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

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-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-19964

Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 20 October 2005
Current Status: Answered by Andy Kerr on 17 November 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive what the average waiting times have been for cancer patients from (a) diagnosis and (b) urgent GP referral to start of treatment in each of the last 12 quarters.

The average is affected disproportionately by a small number of waits that may be clinically appropriate. As NHS Scotland makes progress towards meeting the Executive’s waiting time targets and treats more patients who have had longer waits, median waiting times will rise

This can be demonstrated from the information in Table 1. in Q2 2002 the median wait was 18 days and 73% of patients were treated within one month of diagnosis; in Q1 2005 the median wait was 20 days and 81% of patients were treated within one month of diagnosis.

(a) Diagnosis to Start of Treatment

Breast Cancer

Information is collated centrally to report performance against the Scottish Executive target that by October 2001, women who have breast cancer and are referred for urgent treatment will begin that treatment within one month of diagnosis, where clinically appropriate.

Table 1:

Period of Diagnosis	Median Wait (Days)
Q2 2002	18
Q3 2002	16
Q4 2002	16
Q1 2003	16
Q2 2003	20
Q3 2003	20
Q4 2003	22
Q1 2004	18
Q2 2004	20
Q3 2004	20
Q4 2004	21
Q1 2005	20

Other Cancers

New systems were put in place from Q4 2004 to monitor compliance against the national cancer waiting times target that by the end of December 2005 the maximum wait from urgent referral to treatment for all cancers will be two months. These systems are being developed to include different types of cancer.

Table 2:

Period of Diagnosis	Median Wait (Days)
Q4 2004	19
Q1 2005	17

Note: Q4 2004 includes colorectal, lung and ovarian cancers initially (and from Q1 2005 also includes melanoma).

(b) Urgent Referral to Start of Treatment

Table 3:

Period of Referral	Median Wait (Days)
Q4 2004	41
Q1 2005	41

Note: Q4 2004 includes breast, colorectal, lung and ovarian cancers initially (and from Q1 2005 also includes melanoma).

Question reference: S2W-19956

Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 20 October 2005
Current Status: Answered by George Lyon on 17 November 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive in how many deaths malnutrition was recorded as a cause in each of the last 10 years, broken down by (a) age and (b) NHS board.

The information requested is given in the following table which covers all deaths where malnutrition was recorded on the death certificate. Malnutrition was selected as the underlying cause of death for some 15% of these cases.

Deaths in Scotland Where Malnutrition¹ was Recorded on the Death Certificate

	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004
(a) by age group
All ages	40	73	55	65	75	79	86	96	81	99
<15	-	1	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	-
15-29	1	1	1	-	2	-	1	-	3	1
30-44	-	3	4	-	3	5	1	2	6	5
45-59	4	4	8	9	5	2	12	16	15	14
60-74	9	26	20	16	25	26	27	25	25	38
75+	26	38	22	40	40	45	45	53	32	41
(b) by NHS Board Area
Argyll and Clyde	1	6	5	2	4	4	6	6	7	11
Ayrshire and Arran	4	8	6	5	4	10	8	7	4	6
Borders	-	2	2	-	3	2	3	3	4	3
Dumfries and Galloway	1	-	-	1	2	2	-	1	2	3
Fife	2	6	5	6	4	1	7	3	8	5
Forth Valley	1	2	1	4	4	6	1	7	6	5
Grampian	-	3	6	5	4	7	9	5	6	4
Greater Glasgow	16	20	8	13	16	27	13	19	15	21
Highland	3	1	1	7	3	2	2	2	1	5
Lanarkshire	3	7	6	2	6	2	4	7	6	11
Lothian	6	7	8	11	17	8	21	22	14	15
Orkney	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1
Shetland	-	1	-	1	-	1	1	2	1	1
Tayside	3	10	7	7	7	7	11	12	6	8
Western Isles	-	-	-	1	1	-	-	-	1	-

Notes:

1. International classification of diseases:

1995-99: Ninth revision (ICD9), codes 260 - 263

2000-04: Tenth revision (ICD10), codes E40 - E46.

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.

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-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-20411

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 representations it has made regarding the Waste Incineration Directive, with specific reference to burning tallow as a fuel.

Question reference: S2W-20409

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 EU officials regarding the Waste Incineration Directive, with specific reference to burning tallow as a fuel.

Question reference: S2W-20363

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 16 November 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive how many beds have been available in each NHS hospital in each year since 1997, broken down by major category.

The information requested is given in the table Average Available Staffed Beds by NHS Hospital and Specialty Group 1998 - 2005. A copy of which has been placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 37985).

The table 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 in-patients and day cases. Borrowed and temporary beds are included; beds in day bed units are excluded.

The Executive does not set target numbers for beds. These are local planning decisions taken by NHS boards who have the information necessary to make the correct judgements.

There are good reasons for reductions in bed numbers. These include:

Medical advances continue to reduce lengths of stay associated with many planned procedures, and some are now routinely carried out in a few hours without the need for any overnight stay.

Numbers of in-patient beds do not include beds in dedicated day surgery units. 64% of elective admissions are day cases where there is no need for an overnight bed.

NHSScotland is making better use of available beds. Average bed occupancy has risen from 78.5% in 1997-98 to 81.7% in 2004-05.