	1,388	1,394	1,396
Ayrshire and Arran	1,539	1,538	1,522	1,507	1,515
Borders	1,351	1,364	1,344	1,337	1,356
Dumfries and Galloway	1,254	1,250	1,248	1,238	1,247
Fife	1,528	1,539	1,535	1,535	1,565
Forth Valley	1,486	1,475	1,489	1,501	1,512
Grampian	1,543	1,520	1,508	1,500	1,517
Greater Glasgow	1,595	1,595	1,584	1,581	1,578
Highland	1,104	1,079	1,066	1,023	1,035
Lanarkshire	1,728	1,710	1,702	1,700	1,710
Lothian	1,586	1,561	1,538	1,539	1,557
Orkney	806	769	744	712	718
Shetland	1,179	1,156	1,156	1,215	1,207
Tayside	1,529	1,509	1,498	1,496	1,494
Western Isles	953	939	969	932	1,033

Notes:

1. These figures are for all GP performers in 2004 and all Principals prior to 2004. Vacated posts and the patients attached to these posts have been included in the calculations.

2. Whole Time Equivalent.

Question reference: S2W-17577

Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 23 June 2005
Current Status: Answered by Andy Kerr on 1 August 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive what the average daily number of general and acute beds open overnight was in each of the last five years in (a) Scotland and (b) each NHS board area and what the bed occupancy rate was.

The information requested is shown in the following tables.

Table 1 shows information on average available staffed beds. This indicates the average daily number of beds, which were staffed and were available for the reception of inpatients and day cases. Borrowed and temporary beds are included; beds in day bed units are excluded.

Table 1

NHSScotland – Average Available Staffed Acute¹ Beds²; by NHS Board Area: Years Ending 31 March 2001 - 2005

	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005p
Argyll and Clyde	1, 402	1, 394	1 ,337	1, 273	1, 229
Ayrshire and Arran	1, 175	1, 201	1 ,205	1, 209	1, 221
Borders	379	384	372	381	371
Dumfries and Galloway	423	421	425	419	420
Fife	844	848	837	818	837
Forth Valley	725	733	724	702	699
Grampian	1, 921	1, 892	1 ,879	1, 856	1, 870
Greater Glasgow	4, 008	4, 011	3 ,995	3, 976	3, 888
Highland	845	853	874	872	872
Lanarkshire	1, 665	1, 640	1 ,620	1, 606	1, 551
Lothian	2, 525	2, 569	2 ,531	2, 478	2, 450
Orkney	59	61	63	63	65
Shetland	58	58	58	58	58
Tayside	1, 516	1, 458	1 ,499	1, 495	1, 448
Western Isles	165	152	153	158	161
Scotland³	17, 711	17, 676	17 ,571	17, 363	17, 184

Source: ISD Scotland.

Notes: ^pProvisional.

1. Acute care refers to specialties primarily concerned in the surgical, medical and dental sectors. Specifically excluded are the obstetric, psychiatric and long stay sectors.

2. Includes joint-user and contractual hospitals.

3. For the year ending 31 March 2005, the Scotland total includes Golden Jubilee National Hospital which had 44 average available staffed beds. The Scotland total may not exactly equal the sum of the NHS board figures due to rounding.

Table 2 shows information on bed occupancy, which is the proportion of available staffed beds that were occupied by inpatients at midnight. Patients that are not present at the midnight census, such as day cases, are not included.

Table 2

NHSScotland - Percentage Acute¹ Bed Occupancy²; by NHS Board Area: Years Ending 31 March 2001 - 2005

	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005p
Argyll and Clyde	82.8	82.0	79.8	79.9	80.7
Ayrshire and Arran	82.1	81.2	80.5	80.3	79.5
Borders	79.7	80.0	81.3	83.2	80.5
Dumfries and Galloway	74.9	76.1	76.3	76.6	78.9
Fife	84.0	81.5	81.8	83.2	81.5
Forth Valley	81.5	80.1	81.4	82.4	83.8
Grampian	79.8	81.3	82.7	81.7	80.8
Greater Glasgow	80.7	81.4	81.8	81.0	80.9
Highland	77.0	78.3	76.7	77.2	75.5
Lanarkshire	78.0	82.2	84.2	86.0	86.4
Lothian	85.5	82.8	84.7	85.3	86.8
Orkney	59.4	65.2	70.7	62.4	58.2
Shetland	68.9	72.1	65.9	60.6	54.2
Tayside	81.7	82.7	82.5	81.5	82.0
Western Isles	74.6	77.9	71.2	68.1	65.6
Scotland³	81.1	81.3	81.8	81.7	81.7

Source: ISD Scotland.

Notes:

^pProvisional.

1. Acute care refers to specialties primarily concerned in the surgical, medical and dental sectors. Specifically excluded are the obstetric, psychiatric and long stay sectors.

2. Includes joint-user and contractual hospitals.

3. For the year ending 31 March 2005, the Scotland total includes Golden Jubilee National Hospital which had a 100% occupancy rate.

Question reference: S2W-17829

Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 12 July 2005
Current Status: Answered by Andy Kerr on 1 August 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive what the incidence of breast cancer per 1,000 women has been in each year since 1990, broken down by NHS board.

Cancer Scenarios (Scottish Executive 2001 (updated in 2004)) projected that cancer incidence will continue to increase, due partly to an ageing population. However, as a result of raised awareness, earlier detection and improved treatment fewer people are dying from the disease.

The following tables show the incidence of female breast cancer in health board areas from 1990-2001 and the crude rates per 100,000 population for Scotland. Adult cancer rates are conventionally presented per 100,000 population.

Female breast cancer (ICD-10 C50), Scotland

Table (a) Number of Registrations by Health Board Area of Residence from 1990-2001

Health Board Area	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001
Argyll and Clyde	238	320	276	301	253	297	287	300	275	300	336	293
Ayrshire and Arran	217	260	261	242	242	260	271	252	318	260	260	300
Borders	92	47	63	89	63	55	101	69	68	134	70	79
Dumfries and Galloway	91	89	102	127	79	90	100	116	107	112	128	127
Fife	192	279	206	192	257	207	194	283	196	214	326	188
Forth Valley	127	155	208	170	154	217	154	145	235	203	158	222
Grampian	308	333	310	288	297	319	313	318	317	390	367	343
Greater Glasgow	577	556	601	535	592	598	615	622	651	604	672	554
Highland	122	134	178	141	160	140	128	164	167	149	164	156
Lanarkshire	285	316	333	323	324	315	340	380	375	422	373	368
Lothian	483	459	489	475	457	537	489	498	549	549	498	559
Orkney Islands	11	19	12	8	19	9	12	15	4	15	21	7
Shetland Islands	13	10	14	11	14	16	10	10	26	8	7	20
Tayside	234	239	240	271	252	299	321	251	298	285	286	310
Western Isles	21	5	12	42	24	22	27	24	14	27	13	21

Table (b) Crude Incidence Rates per 100,000 Population for Scotland

Year of diagnosis	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001
Scotland¹	3011	3222	3305	3217	3189	3387	3365	3447	3600	3672	3690	3570
- crude rates per 100,000 population	114.2	122.1	125.2	121.7	120.4	127.8	127.2	130.5	136.5	139.3	140.3	135.7

Source: Scottish Cancer Registry, ISD.

Note: 1. Includes cases where the health board of residence was not known.

Question reference: S2W-17827

Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 12 July 2005
Current Status: Answered by Andy Kerr on 1 August 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive what the incidence of testicular cancer per 1,000 men has been in each year since 1990, broken down by NHS board.

Cancer Scenarios Scottish Executive 2001 (updated in 2004)) projected that cancer incidence will continue to increase, due partly to an ageing population. However, as a result of raised awareness, earlier detection and improved treatment fewer people are dying from the disease.

The following tables show the incidence of male testicular cancer in health board areas from 1990-2001 and the crude rates per 100,000 population for Scotland. Adult cancer rates are conventionally presented per 100,000 population.

Male testicular cancer (ICD-10 C62), Scotland

Table (a) Number of Registrations by Health Board Area of Residence from 1990-2001

Health Board Area	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001
Argyll and Clyde	7	16	11	11	14	11	14	17	18	14	25	13
Ayrshire and Arran	12	12	11	11	12	11	14	12	11	15	21	13
Borders	2	1	2	3	0	5	2	4	3	2	5	3
Dumfries and Galloway	2	4	4	5	5	11	8	6	12	8	11	7
Fife	12	11	12	10	15	9	13	10	14	7	10	16
Forth Valley	5	2	3	10	16	6	13	13	7	14	8	10
Grampian	24	27	26	17	24	32	24	21	24	14	21	22
Greater Glasgow	29	37	22	33	33	23	23	29	34	33	29	40
Highland	11	10	7	11	10	5	8	13	17	6	6	15
Lanarkshire	28	20	23	13	14	18	22	21	19	19	19	26
Lothian	17	30	23	28	33	27	20	31	31	35	40	35
Orkney Islands	2	0	0	0	0	1	1	2	0	1	1	2
Shetland Islands	2	0	1	1	3	2	0	0	2	3	2	1
Tayside	12	5	13	14	15	7	8	9	16	18	17	14
Western Isles	0	1	1	0	2	2	0	1	1	0	0	1

Table (b) Crude Incidence Rates per 100,000 Population for Scotland

Year of Diagnosis	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001
Scotland¹	165	176	159	167	196	171	170	189	209	189	216	221
- crude rates per 100,000 population	6.8	7.2	6.5	6.8	8.0	7.0	6.9	7.7	8.6	7.8	8.9	9.1

Note: 1. Includes cases where the health board of residence was not known. Source: Scottish Cancer Registry, ISD.

Question reference: S2W-17373

Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 17 June 2005
Current Status: Answered by Tom McCabe on 29 July 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive how many of its officials received honours in the Queens Birthday Honours List for 2005 as a result of the recommendations made by the Executive and what rank of honour each official received.

Honours are awarded by HerMajesty the Queen on the recommendation of the Prime Minister. All Government departmentsare invited to assist the Prime Minister in this process by submitting recommendationsfor consideration. Details of this process are confidential.

Those Government Department officialswho received an Honour in Her Majesty the Queen’s Birthday Honours are listed ina table contained in the answer to Westminster Parliamentary question 5125, whichcan be found in Hansard. A copy of the table has been placed in the Scottish ParliamentInformation Centre (Bib. number 36984).

Question reference: S2W-17473

Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 June 2005
Current Status: Answered by Lewis Macdonald on 29 July 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to recruit dentists in (a) Greece, (b) Portugal, (c) Germany, (d) Spain and (e) India and what intermediary organisations it uses for this purpose.

The Scottish Executive does not currently have any specific measures to recruit dentists from Greece, Portugal, Germany, Spain or India as responsibilityfor recruitment is a matter for NHS boards and independent dental practitionerswho own dental practices.

There is a general understandingthat some boards and indeed some dental practitioners have advertised vacanciesand recruited from abroad. Candidates from the EU would be entitled to apply forposts that they are qualified for but specific information is not held centrallyby the Scottish Executive.

There has been a high-level ofinterest from Indian dentists wishing to work in Scotland. However, before beingconsidered fit to practice in the UK by the General Dental Council, applicants fromoutwith the EU are required to sit an English language proficiency exam and a clinicalcompetence exam known as the IQE (International Qualifying Exam) and this processcan be quite lengthy.This latter issue is reserved and the General Dental Counciland the Department of
Health (England ) are ensuring that the process is as efficient as possible.

Question reference: S2W-17475

Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 June 2005
Current Status: Answered by Andy Kerr on 28 July 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive what the average call back time for NHS 24 has been in each month since the service was established.

At all times, clinicallyurgent calls are dealt with immediately by NHS 24 nurse advisers. During peaktimes, less clinically urgent calls are prioritised and the service endeavoursto achieve call back by a nurse adviser within specified target times – 60 minutesfor Priority 1 calls and 120 minutes for Priority 2 calls. The NHS 24 servicebegan rolling out across Scotland in May 2002 and was completed in November 2004. Thetable shows the average call back time each month since May 2002 and the Scottish population covered by NHS 24 in each of those months.

Month	Average Time to Call Back (minutes)	NHS 24 Population Coverage
May 2002	8	438,000
June 2002	5	438,000
July 2002	2	438,000
August 2002	2	438,000
September 2002	2	438,000
October 2002	3	438,000
November 2002	24	1,525,000
December 2002	22	1,525,000
January 2003	7	1,525,000
February 2003	5	1,525,000
March 2003	9	1,525,000
April 2003	10	1,525,000
May 2003	27	1,967,000
June 2003	29	1,967,000
July 2003	40	1,967,000
August 2003	23	2,017,000
September 2003	27	2,366,000
October 2003	33	2,366,000
November 2003	41	2,512,000
December 2003	46	2,569,000
January 2004	55	2,581,000
February 2004	20	2,581,000
March 2004	26	2,581,000
April 2004	26	2,693,000
May 2004	28	2,845,000
June 2004	29	3,042,000
July 2004	38	3,432,000
August 2004	53	3,718,000
September 2004	28	4,321,000
October 2004	47	5,180,000
November 2004	44	5,199,000
December 2004	52	5,199,000
January 2005	42	5,199,000
February 2005	58	5,199,000
March 2005	68	5,199,000
April 2005	47	5,199,000
May 2005	49	5,199,000

Question reference: S2W-17474

Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 June 2005
Current Status: Answered by Andy Kerr on 28 July 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive how many complaints have been made by members of the public regarding the service they have received from NHS 24 and how many such complaints were upheld.

This information isavailable for 2003-2004 and 2004-2005 and is set out in this table:

Year	Complaints received	Upheld	Partially upheld	Not upheld
2003-2004	88	27 (31%)	11 (12%)	50 (57%)
2004-2005	378	176 (46%)	59 (16%)	143 (38%)

The number of complaintsreceived may be considered against the numbers of calls answered by NHS 24 – 615,073calls in 2003-04 and 1,278,224 calls in 2004-05.

It should also be recognisedthat NHS 24 did not roll out to the whole of Scotland until November 2004.The number of complaints received may be expected to increase again in 2005-06as that will be the first full year of operation across the country.

Chamber and committees