- Asked by: Stewart Maxwell, MSP for West of Scotland, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Tuesday, 15 March 2005
-
Current Status:
Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 18 March 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive how many people arrested have tested positively for alcohol since 1997, broken down by police force area.
Answer
The information requested is not collected centrally.
- Asked by: Stewart Maxwell, MSP for West of Scotland, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Monday, 14 February 2005
-
Current Status:
Answered by Andy Kerr on 17 March 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive what testing and treatment facilities are available for patients suffering from acoustic neuroma.
Answer
Acoustic neuromas are benigntumours that develop in the covering of the acoustic or auditory nerve. Tests andinvestigations include hearing tests, neurological examination CT or MRI scan andresults will enable a decision on the best type of treatment in individual cases.
Treatment decisions will be basedon a number of factors including general health and the size, rate of growth andposition of the tumour. In some cases, if the tumour is small or if it is not causingany symptoms, treatment may not be needed.
Some treatment is highly specialisedinvolving a team of clinical specialists in a few locations in Scotland. Theseinclude ENT surgery, Neurosurgery or Stereotactic Radiosurgery/Radiotherapy.
- Asked by: Stewart Maxwell, MSP for West of Scotland, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Wednesday, 16 February 2005
-
Current Status:
Answered by Rhona Brankin on 14 March 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to the second supplementary question to question S2O-5269 by Rhona Brankin on 3 February 2005, what meetings have taken place between the Deputy Minister for Health and the Minister for Justice on the subject of prosecuting shopkeepers who sell tobacco products to minors; what further meetings are scheduled and for which dates, and what the outcome was of those meetings which have already taken place.
Answer
Following evaluation of the “Test Purchasing Pilots” carried out in Scotland, the Lord Advocate announced his decision on 4 March 2005 to revise prosecution policy to allow evidence gained from test purchasing by children of age restricted goods, including tobacco products to be admissible. This will give Trading Standards Officers a useful tool to combat and reduce underage sales. The Scottish Executive will fund training for Trading Standards Officers to ensure that test purchasing is carried out fairly and safely and the protection of children participating will remain paramount.
In addition, the Scottish Executive is funding Young Scot and the Scottish Retail Consortium to produce information and training packs for retailers on how to avoid sales of age restricted goods to underage children. The continuing roll out of the “PASS” accredited Young Scot Card across Scotland, which includes an accredited proof of age element, will enable retailers to apply “no proof no sale” to all age restricted goods.
The Health Department will continue to keep closely in touch with the Crown Office and the Justice Department in relation to the roll-out of test purchasing and the other work which the Executive is taking forward on age restricted goods. In view of these developments, I no longer feel a meeting with the Justice Minister to specifically discuss the subject of prosecuting shopkeepers who sell tobacco products to minors is necessary at this time.
- Asked by: Stewart Maxwell, MSP for West of Scotland, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Wednesday, 16 February 2005
-
Current Status:
Answered by Andy Kerr on 14 March 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answers to questions S2W-6744 by Malcolm Chisholm on 18 March 2004 and S2W-13861 by Mr Andy Kerr on 9 February 2005, when it anticipates that the average cost of a telephone call to NHS 24 will be £22.
Answer
The average cost per call will change each month. That is due to fluctuations in running costs, for example, increases/decreases in numbers of staff and their salary costs. It will also change as the volumes of calls grow and with any seasonal effects.
NHS 24 became available to the whole of Scotland from mid November 2004. The figures for the fourth quarter (ending 31 March 2005) will for the first time show the fully rolled out operating costs for the national service. Financial year 2005-06 will be the first full year that an average cost per call will be available for the all-Scotland service.
The expected service improvements from the recently announced review of NHS 24 are likely to impact on the average cost per call. I am less concerned about what that impact might be than I am about securing improvements to the operational performance of the organisation - especially to the responsiveness of the service to callers and waiting times for service users.
- Asked by: Stewart Maxwell, MSP for West of Scotland, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Friday, 04 February 2005
-
Current Status:
Answered by Andy Kerr on 10 March 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive what the occupancy rate for acute beds has been in each of the last five years, broken down by NHS board.
Answer
The occupancy figures are shownin the table:
NHSScotland - Percentage Acute1 BedOccupancy2; by NHS Board Area: Years Ending 31 March 2000-04
| | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004P |
| Scotland | 80.0 | 81.1 | 81.3 | 81.8 | 81.6 |
| Argyll and Clyde | 83.0 | 82.8 | 82.0 | 79.8 | 79.9 |
| Ayrshire and Arran | 81.4 | 82.1 | 81.2 | 80.5 | 80.3 |
| Borders | 76.0 | 79.7 | 80.0 | 81.3 | 83.2 |
| Dumfries and Galloway | 74.3 | 74.9 | 76.1 | 76.3 | 76.6 |
| Fife | 83.8 | 84.0 | 81.5 | 81.8 | 83.2 |
| Forth Valley | 82.7 | 81.5 | 80.1 | 81.4 | 82.4 |
| Grampian | 77.9 | 79.8 | 81.3 | 82.7 | 81.7 |
| Greater Glasgow | 80.9 | 80.7 | 81.4 | 81.8 | 80.6 |
| Highland | 75.2 | 77.0 | 78.3 | 76.7 | 77.2 |
| Lanarkshire | 74.8 | 78.0 | 82.2 | 84.2 | 86.0 |
| Lothian | 85.1 | 85.5 | 82.8 | 84.7 | 85.3 |
| Orkney | 60.4 | 59.4 | 65.2 | 70.7 | 62.4 |
| Shetland | 59.6 | 68.9 | 72.1 | 65.9 | 60.6 |
| Tayside | 78.1 | 81.7 | 82.7 | 82.5 | 81.5 |
| Western Isles | 73.9 | 74.6 | 77.9 | 71.2 | 68.1 |
PProvisional.
Notes:
1. Acute care refers to specialties primarilyconcerned in the surgical, medical and dental sectors. Specifically excludedare the obstetric, psychiatric and long-stay sectors.
2. Includes joint-user and contractual hospitals.
The table shows information onbed occupancy, which is the proportion of available staffed beds that were occupiedby inpatients at midnight. Patients that are not present at the midnight census, suchas day cases, are not included.
The information is derived asfollows: percentage occupancy = occupied bed days * 100 / available staffed beddays.
- Asked by: Stewart Maxwell, MSP for West of Scotland, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Monday, 07 February 2005
-
Current Status:
Answered by Rhona Brankin on 3 March 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive what the average waiting times have been for (a) residential and (b) non-residential alcohol detoxification services in each of the last five years, broken down by NHS board.
Answer
This information is not held centrally.
- Asked by: Stewart Maxwell, MSP for West of Scotland, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Monday, 07 February 2005
-
Current Status:
Answered by Andy Kerr on 3 March 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-10883 by Mr Andy Kerr on 12 October 2004, when the letter promised on the availability of Scottish information from the World Health Organisation's European health for all database will be written.
Answer
I have responded to the member in two letters on this issue, dated 25 November 2004 and 10 February 2005.
- Asked by: Stewart Maxwell, MSP for West of Scotland, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Friday, 28 January 2005
-
Current Status:
Answered by Rhona Brankin on 25 February 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive how many people in each NHS board area have been diagnosed with degeneration of the nervous system due to alcohol in each of the last five years, broken down by (a) age and (b) gender.
Answer
Information on the number of patients diagnosed with degeneration of the nervous system due to alcohol in Scotland by year of admission showing age, sex and area of residence has been placed in the Parliament’s Reference Centre (Bib. number 35457). Due to the relatively small numbers involved in some health board areas, an age/sex breakdown is provided at Scotland level only.
- Asked by: Stewart Maxwell, MSP for West of Scotland, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Friday, 28 January 2005
-
Current Status:
Answered by Rhona Brankin on 25 February 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive how many people in each NHS board area have been diagnosed with alcoholic cardiomyopathy in each of the last five years, broken down by (a) age and (b) gender.
Answer
Information on the number of patients diagnosed with alcoholic cardiomyopathy in Scotland by year of admission showing age, sex and area of residence has been placed in the Parliament’s Reference Centre (Bib. number 35459). Due to the relatively small numbers involved in some health board areas, an age/sex breakdown is provided at Scotland level only.
- Asked by: Stewart Maxwell, MSP for West of Scotland, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Friday, 28 January 2005
-
Current Status:
Answered by Rhona Brankin on 25 February 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive how many people in each NHS board area have been diagnosed with mental and behavioural disorders due to alcohol in each of the last five years, broken down by (a) age and (b) gender.
Answer
Information on the number of patients diagnosed with mental and behavioural disorders due to alcohol in Scotland by year of admission showing age and sex has been placed in the Parliament’s Reference Centre (Bib. number 35456). In areas where the number of cases is very small a total only is shown.
