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: S2W-29387

Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 31 October 2006
Current Status: Answered by George Lyon on 13 November 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive how many deaths linked to hypothermia there have been in each year since 1997 and, of these, how many were of individuals aged (a) 60 to 64, (b) 65 to 79 and (c) 80 and over, broken down by (i) NHS board area and (ii) parliamentary constituency

Information on deaths involvinghypothermia is given for NHS board areas in the following table. Mentions of hypothermiaassociated with medical conditions rather than low environmental temperature havebeen excluded. Because of the small numbers involved, a breakdown by parliamentaryconstituency has not been shown.

Deaths Involving Hypothermia¹,by NHS Board area, 1997-2005 (All ages)

	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005
Scotland	60	37	44	34	50	50	34	38	38
Ayrshire and Arran	2	1	2	3	1	5	1	2	-
Borders	1	1	1	-	-	1	-	1	1
Dumfries and Galloway	-	-	1	2	-	-	1	1	1
Fife	1	4	-	-	1	3	1	-	1
Forth Valley	3	1	4	2	2	2	-	2	3
Grampian	6	1	3	-	4	4	2	4	7
Greater Glasgow and Clyde	22	11	16	9	23	20	15	12	9
Highland	3	4	2	0	1	3	0	7	3
Lanarkshire	9	5	5	1	3	2	2	1	2
Lothian	12	5	5	11	10	7	8	5	5
Orkney	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Shetland	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Tayside	1	3	3	5	4	3	3	3	6
Western Isles	-	1	2	1	1	-	1	-	-

(a) Aged 60 – 64	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005
Scotland	4	5	5	5	3	1	2	2	1
Ayrshire and Arran	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	-	-
Borders	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Dumfries and Galloway	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	-	-
Fife	-	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Forth Valley	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-
Grampian	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	-
Greater Glasgow and Clyde	1	-	3	2	1	-	1	1	-
Highland	-	2	1	-	-	-	-	-	-
Lanarkshire	1	1	-	-	-	-	1	-	1
Lothian	1	1	-	-	1	-	-	-	-
Orkney	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Shetland	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Tayside	1	-	1	1	1	-	-	-	-
Western Isles	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

(b) Aged 65 - 79	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005
Scotland	14	8	17	11	10	11	10	9	9
Ayrshire and Arran	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-
Borders	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-
Dumfries and Galloway	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Fife	-	1	-	-	1	1	-	-	-
Forth Valley	-	-	-	1	1	1	-	1	2
Grampian	1	-	1	-	-	1	1	3	3
Greater Glasgow and Clyde	8	3	7	3	5	3	4	2	2
Highland	-	1	1	-	-	-	-	1	1
Lanarkshire	2	1	4	-	-	-	-	-	-
Lothian	2	2	1	4	2	4	4	1	1
Orkney	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Shetland	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Tayside	-	-	2	2	1	1	-	-	-
Western Isles	-	-	1	1	-	-	-	-	-

(c) Aged 80 and over	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005
Scotland	20	16	11	15	17	22	17	17	14
Ayrshire and Arran	2	-	1	2	-	3	-	2	-
Borders	-	1	-	-	-	1	-	-	1
Dumfries and Galloway	-	-	1	1	-	-	1	1	-
Fife	1	1	-	-	-	1	1	-	1
Forth Valley	-	1	3	1	-	-	-	-	1
Grampian	2	1	-	-	4	-	1	-	1
Greater Glasgow and Clyde	5	6	4	4	8	15	8	6	2
Highland	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	3	1
Lanarkshire	2	1	-	1	-	1	-	-	-
Lothian	7	2	2	5	4	-	2	2	3
Orkney	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Shetland	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Tayside	-	3	-	1	1	1	3	3	4
Western Isles	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-

Source: 2000-05,International Classification of Diseases, 10th Revision, X31 - Exposure toexcessive natural cold.

Note: 1. 1997-99, InternationalClassification of Diseases, 9th Revision, E901 - Excessive cold, excluding E905.1(ofmanmade origin).

Question reference: S2W-29409

Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 31 October 2006
Current Status: Answered by Tom McCabe on 13 November 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will list for each year since declaration of political affiliation became mandatory as part of the system of appointments to public bodies in Scotland the (a) total number of appointments made, (b) number of appointees who declared a political affiliation and (c) number of these appointees affiliated to each political party.

I refer the member to the answersto questions S1W-20118 on 26 March 2002, S1W-24411 on 17 April 2002and S1W-25468 on 30 April 2002 which explains why annual data for part of the periodin question (July 1996 to March 2001) is not available. I also refer the memberto the answer to question S2W-27465 on 14 August 2006,which provided the requested information for the period from 1 April 2004 until 31 May 2006. All answers to written parliamentary questions are availableon the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.

The following table details thenumber of board members of public bodies regulated by the UK Commissionerfor Public Appointments who, on appointment or reappointment between 1 April 2001 and 31 March 2004, declaredpolitical activity.

	1 April 2001 to 31 March 2002	1 April 2002 to 31 March 2003	1 April 2003 to 31 March 2004
Total number of appointments made in period (including reappointments)	273	253	220
Total number of appointees declaring party political activity	65 (24%)	61 (24%)	32 (14%)
Conservative	1 made to an Advisory NDPB (0.4%). 3 made to a NHS body (1%).	5 made to Executive NDPBs (2%).	3 made to NHS Bodies (1%).
Labour	8 made to Executive NDPBs (3%). 6 made to Advisory NDPBs (2%). 29 made to NHS Bodies (11%).	22 made to Executive NDPBs (9%). 8 made to NHS Bodies (3%).	8 made to Executive NDPBs (4%). 6 made to Advisory NDPBs (3%). 5 made to NHS Bodies (2%). 1 made to a Public Corporation (0.4%).
Liberal Democrat	1 made to an Executive NDPB (0.4%). 1 made to an Advisory NDPB (0.4%). 5 made to NHS Bodies (2%).	10 made to Executive NDPBs (4%).	1 made to an Advisory NDPB (0.4%). 1 made to an NHS Body (0.4%).
SNP	1 made to an Executive NDPB (0.4%). 1 made to an Advisory NDPB (0.4%). 4 made to NHS Bodies (2%).	5 made to Executive NDPBs (2%). 1 made to an Advisory NDPB (0.4%).	2 made to NHS Bodies (0.9%).
Other	1 made to an Advisory NDPB (0.4%). 4 made to NHS Bodies (2%).	9 made to Executive NDPBs (4%). 1 made to an Advisory NDPB (0.4%).	1 made to an Executive NDPB (0.4%). 4 made to NHS Bodies (2%).

The above data was taken fromthe returns on political activity supplied to the Office of the UK Commissionerfor Public Appointments.

Question reference: S2W-29388

Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 31 October 2006
Current Status: Answered by Andy Kerr on 13 November 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive how many junior doctor training posts there will be in each specialty under the Modernising Medical Careers initiative.

Question reference: S2W-29390

Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 31 October 2006
Current Status: Answered by George Lyon on 13 November 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive how many individuals died as a result of being (a) shot and (b) stabbed in each of the last 10 years for which figures are available.

The figures in the followingtables have been extracted from death registration records coded by the GeneralRegister Office for Scotland (GROS). The WHO International Classification ofDiseases used by GROS does not distinguish deaths from “stabbing” from otherdeaths resulting from assaults by cutting and piercing. However, it is believedthat the overwhelming majority of deaths shown in the following table (b) resultedfrom stab wounds. The tables do not include accidental shootings or stabbings, orsuicides.

(a) Assaultby Firearms¹

1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005
26	5	8	7	4	5	3	2	6	7

(b) Assaultby Cutting and Piercing Instrument/Sharp Object²

1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005
57	37	42	72	45	48	68	55	76	34

Notes:

International Classificationof Diseases (ICD): categories included:

1. 1996 -1999, ICD 9thRevision, E965.0 - E965.4; 2000-2005, ICD 10th Revision, X93 - X95.

2. 1996 -1999, ICD 9thRevision, E966; 2000-2005, ICD 10th Revision, X99.

Question reference: S2W-29389

Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 31 October 2006
Current Status: Answered by Andy Kerr on 13 November 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive how many (a) trainee and (b) qualified physiotherapists are not employed by the NHS

Question reference: S2W-29379

Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 30 October 2006
Current Status: Answered by Andy Kerr on 13 November 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive what assessment it has made of the extent to which mortality rates for (a) cancer, (b) coronary heart disease, (c) stroke and (d) diabetes in each primary care area reflect the incidence of disease in that area.

Regular updates of incidenceand mortality for cancer, coronary heart disease and stroke by NHS board arepublished on the NHS National Services Scotland Information Services Division(ISD) website at http://www.isdscotland.org/isd/183.html.This data is not broken down to Primary Care and Community HealthcarePartnership level.

(a) Data available forcancer incidence (1980-2004) and mortality (1980- 2005) show that more and morepeople are now living with cancer. Latest available data shows a decrease incancer mortality rates for people aged under 75 of 15.8% over 10 years. If thistrend continues the target to reduce the age standardised mortality rate fromall cancers for those less than 75 years by 20% between 1995 and 2010 will be met.

(b) Data available for coronaryheart disease incidence (1996-2005) fell by 25.6% for men and 50.8% for women andmortality (1996-2005) shows a reduction in mortality rate for the under 75s of46%. If this trend continues the target to achieve a 60% reduction in mortalityrate from coronary heart disease amongst under 75s between 1995 and 2010 shouldbe met.

(c) Data available for cerebrovasculardisease (including stroke) incidence (1996- 2005) fell by 21.5% for men and18.2% for women and mortality (1996-2005) shows a reduction in mortality ratefor the under 75s of 45%. If this trend continues the target to achieve a 50%reduction in mortality rate from cerebrovascular disease (including stroke)amongst under 75s between 1995 and 2010 should be met.

(d) Reliableincidence and mortality rates are not available for diabetes. Deathcertification underestimates the burden of mortality from diabetes as diabetesis often not recorded as contributing to death.

Question reference: S2W-29381

Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 30 October 2006
Current Status: Answered by Andy Kerr on 10 November 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive what the average waiting time was for breast cancer test results in each year since 1999, broken down by NHS board.

Question reference: S2W-29073

Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 16 October 2006
Current Status: Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 10 November 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive what proportion of eligible prisoners currently fail to attend national harm reduction awareness sessions in each prison.

Question reference: S2W-29075

Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 16 October 2006
Current Status: Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 10 November 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive what proportion of eligible prisoners who refuse to attend national harm reduction awareness sessions in each prison also refuse to sign a disclaimer.

Question reference: S2W-29378

Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 30 October 2006
Current Status: Answered by Andy Kerr on 10 November 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive what the average size of catchment area was for accident and emergency departments in (a) 1997, (b) 2001, (c) 2005 and (d) the most recent period for which figures are available in terms of (i) geographical area and (ii) number of people.

The information is not held centrallyin the form requested. My answer to question S2W-27107 on 24 July 2006 set outthe number of NHS locations recorded as providing an accident and emergency servicein each financial year from 1995 to 2005. All answers to written parliamentaryquestions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for whichcan be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.

NHS boards do not formally definecatchment areas for accident and emergency units. In practice, Scottish AmbulanceService crews will assess an emergency patient’s condition and treatment requirementsand on the basis of that assessment and any other relevant factors will take thepatient to the most appropriate accident and emergency facility. Although this willmost often be the nearest facility, it need not always be so. The crucial factorin most emergency situations is the time within which paramedical support reachesthe patient rather than the time taken thereafter to transport the patient to anaccident and emergency facility.