Questions tabled by Marlyn Glen in the Scottish Parliament 2007-08

Ministerial Visits

15 June 2009

Marlyn Glen : To ask the Scottish Executive on how many occasions ministers have visited Ninewells Hospital in Dundee on official business using ministerial cars since May 2007.

John Swinney : Scottish Ministers have visited Ninewells Hospital in Dundee four times since May 2007 on official business, using ministerial cars.

 

Nursing Specialists

1 June 2009

Marlyn Glen : To ask the Scottish Executive how many (a) cancer, (b) diabetes, (c) infection control, (d) palliative care and (e) accident and emergency clinical nurse specialists there were in (i) NHS Tayside and (ii) Scotland in each of the last three years for which information is available.

Nicola Sturgeon : The following table details the number of clinical nurse specialists there were in (a) cancer, (b) diabetes, (c) infection control, (d) palliative care and (e) accident and emergency in NHS Tayside and NHS Scotland in the last three years as requested.

Table 1: Number (Head Count) of NHS Tayside and NHS Scotland Clinical Nurse Specialists as at 30 September

 

2006

2007

2008

 

NHS Tayside

NHS Scotland

NHS Tayside

NHS Scotland

NHS Tayside

NHS Scotland

Cancer 12 165 14 189 21 180
Diabetes 9 109 10 104 10 102
Infection Control 2 63 1 48 2 47
Palliative Care 20 86 17 72 22 76
Accident and Emergency 7 129 6 104 6 132

Table 2: Number (Whole-Time Equivalent) of NHS Tayside and NHS Scotland Clinical Nurse Specialists as at 30 September.

  2006 2007 2008
 

NHS Tayside

NHS Scotland

NHS Tayside

NHS Scotland

NHS Tayside

NHS Scotland

Cancer 11.9 153.5 13.7 173.9 20.2 165.3
Diabetes 8.1 93 8.3 86.3 8.5 86.4
Infection Control 2 59.1 1 45.8 2 44.9
Palliative care 18 79 15.6 65.5 19.6 68.9
Accident and Emergency 6.9 111.5 6 90.6 6 116.9

Source: Information Services Division (ISD) Scotland.

 

Marlyn Glen : To ask the Scottish Executive how many clinical nurse specialists there were in (a) NHS Tayside and (b) Scotland in each of the last three years for which information is available, expressed as whole-time equivalent and as a percentage of all NHS nurses and midwives.

Nicola Sturgeon: The following table provides the number of clinical nurse specialists in (a) NHS Tayside and (b) NHS Scotland in the last three years, expressed as whole-time equivalent and as a percentage of all NHS nurses and midwives as requested.

 

Clinical Nurse Specialists (CNS)

Nurses and Midwives

Percentage of CNS to total Nurses and Midwives

 

NHS Tayside

NHS Scotland

NHS Tayside

NHS Scotland

NHS Tayside

NHS Scotland

2006

110.5

1,346.2

4,912.3

56,783.9

2.2

2.4

2007

111.6

1,287.6

4,995.2

57,050.4

2.2

2.3

2008

136.7

1,433.3

5,029.4

57,949.6

2.7

2.5

Source: Information Services Division (ISD) Scotland.

Note: Figures shown are whole-time equivalent.

 

Ministerial Visits

1 June 2009

Marlyn Glen : To ask the Scottish Executive whether ministers have visited locations in the United States of America where the Family Nurse Partnership scheme is in operation and, if so, which ministers; on how many occasions, and on what dates.

Shona Robison: Nicola Sturgeon, Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Health and Wellbeing, visited a Nurse Family Partnership Project in Harlem, New York on Friday 10 April 2009.

 

Family Nurse Partnership

1 June 2009

Marlyn Glen : To ask the Scottish Executive whether the Family Nurse Partnership pilot in Lothian will operate under the same type of licence agreement as that in England.

Shona Robison: The Family Nurse Partnership pilot in Lothian will operate under the same type of licence conditions as those in England.

 

Marlyn Glen : To ask the Scottish Executive what adaptations would be required to the Family Nurse Partnership programme in England to allow it to be provided in Scotland.

Shona Robison : No adaptations are required.

 

Marlyn Glen : To ask the Scottish Executive what grades of nurses are participating in the Lothian pilot of the Family Nurse Partnership.

Shona Robison: There will be seven nurses included in the pilot. The job descriptions are adapted from the American requirements, which form part of the core model elements. The job descriptions are currently going through the Scottish Agenda for Change process, and these should be finalised during summer 2009.

 

Marlyn Glen : To ask the Scottish Executive what funding is being made available for the Lothian pilot of the Family Nurse Partnership.

Shona Robison: Funding for the pilot is still being assessed, and is partly dependant on the grades agreed for the nurses. However, the intention is to fully fund the nursing posts, administration, implementation lead and clinical psychologist for two years. Set up costs will also be included and these will be paid directly to NHS Lothian.

 

Marlyn Glen : To ask the Scottish Executive when the Lothian pilot of the Family Nurse Partnership will be completed and when it will be evaluated.

Shona Robison : Evaluation of the programme is key to assessing its success. The evaluation tender is being considered now, and the researchers will be in place when client recruitment begins in January 2010. The programme will be continually monitored, using agreed quality control measures, to ensure measurable outputs are met. It is intended that evaluation of outcomes will be undertaken on three occasions over the term of the pilot; at the end of pregnancy phase (summer 2011), infant phase (summer 2012) and toddler phase (summer 2013). It is expected the pilot for this initial cohort will finish around March 2013.

 

Marlyn Glen : To ask the Scottish Executive whether its staff posts related to the piloting of the Family Nurse Partnership involve secondment to the Family Nurse Partnership programme in England and, if so, for what period of time.

Shona Robison : We are working collaboratively with the central Family Nurse Partnership team in England. No formal secondment is envisaged.

 

Family Nurse Partnership

1 June 2009

 

Marlyn Glen : To ask the Scottish Executive how many of its staff are employed in the piloting and evaluation of the Family Nurse Partnership model; when these posts were advertised, and when they commence.

Shona Robison : We currently have one policy lead involved in programme management of the Family Nurse Partnership (FNP) pilot who started work in post just before Christmas 2008. We also have one FNP Implementation Lead, which is a seconded post from the NHS for two years. The post was advertised in January 2009, and the Implementation Lead began work on 20 April 2009.

 

Marlyn Glen : To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has discussed with the UK Department of Health the development of the Family Nurse Partnership programme in England since 2007 and, if so, on how many occasions.

Shona Robison: We have met with the central Family Nurse Partnership (FNP) team in England on a number of occasions to discuss how the programme could be developed. The licensing agreement is usually accompanied by a consultancy agreement, with the US. However, we have gained agreement from both Professor Olds and the UK Department of Health, that the central FNP team will offer Scotland the consultancy support.

 

NHS Staff

1 June 2009

Marlyn Glen : To ask the Scottish Executive how many allied health professionals there were in NHS Tayside in (a) arts therapy, (b) dietetics, (c) occupational therapy, (d) orthoptics, (e) orthotics, (f) podiatry, (g) prosthetics, (h) speech and language therapy and (i) radiography in each of the last two years for which information is available, expressed as headcount and as full-time equivalent.

Nicola Sturgeon : The numbers of allied health professionals in NHS Tayside in (a) arts therapy, (b) dietetics, (c) occupational therapy, (d) orthoptics, (e) orthotics, (f) podiatry, (g) prosthetics, (h) speech and language therapy and (i) radiography in each of the last two years are provided in the following tables:

Table 1. Number (head count) of NHSScotland Allied HHHhhealth Professions as at 30 September, NHS Tayside

 

2007

2008

Arts therapy

4

4

Dietetics

60

58

Occupational therapy

248

245

Orthoptics

10

8

Orthotics

17

20

Podiatry

75

71

Prosthetics

1

1

Speech and language therapy

86

89

Radiography

229

237

Source: Information Services Division (ISD) Scotland.

Table 2. Number (Whole-Time Equivalent) of NHSScotland Allied Health Professions as at 30 September, NHS Tayside

 

2007

2008

Arts therapy

3.0

3.0

Dietetics

49.8

48.7

Occupational therapy

205.2

201.4

Orthoptics

8.8

7.1

Orthotics

15.2

18.2

Podiatry

56.5

53.4

Prosthetics

1.0

1.0

Speech and language therapy

71.1

74.0

Radiography

192.8

201.8

Source: Information Services Division (ISD) Scotland.

 

Education

27 May 2009

 

Marlyn Glen : To ask the Scottish Executive how many pupils in Angus were presented for Spanish at (a) standard and (b) higher in each of the last three years, also expressed as a percentage of the year group.

Keith Brown : The available information is given in the following table.

Presentations for Spanish, Angus

Year

Standard Grade

Higher

 

Number

Percent

Number

Percent

2006

24

1.7

14

1.0

2007

17

1.2

21

1.5

2008

45

3.2

15

1.0

Notes:

1. The data in the table does not include equivalent qualification levels to standard grade (Access 3, Intermediate 1 and Intermediate

 2). Presentations are for all pupils in publicly funded secondary schools. Percentages for Standard Grades relate to the S4 roll, although not all presentations are by S4 pupils. Percentages for higher relate to the combined S5/S6 roll, although not all presentations are by S5 or S6 pupils.

 

 

Marlyn Glen : To ask the Scottish Executive how many pupils in Angus were presented for German at (a) standard and (b) higher grade in each of the last three years, also expressed as a percentage of the year group.

Keith Brown : The available information is given in the following table.

Presentations for German, Angus

Year

Standard Grade

Higher

 

Number

Percent

Number

Percent

2006

242

17.1

39

2.9

2007

328

22.8

32

2.2

2008

340

24.4

35

2.4

Notes:

1. The data in the table does not include equivalent qualification levels to standard grade (Access 3, Intermediate 1 and Intermediate 2).

2. Presentations are for all pupils in publicly funded secondary schools. Percentages for standard grades relate to the S4 roll, although not all presentations are by S4 pupils. Percentages for higher relate to the combined S5/S6 roll, although not all presentations are by S5 or S6 pupils.

 

 

Marlyn Glen : To ask the Scottish Executive how many pupils in Angus were presented for French at (a) standard and (b) higher in each of the last three years, also expressed as a percentage of the year group.

Keith Brown: The available information is given in the following table.

Presentations for French, Angus

Year

Standard Grade

Higher

 

Number

Percent

Number

Percent

2006

729

51.5

75

5.6

2007

637

44.3

81

5.7

2008

730

52.4

71

4.9

Notes:

1. The data in the table does not include equivalent qualification levels to standard grade (Access 3, Intermediate 1 and Intermediate 2).

Presentations are for all pupils in publicly funded secondary schools. Percentages for standard grades relate to the S4 roll, although not all presentations are by S4 pupils. Percentages for higher relate to the combined S5/S6 roll, although not all presentations are by S5 or S6 pupils.

 

 

Marlyn Glen : To ask the Scottish Executive how many pupils in Dundee were presented for Spanish at (a) standard and (b) higher grade in each of the last three years, also expressed as a percentage of the year group.

Keith Brown : The available information is given in the following table.

Presentations for Spanish, Dundee

Year

Standard Grade

Higher

 

Number

Percent

Number

Percent

2006

165

9.8

21

1.3

2007

173

10.4

19

1.2

2008

188

11.3

19

1.2

Notes:

1. The data in the table does not include equivalent qualification levels to standard grade (Access 3, Intermediate 1 and Intermediate

 2).Presentations are for all pupils in publicly funded secondary schools. Percentages for standard grades relate to the S4 roll, although not all presentations are by S4 pupils. Percentages for higher relate to the combined S5/S6 roll, although not all presentations are by S5 or S6 pupils.

 

 

 

Marlyn Glen : To ask the Scottish Executive how many pupils in Dundee were presented for German at (a) standard and (b) higher grade in each of the last three years, also expressed as a percentage of the year group.

Keith Brown : The available information is given in the following table.

Presentations for German, Dundee

Year

Standard Grade

Higher

 

Number

Percent

Number

Percent

2006

331

19.6

21

1.3

2007

307

18.5

24

1.5

2008

298

17.9

33

2.1

Notes:

1. The data in the table does not include equivalent qualification levels to standard grade (Access 3, Intermediate 1 and Intermediate

 2). Presentations are for all pupils in publicly funded secondary schools. Percentages for standard grades relate to the S4 roll, although not all presentations are by S4 pupils. Percentages for higher relate to the combined S5/S6 roll, although not all presentations are by S5 or S6 pupils.

 

 

Marlyn Glen : To ask the Scottish Executive how many pupils in Dundee were presented for French at (a) standard and (b) higher grade in each of the last three years, also expressed as a percentage of the year group.

Keith Brown : The available information is given in the following table.

Presentations for French, Dundee

Year

Standard Grade

Higher

 

Number

Percent

Number

Percent

2006

808

47.9

42

2.7

2007

702

42.3

55

3.5

2008

686

41.3

63

4.0

Notes:

1. The data in the table does not include equivalent qualification levels to standard grade (Access 3, Intermediate 1 and Intermediate 2).

2. Presentations are for all pupils in publicly funded secondary schools. Percentages for standard grades relate to the S4 roll, although not all presentations are by S4 pupils. Percentages for higher relate to the combined S5/S6 roll, although not all presentations are by S5 or S6 pupils.

 

14 May 2009

Exports

Marlyn Glen : To ask the Scottish Executive what the estimated value is of exports to each European country in the last year for which information is available, also expressed as a percentage of total exports.

Jim Mather :

Table 1: Estimated Total of Overseas Scottish Exports, 2007

 

Estimated Value of Scottish Exports

(£ Million)

Estimated

Percentage

All countries

20,665

100.0%

Table 2: Estimated Scottish Exports to EU Countries within the Top 20, 2007

 

Estimated Value of Scottish Exports

(£ Million)

Estimated

Percentage

France

1,475

7.1%

Netherlands

1,420

6.9%

Germany

1,335

6.5%

Eire

1,040

5.0%

Spain

895

4.3%

Italy

685

3.3%

Belgium

510

2.5%

Denmark

425

2.1%

Sweden

405

2.0%

Table 3: Estimated Scottish Exports to Remaining EU Countries, 2007

 

Estimated Value of Scottish Exports

(£ Million)

Estimated

Percentage

Greece

230

1.1%

Portugal

180

0.9%

Finland

140

0.7%

Poland

115

0.6%

Austria

60

0.3%

Czech Republic

60

0.3%

Cyprus

55

0.3%

Hungary

50

0.2%

Estonia

50

0.2%

Malta

45

0.2%

Romania

30

0.1%

Luxembourg

25

0.1%

Latvia

20

0.1%

Bulgaria

15

0.1%

Slovak Republic

15

0.1%

Slovenia

5

0.0%

Lithuania

5

0.0%

Slovakia

0

0.0%

Source: Scotland''s Global Connections 2007.

Note: All value estimates are rounded to the nearest £5 million.

 

 

NHS Staff

Marlyn Glen : To ask the Scottish Executive how many physiotherapists employed by NHS Tayside are 55 or over and what percentage of physiotherapists employed by NHS Tayside this represents.

Nicola Sturgeon: Taken from nationally published data, the following table provides the number of physiotherapists employed by NHS Tayside as at 30 September 2008 that are 55 or over and the percentage of physiotherapists employed by NHS Tayside this represents.

Total

Aged 55+

% Aged 55+

238.0

18.0

7.6%

Source: Information Services Division (ISD) Scotland.

 

 

Marlyn Glen : To ask the Scottish Executive how many physiotherapists were employed by NHS Tayside in each of the last three years for which information is available, expressed both as whole-time equivalent and in headcount figures, also broken down by (a) junior and (b) senior grades.

Nicola Sturgeon: Taken from nationally published data, the following tables provide the details of the number of physiotherapists employed in NHS Tayside as at 30 September in each of the last three years. Due to the assimilation of the workforce onto Agenda for Change bandings it is not possible to provide band groupings before September 2007.

NHS Tayside - Physiotherapists

2006

Head Count

Whole-Time Equivalent

Unqualified

3

2.1

Qualified

191

152.5

Total

194

154.6

2007

Head Count

Whole-Time Equivalent

Band 1-4

33

24

Band 5-9

161

130.2

Not assimilated

34

26.3

Total

228

180.5

2008

Head Count

Whole-Time Equivalent

Band 1-4

38

26.5

Band 5-9

197

157.7

Not assimilated

3

2.8

Total

238

187.0

Source: Information Services Division (ISD) Scotland of NHS National Services Scotland.

 

Parkinson's Disease

Marlyn Glen : To ask the Scottish Executive how many specialist nurses dealing with Parkinson’s disease there have been in each NHS board area in each of the last three years for which information is available.

Nicola Sturgeon : Numbers are as shown in the following table:

Nurses Specialising in Parkinson's Disease

 

2006

2006

2007

2007

2008

2008

 

HC

WTE

HC

WTE

HC

WTE

Scotland

12

10.5

14

12.1

13

11.9

NHS Ayrshire and Arran

-

-

-

-

1

1

NHS Borders

-

-

-

-

-

-

NHS Dumfries and Galloway

-

-

-

-

-

-

NHS Fife

2

1.6

1.6

1.6

2

1.6

NHS Forth Valley

1

1

1

1

1

1

NHS Grampian

1

1

1

1

1

1

NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde

6

4.9

5.5

5.5

5

4.3

NHS Highland

1

1

1

1

1

1

NHS Lanarkshire

-

-

-

-

-

-

NHS Lothian

-

-

-

-

-

-

NHS Orkney

-

-

-

-

-

-

NHS Shetland

-

-

-

-

-

-

NHS Tayside

1

1

2

2

2

2

NHS Western Isles

-

-

-

-

-

-

Source: Scottish Workforce Information Standard System (SWISS).

 

11 May 2009

Nursing

 

Marlyn Glen : To ask the Scottish Executive how much additional money was given to each participating NHS board to develop the community health nurse pilot scheme in 2008-09.

Nicola Sturgeon : The total additional funding provided in 2008-09 to each NHS health board participating in the community health nurse pilot is as follows.

NHS Board

£

NHS Borders

122,000

NHS Highland

222,000

NHS Lothian

282,000

NHS Tayside

282,000

 

NHS Staff

 

Marlyn Glen : To ask the Scottish Executive how much the evaluation of the community health nurse pilot scheme is estimated to cost and to which organisation the contract has been awarded.

Nicola Sturgeon : The cost of the evaluation of the community health nurse pilots is yet to be determined as the contract for the evaluation is yet to be awarded.

The timescale for the project was extended as the planning and transition phase has taken longer than originally anticipated.

 

Marlyn Glen : To ask the Scottish Executive when it expects to announce its decision on the evaluation of the community health nurse pilot scheme.

Nicola Sturgeon : A decision on the future of community nursing services will be made once the full implications of the research, which is not expected to be concluded until the autumn of 2010, have been considered. However, ministers will also consider an interim evaluation report in December 2009.

 

 

05 May 2009

NHS Staff

 

Marlyn Glen : To ask the Scottish Executive how many employees of NHS Tayside receive pay point 1 or pay point 2 and what percentage of the workforce they comprise.

Nicola Sturgeon: Under the terms of the UK-wide Agenda for Change agreement, current numbers of employees within NHS Tayside who receive either pay point 1 or pay point 2 are as follows:

Total Number of Employees at 30.09.08 (excluding GPs and GDPs)

Number of Employees currently on pay points 1 and 2 of Agenda for Change

Numbers of Employees on pay points 1 and 2 expressed as a percentage of total number of employees

13,607

834

6%

Pay point 1 is currently £6.76 per hour and pay point 2 is £6.94 per hour. Both are significantly above the national minimum wage.

 

01 May 2009

Life Expectancy

Marlyn Glen : To ask the Scottish Executivewhat the figures for life expectancy have been for (a) Scotland and (b) the NHS Tayside area since 2004.

Nicola Sturgeon : The information is as follows:

  2003-05 2004-06 2005-07
  Male Female Male Female Male Female
Scotland 74.2 79.2 74.6 79.6 74.8 79.7
NHS Tayside 75.0 79.5 75.4 80.1 75.6 80.4

Life expectancy for administrative areas within Scotland is calculated and published annually by the General Register Office for Scotland:

http://www.gro-scotland.gov.uk/statistics/publications-and-data/life-expectancy/index.html.

 

Expectancy

Marlyn Glen : To ask the Scottish Executive what estimates are available of healthy life expectancy for the NHS Tayside area since 2004, broken down by community health partnership.

Nicola Sturgeon: Life expectancy (LE) and healthy life expectancy (HLE) estimates for NHS board and Community Health Partnership (CHP) areas, including those in Tayside, are based on deaths and populations aggregated over a five-year period for statistical robustness. HLE also requires a third essential component, self-assessed health (SAH), which is only available for NHS board and CHP areas within Scotland, from the last census carried out in 2001.

Therefore, HLE has been estimated for the period 1999-2003, using SAH from the 2001 Census. Data in the following tables have been published on the Scottish Public Health Observatory (ScotPHO) HLE pages: www.scotpho.org/uk/hle data sections for NHS boards and CHP''s.

Table 1. Male LE and HLE at Birth in NHS Tayside, and by CHP

Males

1999-2003

2001-05

Area

LE

HLE

LE

HLE

Scotland

73.3

66.3

73.9

n/a

NHS Tayside

74.1

68.1

74.7

n/a

Angus CHP

74.9

69.4

75.3

n/a

Dundee CHP

71.8

64.6

72.5

n/a

Perth and Kinross CHP

75.9

70.8

76.4

n/a

Source: Information Services Division Scotland.

Table 2. Female LE and HLE at birth in NHS Tayside, and by CHP

Females

1999-2003

2001-05

Area

LE

HLE

LE

HLE

Scotland

78.7

70.2

79.1

n/a

NHS Tayside

79.2

71.8

79.4

n/a

Angus CHP

79.2

72.7

79.6

n/a

Dundee CHP

78

68.8

78.1

n/a

Perth and Kinross CHP

80.5

74.2

80.6

n/a

Source: Information Services Division Scotland.

 

Marlyn Glen : To ask the Scottish Executive what estimates are available of healthy life expectancy for the NHS Tayside area since 2004.

Nicola Sturgeon : Life expectancy (LE) and Healthy life expectancy (HLE) estimates for NHS board, including those in Tayside, are based on deaths and populations aggregated over a five-year period for statistical robustness. HLE also requires measurements of a third essential component, self-assessed health (SAH).

For NHS board areas within Scotland SAH can only be obtained from the Census, which was last carried out in 2001. Therefore, HLE has been estimated for the period 1999-2003, using SAH data from the 2001 Census. The NHS board data in tables 1 and 2 have been published on the Healthy Life Expectancy pages of the Scottish Public Health Observatory (ScotPHO) website:

http://www.scotpho.org.uk/home/Populationdynamics/hle/hle_data/hle_nhsboards.asp.

Estimates of LE and HLE for males and females in NHS Tayside are shown in the following tables:

Table 1. Male LE and HLE at birth, NHS Tayside 1999-2003.

Males

1999-2003

2001-05

Area

LE

HLE

LE

HLE

Scotland

73.3

66.3

73.9

n/a

NHS Tayside

74.1

68.1

74.7

n/a

Source Information Services Division (ISD) Scotland.

Table 2. Female LE and HLE at birth, NHS Tayside 1999-2003.

Females

1999-2003

2001-05

Area

LE

HLE

LE

HLE

Scotland

78.7

70.2

79.1

n/a

NHS Tayside

79.2

71.8

79.4

n/a

Source Information Services Division (ISD) Scotland.

 

Health

03 March 2009

Marlyn Glen : To ask the Scottish Executive what the initial revenue allocations to NHS Tayside (a) were in each financial year since 2004-05 and (b) will be in 2009-10 and what the value is of these amounts taking inflation into account.

Nicola Sturgeon : The initial revenue allocations to NHS Tayside from 2004-05 and the inflation adjusted figures are shown below:

Year

Initial Allocation

(£ million)

Adjusted Figure

(£ million)

2004-05

451.9

511.3

2005-06

483.5

536.1

2006-07

517.0

557.9

2007-08

549.1

575.5

2008-09

566.4

574.9

2009-10

578.6

578.6

The adjusted figures are shown at 2009-10 prices.

 

Health

26 February 2009

Marlyn Glen : To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of mothers smoked during pregnancy in (a) the NHS Tayside area and (b) Scotland in each of the last three years.

Shona Robison: Information on women smoking at booking is published on the Scottish Health Statistics website under the Births & Babies website at (http://www.isdscotland.org/isd/2911.html).

For access to the data, please click on the chart titled "Smoking at booking by NHS board of residence: 2007", then select the NHS board or Scotland tab at the bottom of the sheet and the year tab at the top of the sheet.

Marlyn Glen : To ask the Scottish Executive what the fertility rates were per 1,000 of female population in age groups (a) 20 to 24, (b) 25 to 29, (c) 30 to 34, (d) 35 to 39 and (e) 40 to 44 in (i) Dundee and (ii) Angus in the last two years for which information is available.

Shona Robison: The information requested is given in the following tables for 2006 and 2007. Figures for 2008 will be available in August 2009.

(i) Fertility Rates Per 1,000 of Female Population in Dundee

Age Group
Year 20-24 25-29 30-34 35-39 40-44
2006

63.5

79.0

85.8

34.8

7.5

2007

65.6

92.4

86.4

39.5

6.8

(ii) Fertility Rates Per 1,000 of Female Population in Angus

Age Group
Year 20-24 25-29 30-34 35-39 40-44
2006

82.8

121.6

105.7

41.6

6.5

2007

87.0

136.7

106.4

45.2

6.5

Source: General Register Office for Scotland.

Marlyn Glen : To ask the Scottish Executive what the average age of mothers was at time of giving birth in each of the last two years in (a) Dundee and (b) Angus.

Shona Robison: The information requested is given in the following table for 2006 and 2007. The corresponding figures for 2008 are not yet available.

Average Age of Mothers at Time of Giving Birth in Dundee and Angus, 2006 and 2007

Year Dundee Angus
2006

27.5

29.2

2007

27.5

29.2

 

Bursaries

24 February 2009

Marlyn Glen : To ask the Scottish Executive how many full-time university students in (a) Dundee City and (b) Angus council areas have been in receipt of bursaries in each of the last three years.

Fiona Hyslop: The following table presents the number of full-time university students domiciled in Dundee City and Angus local authority areas who were in receipt of bursary support from the Student Awards Agency for Scotland (SAAS) in academic years 2005-06 to 2007-08. The total number of Scottish domiciled full-time university students in receipt of bursaries in each academic year is also shown.

Number of Full-Time University Students Receiving Bursary Support

Local Authority 2005-06 2006-07 2007-08
Angus

1,055

1,020

1,020

Dundee City

1,350

1,380

1,355

Scotland

42,810

43,030

42,790

 

NHS Finance

23rd. February 2009

Marlyn Glen : To ask the Scottish Executive what the value was of each capital allocation to NHS Tayside in each financial year since 2005-06 taking inflation into account.

Nicola Sturgeon: The value of the formula capital allocations to NHS Tayside from 2005-06 taking inflation into account are shown in the following table:

Year

Formula Capital Allocation

£ Million

Adjusted for Inflation

£ Million

2005-06

16.906

18.748

2006-07

20.276

21.883

2007-08

24.347

25.516

2008-09

24.650

25.008

2009-10

25.030

25.030

The figures are adjusted for 2009-10 prices.

 

NHS Finance

13 February 2009

Marlyn Glen: To ask the Scottish Executive what the capital allocations have been to NHS Tayside in each year since 2005-06.

Nicola Sturgeon: The formula capital allocations made to NHS Tayside since 2005-06 are shown in the following table:

Year £ Million
2005-06

16.906

2006-07

20.276

2007-08

24.347

2008-09

24.650

2009-10

25.030

   

 

Vaccinations

13 February 2009

Marlyn Glen : To ask the Scottish Executive what the MMR vaccination uptake rate was in NHS Tayside in each of the last three years, broken down by community health partnership.

Shona Robison: MMR vaccination uptake rates by community health partnership are published on the Information Service Division (ISD) Scotland website under Child Health at:

http://www.isdscotland.org/isd/ch-immunisation.jsp?pContentID=5407&p_applic=CCC&p_service=Content.show&.

Data is available by calendar year for 2006 and 2007 and by quarter from the period ending 30 June 2006 to 30 September 2008. Data for the quarter and calendar year ending 31 December 2008 will be published at the end of March 2009.

 

Dentistry

21 January 2009

Marlyn Glen : To ask the Scottish Executive how much has been spent on dental bursaries for dental students at the University of Dundee in (a) each financial year since the introduction of the scheme and (b) 2008-09.

Shona Robison: The information requested is shown in the following table.

Financial Year

Amount of Bursary Paid

2006-07

856,000

2007-08

888,000

2008-09 (to date)

864,000

 

Student Finance

21 January 2009

Marlyn Glen : To ask the Scottish Executive how many dentistry students at the University of Dundee have (a) applied for and (b) received a dental bursary in 2008-09, broken down by year of study and also expressed as a percentage of the total number of undergraduate students in each year.

Shona Robison : The information requested is shown in the following table.

Course Year

Number of Applicants

in Receipt of Bursary

% Uptake of Bursary

2

41

62

3

55

81

4

76

84

5

40

59

 

Homecoming Scotland

21 January 2009

Marlyn Glen : To ask the Scottish Executive how much has been allocated to themed events in (a) Dundee and (b) Angus for Homecoming Scotland 2009 and whether it will list each event being supported financially.

Jim Mather : The Homecoming themed events taking place in Angus and Dundee are the Angus and Dundee Roots Festival, including the Fest''n''Furious, taking place late September, early October and receiving £19,000 funding and Doors Open Days which includes venues in Dundee. Doors Open Days take place across Scotland and are receiving £20,000 funding.

 

Pre-School Education

14 January 2008

Marlyn Glen : To ask the Scottish Executive how the number of whole-time equivalent General Teaching Council for Scotland registered teachers employed to provide pre-school education by (a) Dundee City and (b) Angus councils compares with the number required in those areas to meet the SNP manifesto commitment to ensure that every child of nursery age has access to a qualified nursery teacher.

Adam Ingram : The 2008 pre-school and childcare census includes a table which shows the percentage of children who had access to a teacher during census week in each local authority area. This can be viewed on the Scottish Government''s website at the following address:

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2008/09/12150803/29.

I refer the member to the answer to questions S3W-11417 and S3W-16579 on 16 April 2008, and 9 October 2008 respectively. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament''s website, the search facility for which can be found at:

http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/Apps2/Business/PQA/Default.aspx.

These answers referred to above set out the Scottish Government''s position on setting a minimum level of access.

 

 

Marlyn Glen : To ask the Scottish Executive how many whole-time equivalent General Teaching Council for Scotland registered teachers are employed to provide pre-school education by (a) Dundee City and (b) Angus councils.

Adam Ingram : The latest information on the whole-time equivalent of GTCS registered teachers employed to provide pre-school education in each Scottish local authority (as at January 2008), by type of provider, was published by the Scottish Government on 17 September 2008 (table 26).

This publication can be found using the following link:

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/stats/bulletins/00682.

 

 

Employment

6 January 2009

Marlyn Glen : To ask the Scottish Executive what the median gross hourly earnings were for full-time employees resident in (a) Dundee, (b) Angus and (c) Aberdeenshire in the last year for which information is available, also broken down by gender.

John Swinney : The preferred source for earnings estimates is the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE), which is carried out by the Office for National Statistics.

Table 1 shows the median gross hourly earnings for full-time employees resident in Dundee City, Angus and Aberdeenshire local authorities. The latest year for which data is available is 2008.

Table 1 " Median Gross Hourly Pay (£) for Full-Time Employee Jobs1 of People Resident in selected Local Authorities (2008)

Local Authority

All

Male

Females

Dundee City

11.00

12.12

10.14

Angus

11.75

12.30

11.18

Aberdeenshire

12.46

13.21

11.05

Source: Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, Office for National Statistics.

 

Central Heating Programme

5 January 2009

Marlyn Glen : To ask the Scottish Executive how many people have been on the waiting list for a free central heating system in the DD postcode area in each month since, and including, July 2008 for which information is available.

Stewart Maxwell : Information provided by the managing agent, for the DD postcode area, on the number of applicants on the waiting list in each month during the period requested is shown in the following table:

Month of Application

Number of Applicants on Waiting List

July 2008

305

August 2008

284

September 2008

216

October 2008

175

November 2008

183

 

Marlyn Glen : To ask the Scottish Executive how many new applications have been received for a free central heating system in the DD postcode area in each month since, and including, July 2008 for which information is available and how many have been considered as eligible.

Stewart Maxwell : Information provided by the managing agent, for the DD postcode area, on the number of applications and the number accepted, subject to survey, in each month during the period requested is shown in the following table:

Month of Application

Number of Applications

Accepted Subject to Survey

July 2008

42

9

August 2008

41

18

September 2008

41

15

October 2008

82

62

November 2008

119

86

Total

352

190

 

NHS Hospitals

16 December 2008

Marlyn Glen : To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Wellbeing’s statements on 11 September 2008 that a buy-out of the PFI contract for car parking at Ninewells Hospital "would cost tens of millions of pounds" (Official Report c. 10734 and 10736) and subsequent notification in a letter dated 12 November 2008 to Marlyn Glen MSP that this estimated cost emerged in a telephone conversation between her officials and representatives of NHS Tayside, for what reason the cabinet secretary is unable to provide a copy of the written record of the telephone conversation, as stated in a letter to Marlyn Glen dated 18 November 2008.

Answered by Nicola Sturgeon: The written record of the conversation contained officials'' initial assessment of the potential negotiating position of the PFI provider. It would undermine NHS Tayside''s negotiating position if that figure was in the public domain and therefore it is not in the public interest to release it.


Healthcare Associated Infection

12 December 2008

Marlyn Glen : To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will introduce a minimum age of two years for the national surveillance programme for Clostridium difficile associated disease.

Nicola Sturgeon: I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-16201 on 19 September 2008.

All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament''s website, the search facility for which


Dentistry

21 November 2008

Marlyn Glen : To ask the Scottish Executive how many attendances there were at the accident and emergency department of Dundee Dental Hospital in each month since January 2008.

Shona Robison : The information requested has been provided by NHS Tayside and is shown in the following table. The figures cover complete months from January to October 2008.

Month Attendances
January

634

February

752

March

727

April

799

May

689

June

784

July

800

August

686

September

743

October

770

Total

7,384

 


Health

Marlyn Glen : To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of P1 pupils was classified as (a) overweight, (b) obese and (c) severely obese in the last year for which information is available.

Shona Robison : Obesity statistics for children in P1 are collected through the Child Health Surveillance Programme. The most recent figures available are for school year 2006-07: 21.0% of children in P1 were overweight, including 8.5% who were obese and 4.3% who were severely obese. The full set of statistics and background notes are published on the NHS Information Services website at www.isdscotland.org/child_obesity (click on Obesity Statistics and BMI background).


School Meals

18 November 2008

Marlyn Glen : To ask the Scottish Executive what participation rates among P1 to P3 pupils receiving free school meals from August 2010 were assumed in the local government finance settlement for the period up to 2011.

Adam Ingram: We have assumed participation rates of 70% of P1 to P3 pupils that would not otherwise be entitled to free school meals.


Health

11 November 2008

Marlyn Glen : To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of drugs prescribed in NHS Tayside was generic in each of the last two years for which information is available.

Nicola Sturgeon : The rate of generic prescribing in primary care in NHS Tayside for financial year 2006-07 was 83.23% and for 2007-08 was 82.38%.


NHS Expenditure

11 November 2008

Marlyn Glen : To ask the Scottish Executive how much has been spent on medicines in hospitals in NHS Tayside in each of the last two years for which information is available.

Nicola Sturgeon : Hospital drugs expenditure in NHS Tayside was £19.036 million in financial year 2006-07 and £17.332 million in 2005-06.


Cancer

12 November 2008

Marlyn Glen : To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of eligible women was screened for cervical cancer in each of the last 10 years, also broken down by age group.

Shona Robison : Information Services Division (ISD) have provided the percentage of uptake for Cervical Screening by age group in Scotland1, 1 April 1997 to 31 March 2008, these are:

Percentage Uptake 2,3 of Females Who Had a Record of a Previous Smear Taken Within Last 5.5 Years

Age group

1997-98

1998-99

1999-00

2000-01

2001-02

2002-03

2003-04

2004-05

2005-06

2006-07

2007-08

20-24

66.3

64.7

63.3

64.2

64.1

63.5

62.6

60.7

58.8

56.6

53.2

25-29

85.9

85.3

84.9

84.5

84.1

83.5

83.0

81.8

80.7

79.0

73.3

30-34

89.8

89.5

89.4

89.2

88.9

88.2

87.8

86.9

85.9

84.9

78.4

35-39

91.3

91.0

91.1

90.9

90.8

90.4

89.9

89.0

88.4

88.5

82.0

40-44

92.2

91.9

92.0

91.6

91.6

91.2

90.2

89.9

89.6

88.7

84.1

45-49

93.1

92.9

92.7

92.3

92.2

91.7

91.2

90.3

89.7

88.8

85.0

50-54

91.0

91.0

91.3

91.0

91.1

90.9

90.6

89.8

89.3

88.4

84.5

55-59

85.5

85.6

86.7

87.1

87.6

87.8

87.7

87.3

86.8

86.1

82.9

60-64

70.2

71.3

72.0

72.4

74.0

75.6

76.7

77.2

76.9

76.9

81.1

Target age group 20-60

87.0

86.6

86.7

86.5

86.5

86.0

85.5

84.6

83.8

82.6

77.9

Percentage Uptake 2,3 of Females Who Had a Record of a Previous Smear Taken Within Last 3.5 Years

Age group

1997-98

1998-99

1999-00

2000-01

2001-02

2002-03

2003-04

2004-05

2005-06

2006-07

2007-08

20-24

64.2

62.6

61.3

62.1

62.3

61.7

60.9

59.1

57.2

55.2

50.2

25-29

80.6

79.8

79.5

79.0

78.9

78.2

77.5

76.1

74.5

72.3

63.3

30-34

84.7

84.2

84.1

84.1

83.9

83.2

82.3

81.0

79.4

78.0

68.8

35-39

86.0

85.5

85.7

85.6

85.8

85.4

84.5

83.2

82.0

80.6

72.8

40-44

86.3

85.9

86.1

86.1

86.4

86.1

84.9

84.2

83.1

82.0

75.3

45-49

86.8

86.4

86.5

86.4

86.8

86.1

85.5

84.3

83.2

82.1

76.5

50-54

84.5

84.6

85.1

85.1

85.7

85.5

85.0

84.0

82.8

81.7

76.3

55-59

79.2

79.5

80.8

81.4

82.5

82.7

82.3

81.6

80.5

79.6

75.3

60-64

53.2

54.2

55.4

54.7

56.8

58.8

59.5

59.4

57.7

57.8

67.6

Target age group 20-60

81.7

81.2

81.4

81.4

81.7

81.2

80.6

79.3

78.0

76.5

69.7

 

 

Marlyn Glen : To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of eligible women was screened for cervical cancer in the NHS Tayside area in each of the last 10 years, also broken down by age group.

Shona Robison : Information Services Division (ISD) have provided the percentage of uptake for Cervical Screening by age group in Tayside NHS Board, 1 April 1997 to 31 March 2008, these are:

Percentage Uptake1,2 of Females Who Had a Record of a Previous Smear Taken Within Last 5.5 Years

Age group

1997-98

1998-99

1999-00

2000-01

2001-02

2002-03

2003-04

2004-05

2005-06

2006-07

2007-08

20-24

61.0

58.5

58.7

67.9

67.5

67.0

64.7

61.6

59.2

56.8

54.2

25-29

82.3

81.5

82.2

83.4

84.0

82.7

81.4

79.4

77.5

75.0

73.4

30-34

87.5

87.0

87.0

88.5

88.5

87.9

86.9

85.7

84.1

83.0

81.4

35-39

89.1

89.1

89.9

91.6

91.1

91.0

90.5

88.8

87.5

86.1

85.3

40-44

90.6

90.1

90.4

92.0

91.6

91.1

91.1

90.7

90.0

88.8

87.8

45-49

92.2

91.8

91.4

92.6

92.4

91.8

91.0

90.0

89.0

88.1

87.6

50-54

91.4

91.4

91.8

92.0

91.5

91.2

90.9

89.7

88.8

88.1

87.1

55-59

87.1

86.5

87.4

88.6

88.7

88.8

88.7

87.8

86.7

85.6

86.0

60-64

72.8

73.0

74.1

70.5

69.7

69.9

69.8

72.1

71.9

73.3

86.8

Target age group 20-60

85.4

84.5

84.9

87.2

87.1

86.6

85.8

84.3

82.8

81.3

80.1

 

Percentage Uptake1,2 of Females Who Had a Record of a Previous Smear Taken Within Last 3.5 Years

Age group

1997-98

1998-99

1999-00

2000-01

2001-02

2002-03

2003-04

2004-05

2005-06

2006-07

2007-08

20-24

58.2

55.5

55.6

64.1

64.1

63.2

61.0

57.9

55.8

53.3

51.0

25-29

73.4

74.1

74.7

75.3

76.4

75.4

74.0

70.8

68.4

65.4

63.7

30-34

81.1

80.2

80.2

80.9

81.3

81.2

79.5

76.8

75.0

73.5

72.1

35-39

83.0

82.7

83.4

84.4

84.3

84.5

83.2

80.2

78.5

77.3

76.4

40-44

84.2

83.7

84.3

85.2

85.1

85.0

84.4

82.9

81.4

80.3

79.6

45-49

85.8

85.6

85.3

85.9

86.1

85.4

83.9

82.4

81.0

79.9

79.6

50-54

84.8

85.3

85.1

85.4

85.7

85.5

84.4

82.4

81.4

80.5

79.4

55-59

80.7

80.9

81.9

82.2

82.9

83.4

82.4

81.0

79.6

78.5

79.1

60-64

48.4

51.9

51.9

42.1

44.3

47.3

47.0

49.5

49.4

50.4

70.9

Target age group 20-60

79.4

78.5

78.9

80.5

80.9

80.6

79.2

76.8

75.1

73.5

72.5

 


Dentistry

12 November 2008

Marlyn Glen : To ask the Scottish Executive how many NHS dental patients have been deregistered in NHS Tayside in each of the last 12 months for which information is available.

Shona Robison : The available information is shown in the following table.

NHS General Dental Service Patients Whose Registration Status Shows Withdrawn1,2 for NHS Tayside; Between July 2007 and June 2008

Month

2007-08

July

36

August

116

September

54

October

84

November

48

December

55

January

54

February

47

March

45

April

64

May

42

June

73

 

Marlyn Glen : To ask the Scottish Executive how many NHS dental patients have been newly registered in NHS Tayside in each of the last 12 months for which information is available.

Shona Robison: Latest available information on newly registered patients in NHS Tayside in each of the last 12 months is presented in the following table.

Number of newly registered NHS dental patients in NHS Tayside in each month from November 2007 to October 2008:

Number of Newly Registered Patients not Previously Registered with a Dentist in Tayside

Month

in 12 Months Preceding1,2

Since October 19902,3

November 2007

2,155

1,178

December 2007

1,547

852

January 2008

2,043

1,145

February 2008

2,305

1,281

March 2008

2,201

1,159

April 2008

2,241

1,261

May 2008

2,090

1,167

June 2008

1,981

1,048

July 2008

1,824

984

August 2008

2,262

1,301

September 2008

2,056

1,213

October 2008

1,189

792

Total

23,894

13,381

 

 

Marlyn Glen : To ask the Scottish Executive how many general, hospital and community dentists there were in NHS Tayside in (a) March 2008 and (b) March 2007, expressed as a headcount and by whole-time equivalent.

Shona Robison: The head count information for NHS Tayside is shown in the following table.

Hospital and community dentist data is only available as at 30 September and is also shown. Information on the whole-time equivalent of staff working in the NHS general dental service is not available as the working hours of each dentist are not collected.

Number of Dentists1 Providing NHS General Dental Services; in NHS Tayside; at 31 March

 

2007

2008

Number of Dentists (Head Count)

216

220

Whole-Time Equivalent (WTE) and Head Count of Hospital and Community Dentists; in NHS Tayside; at 30 September2

 

2006

2007

  Head Count WTE Head Count WTE
Hospital dentists

77

51.9

70

51.0

Community dentists

29

23.9

40

33.0

 

12 November 2008

Marlyn Glen : To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of (a) adults and (b) children was registered with an NHS dentist in June 2008, broken down by community health partnership area, and what the comparable figures were in March 2008.

Shona Robison : The information by Community Health Partnership for March 2007 to June 2008 is published at:

http://www.isdscotland.org/isd/servlet/FileBuffer?namedFile=dent_reg_table2_june08.xls&pContentDispositionType=attachment.

The information does not represent the percentage of people in each Community Health Partnership who are registered. Registrations (numerator) are based on the postcode of the practice where the patient has registered with a general dental practitioner. The population (denominator) is based on where the patient resides, in this case the Community Health Partnership. In some cases, the number of registrations may exceed the actual number of people in the chosen population.


Healthcare Associated Infection

10 November 2008

 

Marlyn Glen : To ask the Scottish Executive whether the target set for NHS boards of a 30% reduction in the rate of Clostridium difficile in people over 65 by 2011 will be accompanied by additional allocations to NHS boards outwith the £54 million already to be allocated over the next three years to tackle healthcare-acquired infection.

Nicola Sturgeon: Additional funding to support the new target of up to £2 million is being made available to NHS boards from within the resources provided to tackle healthcare associated infection in Scotland.


Justice

6 November 2008

Marlyn Glen : To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to develop alternatives to custody for women offenders to counter the unprecedented intake of women to HM Prison Cornton Vale.

Kenny MacAskill : This government is committed to radical action to end the cycle of offending and re-offending. Prison will always remain the right place for those who commit serious crimes and present a risk to our communities. But tough community penalties delivered swiftly and consistently are more effective in dealing with those whose offences are of a less serious nature.

We know that custody is often not the most appropriate option for women offenders. The Community Justice Authorities have identified women as a priority group and this is reflected in schemes such as diversion from prosecution and supervised bail. We are spending over £600,000 per year on piloting Drug Treatment and Testing Orders for all lower tariff offenders including women and have increased spending on supervised bail by over 40%. Additional funding of £190,000 per year has been made available to the South West Community Justice Authority for piloting an innovative approach making use of mentors/link workers for adult female offenders given a community sentence.


28 October 2008

Education

Marlyn Glen : To ask the Scottish Executive what the projected number is of pupils who will be in P1 to P3 in (a) Dundee and (b) Angus in August 2010.

Maureen Watt : Projected pupil numbers in each stage for each local authority are not generally produced centrally. However, using trends in the five to seven year old population from GRO Scotland''s projections and 2007 participation rates, pupil projections would be 4,550 in Dundee City and 4,100 in Angus.

28 October 2008

School Meals

Marlyn Glen : To ask the Scottish Executive what the average cost was of providing a school meal in the free school meals pilot for P1 to P3 pupils.

Adam Ingram : Information on the costs associated with the free school meals trial for P1 to P3 pupils is included in the report on the findings of the independent evaluation of the trial which is available on the Scottish Government website at:

www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2008/08/29114033/0.

 

Marlyn Glen : To ask the Scottish Executive how much funding was given to each local authority to participate in the free school meals pilot for P1 to P3 pupils.

Adam Ingram : The following table sets out the amount of funding we provided to each of the local authorities participating in the free school meals trial for P1 to P3 pupils.

Local Authority

£

East Ayrshire

561,000

Fife

1,714,000

Glasgow City

1,309,000

Scottish Borders

593,000

West Dunbartonshire

455,000


School Meals

3 October 2008

Marlyn Glen : To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3O-4300 by Fiona Hyslop on 25 September 2008, what the estimated cost is to each local authority of extending entitlement to free school meals to all primary and secondary pupils whose parents or carers are in receipt of maximum child and working tax credit

Adam Ingram : I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-11245 on 16 April 2008. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament''s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.


Hospital-Acquired Infection

19 September 2008

Marlyn Glen : To ask the Scottish Executive why Health Protection Scotland’s Report on Review of Clostridium difficile Associated Disease Cases and Mortality in all acute hospitals in Scotland from December 2007- May 2008 has recommended an age of 15 for the minimum limit for the extension of the national surveillance programme for Clostridium difficile-associated disease.

Nicola Sturgeon : I am advised by Health Protection Scotland (HPS) that existing testing methods for Clostridium difficile are not recommended for children under the age of 15. Younger children are carriers of Clostridium difficile without any symptoms and the disease does not appear to occur in childhood. Given the lack of appropriate tests and the probability that this group of individuals is at very low risk it does not seem appropriate to recommend testing which is unproven and could lead to unnecessary treatment. HPS will, however, keep the situation under review.

 

Marlyn Glen : To ask the Scottish Executive whether it intends to study the effect of the introduction of a minimum age limit of two years on the mandatory surveillance of Clostridium difficile-associated disease in (a) England from April 2007, (b) Wales from September 2008 and (c) Northern Ireland from April 2008.

Nicola Sturgeon : Yes. As with all areas of healthcare associated infection, Health Protection Scotland (HPS) regularly monitors developments around the UK and in other countries. It will continue to study all the research evidence to determine whether testing in this age group should be introduced here.


Domestic Abuse

4 September 2008

Marlyn Glen : What resources are being put in place to roll out the ASSIST victim support services needed to match the extended responsibilities of the Domestic Abuse Court in Glasgow and how similar support services across Scotland will be funded.

Kenny MacAskill : In June 2008, I announced that, alongside the roll-out of the Domestic Abuse Court in Glasgow, the Scottish Government will be extending provision for the ASSIST service to support victims and their children in the 3 police divisions of the city of Glasgow.

Ministers are currently considering a proposal from ASSIST and I expect a decision to be made shortly.

The Scottish Government accepted the conclusion of the feasibility study group that to assist the support to victims and their children across Scotland, development work is required to:

Develop occupational standards for working with victims of domestic abuse;

Increase the collaboration and opportunity for joint activity between key agencies working with victims of domestic abuse and other forms of violence against women;

Work with local partners providing services to victims to develop enhanced support provision, and

Develop an operational manual that could be used to improve support for victims of domestic abuse and enable organisations to develop co-ordination and advocacy work.

Further details can be found in section 5 of the feasibility study group report.

This work will be taken forward over the next three years.


Economy

2 September 2008

 

Marlyn Glen To ask the Scottish Executive what effect the classification of students as economically inactive has had on the reported figure for the rate of economic activity in Dundee City in each of the last three years.

Jim Mather: The number of students classified as economically inactive in Dundee City during the last three calendar years is shown in the following table. This also shows the level of economically inactive students as a percentage of the working-age population in Dundee City.

It should be noted that not all students are classified as economically inactive. A student who does at least one hour paid work or has stated that they are actively seeking and available for work is classified as economically active. The effect on Dundee City''s economic activity rate of some students being classified as economically inactive is not quantified as the Scottish Government does not hold information on whether those individuals would be economically active or inactive if they were not students.

Year

2005

2006

2007

Number of Inactive Students

5,700

5,000

5,200

Percentage of Working-Aged Population

5.9%

5.6%

5.9%

Source: Annual Population Survey (APS).

Notes:

1. Working age population refers to men aged 16 to 64 and women aged 16 to 59.

2. Figures on number of Inactive Students are rounded to the nearest hundred.

 

 

Marlyn Glen : To ask the Scottish Executive what the rates of economic activity have been in (a) Dundee City and (b) Scotland in each of the last three years.

Jim Mather : The official source of economic activity rates by local authority is the Annual Population Survey (APS). The following table shows the economic activity rates in Dundee City and Scotland for the last three calendar years.

Year

2005

2006

2007

Economic Activity Rate - Dundee City

76.6%

76.6%

77.6%

Economic Activity Rate - Scotland

79.2%

80.0%

79.9%

Note: Rate applies to working age population (i.e. men aged 16 to 64 and women aged 16 to 59).

Further information from the 2007 Annual Population Survey can be viewed on the Scottish Government website at http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2008/06/25095306/0.

 

Marlyn Glen : To ask the Scottish Executive what the estimated gross value added was for Angus and Dundee City in each of the last three years for which figures are available, also expressed per head.

John Swinney : The gross value added and gross value added per head estimates for the area of Angus and Dundee City for the latest three years (2003, 2004 and 2005) are reported in the following table:

Headline Gross Value Added (£ Million) and Gross Value Added Per Head at Current Basic Prices

 

2003

2004

20051

Gross Value Added

3,502

3,709

3,894

Gross Value Added per head

13,973

14,806

15,506

Note: 1. Provisional.

These figures were published by the Office for National Statistics and can be found in tables NUTS3.1 and NUTS3.2 of the Regional, sub regional and local gross value added publication:

http://www.statistics.gov.uk/pdfdir/gva1207.pdf.


Vaccinations

4 September 2008

Marlyn Glen : To ask the Scottish Executive whether nursing staff other than school nurses will participate in the implementation of the human papilloma virus (HPV) vaccination programme from September 2008 as part of the community health nurse pilot scheme in NHS Tayside.

Shona Robison : Within NHS Tayside, school nurses will lead the implementation of the HPV vaccination programme supported by the other nursing staff. The other nursing staff will consist of both community staff nurses and public health staff nurses. All nurses will undergo a training programme if required.


NHS Staff

3 September 2008

Marlyn Glen : To ask the Scottish Executive how many school nurses there were in the NHS Tayside area in each of the last three years for which figures are available, expressed in (a) full-time equivalent and (b) headcount terms.

Nicola Sturgeon: The following table provides the number of whole-time equivalent (WTE) and head count school nurses in Tayside in 2003, 2004, 2005. These figures are collected by Information Services Division (ISD) Scotland.

Data for 2006 is unavailable due to the non-direct match between Whitley Council grades and new Agenda for Change grades. Data for 2007 has not been included as accuracy cannot yet be guaranteed. This reflects the fact that the assimilation of NHS staff to Agenda for Change bandings by NHS boards is on-going. There may also be anomalies with the coding which may affect correct numbers of staff being identified.

NHS boards are currently working through a process of cleaning up the data to ensure future high quality data standards. Once full assimilation to Agenda for Change has been achieved, the publication of workforce statistics will be updated to reflect this.

 

Number of WTE Qualified School Nurses

Number of Head Count Qualified School Nurses

2003

22.0

40

2004

20.8

37

2005

21.6

37


Dentistry

28 August 2008

Marlyn Glen : To ask the Scottish Executive whether the target set for NHS boards, in Better Health, Better Care: Action Plan, that 80% of all three to five-year-olds should be registered with a NHS dentist by 2010-11 also means that a target of 80% registration has been set for the same age group in each Community Health Partnership in each NHS board.

Shona Robison : It is for NHS boards to manage the delivery of the target through their local delivery plans and there is therefore no explicit national target set at the level of Community Health Partnership areas.


NHS Hospitals

1 September 2008

Marlyn Glen MSP : To ask the Scottish Executive what the percentage acute bed occupancy has been in each hospital in NHS Tayside in each year since 2003.

Nicola Sturgeon : The percentage acute bed occupancy for hospitals in NHS Tayside is shown in the following table.

Table 1: Percentage Occupancy in Acute Specialites in NHS Tayside by Hospital1

 

Financial Year Ending

 

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008P

NHS Tayside

81.4

81.4

81.5

82.3

82.4

81.9

Ninewells

82.9

81.5

83.4

82.7

84.9

82.8

Fernbrae Hospital2

x

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

..

Ashludie Hospital3

91.9

90.8

76.2

x

x

x

Royal Victoria Hospital

77.6

84.9

83.3

84.6

81.0

87.1

Perth Royal Infirmary

87.4

84.1

86.0

85.5

87.8

81.3

St Margaret''s Hospital

66.5

66.9

66.5

63.7

65.0

69.2

Aberfeldy Community Hospital

68.9

66.0

68.0

54.3

70.6

64.0

Irvine Memorial Hospital

54.1

51.4

48.0

53.2

54.9

59.6

Blairgowrie Community Hospital

83.0

82.1

85.7

80.6

81.5

79.0

Beechgrove House4

83.9

49.7

x

x

x

x

Arbroath Infirmary

73.2

68.4

65.7

68.2

79.1

86.9

Brechin Infirmary

78.7

61.9

68.7

58.5

61.2

58.5

Forfar Infirmary5

70.1

62.0

67.0

21.7

x

x

Montrose Royal Infirmary

82.6

100.0

82.5

73.4

60.2

59.8

Stracathro 2

68.7

65.6

61.7

57.1

64.9

..

Crieff Community Hospital

74.0

75.8

72.8

72.5

84.9

74.2

Whitehills Health and Community Centre6

x

x

x

71.5

82.1

77.6

Source: ISD(S)1.


Hospital-Acquired Infection

22 August 2008

Marlyn Glen : To ask the Scottish Executive how many recorded cases of Clostridium difficile there have been in (a) NHS Tayside and (b) Scotland in the latest available 12 month period, broken down into people aged (a) two to 44, (b) 45 to 64, (c) 65 to 74 and (d) 75 and over.

Nicola Sturgeon : Mandatory surveillance on the total number of cases of Clostridium difficile reported by NHS board was introduced in September 2006. This information is collected by Health Protection Scotland (HPS) and is published in quarterly reports on their website. HPS does not hold processed (i.e. de-duplicated) and reviewed data for patients below 65 years old. Data are not held by the requested age groups.

Information for NHS boards since September 2006, for patients over 65, is in the following table:

 

October 2006 - December 2006

January 2007 - March 2007

April 2007 - June 2007

July 2007 -September 2007

October 2007 - December 2007

January 2008 - March 2008

Total number of cases in Scotland

1,213

1,775

1,588

1,459

1,608

1,861

Since the beginning of the mandatory surveillance programme for Clostridium Difficile Associated Disease (CDAD) in Scotland started in October 2006, a total of 999 cases of CDAD have been reported in NHS Tayside in those aged 65 years and over.

During the past 12 months (from July 2007-June 2008), a total of 550 cases of CDAD have been reported.

All cases, except for those in the most recent quarter (from Apr 2008-June 2008) have been reviewed and confirmed by the local laboratories in NHS Tayside.

 

July 2007 " September 2007

October 2007 " December 2007

January 08 " March 2008

April 2008 " June 2008

Cases of CDAD aged 65 and over

131

135

139

145*

Note: *Data not reviewed yet.

 

Marlyn Glen : To ask the Scottish Executive how many recorded cases of clostridium difficile there have been in NHS Tayside in each month since January 2008, broken down by (a) PCR ribotype and (b) recording hospital.

Nicola Sturgeon: Health Protection Scotland (HPS) collects information, by NHS board, on cases of c-diff and on PCR ribotyping. C-diff is identified in laboratories by testing for the presence of a toxin, and does not routinely require ribotyping. Ribotyping is currently only carried out in c-diff cases which meet certain national protocol criteria. Information on PCR ribotypes is therefore collected at a national level and is not broken down by NHS board.

The information requested on c.diff cases is published quarterly by HPS at http://www.hps.scot.nhs.uk/haiic/newsdetail.aspx?id=160. Latest information on the number of cases of c-diff reported in NHS Tayside, since January 2008 year is provided in the following table. Information is not broken down by hospital.

 

Jan 2008 - March 2008

Total number of cases in Scotland

1,861

NHS Tayside

139

Source: Health Protection Scotland.


Higher Education

7 August 2008

Marlyn Glen : To ask the Scottish Executive what the (a) employment, (b) unemployment and (c) further study or training rates were six months after graduation for graduates in (i) English, (ii) mathematics, (iii) science and (iv) psychology from Scottish institutions in the latest year for which information is available.

Fiona Hyslop : The statistics the member requested are shown in the following table.

Destination of Full-Time Higher Education Graduates from Scottish Institutions Six Months after Graduating by Subject Area: 2005-06

 

Total

Study/Training

Permanent Home Employment

Temporary Home Employment

Overseas Employment

Believed Unemployed

Other

Total

5,835

1,865

2,260

670

175

350

510

English

825

280

270

110

40

40

80

Mathematics

420

125

180

55

5

25

35

Science (Excluding Psychology and Mathematics)

3,625

1,250

1,390

375

100

220

295

Psychology

965

215

425

135

25

70

100

Source: Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA), Scottish Funding Council (SFC).

Notes:

The overall response rate, including both HESA and SFC data, for the subject groups in the above table was 78%.

Figure have been rounded to the nearest five. 0, 1, 2 have been rounded to 0. Figures may not sum exactly to totals due to rounding.

Figures in this table have been weighted according to response rates by subject of study

Believed unemployed includes graduates from higher education institutions that are looking for employment, further study or training or are due to start a job in the next month plus graduates from further education colleges who have no arrangement for further study or employment.

Other destinations include those who are unable to work, looking after the home or family, taking time out in order to travel, or are not otherwise included under an alternative heading.

 

 

Marlyn Glen : To ask the Scottish Executive how many European language graduates from Scottish institutions had found employment in the (a) business services, (b) wholesale and retail, (c) manufacturing, (d) banking and finance and (e) transport and communications sector six months after graduation in the latest year for which information is available.

Fiona Hyslop : The statistics are presented in the following table.

Full-Time Higher Education Graduates Gaining Employment Six Months After Graduation from Scottish Institutions by Industry of Employer and Subject Studied (%): 2005-06

 

Total

Banking and Finance

Business Services

Manufacturing

Transport and Communication

Wholesale and Retail

Other Industry

Total

100%

21%

29%

15%

18%

5%

12%

French

100%

24%

28%

17%

16%

5%

10%

German

100%

24%

24%

16%

18%

3%

16%

Spanish

100%

20%

20%

15%

17%

7%

20%

Italian

100%

23%

43%

10%

3%

10%

10%

Other European Language

100%

15%

32%

12%

26%

5%

11%

Source: Higher education Statistics Agency (HESA) and Scottish Funding Council (SFC).

Note: The overall response rate, including both HESA and SFC data, for the subject groups in the above table was 78%.


Central Heating Programme

8 August 2008

Marlyn Glen : To ask the Scottish Executive how many new applications have been received for a free central heating system in the DD postcode area in each of the last 12 months for which information is available and how many were considered to be eligible.

Stewart Maxwell: The number of applications received in the DD postcode area during each of the last twelve months, as notified by the Managing Agent, is shown in the following table.

Period

Applications Received

Applications Taken Forward (Subject to Survey)

July 2007

136

108

August 2007

119

104

September 2007

93

82

October 2007

139

127

November 2007

130

108

December 2007

67

55

January 2008

115

94

February 2008

112

83

March 2008

121

88

April 2008

124

97

May 2008

126

95

June 2008

73

19

Total

1,355

1,060

Note: An initial assessment on the application is made, normally by telephone, and those applications are recorded for a home survey visit. The information collected during the initial assessment is then confirmed during the survey stage in the applicant’s home.

 

7 August 2008

Marlyn Glen : To ask the Scottish Executive what the (a) employment, (b) unemployment and (c) further study or training rates were six months after graduation for graduates in (i) English, (ii) mathematics, (iii) science and (iv) psychology from Scottish institutions in the latest year for which information is available.

Fiona Hyslop : The statistics the member requested are shown in the following table.

Destination of Full-Time Higher Education Graduates from Scottish Institutions Six Months after Graduating by Subject Area: 2005-06

 

Total

Study/Training

Permanent Home Employment

Temporary Home Employment

Overseas Employment

Believed Unemployed

Other

Total

5,835

1,865

2,260

670

175

350

510

English

825

280

270

110

40

40

80

Mathematics

420

125

180

55

5

25

35

Science (Excluding Psychology and Mathematics)

3,625

1,250

1,390

375

100

220

295

Psychology

965

215

425

135

25

70

100

Source: Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA), Scottish Funding Council (SFC).

Notes:

The overall response rate, including both HESA and SFC data, for the subject groups in the above table was 78%.

Figure have been rounded to the nearest five. 0, 1, 2 have been rounded to 0. Figures may not sum exactly to totals due to rounding.

Figures in this table have been weighted according to response rates by subject of study

Believed unemployed includes graduates from higher education institutions that are looking for employment, further study or training or are due to start a job in the next month plus graduates from further education colleges who have no arrangement for further study or employment.

Other destinations include those who are unable to work, looking after the home or family, taking time out in order to travel, or are not otherwise included under an alternative heading.

 

 

Marlyn Glen : To ask the Scottish Executive how many European language graduates from Scottish institutions had found employment in the (a) business services, (b) wholesale and retail, (c) manufacturing, (d) banking and finance and (e) transport and communications sector six months after graduation in the latest year for which information is available.

Fiona Hyslop : The statistics are presented in the following table.

Full-Time Higher Education Graduates Gaining Employment Six Months After Graduation from Scottish Institutions by Industry of Employer and Subject Studied (%): 2005-06

 

Total

Banking and Finance

Business Services

Manufacturing

Transport and Communication

Wholesale and Retail

Other Industry

Total

100%

21%

29%

15%

18%

5%

12%

French

100%

24%

28%

17%

16%

5%

10%

German

100%

24%

24%

16%

18%

3%

16%

Spanish

100%

20%

20%

15%

17%

7%

20%

Italian

100%

23%

43%

10%

3%

10%

10%

Other European Language

100%

15%

32%

12%

26%

5%

11%

Source: Higher education Statistics Agency (HESA) and Scottish Funding Council (SFC).

Note: The overall response rate, including both HESA and SFC data, for the subject groups in the above table was 78%.


Central Heating Programme

8 August 2008

Marlyn Glen : To ask the Scottish Executive how many new applications have been received for a free central heating system in the DD postcode area in each of the last 12 months for which information is available and how many were considered to be eligible.

Stewart Maxwell: The number of applications received in the DD postcode area during each of the last twelve months, as notified by the Managing Agent, is shown in the following table.

Period

Applications Received

Applications Taken Forward (Subject to Survey)

July 2007

136

108

August 2007

119

104

September 2007

93

82

October 2007

139

127

November 2007

130

108

December 2007

67

55

January 2008

115

94

February 2008

112

83

March 2008

121

88

April 2008

124

97

May 2008

126

95

June 2008

73

19

Total

1,355

1,060

Note: An initial assessment on the application is made, normally by telephone, and those applications are recorded for a home survey visit. The information collected during the initial assessment is then confirmed during the survey stage in the applicant’s home.

 

 

Marlyn Glen : To ask the Scottish Executive how many free central heating systems were installed in the DD postcode area in the period from 1 April 2007 to 31 March 2008.

Stewart Maxwell : The managing agent has indicated that between 1 April 2007 and 31 March 2008, a total of 892 central heating systems were installed in the DD postcode area.

 

 

Marlyn Glen : To ask the Scottish Executive how many free central heating installations have taken place in the DD postcode area since 1 April 2008.

Stewart Maxwell : The managing agent has indicated that between 1 April and 30 June 2008, a total of 147 central heating systems were installed in the DD postcode area.

 

Marlyn Glen : To ask the Scottish Executive how many people have been on the waiting list for a free central heating system in the DD postcode area in each of the last 12 months for which information is available.

Stewart Maxwell : The number of applicants on the waiting list in the DD postcode area for each of the last 12 months, as notified by the managing agent, is shown in the following table.

Period

Number of Applicants on Waiting List

July 2007

577

August 2007

631

September 2007

675

October 2007

710

November 2007

652

December 2007

635

January 2008

604

February 2008

529

March 2008

446

April 2008

416

May 2008

434

June 2008

375

 


Population

6 August 2008

Marlyn Glen : To ask the Scottish Executive what the projected population of Dundee in 2018 is, broken down into (a) men aged 16 to 64 and (b) women aged 16 to 59.

John Swinney: The most recent, 2006-based, population projections show that the projected population of Dundee City in 2018 is 137,597 and that this includes (a) 41,138 men aged 16 to 64 and (b) 40,443 women aged 16 to 59.


Higher Education

4 August 2008

Marlyn Glen : To ask the Scottish Executive what the (a) employment, (b) unemployment and (c) further study or training rates were six months after graduation for graduates in (i) French, (ii) German, (iii) Spanish, (iv) Italian and (v) other European languages from Scottish institutions in the latest year for which information is available.

Fiona Hyslop : The statistics the member requested are shown in the following table.

Destination of Full-Time Higher Education Graduates from Scottish Institutions Six Months after Graduating by Subject Area (%): 2005-06

  Total Study/Training Permanent Home Employment Temporary Home Employment Overseas Employment Believed Unemployed Other
Total 100% 21% 29% 15% 18% 5% 12%
French 100% 24% 28% 17% 16% 5% 10%
German 100% 24% 24% 16% 18% 3% 16%
Spanish 100% 20% 20% 15% 17% 7% 20%
Italian 100% 23% 43% 10% 3% 10% 10%
Other European Language 100% 15% 32% 12% 26% 5% 11%

Source: Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA), Scottish Funding Council (SFC).

 

Marlyn Glen : To ask the Scottish Executive what the (a) employment, (b) unemployment and (c) further study or training rates were six months after graduation for graduates in (i) English, (ii) mathematics, (iii) science and (iv) psychology from Scottish institutions in the latest year for which information is available.

Fiona Hyslop : The statistics the member requested are shown in the following table.

Destination of Full-Time Higher Education Graduates from Scottish Institutions Six Months after Graduating by Subject Area: 2005-06

  Total Study/Training Permanent Home Employment Temporary Home Employment Overseas Employment Believed Unemployed Other
Total 5,835 1,865 2,260 670 175 350 510
English 825 280 270 110 40 40 80
Mathematics 420 125 180 55 5 25 35
Science (Excluding Psychology and Mathematics) 3,625 1,250 1,390 375 100 220 295
Psychology 965 215 425 135 25 70 100

Source: Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA), Scottish Funding Council (SFC).

 

Marlyn Glen : To ask the Scottish Executive how many European language graduates from Scottish institutions had found employment in the (a) business services, (b) wholesale and retail, (c) manufacturing, (d) banking and finance and (e) transport and communications sector six months after graduation in the latest year for which information is available.

Fiona Hyslop : The statistics are presented in the following table.

Full-Time Higher Education Graduates Gaining Employment Six Months After Graduation from Scottish Institutions by Industry of Employer and Subject Studied (%): 2005-06

  Total Banking and Finance Business Services Manufacturing Transport and Communication Wholesale and Retail Other Industry
Total 100% 21% 29% 15% 18% 5% 12%
French 100% 24% 28% 17% 16% 5% 10%
German 100% 24% 24% 16% 18% 3% 16%
Spanish 100% 20% 20% 15% 17% 7% 20%
Italian 100% 23% 43% 10% 3% 10% 10%
Other European Language 100% 15% 32% 12% 26% 5% 11%

Source: Higher education Statistics Agency (HESA) and Scottish Funding Council (SFC).


NHS Staff

29 July 2008

Marlyn Glen : To ask the Scottish Executive how many epilepsy nurse specialists there are in (a) NHS Tayside and (b) Scotland, shown on a (i) whole-time equivalent and (ii) headcount basis.

Shona Robison : The requested information is as follows:

Epilepsy Nurse Specialists (as at 30 September 2007)

  NHS Tayside Scotland
Whole-Time Equivalent 2.0 15.0
Head Count 2 16

Source: Information Services Division (ISD) Scotland.


Scottish Government Funding

24 July 2008

Marlyn Glen : To ask the Scottish Executive what the core allocation to the Dundee Science Centre will be in each financial year to 2011-12, also expressed in real terms.

Fiona Hyslop : The core allocation for each of the years requested is given in the following table:

Year Core allocation

£ million

Value in real terms

(at 2007-08 prices)

£ million

2008-09 0.2 0.194
2009-10 0.228 0.216
2010-11 0.26 0.24

 


Enterprise

1 July 2008

Marlyn Glen : To ask the Scottish Executive how many businesses were located in Dundee in (a) 2000 and (b) the most recent year for which figures are available.

Answered by Jim Mather : Data on the VAT-registered stock of businesses are released annually by the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR). The latest available data refers to the stock of VAT-registered businesses in Scotland at the beginning of 2007. These figures are consistent with the VAT registration and de-registration data published by BERR.

The following table shows the VAT stock of businesses (start of year) in Dundee City local authority in 2000 and 2007:

Local Authority

2000

2007

Dundee City

2,290

2,495

Scotland

125,935

136,890

Source: BERR.

Note: These figures do not account for all business activity as only companies with a turnover above the VAT threshold are required to register.

 

Marlyn Glen : To ask the Scottish Executive how many VAT registrations there have been in Dundee in each of the last three years for which figures are available, also expressed as a rate per 1,000 of the population aged 16 and above.

Answered by Jim Mather : Data on the number of VAT registrations are released annually by the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR). The latest available data refers to all VAT registrations taking place in Scotland in 2006.

The following table shows the number of VAT registrations and the rate per 1,000 resident population (aged 16+) in Dundee City local authority from 2004 to 2006:

Local Authority

VAT Registrations

VAT Registrations

(Rate per 1,000 Population)

 

2004

2005

2006

2004

2005

2006

Dundee City

265

255

225

2.2

2.2

1.9

Scotland

11,980

11,665

11,825

2.9

2.8

2.8

 


Health

17 June 2008

Marlyn Glen : To ask the Scottish Executive how many employers with over 250 employees were registered in (a) Dundee and (b) Tayside with SHAW (Scotland's Health at Work) in each of the last three years for which information is available and, of these, how many received (i) bronze, (ii) silver and (iii) gold awards.

Answered by Shona Robison : The following table gives the number of organisations in Dundee and Tayside with more than 250 employees registered with the Scotland’s Health at Work (SHAW) Award scheme. There are no details held centrally of numbers in this category achieving an Award.

Number of Organisations Registered with SHAW

Year

Dundee

Tayside

2004-05

3

43

2005-06

7

49

2006-07

8

52

 

Marlyn Glen : To ask the Scottish Executive how many small and medium enterprises were registered in (a) Dundee and (b) Tayside with SHAW (Scotland's Health at Work) in each of the last three years for which information is available and, of these, how many received (i) bronze, (ii) silver and (iii) gold awards.

Answered by Shona Robison : The following table gives the number of organisations with less than 250 employees registered with the Scotland’s Health At Work (SHAW) Award scheme. There are no details held centrally of numbers in this category achieving an award.

Year

Dundee

Tayside

2004-05

21

108

2005-06

41

138

2006-07

48

157

 

Marlyn Glen : To ask the Scottish Executive how many organisations were registered in (a) Dundee and (b) Tayside with SHAW (Scotland's Health at Work) in each of the last three years for which information is available and, of these, how many received (i) bronze, (ii) silver and (iii) gold awards.

Answered by Shona Robison: The following table records the number of organisations registered for SHAW for the period 2004-07.

Year

Dundee

Tayside

2004-05

24

151

2005-06

48

187

2006-07

56

209

The following table records the awards presented in Tayside for the period 2004-07.

Year

Bronze

Silver

Gold

2004-05

30

1

0

2005-06

23

2

0

2006-07

21

16

3


Dentistry

17 June 2008

Marlyn Glen : To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of three to five-year-olds were registered with an NHS dentist in each of the last three years for which information is available, broken down by community health partnership.

Answered by Shona Robison: The information requested is not available prior to March 2007 for all community health partnership areas. The tables present information as at March, June, September and December 2007. They do not represent the percentages of people in each Community Health Partnership who are registered. Registrations (numerator) are based on the postcode of the practice where the patient has registered with a general dental practitioner. The population (denominator) is based on where the patient resides, in this case the Community Health Partnership. In some cases, the number of registrations may exceed the actual number of "people" in the chosen population.

Percentage of Three to Five-Year-Olds Registered with an NHS Dentist; by Community Health Partnership

Community Health Partnership

March

2007

%

June

2007

%

September

2007

%

December

2007

%

East Ayrshire Community Health Partnership

59.4

58.9

60.3

61.9

North Ayrshire Community Health Partnership

66.0

67.6

70.4

72.4

South Ayrshire Community Health Partnership

91.9

91.9

96.0

99.2

Scottish Borders Community Health and Care Partnership

58.8

58.0

58.6

61.2

Dumfries and Galloway Community Health Partnership

66.3

69.3

73.2

76.5

Dunfermline and West Fife Community Health Partnership

55.8

55.2

56.8

56.2

Glenrothes and North East Fife Community Health Partnership

52.6

52.8

54.2

55.9

Kirkcaldy and Levenmouth Community Health Partnership

82.6

83.6

86.8

91.4

Clackmannanshire Community Health Partnership

64.0

63.3

64.7

69.3

Falkirk Community Health Partnership

66.3

68.3

71.4

74.7

Stirling Community Health Partnership

69.0

70.5

73.5

73.7

Aberdeen City Community Health Partnership

65.6

67.1

69.3

70.2

Aberdeenshire Community Health Partnership

57.1

56.1

58.6

59.3

Moray Community Health and Social Care Partnership

49.6

48.8

49.8

49.4

East Dunbartonshire Community Health Partnership

74.6

74.8

78.3

79.9

East Glasgow Community Health and Care Partnership

76.2

77.2

80.8

84.1

East Renfrewshire Community Health and Care Partnership

78.3

78.7

80.9

82.2

Inverclyde Community Health Partnership

74.5

77.7

80.8

85.4

North Glasgow Community Health and Care Partnership

53.3

54.5

56.8

61.0

Renfrewshire Community Health Partnership

67.9

69.3

72.5

74.2

South East Glasgow Community Health and Care Partnership

84.9

86.7

90.5

93.8

South West Glasgow Community Health and Care Partnership

65.4

66.0

69.3

71.3

West Dunbartonshire Community Health Partnership

70.3

71.9

75.4

77.5

West Glasgow Community Health and Care Partnership1

101.7

103.1

109.1

112.3

Argyll and Bute Community Health Partnership

61.5

62.3

64.7

65.9

Mid Highland Community Health Partnership

44.6

42.8

40.3

39.8

North Highland Community Health Partnership

36.7

32.6

32.1

32.0

South East Highland Community Health Partnership1

80.1

87.6

101.0

106.9

North Lanarkshire Community Health Partnership

67.3

68.4

70.4

72.2

South Lanarkshire Community Health Partnership

70.0

70.3

73.7

75.6

East Lothian Community Health Partnership

75.3

75.3

76.8

76.4

Midlothian Community Health Partnership

65.6

64.3

66.6

66.5

West Lothian Community Health and Care Partnership

73.8

74.2

78.3

81.1

Orkney Community Health Partnership

38.6

44.4

52.0

53.3

Shetland Community Health Partnership

60.3

58.5

65.0

69.4

Angus Community Health Partnership

70.5

69.0

68.6

67.4

Dundee Community Health Partnership

84.0

85.8

92.1

93.5

Perth and Kinross Community Health Partnership

68.4

69.6

71.7

71.1

Western Isles Community Health Partnership

39.1

45.7

48.6

52.6

Edinburgh Community Health Partnership

79.3

80.6

83.9

86.3

Source: ISD Scotland.

Note: Registrations (numerator) are based on the postcode of the practice where the patient has registered with a general dental practitioner as opposed to the postcode of the patient. The population (denominator) is based on where the patient resides, in this case the Community Health Partnership. In some cases, the number of registrations may exceed the actual number of "people" in the chosen population.


Housing

17 June 2008

Marlyn Glen : To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-13563 by Stewart Maxwell on 4 June 2008, what figures were used for the cost of building council houses of various sizes in determining that £25 million would be spent on an incentive package to build new council houses over the next three years.

Answered by Stewart Maxwell : The provision of £25 million by the Scottish Government does not presuppose the construction of homes of a particular size or type. The Scottish Government has provided these funds as an encouragement to local authorities in the use of their own resources to fund new homes, and is currently discussing with COSLA the principles that will apply to the disbursement of these funds.


Drug Misuse

3 June 2008

Marlyn Glen : To ask the Scottish Executive what the numbers were of those prosecuted for being found in possession of drugs and in possession of drugs with intent to supply in (a) Dundee and (b) Tayside in each of the last three years.

Fergus Ewing: The information for the last three years available is given in the following table.

Persons Prosecuted in Scottish Courts for Drugs Possession Offences, for Dundee City and Tayside Police Force Area, 2003-04 -2005-06

 

2003-04

2004-05

2005-06

Dundee City

 

 

 

Supply and possession with intent to supply drugs

38

45

42

Possession of drugs

263

234

243

Total

301

279

285

Tayside police force area

 

 

 

Supply and possession with intent to supply drugs

150

168

163

Possession of drugs

503

415

383

Total

653

583

546


Primary Fires

Marlyn Glen (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many primary fires there have been in Tayside in each of the last three years for which information is available.

Fergus Ewing: The information requested is provided in the following table.

Number of Primary Fires in Tayside Fire and Rescue Service Area, 2004-06

2004

1,207

2005

1,156

2006

1,117

 


Local Income Tax

3 June 2008

Marlyn Glen : To ask the Scottish Executive whether it believes that the introduction of a nationally-determined level of local income tax will diminish the status of local government.

John Swinney: No. Under our proposals, all income raised under a local income tax will go to fund local authority expenditure and local authorities will continue to decide how funding for their area is spent. In the consultation paper we issued in March 2008, we recognised that there would need to be an adjustment to local authority funding to take account of differences between the amounts raised under the council tax and under a local income tax and we pledged to work with local government to provide a stable funding environment to ensure people get the vital front-line services they need.


Mortality Rates

29 May 2008

Marlyn Glen : To ask the Scottish Executive what the standardised mortality rates were per 1,000 population for (a) Dundee, (b) Angus, (c) Tayside and (d) Scotland in the most recent period for which figures are available, broken down also by deprivation quintile.

John Swinney: Standardised death rates per 1,000 population for individual local authority areas, and for Scotland as a whole, for 2006 are given in table 2 of Scotland’s Population 2006, the Annual Report of the Registrar General, published by the General Register Office for Scotland in 2007, copies of which are available in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 43115). These figures also appear, together with rates for individual health board areas, in Vital Events Reference Table 1.3, which is available from the GROS Website via this address:

http://www.gro-scotland.gov.uk/statistics/publications-and-data/vital-events/vital-events-reference-tables-2006/section-1-summary.html.

The other information requested is given in the following table.

Standardised Death Rates and Numbers of Deaths Registered in Scotland in 2006 - by Area1 and SIMD Quintile2

 

Standardised Death RatePer 1,000 Population3

Number of Deaths4,5

SIMD Quintile

Dundee

Angus

Tayside H.B.

Scotland

Dundee

Angus

Tayside H.B.

Scotland

1

12.0

12.4

12.2

14.2

614

99

796

13,349

2

11.0

10.3

10.9

11.8

429

215

815

12,440

3

8.9

9.9

9.9

10.6

132

308

791

11,304

4

9.7

8.1

9.2

9.5

225

353

1,324

10,104

5

7.1

9.9

8.1

8.0

169

218

661

7,896

Note:

1. Deaths of Scottish residents are counted on the basis of the addresses of their usual residences (as recorded when their deaths were registered); deaths of non-residents are counted on the basis of where they died.

2. The Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation (SIMD) is produced using a range of statistical information for each of the "datazones" in Scotland (which have 500-1,000 residents each). For Scotland as a whole, quintile 1 contains the most deprived 20% of datazones, and quintile 5 contains the least deprived 20% of datazones, when classified on the basis used for the SIMD. In the case of the other geographic areas, the figures for each quintile were produced from the data for the parts of those areas that are in each SIMD quintile - so the figures for (e.g.) quintile 1 of a particular area could have been produced from the data for considerably more (or less) than 20% of that area: it all depends upon what percentage of the area is in SIMD quintile 1.

3. These figures were produced by using the distribution by age of the overall Scottish population for 2006. That is the same method as was used to produce the standardised death rates which appear in table 2 of Scotland’s Population 2006.

4. The total number of deaths from which the standardised death rate was calculated. This may be small because only a small proportion of an area was in a particular SIMD quintile: if so, the standardised death rate for a single year might not provide a reliable indication of the normal level of mortality because there could be large year-to-year percentage changes in the number of deaths. For example, if a particular quintile tended to have around 100 deaths per year, it would not be surprising if its figures fluctuated by 10-20% between one year and the next.

5. The sum of the figures for all the quintiles may differ slightly from the published total number of deaths for an area. There may be a number of reasons for this: for example, some of the datazones used in the SIMD might not fit properly within the boundary of the area, or corrections may have been made to some of the underlying data after the published figures were produced.


Police  

29 May 2008

Marlyn Glen : To ask the Scottish Executive what the total cost of policing in Tayside has been in each of the last three years for which information is available.

Kenny MacAskill: The Police Grant Aided Expenditure figures (£000) for Tayside for the last three years are as follows:

2005-06

76,393

2006-07

79,211

2007-08

81,187

 


 Children’s Hearing System

29 May 2008

 

Marlyn Glen : To ask the Scottish Executive how many referrals to the children’s hearing system in (a) Dundee and (b) Angus were on the grounds of misused drugs or alcohol in the last three years for which information is available.

Adam Ingram: Referrals to the Reporter under Section 52(2)(j) of the Children (Scotland) Act 1995 (i.e. "has misused alcohol or any drug, whether or not a controlled drug within the meaning of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971"):

 

2004-05

2005-06

2006-07

Dundee

20

37

27

Angus

<5

<5

<5

Source: Scottish Children’s Reporter Administration.

Notes:

These figures relate to referrals received by the Children’s Reporter and not to the numbers of children referred.

Years run from 1 April to 31 March.


Health

29 May 2008

Marlyn Glen: To ask the Scottish Executive whether training in clinical care takes priority over training in health promotion and protecting the public in the community health nurse pilot scheme.

Nicola Sturgeon: Community nurses who take part in the Community Health Nurse pilots will undertake training to enable them to be competent in the new role which will cover all of these areas.

 

Marlyn Glen : To ask the Scottish Executive how community nurses will work with condition-specific nurse specialists in the community health nurse pilot in NHS Tayside.

Nicola Sturgeon: Nurses working in community settings already refer to a condition specific nurse should a patient’s condition indicate that this is necessary. This will not alter under the community health nurse pilot.

 

Marlyn Glen : To ask the Scottish Executive when it expects that the findings of the review of specialist nursing roles being undertaken by its Health Directorate General will be published.

Nicola Sturgeon: In Scotland, under the auspices of the UK-wide Modernising Nursing Careers initiative, an advanced practice toolkit to identify the capabilities and competences of nurse practitioners at senior, advanced and consultant level, whether in a specialist or generalist setting, is under development. The toolkit which will be launched in autumn


Children’s Hearing System

27 May 2008

Marlyn Glen : To ask the Scottish Executive how many referrals to the children’s hearing system there were in (a) Dundee and (b) Angus in the last three years for which information is available.

Adam Ingram: Referrals to the reporter on grounds (Section 52(2) of the Children (Scotland) Act 1995)

 

2004-05

2005-06

2006-07

Dundee

2,994

2,995

2,319

Angus

778

1,189

1,096

Source: Scottish Children’s Reporter Administration.

These figures relate to referrals received by the Children’s Reporter and not to the number of children referred. These figures include referrals on all grounds (both offence and non-offence). Years run from 1 April to 31 March.

Marlyn Glen : To ask the Scottish Executive how many referrals to the children’s hearing system in (a) Dundee and (b) Angus were on the grounds of lack of parental care in the last three years for which information is available.

Adam Ingram: Referrals to the Reporter under Section 52 (2)(c) of the Children (Scotland) Act 1995 (i.e. "is likely to suffer unnecessarily; or be impaired in his health or development, due to lack of parental care").

 

2004-05

2005-06

2006-07

Dundee

448

467

389

Angus

142

149

272

Source: Scottish Children’s Reporter Administration.

These figures relate to referrals received by the Children’s Reporter and not to the numbers of children referred. Years run from 1 April to 31 March. 


Alcohol Misuse

22 May 2008

Marlyn Glen: To ask the Scottish Executive how many acute occupied bed days in NHS Tayside were directly connected with alcohol-related conditions in each of the last three years for which information is available.

Nicola Sturgeon: Table 1 provides the total length of stay of patients treated in acute hospitals in NHS Tayside for alcohol-related conditions in 2004-05, 2005-06 and 2006-07; the most recent years for which information is available. The 2006-07 figure is provisional and may be subject to further revision.

Table 1: The total Length of Stay of Patients Treated in Acute Hospitals in NHS Tayside for Alcohol-Related Conditions: 2004-05 to 2006-07

Year Total Length of Stay(days)
2004-05

14,530

2005-06

13,524

2006-07

17,263

The figures in table 1 relate to those individuals who are treated as in-patients. They do not include individuals managed as out-patients.


Alcohol Misuse

20 May 2008

 

Marlyn Glen : To ask the Scottish Executive how many cases of drunkenness or drink driving were recorded by police in Tayside in each of the last three years for which information is available, also expressed as a percentage of all recorded crime in Tayside.

Kenny MacAskill: The figures requested for the number of offences of drunkenness and drink driving recorded by Tayside police force are shown in table 4A of the statistical bulletins Recorded Crime in Scotland, 2004-05, 2005-06 and 2006-07. Copies of these publications are held in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. numbers 37835, 40365, 43510 respectively).

Crimes of Offences of Drunkenness and Drunk Driving Recorded by Police in Tayside, 2004-05 to 2006-07, as Percentage of Total Recorded Crime in Tayside.

  2004-05 2005-06 2006-07
Drunkenness

0.62%

0.68%

0.51%

Drunk Driving

1.08%

1.15%

1.13%

Total Crimes and Offences

90,388

88,690

88,360

 


Smoking

15 May 2008

Marlyn Glen : To ask the Scottish Executive how much has been allocated to NHS Tayside for smoking cessation services in each year since 2006-07, also expressed in real terms.

Shona Robison: The Government will spend £33 million this spending review period on NHS smoking cessation services in comparison to £27 million spent over the previous spending review period.

In addition to its share of funding available from NHS boards’ general allocations – around £162,000 per annum – the following table provides information on the specific allocations made to NHS Tayside for smoking cessation services and related tobacco control activity in each year from 2006-07 to 2010-11, also expressed in real terms at 2006-07 prices.

Decisions will be made shortly about the increased allocations which will be made to NHS boards over the next three years from the additional £3 million per annum which has been earmarked under Spending Review 2007 for tobacco control activity.

Year Allocation

£000

Allocation in Real Terms at 2006-07 Prices £000
2006-07 790 790
2007-08 949 919
2008-09 949 892
2009-10 949 868
2010-11 949 845

Charities

30 April 2008

Marlyn Glen : To ask the Scottish Executive what the funding allocation to the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator was in 2007-08 and what it will be in 2008-09.

Fergus Ewing: The Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator (OSCR) has been allocated operating expenditure of £3.6 million for the year 2007-08 and £3.6 million for the year 2008-09. The OSCR, as an independent non-ministerial department, is responsible for determining the level of funding it requires to enable it to carry out its core functions.


Science

29 April 2008

Marlyn Glen: To ask the Scottish Executive in which year the Scottish Institute for Cell Signalling will open.

Fiona Hyslop: I will be discussing plans to take forward the institute, including its opening, when I visit Sir Philip Cohen in Dundee next week. My expectation is that the institute will open towards the end of this year.


28 April 2008

Dentistry

Marlyn Glen : To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of people have been registered with an NHS dentist in the (a) Dundee City Council and (b) Dundee Community Health Partnership area in each of the last two years, broken down by age group.

Shona Robison: Dundee City Council and Dundee Community Health Partnership (CHP) have the same geographical boundaries. As a result, the number of registrations is the same for both. Latest available information (as at 30 September 2006 and 2007) is presented in the following table.

Dundee City Council/Dundee CHP Registrations1 by Age Group, as at 30 September

  2006 2007
Number Registered % of Population Registered Number Registered % of Population Registered
All Ages

91,297

64.2

96,395

67.8

0-2

1,949

42.8

2,097

46.0

3-5

3,345

81.5

3,783

92.1

6-12

9,481

93.7

9,871

97.6

13-17

6,897

81.3

7,342

86.5

18-24

7,295

41.5

7,837

44.6

25-34

10,511

58.2

10,940

60.6

35-44

14,965

77.7

15,108

78.4

45-54

13,835

75.9

14,572

80.0

55-64

11,256

69.6

12,006

74.2

65-74

7,370

55.3

7,812

58.6

75+

4,393

35.8

5,027

40.9

 


25 April 2008

Cancer

Marlyn Glen : To ask the Scottish Executive how many deaths there have been from cervical cancer in the NHS Tayside area in each of the last three years.

Nicola Sturgeon: The numbers of deaths from cervical cancer which occurred in the NHS Tayside area were as follows:

2005: 8

2006: 10

2007: 7.

The figure for 2007 is provisional. The final figure will not be published formally until after the appearance of Scotland’s Population 2007 (the Registrar General’s Annual Review of Demographic Trends), which is scheduled for August 2008. However, past experience suggests that the figure is unlikely to change much.

 

NHS staff

Marlyn Glen : To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-11190 by Nicola Sturgeon on 14 April 2008, how much additional finance NHS Tayside has been given to administer the community health nurse pilot in 2008-09.

Nicola Sturgeon: Additional finance to support transitional education for the community health nurse pilot will be provided to NHS Tayside in 2008-09 when their training plan has been received.


23 April 2008

HPV vaccination

Marlyn Glen (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether further resources will be made available to NHS Tayside for administration of the human papilloma virus (HPV) vaccination scheme in 2008-09 to take account of the community health nurse pilot currently operating there.

Shona Robison: The Scottish Government has provided additional funding of £119,746 to NHS Board Tayside to assist with implementation of the HPV programme from 1 September 2008. This additional funding was made in recognition of the complexity of the delivery challenge facing NHS boards and the high-priority of this programme.

The Scottish Government has provided additional funding to NHS Tayside separately for the development of the Community Health Nurse pilot, which was announced under the previous administration.

 

Hospital-Acquired Infection

Marlyn Glen : To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-11585 by Nicola Sturgeon on 16 April 2008, to what year or years the figures quoted in the table for Scotland, Norway, Denmark, Sweden and Finland refer.

Nicola Sturgeon: The figures for Scotland, Norway, Denmark, Sweden and Finland relate to the most recent year of published results, January to December 2006 and are taken from the latest report of the European Antimicrobial Resistance Surveillance Scheme (EARSS) which can be found at:

http://www.rivm.nl/earss/Images/EARSS%202006%20Def_tcm61-44176.pdf.

 

 

Cancer

Marlyn Glen : To ask the Scottish Executive how many new cases of cervical cancer were diagnosed in the NHS Tayside area in each of the last three years.

Nicola Sturgeon: Data on the number of women diagnosed with cervical cancer are available by NHS board and year (1980 to 2004) on the NHS Information Services Division (ISD) website at:

http://www.isdscotland.org/isd/files/cancer_cervix_inc.xls.

The latest year for which cancer registration data are complete is 2004.

 

 

Dentistry

Marlyn Glen (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many dental students who received a dental bursary in their final year of study in 2006-07 are now in vocational training in Scotland, broken down by NHS board.

Shona Robison: One hundred and one dental students at the Universities of Glasgow and Dundee who received a dental bursary in their final year of study in 2006-07 are now in vocational training in Scotland.

A breakdown, by NHS board, is provided in the following table.

NHS Board Number of Vocational Trainees
Tayside

14

Forth Valley

4

Grampian

5

Fife

5

Lothian

14

Lanarkshire

20

Greater Glasgow and Clyde

24

Ayrshire and Arran

8

Highland

4

Dumfries

1

Orkney

1

Borders

1

Total

101


Children in care

17 April 2008

Marlyn Glen : To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of children in care in (a) Dundee and (b) Scotland achieved at least one qualification at or above SCQF Level 3 in each of the last three years for which information is available.

Maureen Watt: The available information, based on pupils in S4 in publicly funded secondary schools identified as being looked after in the pupil census, is given in the following table.

Percentage of Looked-After Children with At Least One Qualification at SCQF Level 3 or Above by the End of S4

Year Dundee Scotland
2004-05

51.0

63.2

2005-06

55.3

65.6

2006-07

50.0

73.3

Note: Data on looked-after children in education is known to be incomplete and the figures given here may not show a representative sample of looked-after children.

 

Marlyn Glen : To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of children in care in (a) Dundee and (b) Scotland achieved qualifications at or above SCQF Level 3 in both English and mathematics in each of the last three years for which information is available.

Maureen Watt: The available information, based on pupils in S4 in publicly funded secondary schools identified as being looked after in the pupil census, is given in the following table.

Percentage of Looked-After Children with Qualifications in both English and Mathematics at SCQF Level 3 or Above by the End of S4

Year Dundee Scotland
2004-05

40.8

47.2

2005-06

29.8

51.8

2006-07

43.2

54.3

Note: Data on looked-after children in education is known to be incomplete and the figures given here may not show a representative sample of looked-after children.

 

Housing

Marlyn Glen: To ask the Scottish Executive how much will be invested in affordable housing for rent in Dundee in each year from 2008-09 to 2010-11 and how many such homes will be made available in each year.

Stewart Maxwell: Over the period 2008-11 we will be providing investment of over £1.5 billion for affordable housing across Scotland and aim to deliver at least 21,500 new affordable homes nationally over this three year period.

I will announce the allocation of affordable housing investment programme resources to each area for 2008-09 shortly.

 

Marlyn Glen : To ask the Scottish Executive how much was invested in affordable housing for rent in Dundee in each year from 2004-05 to 2007-08 and how many such homes were made available in each year.

Stewart Maxwell: Funding for the provision of affordable housing for rent and the number of rented homes approved for development in the Dundee City Council area in each year since 2004-05 is detailed:

Year Total Amount (£ Million) Homes Approved for Rent
2004-05

9.837

179

2005-06

10.343

205

2006-07

11.470

162

2007-081

14.699

38

Total

46.349

584

Note: 1. Provisional outturn figures as final year end accounts are still to be completed.

 

School Meals

Marlyn Glen : To ask the Scottish Executive how much has been budgeted for the independent evaluation of the free school meals pilot for P1 to P3 pupils.

Adam Ingram: I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-4073 on 19 September 2007, the original cost of the evaluation of the free school meals trial was approximately £60,000 (including VAT). The revised cost of the evaluation is approximately £76,200 (including VAT) reflecting extensions to the parents’ survey element including a boost to the samp


Health

16 April 2008

Marlyn Glen : To ask the Scottish Executive how many cases of clostridium difficile were reported in (a) NHS Tayside and (b) Scotland in each of the last four quarters for which information is available.

Nicola Sturgeon: The following table sets out the information requested:

Total Number of Cases of Clostridium difficile Associated Disease: (CDAD) Reported

  January-March 2007 April-June 2007 July-September 2007 October-December 2007
NHS Tayside

172

169

131

135

Scotland

1,775

1,588

1,459

1,608

Health Protection Scotland publish quarterly reports on the Surveillance of CDAD in Scotland. The latest report, covering the period October 2007 to December 2007 is available at: http://www.hps.scot..nhs.uk/ewr/article.aspx.

 

Marlyn Glen : To ask the Scottish Executive how many cases of clostridium difficile there were per 1,000 acute occupied bed days in people aged 65 and over in (a) NHS Tayside and (b) Scotland in each of the last four quarters for which information is available.

Nicola Sturgeon: The following table sets out the information requested:

Rates of CDAD per 1,000 Acute Occupied Bed Days

  January-March 2007 April-June 2007 July-September 2007 October-December 2007
NHS Tayside

2.60

2.61

1.82

1.80

Scotland (overall rate)*

2.38

2.51

1.81

1.95

Note: The overall rate for Scotland is calculated as: rate = (total number of cases x 1000) / total number of acute occupied bed days.

Marlyn Glen : To ask the Scottish Executive what the quarterly rates have been of clostridium difficile per 1,000 total occupied bed days for those aged 65 and over in (a) NHS Tayside and (b) Scotland in each of the last four available quarters.

Nicola Sturgeon: The following table sets out the information requested:

Rates of CDAD per 1,000 Total Occupied Bed Days

  January-March 2007 April-June 2007 July-September 2007 October-December 2007
NHS Tayside

1.76

1.75

1.27

1.3

Scotland (overall rate)*

1.47

1.47

1.16

1.26

Note: The overall rate for Scotland is calculated as:rate = (total number of cases x 1000) / total number of acute and non-acute occupied bed days.


Hospital-Acquired Infection

Marlyn Glen : To ask the Scottish Executive what the rate was of MRSA bloodstream infections as a proportion of all staphylococcus aureus bloodstream infections in the most recent year for which figures are available and what comparative information it has for (a) Norway, (b) Denmark, (c) Sweden and (d) Finland.

Nicola Sturgeon: The following table sets out the information requested:

Proportion of Antibiotic Non-Susceptible Staphylococcus Aureus Isolates

Country  
Scotland

42%

Norway

<1%

Denmark

2%

Sweden

<1%

Finland

3%

Note: The figures in the table should be treated with some caution. For example, the surveillance systems used to compile the data for the Scandinavian countries above are derived from the European Antimicrobial Resistance Surveillance Scheme (EARSS). Health Protection Scotland, who collect the data for NHSScotland, uses the UK definition of 14 day episodes while EARSS records one episode per quarter.

Consequently, the surveillance system used in Scotland may result in a patient who experiences more than one bacteraemic episode per quarter being counted for each episode, whereas the EARSS definition used by the other countries in the table means that each of their patients is counted only once during a quarter, even if they have more than one bacteraemic episode per quarter.

It is encouraging that the most recent – but as yet unpublished - results for Scotland from HPS data for the last calendar year indicate that the Scotland figure for the proportion of antibiotic non-susceptible Staphylococcus aureus isolates has reduced considerably to 26%.


NHS Staff

Marlyn Glen : To ask the Scottish Executive how many whole-time equivalent infection control nurses were employed in (a) NHS Tayside and (b) Scotland in each of the last three years for which information is available.

Nicola Sturgeon: The following table sets out the information requested:

Year Whole-Time Equivalent Infection Control Nurses in Scotland Whole-Time Equivalent Infection Control Nurses in NHS Tayside
2005

132.6

14

2006

139.8

16.8

2007

140.8

18

Note: The census date for whole-time equivalent (WTE) infection control nurses recording within the year for each NHS board may differ and the WTE may be variable within a year within a board, although this should not vary substantially.


School Meals

Marlyn Glen : To ask the Scottish Executive what the anticipated cost is of the P1 to P3 free school meals pilot, broken down by local authority

Adam Ingram: The following table sets out the amount of funding we have already provided to each of the local authorities participating in the free school lunch trial.

Local Authority  
East Ayrshire

£561,000

Fife

£1,714,000

Glasgow City

£1,309,000

Scottish Borders

£593,000

West Dunbartonshire

£455,000

Note: We have agreed to cover any additional costs, if there are any, for the extension of the trial until the end of the current academic year.

 

 

Marlyn Glen : To ask the Scottish Executive when it expects to receive the results of the independent evaluation of the free school meals pilot for P1 to P3 pupils.

Adam Ingram: We expect to receive the final report on the findings of the independent evaluation of the free school lunch trial at the end of July 2008.

 

 

Marlyn Glen : To ask the Scottish Executive what estimate it has made of the cost of extending the entitlement to free school meals in 2009 to pupils from families in (a) Dundee and (b) Angus receiving maximum child or working families tax credit.

Marlyn Glen : To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will provide (a) Dundee City Council and (b) Angus Council with additional funding in 2009 to pay for an extension of the entitlement to free school meals to pupils from families receiving maximum child or working families tax credit.

Adam Ingram: We will be providing local government with record levels of funding over the period covered by the spending review 2008-11. The vast majority of the funding will be provided by means of a block grant. It is the responsibility of each local authority to allocate the total financial resources available to it on the basis of local needs and priorities having first fulfilled its statutory obligations and the jointly agreed set of national and local priorities including the Scottish Government’s key strategic objectives and the full terms of the concordat. This includes extending entitlement to free school meals to all primary school and secondary school pupils whose parents or carers are in receipt of both maximum child tax credit and maximum working tax credit from August 2009, subject to the necessary legislation being passed by the Parliament.


15 April 2008

Student Finance

Marlyn Glen : To ask the Scottish Executive how many biomedical science students in the third and fourth years of study of their degree courses have applied for and received a bursary of £2,000 in each year since 2006 to encourage them to work in the NHS after graduation, broken down by university.

Fiona Hyslop: The following table gives the number of biomedical students who have applied for and who have been awarded a bursary of £2,000 to encourage them to work in the NHS after graduation, broken down by institution. The bursary was introduced in academic session 2007-2008. In academic year 2007-2008 it is available to third year (second year in Robert Gordon University) students only. As this academic session is not yet complete and institutions can nominate students to receive the bursary at any point during the academic year the numbers shown below may increase as the session progresses. The table shows numbers of applicants and numbers of recipients from start of the 2007-08 academic year up until 19 March 2008.

Institution Number of Biomedical ScienceBursary Applicants Number of Biomedical ScienceBursaries Awarded
Glasgow Caledonian University

25

25

Robert Gordon University

25

25

University of Abertay Dundee

10

10

University of the West of Scotland

5

5

Total

60

60

Source: Student Awards Agency for Scotland (SAAS) 2007-08 interim data To protect the identity of students, figures have been rounded to the nearest five.

Note: In the above table all students are in their third year with the exception of those at Robert Gordon University who are in their second year.


14 April 2008

Alcohol

Marlyn Glen : To ask the Scottish Executive how many alcohol-related admissions of under-18-year-olds there were to the accident and emergency department of Ninewells Hospital in NHS Tayside in each of the last four years.

Shona Robison: Information held centrally on attendances at accident and emergency departments does not include the diagnosis of the patient. However, information held on hospital discharges includes information on whether a patient was admitted to hospital with an alcohol-related diagnosis as an emergency.

The following table sets out this information for those under 18 years of age at Ninewells Hospital, for each of the years 2003-04 to 2006-07. These figures are likely to be an undercount as not all those who attend an accident and emergency department will be admitted to hospital.

Number of Discharges1,2,3 from Ninewells Hospital in NHS Tayside for Patients Aged Under 18 Years with an Alcohol-Related Diagnosis4 (Emergency Admissions Only), 2003-04 to 2006-07

Financial Year Number of Discharges
2003-04

62

2004-05

57

2005-06

70

2006-07

53

Notes:

1. Caution is necessary when interpreting these figures. Where alcohol misuse is suspected but unconfirmed it may not be recorded by the hospital.

2. Information on patients discharged from acute non-obstetric, non-psychiatric hospitals is available from the Scottish Morbidity Record, SMR01.


Dentistry

Marlyn Glen : To ask the Scottish Executive what the general dental services indicative allowance to NHS Tayside (a) has been in each year since 2004-05 and (b) will be in 2008-09, also expressed at constant prices.

Shona Robison: The general dental services indicative allocation to NHS Tayside since 2004-05 has been (also expressed in constant prices):

Year GDS Indicative Allocation £000 Allocation at Constant Prices (2006-07) £000
2004-05

17,569

18,455

2005-06

18,166

18,687

2006-07

18,525

18,525

2007-08

18,850

18,257

2008-09

N/A

N/A

     

The actual expenditure on general dental services for NHS Tayside since 2004-05 has been (also expressed in constant prices):

Year GDS Indicative Allocation £000 Allocation at Constant Prices (2006-07) £000
2004-05

17,208

18,076

2005-06

17,882

18,395

2006-07

19,898

19,898

2007-08

N/A

N/A

2008-09

N/A

N/A

Boards are fully funded for this expenditure therefore any differences between the indicative allocation and actual expenditure does not cause a problem for the NHS board.

Marlyn Glen (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many dental students at the University of Glasgow applied for and received a dental bursary in (a) 2006-07 and (b) 2007-08.

Shona Robison: The information requested is set out in the following table:

University of Glasgow Number of Students who Applied for a Dental Bursary Number of Students who Received a Dental Bursary
2006-07 Session

233

233

2007-08 Session to Date

259

258

Marlyn Glen (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many dental students at the University of Glasgow who received a dental bursary in their final year of study in 2006-07 are now in vocational training in Scotland, broken down by NHS board.

Shona Robison: 58 dental students at the University of Glasgow who received a dental bursary in their final year of study in 2006-07 are now in vocational training in Scotland. A breakdown, by NHS board, is provided in the following table.

NHS Board Number of Vocational Trainees
Tayside

2

Forth Valley

4

Grampian

3

Fife

2

Lothian

4

Lanarkshire

16

Greater Glasgow and Clyde

19

Ayrshire and Arran

6

Highland

1

Dumfries

1

Total

58


NHS Staff

Marlyn Glen (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many (a) district nurses, (b) health visitors, (c) school nurses and (d) family health nurses will participate in the community health nurse pilot in NHS Tayside.

Nicola Sturgeon: Exact numbers will not be known until the completion of a detailed analysis of learning needs and mapping of existing professional/educational knowledge and qualifications. Following acquisition of any additional training or education, NHS Tayside will identify the first cohort of staff to test the new model within a phased approach to implementation.

Marlyn Glen (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how the commitment in Principles and Priorities: The Government’s Programme for Scotland to "increase the number of school nurses" is compatible with the introduction of the community health nurse pilot in NHS Tayside and three other board areas which will amalgamate the posts of school nurse, district nurse, health visitor and family health nurse into the post of generic community health nurse.

Nicola Sturgeon: Our proposed health care support model for children and young people is being developed to meet the commitment in Principles and Priorities: The Government’s Programme for Scotland to increase the number of school nurses and the manifesto commitment to double the number of school nurses.

The community health nurse is a generalist model which is currently being tested in four NHS boards across Scotland. The two policies are being developed in parallel to allow an informed decision to be made on the best way to deliver effective health care to schools.

Marlyn Glen (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how the NHS Tayside community health nurse pilot intends to demonstrate that a generalist nurse can be skilled in the respective separate disciplines of school nurse, district nurse, health visitor and family health nurse.

Nicola Sturgeon: The concept of a generalist nurse in the community is not new in Scotland with examples being family health nurses, practice nurses and nurse practitioners. In other countries, notably Republic of Ireland, Iceland, Netherlands and Finland, community nurses work as generalists and in England the community matron is a generalist role. However, the success of the generalist model will require specific support and enhanced co-ordination of care for individuals with complex care needs. The ability to identify when to refer individuals to a more appropriately qualified person is a central aspect of professional accountability. These two issues are intrinsic to the community health nurse model.

The impact of the new service model will be independently evaluated and will examine the benefits and experiences of individuals, families, communities, nurses and professional colleagues.

Marlyn Glen (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how much additional finance NHS Tayside has been given to administer the community health nurse pilot.

Nicola Sturgeon: The Scottish Government has provided additional funding to NHS Tayside to develop the community health nurse pilot as follows:

2006-07: £115,000

2007-08: £172,000.

Marlyn Glen (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how much the evaluation of the community health nurse pilot in NHS Tayside will cost.

Nicola Sturgeon: This is unknown as the contract for the evaluation is not yet in place and has yet to be advertised or awarded.

Marlyn Glen (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what additional time and resources staff in NHS Tayside will be given for training during the community health nurse pilot.

Nicola Sturgeon: Community Nurses who take part in the Community Health Nurse pilot will be given the time and resources required to develop the skills needed for the new role.

This will be determined through detailed learning needs analysis, mapping existing professional/educational knowledge and qualifications to the appropriate new job description and Capability Framework (NES 2007). Where new knowledge or skills are required, no practitioner will be expected to deliver care without receiving training/education and professional support to ensure that they practice safely.


9 April 2008

Health Expenditure

Marlyn Glen : To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the statement by the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Wellbeing on 22 February 2008 on the implementation of the NRAC recommendations and in particular that "no Board will receive less funding than it does at present and any changes will be phased in over a number of years", whether the phrase "no Board will receive less funding" refers to increases equal to or greater than the rate of inflation.

Nicola Sturgeon: No board will receive less than at present, taking account of inflation.


7 April 2008

NHS Finance

Marlyn Glen : To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-9957 by Nicola Sturgeon on 27 February 2008, what the initial allocations of revenue to NHS Tayside were in each year from 2004-05 to 2008-09 expressed at constant prices.

Nicola Sturgeon: The initial revenue allocations to NHS Tayside from 2004-05 expressed in constant prices have been:

Year Baseline Allocation Allocation at Constant Prices (2006-07)
£000 £000
2004-05

429,648

451,311

2005-06

485,260

499,182

2006-07

516,958

516,958

2007-08

549,382

532,089

2008-09

566,400

533,889

Marlyn Glen (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what the year-end overspend or underspend has been for NHS Tayside in each of the last four financial years.

Nicola Sturgeon: NHS Tayside has had a year-end underspend for the last four financial years which are specified in the following table:

Year £000
2003-04

4,298

2004-05

4,460

2005-06

1,141

2006-07

3,080

 


4 April 2008

Dentistry

Marlyn Glen : To ask the Scottish Executive how many NHS general dental practitioners there were in the (a) Dundee and (b) Angus local authority areas in each of the last five years, also expressed as a rate per 100,000 of the population.

Shona Robison: The information requested is shown in the following table.

Number of Dentists1 Providing NHS General Dental Services; in (a) Dundee City and (b) Angus Local Authority Areas; at 31 March

Local Authority Area 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007
Angus          
Number of dentists (Head Count)

49

47