Chamber and committees

Questions and answers

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

Urgent Questions aren't included in the Question and Answers search. There is a SPICe fact sheet listing Urgent and emergency questions.

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Question reference: S2W-20391

Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 04 November 2005
Current Status: Answered by Hugh Henry on 17 November 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive what the biggest single payment is in respect of legal aid that has not been recouped.

Question reference: S2W-20367

Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 04 November 2005
Current Status: Answered by Andy Kerr on 17 November 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive what the (a) location and (b) capacity is of each completed private finance initiative hospital project; what the cost was of each such project, and what the (i) location, (ii) planned capacity and (iii) expected cost is of each planned project.

PFI is an additional source of funding which contributes substantially to capital investment in NHSScotland. It makes more of resources available, giving immediate access to significant sums and delivering new services more quickly than would be possible with a publicly funded capital programme alone.

Improved value for money is achieved by risk allocation, competition and innovation and the inclusion in some cases of services such as portering and cleaning allows the NHS body to focus on its core business of providing health care. A high standard of building maintenance throughout the life of the contract ensures that the facilities are handed on to the NHS in an excellent condition.

The following table provides the information requested in respect of completed private finance initiative hospital projects:

Project and Location	NHS Board	Capacity	Capital Value
Larkfield Geriatric and young disabled assessment facility	NHS Argyll and Clyde	118 beds	10.0m
East Ayrshire Community Hospital, Cumnock	NHS Ayrshire and Arran	98 beds	8.6m
Saltcoats Health Centre, provision of frail elderly and elderly mental illness care	NHS Ayrshire and Arran	90 beds	2.5m
Day case and Maternity services, Dumfries	NHS Dumfries and Galloway	28 beds, 11 cots,	10.0m
Kincardine Community Hospital, Stonehaven	NHS Grampian	49beds	3.8m
Provision of geriatric medicine and assessment facility at Southern General Hospital, Glasgow	NHS Glasgow	210 beds	11.0m
Mearnskirk, new care of the elderly building at Southern General Hospital, Glasgow	NHS Greater Glasgow	72 beds	2.4m
Easter Ross County Community Hospital, Invergorden	NHS Highland	44 beds	8.8m
New Craigs Hospital, Inverness	NHS Highland	234 beds	16.5m
Hairmyers District General Hospital	NHS Lanarkshire	364 beds	68.0m
Wishaw District General Hospital	NHS Lanarkshire	633 beds	100.0m
Stonehouse Hospital	NHS Lanarkshire	40 beds	3.9m
New Edinburgh Royal Infirmary	NHS Lothian	812 beds	180.0m
Reprovision of care of the elderly services, Tippethill Hospital, West Lothian	NHS Lothian	60 beds	2.3m
Forfar and Kirriemuir Community Resource Centre, Forfar	NHS Tayside	60beds	22.5m
Carseview Psychiatric Unit, Ninewells Hospital, Dundee	NHS Tayside	84 beds	10.0m

The clinical models for hospital projects in development have not yet been finalised so final bed numbers are not yet known. However, details of the location and cost are shown in the following table:

Project and Location	NHS Board	Capital Value
Mid Argyll Hospital, Lochgilphead	NHS Argyll and Clyde	19.2m
Crosshouse Maternity Services	NHS Ayrshire and Arran	20.0m
St Andrews Community Resource Project	NHS Fife	20.0m
Fife General Hospital and Maternity Services, Dunfermline and Kirkcaldy	NHS Fife	114.5m
Clackmannan Community Health Services - Alloa Health Centre	NHS Forth Valley	19.0m
New Forth Valley acute hospital, Larbert	NHS Forth Valley	269.5m
Local Forensic Unit, Stobhill, Glasgow	NHS Greater Glasgow	17.9m
Psychiatric Hospital, Gartnavel, Glasgow	NHS Greater Glasgow	19.5m
Ambulatory Care Centres at Stobhill and Victoria Infirmary, Glasgow	NHS Greater Glasgow	124.0m
Royal Edinburgh Hospital	NHS Lothian	65.0m

Question reference: S2W-20368

Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 04 November 2005
Current Status: Answered by Andy Kerr on 17 November 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive how many secondary school-age children suffered from (a) high cholesterol levels, (b) heart failure and (c) diabetes in each year since 1995, broken down by NHS board area.

Question reference: S2W-20452

Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 08 November 2005
Current Status: Answered by Andy Kerr on 16 November 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive how many ambulances there were in the NHS in each year since 1995.

The Scottish Ambulance Service’s fleet establishment for accident and emergency and non-emergency vehicles in each year since 1995 is listed in the following table:

Year	Accident and Emergency	Non-Emergency
1995-96	448	449
1996-97	443	449
1997-98	443	456
1998-99	443	456
1999-2000	441	460
2000-01	444	465
2001-02	448	488
2002-03	447	499
2003-04	450	520
2004-05	450	520
2005-06 (to October 2005)	450	520

New accident and emergency units and non-emergency vehicles are introduced into the fleet each year as part of the ambulance service’s vehicle replacement programme.

Since 2002-03, the Scottish Ambulance Service has been enhancing its service to patients by rolling out its priority based dispatch system across Scotland, whereby those patients with the greatest need receive the quickest response. In addition to these accident and emergency ambulances, the ambulance service has 46 vehicles which are used as rapid response vehicles. These vehicles are manned by a paramedic who responds to Category A life threatening calls, mostly in urban areas, and treats the patient until an ambulance arrives.

As well as the rapid response units, first responder schemes have been set up across some of the more remote and rural areas of Scotland. These schemes are staffed by volunteers trained by the ambulance service to provide patient care in serious cases until an ambulance arrives. Currently there are around 30 first responder schemes in Scotland.

Question reference: S2W-20450

Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 08 November 2005
Current Status: Answered by Andy Kerr on 16 November 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive how many (a) children and (b) adults are awaiting cochlear implants in each NHS board area and what projections have been made of the number of cochlear implant treatments in the next five years.

Cochlear implantation is designated and funded as a national specialist service provided at two sites in Scotland: Crosshouse Hospital in Ayrshire (adults and children) and Edinburgh Royal Infirmary (adults). The number of patients waiting at each site is set out in the table. The numbers have not been broken down by NHS board of residence because patient confidentiality could be compromised, given the small numbers involved.

Location	Number of Patients Waiting
	Initial Consultation	Implant Surgery
Crosshouse Hospital	8	6
Edinburgh Royal Infirmary	3	5

The number of cochlear implants carried out each year is expected to continue at around 50, split approximately equally between children and adults.

Question reference: S2W-20451

Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 08 November 2005
Current Status: Answered by Andy Kerr on 16 November 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive what the cost to each NHS board of legal fees for defending equal pay claims has been in each year since 1997.

Question reference: S2W-20449

Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 08 November 2005
Current Status: Answered by Andy Kerr on 16 November 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive how many patients have been waiting to commence anti-tumour necrosis factor therapy in each year since 1999, broken down by NHS board.

This information is not available centrally. Prescription of the anti-TNF drugs should be undertaken by consultant rheumatologists specialising in their use. Data on drugs dispensed in hospitals are not available centrally. Centrally collected data relate to prescribed items dispensed in the community by community pharmacists and dispensing doctors. These data are not patient specific.

Where NHS Quality Improvement Scotland or the Scottish Medicines Consortium has issued advice on the use of the anti-TNF drugs, NHSScotland should take account of the advice and ensure that these drugs are made available to meet clinical need.

Question reference: S2W-19912

Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 October 2005
Current Status: Answered by Andy Kerr on 16 November 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive how many incidences of tuberculosis there were in each of the last five years, broken down by NHS board.

The total number of cases and the population incidence of TB in Scotland have remained relatively stable over recent years (less than 400 cases each year and an incidence less than eight per 100,000). We are now targeting BCG vaccination programmes to those parts of the population at most risk of exposure to TB.

The information requested is shown in the following table.

	Number of TB case Reports
NHS Board of Notification	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004*
Argyll and Clyde	35	29	30	34	17
Ayrshire and Arran	21	12	11	10	6
Fife	19	16	10	17	15
Forth Valley	7	5	4	12	5
Grampian	21	30	33	18	23
Greater Glasgow	170	154	195	167	171
Highland	15	12	5	7	9
Lanarkshire	22	30	35	29	35
Lothian	59	47	53	53	80
Tayside	24	11	11	11	16
All other NHS Boards †	10	5	6	8	7
Scotland	403	351	393	366	384

	TB Rate (per 100,000)
NHS Board of Notification	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004*
Argyll and Clyde	8.3	6.9	7.2	8.2	4.1
Ayrshire and Arran	5.7	3.3	3.0	2.7	1.6
Fife	5.5	4.6	2.9	4.8	4.2
Forth Valley	2.5	1.8	1.4	4.3	1.8
Grampian	4.0	5.7	6.3	3.4	4.4
Greater Glasgow	19.6	17.7	22.5	19.3	19.7
Highland	7.2	5.7	2.4	3.3	4.3
Lanarkshire	4.0	5.4	6.3	5.2	6.3
Lothian	7.6	6.0	6.8	6.8	10.2
Tayside	6.1	2.8	2.8	2.8	4.1
All other NHS Boards†	3.1	1.6	1.9	2.5	2.2
Scotland	8.0	6.9	7.8	7.2	7.6

Notes:

*Data is provisional.

†To avoid deductive disclosure from small numbers, the data for Borders, Dumfries and Galloway, Orkney, Shetland and Western Isles NHS Boards is aggregated.

Question reference: S2W-19916

Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 October 2005
Current Status: Answered by Robert Brown on 16 November 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive what the average funding was per pupil in special schools in each of the last five years, broken down by local authority.

Local authority reported expenditure on special education is published in Expenditure on School Education in Scotland, 2005, table 4.1, which is available at:

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/stats/bulletins/00389-20.asp.

These figures include all aspects of expenditure on special education, including where pupils are in mainstream schools. It is therefore not possible to calculate per pupil expenditure figures for special schools.

Question reference: S2W-20410

Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 07 November 2005
Current Status: Answered by Rhona Brankin on 16 November 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had with officials of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs regarding the Waste Incineration Directive, with specific reference to burning tallow as a fuel.