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: S3W-13458

Asked by: Gavin Brown, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 27 May 2008
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 10 June 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-12895 by Shona Robison on 20 May 2008, what plans it has to increase dental registration for people aged between 18 and 24 in Edinburgh.

The responsibility for the overall provision of NHS dental services in the area rests with the NHS board, NHS Lothian. Where a NHS board considers that the existing general dental service is insufficient, the NHS boards can appoint salaried dentists. NHS Lothian already employs a number of salaried dentists and are looking to approve further such posts.

NHS Lothian received £2.48 million from the 2006-07 and 2007-08 Primary and Community Care Premises Modernisation Programme to develop six dental surgeries in Bonnyrigg which will improve access in Midlothian and new clinical facilities within the Edinburgh Dental Institute will increase service provision and give improved access to patients. The addition of 20 dental chairs represents a 30% increase in capacity. It will assist with management of waiting times particularly in restorative and paediatric dentistry. The projects are due to open in the autumn of this year.

The Scottish Government have introduced a number of financial measures to improve access to NHS dental services and we are also working to continue to increase the dental workforce in Scotland, including Edinburgh.

Question reference: S3W-13610

Asked by: Gavin Brown, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 29 May 2008
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 6 June 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive how many acute occupied bed days in NHS Lothian were directly connected with drug-related conditions in each of the last three years for which the information is available, also broken down by age of patient.

The information requested is provided in table 1. It shows the total length of stay of patients treated in acute hospitals in NHS Lothian for drug-related conditions by age on admission in 2004-05, 2005-06 and 2006-07, the most recent years for which information is available. The figures for 2006-07 are provisional and may be subject to slight revision.

Figures in the table relate to those individuals who are treated as in-patients. They do not include individuals managed as out-patients. The figures exclude mental illness hospitals, psychiatric units and maternity hospitals.

Table 1: The Total Length Of Stay (Days) of Patients Treated in Acute Hospitals in NHS Lothian for Drug-Related Conditions^1,2by Age on Admission: 2004-05 to 2006-07^3,P

	2004-05	2005-06	2006-07^P
All Ages	2,508	2,982	2,826
Under 15 years	4	8	3
15-19 years	155	151	71
20-24 years	254	177	290
25-29 years	307	356	416
30-34 years	458	341	483
35-39 years	574	796	538
40-44 years	473	441	498
45-49 years	125	213	205
50-54 years	65	284	156
55-59 years	43	46	8
60 years and over	50	169	158

^PProvisional.

Source: ISD Scotland (SMR01).

Notes:

1. Diseases recorded using the World Health Organisation’s International Classification of Diseases 10th Revision (ICD10). Drug related conditions: F11, F12, F13, F14, F15, F16, F18, F19.

2. Excludes misuse of alcohol or tobacco.

3. Year associated with the date of discharge for each continuous in-patient stay.

Question reference: S3W-13609

Asked by: Gavin Brown, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 29 May 2008
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 6 June 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive how many acute occupied bed days in NHS Lothian were directly connected with alcohol-related conditions in each of the last three years for which the information is available, also broken down by age of patient.

The information requested is provided in table 1. It shows the total length of stay of patients treated in acute hospitals in NHS Lothian for alcohol-related conditions by age on admission in 2004-05, 2005-06 and 2006-07, the most recent years for which information is available. The figures for 2006-07 are provisional and may be subject to slight revision.

Figures in the tables relate to those individuals who are treated as in-patients, they do not include individuals managed as out-patients. The figures exclude mental illness hospitals, psychiatric units and maternity hospitals.

Table 1: The Total Length of Stay (Days) of Patients Treated in Acute Hospitals in NHS Lothian for Alcohol-Related Conditionsby Age on Admission: 2004-05 to 2006-07

	2004-05	2005-06	2006-07
All Ages	35,985	37,288	37,758
Under 15 years	52	95	49
15-19 years	174	553	216
20-24 years	420	473	428
25-29 years	523	589	745
30-34 years	526	680	636
35-39 years	1,840	1,791	1,422
40-44 years	2,120	2,999	2,928
45-49 years	3,504	3,411	2,881
50-54 years	3,159	4,409	4,019
55-59 years	4,408	4,654	5,833
60 years and over	19,259	17,634	18,601

Question reference: S3W-13608

Asked by: Gavin Brown, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 29 May 2008
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 6 June 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive how many hospital beds were available in NHS Lothian in each year since 1997 broken down by hospital.

The information requested on the average available acute staffed beds for each hospital in NHS Lothian for years ending 31 March 1998 to 2008 is available from the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 45752). Figures for the year end 31 March 2008 are provisional and may be subject to revision.

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 inpatients and day cases. The figures include borrowed beds, temporary beds, neo-natal and post-natal cots. Beds in day bed units are excluded.

The figures presented in the table are averages; due to rounding, totals and sub-totals may not equate to the sum of the component figures shown.

Question reference: S3W-13611

Asked by: Gavin Brown, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 29 May 2008
Current Status: Answered by Stewart Maxwell on 6 June 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive how many home repossessions there were in the Lothians parliamentary region in 2007-08, broken down by local authority area.

Question reference: S3W-13688

Asked by: Gavin Brown, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 29 May 2008
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 5 June 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive how many falls involving hospital patients were recorded in each year since 1999 in NHS Lothian.

Information on the number of falls and recording of such falls within hospitals is not held centrally. Recording and investigating the circumstances of falls and subsequent action is the responsibility of NHS boards.

Following the work of the Falls Prevention Group, the Scottish Government issued guidance last year which included advice for NHS boards, Community Health Partnerships and others on actions to prevent falls by older people and improve bone health. The guidance is available on the Scottish Government website at: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Health/care/OlderPeopleCare/fallsgroup. The guidance set out a number of recommendations for NHS boards to do locally, including the need for accurate recording and reporting of incidents, including falls.

Question reference: S3W-13456

Asked by: Gavin Brown, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 27 May 2008
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 5 June 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-12895 by Shona Robison on 20 May 2008, why information on dental registrations from 2002 to 2006 is not available.

Information on dental registrations is available by NHS board of residence from 2002 to 2006. Data, however, are not available by local authority area prior to March 2007 as historical information extracted from MIDAS (Management Information & Dental Accounting System), the NHS general dental service database, did not include the postcode of the dental practice, and therefore did not allow for matching to local authority area.

Question reference: S3W-13457

Asked by: Gavin Brown, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 27 May 2008
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 5 June 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-12895 by Shona Robison on 20 May 2008, when information will be available from December 2007 to March 2008 on the percentage of people registered with an NHS dentist in each local authority area in the Lothians, broken down by age group.

Question reference: S3W-13455

Asked by: Gavin Brown, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 27 May 2008
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 4 June 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive how many people under the age of 18 in the Lothians parliamentary region have had alcohol confiscated from them in the most recent year for which figures are available, broken down by local authority area.

The available information is given in the following table, which shows all offences recorded under section 61 of the Crime and Punishment (Scotland) Act 1997.

The police have powers under section 61 of the Crime and Punishment (Scotland) Act 1997 to confiscate alcohol from under 18s in a public place and dispose of it. Under this section, the police also have powers to confiscate alcohol from persons aged 18 or over, in a public place and dispose of it if that person has supplied, or intends to supply, alcohol to under 18s. If the alcohol is surrendered to the police, it is not an offence and so is not included in the recorded crime statistics. It is, however, an offence to fail to comply, for example by failing to surrender the alcohol or by failing to give his name and address if requested. The number of these criminal offences are shown in the table. It should be noted that this cannot be assumed to be a true representation of the number of incidents where alcohol was confiscated.

Number of Offences Recorded by Lothian and Borders Police under Section 61 of the Crime and Punishment (Scotland) Act 1997, by Local Authority Area, 2006-07

Local Authority Area	2002-03	2003-04	2004-05	2005-06	2006-07
City of Edinburgh	0	0	0	0	0
East Lothian	0	0	0	0	0
Midlothian	0	0	0	0	1
Scottish Borders	0	1	0	1	2
West Lothian	0	0	0	0	0
Lothian and Borders	0	1	0	1	3

Question reference: S3W-13308

Asked by: Gavin Brown, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 21 May 2008
Current Status: Answered by Stewart Stevenson on 3 June 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-12777 by Stewart Stevenson on 21 May 2008, whether it will provide a breakdown of attacks on Lothian buses on (a) normal bus services and (b) night buses.

The information requested is outlined in the following table.

Year	Number of Driver and Other Staff Assaults		Number of Passenger Assaults
	Normal Bus	Night Bus	Normal Bus	Night Bus
2002	96	None Reported	14	None Reported
2003	92	None Reported	35	None Reported
2004	85	5	22	0
2005	70	3	24	2
2006	88	3	36	3
2007	86	5	34	5

Source: Lothian Buses plc