Chamber and committees

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Parliamentary questions can be asked by any MSP to the Scottish Government or the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body. The questions provide a means for MSPs to get factual and statistical information.

Written questions must be answered within 10 working days (20 working days during recess)
Other questions such as Topical, Portfolio, General and First Minister's Question Times are taken in the Chamber

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Question reference: S3W-01921

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 July 2007
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 20 July 2007

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

The information requested isshown in the following table:

NHS Board	2002	2003	2004	2005*	2006*
Argyll and Clyde	30	34	17	30	9
Ayrshire and Arran	11	10	6	6	12
Fife	10	17	14	14	13
Forth Valley	4	12	5	4	4
Grampian	33	18	22	23	37
Greater Glasgow	195	168	174	162	37
Greater Glasgow and Clyde**	0	0	0	0	134
Highland	5	7	8	11	9
Lanarkshire	35	29	35	24	52
Lothian	53	53	84	75	56
Orkney	0	0	0	0	0
Tayside	11	11	16	7	11
All other NHS boards†	6	9	11	8	11
Total	393	368	392	364	385

Notes:

*Data for2005 and 2006 are provisional.

**GreaterGlasgow and Argyll and Clyde NHS Boards merged to become Greater Glasgow andClyde on 1 April 2006.

†To avoiddeductive disclosure of cases from small numbers, data from NHS Boards with fewor no cases were aggregated.

Question reference: S3W-01550

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 26 June 2007
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 19 July 2007

To ask the Scottish Executive how many children under the age of 16 were recorded by the relevant health and social service authorities as having (a) attempted and (b) committed suicide in each year since 1999 and what proportion of those lived in the top 10 most deprived areas, as defined by the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation, in each year since 1999.

(a) The information requestedin part (a) is not held centrally. In children it is difficult to establish trueintent. Therefore it may be incorrect to attempt to derive numbers of “attemptedsuicide”.

We have however provided datafor hospital discharges for children under 16, which have been coded as either deliberateself-harm or undetermined intent. These are shown in the following tables.

In-Patient and Day Case HospitalDischarges with a Diagnosis of Deliberate Self-Harm - Children Aged Under 16

	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005
No. of patients¹	538	612	631	661	637	529	480
Number in most deprived decile in Scotland²	116	108	114	97	98	75	65
Proportion in most deprived decile	21.6	17.6	18.1	14.7	15.4	14.2	13.5

In-Patient andDay Case Hospital Discharges with a Diagnosis of UndeterminedIntent - Children Aged Under 16

	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005
No. of patients¹	48	29	19	18	16	20	14
Number in most deprived decile in Scotland²	12	7	9	10	3	2	0
Proportion in most deprived decile	25.0	24.1	47.4	55.6	18.8	10.0	0.0

Source: SMR01.

Notes:

1. Hospital discharges -children aged 0 to 15.

2. Based on the ScottishIndex of Multiple Deprivation.

Up to six diagnosis (1 main,5 secondary) are recorded on SMR01 returns. All six diagnoses have been used toselect discharges for deliberate self harm and undetermined intent.

The following codes wereused from the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and OtherHealth Related Problems, tenth revision (ICD10):

Self Harm: X60-X84

Undetermined Intent: Y10-Y34

(b) In presenting statisticson suicides it is conventional to combine deaths classified as intentional self-harm(suicides) with those classified as events of undetermined intent. This is becausethe majority of the latter are likely to have been suicides. However, this assumptionis known to be less valid for children, particularly those aged under 10. For thisreason the following table shows the two categories separately and restricts theinformation on events of undetermined intent to deaths aged 10-15.

	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005
Deaths aged under 16 from intentional self harm	4	8	6	3	4	3	4
Deaths aged 10-15 classified as events of undetermined intent	3	4	0	2	1	0	2

Note: 1. 1999: ICD9codes E950, E980. 2000-2005: ICD10 codes X60-X84, Y10-Y34, Y87.0, Y87.2

Deaths Caused by IntentionalSelf-Harm and Events of Undetermined Intent¹Persons Resident inDatazones in the most Deprived Decile According to SIMD 2006, Selected Ages,Scotland, 1999-2005

	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005
Deaths aged under 16 from intentional self-harm	3	2	0	1	1	1	1
Deaths aged 10-15 classified as events of undetermined intent	0	0	0	0	0	0	1

Note: 1. 1999: ICD9codes E950, E980. 2000-2005: ICD10 codes X60-X84, Y10-Y34, Y87.0, Y87.2

Question reference: S3W-01549

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 26 June 2007
Current Status: Answered by Jim Mather on 19 July 2007

To ask the Scottish Executive what proportion of people who have committed suicide or died as a result of self-inflicted wounds or injuries were recorded by their GP as having a known mental health issue prior to their death, in each year since 1999 broken down by NHS board area.

Question reference: S3W-01546

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 26 June 2007
Current Status: Answered by Jim Mather on 19 July 2007

To ask the Scottish Executive how many people over the age of 60 have died as a result of suicide or by self-inflicted wounds in each year since 1999, also expressed as a percentage of the total number of suicides and broken down by (a) gender and (b) geographical area.

In presenting statistics on suicidesit is conventional to combine deaths classified as intentional self-harm (suicides)with those classified as events of undetermined intent. This is because the majorityof the latter are likely to have been suicides. The following tables provide informationon this basis.

Deaths Caused by IntentionalSelf Harm and Events of Undetermined Intent¹Persons Aged 60 yearsand Over Scotland 1999-2005

(a) by Gender	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005
Persons
Number of deaths	162	146	148	157	138	138	140
Percentage of all ages	18.5%	16.6%	16.7%	17.5%	17.4%	16.5%	18.3%
Males
Number of deaths	114	107	94	101	96	90	96
Percentage of all ages	17.2%	15.9%	14.6%	14.9%	16.6%	14.8%	17.5%
Females
Number of deaths	48	39	54	56	42	48	44
Percentage of all ages	22.7%	19.1%	22.4%	25.1%	19.4%	21.2%	20.6%

Note: 1. 1999: ICD9codes E950, E980. 2000-2005: ICD10 codes X60-X84, Y10-Y34, Y87.0, Y87.2.

Deaths Caused by IntentionalSelf Harm and Events of Undetermined Intent¹Persons Aged 60 Yearsand Over Scotland 1999-2005

(b) by NHS Board area	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005
Number of deaths
Scotland	162	146	148	157	138	138	140
Ayrshire and Arran	16	7	11	9	8	11	12
Borders	2	4	1	5	7	3	3
Dumfries and Galloway	8	6	5	9	4	2	8
Fife	9	6	11	15	8	6	11
Forth Valley	8	4	8	2	5	2	4
Grampian	19	19	10	20	17	16	18
Greater Glasgow and Clyde²	43	42	37	46	33	36	28
Highland²	14	10	17	12	12	11	13
Lanarkshire	13	14	15	12	14	11	17
Lothian	14	15	21	23	15	24	15
Orkney	1	3	1	1	1	0	2
Shetland	0	1	0	1	1	1	0
Tayside	14	14	9	2	13	14	8
Western Isles	1	1	2	0	0	1	1
Percentage of All Ages
Scotland	18.5%	16.6%	16.7%	17.5%	17.4%	16.5%	18.3%
Ayrshire and Arran	21.3%	12.3%	12.6%	14.3%	18.2%	22.0%	22.2%
Borders	10.5%	23.5%	6.3%	23.8%	35.0%	18.8%	37.5%
Dumfries and Galloway	22.2%	22.2%	26.3%	32.1%	19.0%	9.1%	28.6%
Fife	20.9%	10.9%	22.0%	22.1%	20.0%	12.0%	20.0%
Forth Valley	15.4%	14.3%	16.3%	4.3%	13.9%	4.8%	15.4%
Grampian	21.1%	22.6%	12.8%	23.8%	21.0%	15.8%	24.0%
Greater Glasgow and Clyde²	18.9%	16.5%	16.4%	19.4%	15.5%	17.1%	14.0%
Highland²	22.6%	14.9%	25.8%	20.7%	20.3%	13.4%	26.5%
Lanarkshire	16.5%	17.7%	18.8%	12.0%	16.5%	13.4%	20.7%
Lothian	12.4%	12.3%	15.7%	17.8%	14.6%	21.8%	12.9%
Orkney	33.3%	75.0%	100.0%	33.3%	16.7%	0.0%	50.0%
Shetland	0.0%	20.0%	0.0%	16.7%	14.3%	25.0%	0.0%
Tayside	20.9%	20.3%	13.0%	3.7%	17.8%	23.0%	14.0%
Western Isles	20.0%	11.1%	25.0%	0.0%	0.0%	33.3%	14.3%

Notes:

1.1999: ICD9 codes E950, E980.2000-2005: ICD10 codes X60-X84, Y10-Y34, Y87.0, Y87.2.

2. Incorporating part of theformer NHS Argyll and Clyde area.

Question reference: S3W-01548

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 26 June 2007
Current Status: Answered by Jim Mather on 19 July 2007

To ask the Scottish Executive what the average suicide rate was per capita in the top 10 council wards with the lowest levels of deprivation, as defined by the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation, in each year since 1999.

Question reference: S3W-01913

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 July 2007
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 19 July 2007

To ask the Scottish Executive what the (a) average and (b) longest wait for urgent breast cancer referrals were in each year since 2003, broken down by NHS hospital.

Information on median and longestwaits for urgent breast cancer referrals for the years and in the format requested,is available from in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre under:

Table a: Number of urgently referred breast cancer patients withthe median and maximum wait between referral and diagnosis by year and hospital/institutionof diagnosis (2004)

Source: Information ServicesDivision, NHS National Services Scotland, Bib. number 43179.

Table b: Number of urgently referredbreast cancer patients with the median and maximum wait between referral and diagnosisby year and hospital/institution of diagnosis (2005), Bib. number: 43180.

Table c: Number of urgently referredbreast cancer patients with the median and maximum wait between referral and diagnosisby year and hospital/institution of diagnosis (2006), Bib. number: 43181.

Question reference: S3W-01912

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 July 2007
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 19 July 2007

To ask the Scottish Executive what the rates of (a) overweight and (b) obesity have been among (i) children under 11 years, (ii) children aged from 11 to 18 and (iii) adults in each year since 2003.

The information requested isavailable from several sources, but not necessarily for all of the specific agegroups or years requested.

The Scottish Health Survey gives estimates of theprevalence of obesity and overweight in children and adults. The most recent data available is for the year 2003.

Prevalence of obesity and overweightby age and sex (children aged 2 to 15 years):

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2005/11/25145024/50271(See table 5.5 on page 123.)

Prevalence of obesity and overweightby age and sex (adults aged 16+ years):

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2005/11/25145024/50261(See table 5.5 on page 175.)In addition, all NHS boards in Scotland provide a Child HealthSurveillance Programme where children are offered routine reviews at various stagesof their life. The majority of Boards record these reviews using the electronicchild health systems, CHSP-Pre-School and CHSP-School. The latest available informationfrom these systems on levels of obesity and overweight derived from height and weightmeasurements collected at routine health reviews is published for NHS boards participatingin CHSP-School and CHSP-Pre-School at http://www.isdscotland.org/child_obesity.(Click on “obesity statistics” to access a list of available tables and charts.)

Question reference: S3W-01919

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 July 2007
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 19 July 2007

To ask the Scottish Executive how many isolation beds there have been in each NHS board area in each year since 1999.

Information on isolation facilities in NHS boards in Scotland was collated by Health Protection Scotland during February 2004 as part of a one off exercise to support Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) preparedness planning. Since that time no further national census or audit has been undertaken.

The information obtained during the February 2004 audit is shown in the following table.

Availability of Isolation Facilities Within Acute Hospitals in NHSScotland (2004)

Total Number of Isolation Rooms

NHS Board/Area
Argyll and Clyde	237
Ayrshire and Arran	204
Borders	65
Dumfries and Galloway	142
Fife	187
Forth Valley	150
Grampian	282
Greater Glasgow	586
Highland	137
Lanarkshire	323
Lothian	508
Orkney	13
Shetland	22
Tayside	245
Western Isles	66
Special Board (Golden Jubilee National Hospital)	175
Total	3,342

Note: Figures for Argyll and Clyde are shown in the table as the audit took place prior to the dissolution of NHS Argyll and Clyde.

The following is the original answer (published on 19 July 2007); see below:

The specific information requested is not available centrally.

Question reference: S3W-01635

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 27 June 2007
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 19 July 2007

To ask the Scottish Executive whether additional funding will be made available to local authorities for enforcement purposes when the legal age for purchase of cigarettes is raised from 16 to 18 and, if so, how much will be made available.

Question reference: S3W-01634

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 27 June 2007
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 19 July 2007

To ask the Scottish Executive what additional funding will be put in place for smoking cessation services when the legal age for purchase of cigarettes is raised from 16 to 18 and whether this funding will be ring-fenced for underage smokers.