Questions and answers

Question reference: S4W-18083

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 05 November 2013
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 19 November 2013

To ask the Scottish Government what research it has commissioned on the cost effectiveness of the shingles vaccine, Zostavax.

The Scottish Government has not commissioned research on the cost effectiveness of the shingles vaccine Zostavax.

The Scottish Government and all other UK Health Departments take advice on immunisation issues from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI). Prior to the introduction of the shingles vaccination programme, the JCVI reviewed medical, epidemiological and economic evidence as well as vaccine safety and efficacy data relevant to a shingles vaccination programme. This included the following studies specifically relating to cost effectiveness of the vaccination programme:

Gauthier A, Breuer J, Carrington D et al. (2009) Epidemiology and cost of herpes zoster and post-herpetic neuralgia in the United Kingdom. Epidemiol Infect 137(1): 38-47. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez/18466661

van Hoek AJ, Gay N, Melegaro A et al. (2009) Estimating the cost-effectiveness of vaccination against herpes zoster in England and Wales. Vaccine 27( 9): 1454-67. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez/19135492.

Question reference: S4W-17984

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 11 November 2013
Current Status: Answered by Alex Neil on 19 November 2013

To ask the Scottish Government how many Scotland-based health researchers or methodologists the Chief Scientist Office has funded under the same or a similar scheme to the funding of 18 research professorships by the National Institute for Health Research.

Scotland has a Senior Clinical Fellowships scheme open to doctors and dentists. It is funded by the Scottish Funding Council and the Universities of Aberdeen, Dundee, St Andrews, Edinburgh and Glasgow. The level of individuals awarded these fellowships would be broadly equivalent to those funded through the National Institute for Health Research scheme.

In total 18 fellowships have been awarded since 2009 and the chief scientist office provides a start-up grant to successful Fellows to the value of £75,000 to each fellow.

Question reference: S4F-01705

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 18 November 2013
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 21 November 2013

To ask the First Minister when the Scottish Government will bring forward plans to extend legislation to make wilful neglect of patients a criminal offence.

Question reference: S4O-02605

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 13 November 2013
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 21 November 2013

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to align education and skills provision in the Highlands and Islands with the needs of local employers.

Question reference: S4W-17989

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 29 October 2013
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 12 November 2013

To ask the Scottish Government what arrangements have been established at UK level for joint ministerial discussions on the Crown Estate since the publication of the Scottish Affairs Committee report, The Crown Estate in Scotland; whether any meetings have been held, and, if so, what was discussed and what the outcomes were.

The UK Government’s response to the Scottish Affairs Committee’s report on The Crown Estate in Scotland announced a Scottish Inter-Ministerial Strategic Group to meet annually to consider the activities of the Crown Estate. The strategic group was due to have its initial meeting in June and then November this year, but on both occasions was cancelled by the UK Government.

I have written to the new Secretary of State for Scotland to reinforce the Scottish Government’s desire for the full devolution of the Crown Estate and I intend to raise this with him when we meet shortly.

Question reference: S4O-02568

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 06 November 2013
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 13 November 2013

To ask the Scottish Government what recent discussions it has had with Highland Council about the infrastructure and capital investment required to meet the needs of communities in the Highlands and Islands.

Question reference: S4W-18074

Current Status: Withdrawn

Question reference: S4W-17650

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 08 October 2013
Current Status: Answered by Alex Neil on 1 November 2013

To ask the Scottish Government how many people were diagnosed with a form of dementia in the last year for which information is available, broken down by (a) type of dementia, (b) local authority area and (c) NHS board, and what the projected figures are for 2033.

Information on how many people were diagnosed with a form of dementia as at June 2013 by local authority area and by NHS board is contained in tables (1) and (2).This information is not broken down by type of dementia as this is not held centrally.

Projected figures are approximations based on prevalence modelling only. Using the Eurocode prevalence model, there are approximately 86,000 people with dementia in Scotland and this figure is projected to double by 2033.

TABLE 1: Number of patients on general practice QOF registers for dementia and other QOF-compatible registers for dementia¹, with crude rates per 100 patients by Council

Area²

Council Area	Patients on Register	List Size³	Number of Practices	Raw Prevalence rate (per 100 patients)⁴

Scotland	41,947	5,544,015	981	0.8
Aberdeen City	1,803	249,884	29	0.7
Aberdeenshire	1,792	243,065	36	0.7
Angus	1,133	116,489	17	1.0
Argyll and Bute	771	88,021	30	0.9
Clackmannanshire	386	56,298	7	0.7
Dumfries and Galloway	1,484	154,632	34	1.0
Dundee City	1,388	161,806	24	0.9
East Ayrshire	1,024	132,157	16	0.8
East Dunbartonshire	626	102,372	17	0.6
East Lothian	959	103,629	16	0.9
East Renfrewshire	510	101,396	17	0.5
Edinburgh, City of	3,704	523,451	72	0.7
Eilean Siar	267	27,199	10	1.0
Falkirk	1,214	157,579	27	0.8
Fife	2,692	376,454	58	0.7
Glasgow City	4,742	678,072	150	0.7
Highland	1,877	233,506	66	0.8
Inverclyde	673	83,494	16	0.8
Midlothian	766	87,739	13	0.9
Moray	709	90,199	14	0.8
North Ayrshire	1,040	140,737	19	0.7
North Lanarkshire	2,253	343,711	59	0.7
Orkney Islands	144	20,803	10	0.7
Perth & Kinross	1,435	144,154	26	1.0
Renfrewshire	1,416	177,241	29	0.8
Scottish Borders	943	116,139	23	0.8
Shetland Islands	173	22,780	10	0.8
South Ayrshire	1,156	113,306	20	1.0
South Lanarkshire	2,536	324,472	53	0.8
Stirling	607	96,415	23	0.6
West Dunbartonshire	589	96,555	17	0.6
West Lothian	1,135	180,260	23	0.6

Notes

1. Data source: QOF Calculator, as at 28th June 2013, plus notifications of

adjustments from NHS Boards. Totals may still be subject to further revisions

locally.

2. Dementia figures used for the HEAT standard include data from sources other

than QOF for a small number of practices that do not take part in QOF. They can

also include data from a small number of practices that do not have signed off QOF data,

as these non-signed off data still contribute towards the target.

3. Register and list size by council area need to be treated with caution. This is because

locations of practices and their populations are not related to council area boundaries.

4. The location of practice premises in one council area does not imply that the population

served is in the council area.

5. List size is the total number of patients registered to practices physically located within the council area.

This information is at 1^st January in the given financial year.

Prevalence = number of patients on the specified QOF register, divided by list size, multiplied by100.

TABLE 2: Number of patients on general practice QOF registers for dementia and

other QOF- compatible registers for Dementia, with crude rates per 100 patients by

NHS Board

All practices ¹

Number of

practices

List Size ²

Practices with Dementia register data ³

Number of

practices

List Size ²

Patients on

register

Raw prevalence rate ⁴

(per 100 patients)

NHS Scotland

990

5,550,480

981

5,544,015

41,947

0.8

NHS Ayrshire and Arran

55

386,200

55

386,200

3,220

0.8

NHS Borders

23

116,139

23

116,139

943

0.8

NHS Dumfries and Galloway

34

154,632

34

154,632

1,484

1.0

NHS Fife	58	376,454	58	376,454	2,692	0.7
NHS Forth Valley	57	310,292	57	310,292	2,207	0.7
NHS Grampian	81	586,918	79	583,148	4,304	0.7
NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde	263	1,317,006	262	1,316,735	9,002	0.7
NHS Highland	100	322,485	96	321,527	2,648	0.8
NHS Lanarkshire	97	591,574	96	590,578	4,343	0.7
NHS Lothian ⁵	125	895,549	124	895,079	6,564	0.7
NHS Orkney	10	20,803	10	20,803	144	0.7
NHS Shetland	10	22,780	10	22,780	173	0.8
NHS Tayside	67	422,449	67	422,449	3,956	0.9
NHS Western Isles	10	27,199	10	27,199	267	1.0

Notes:
1. Data source: QOF Calculator, as at 28th June 2013, plus notifications of adjustments from NHS boards. Totals may still be subject to further revisions locally.
1. The “All practices” figures includes all regular GP surgeries and also a small number of “practices” that provide primary care services to specific groups of 50 or more patients, such as homeless
patients or those in care homes. This is because some of these “practices” participate in the QOF. It excludes “practices” that provide specialist services to groups of fewer than 50 registered
patients.
2. List size is the total number of patients registered to the practice. This information is as at 1st January in the given financial year.
3. Dementia figures used for the HEAT standard include data from sources other than QOF for a small number of practices that do not take part in QOF.
They can also include data from a small number of practices that do not have signed off QOF data, as these non-signed off data still contribute towards the target.
As a result these figures will differ for some NHS board areas from the main QOF prevalence data published elsewhere.
4. Prevalence = number of patients on the specified QOF register, divided by list size, multiplied by 100.
5. One Lothian practice provided partial data only.

Question reference: S4O-02553

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 30 October 2013
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 7 November 2013

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to improve access to public transport for people with mobility issues.

Question reference: S4W-17655

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 04 October 2013
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 29 October 2013

To ask the Scottish Government how many and what percentage of the population was of working age in each local authority area in the last year for which information is available, and what the projected figures are for 2033.

The estimated number and percentage of working age population in each local authority for 2012 and the latest available projected figures for 2033 are shown in the following table.

Number and percentage of working age population for 2012 and 2033

Local Authority

2012 estimates

2033 projections¹

All ages

Working age²

Percentage

All ages

Working age³

Percentage

Aberdeen City	224,970	154,363	69	268,012	177,493	66
Aberdeenshire	255,540	158,482	62	295,965	170,956	58
Angus	116,210	68,746	59	115,302	62,265	54
Argyll and Bute	86,900	49,955	57	83,613	44,631	53
Clackmannanshire	51,280	31,997	62	57,257	33,374	58
Dumfries and Galloway	150,830	87,562	58	142,694	73,908	52
Dundee City	147,800	95,674	65	153,247	95,838	63
East Ayrshire	122,720	75,788	62	121,467	69,904	58
East Dunbartonshire	105,880	63,116	60	95,661	51,735	54
East Lothian	100,850	60,985	60	127,056	72,866	57
East Renfrewshire	91,030	54,013	59	89,530	49,093	55
Edinburgh, City of	482,640	328,739	68	603,145	414,939	69
Eilean Siar	27,560	16,025	58	23,623	12,420	53
Falkirk	156,800	98,037	63	167,849	100,088	60
Fife	366,220	225,168	61	398,363	232,176	58
Glasgow City	595,080	405,113	68	656,095	447,958	68
Highland	232,910	140,557	60	253,382	142,446	56
Inverclyde	80,680	49,976	62	67,895	38,000	56
Midlothian	84,240	51,389	61	90,449	52,319	58
Moray	92,910	55,850	60	95,942	53,931	56
North Ayrshire	137,560	82,514	60	129,762	71,753	55
North Lanarkshire	337,870	213,339	63	332,449	199,074	60
Orkney Islands	21,530	12,912	60	21,500	11,811	55
Perth and Kinross	147,740	87,811	59	191,622	114,351	60
Renfrewshire	174,310	109,087	63	169,437	100,537	59
Scottish Borders	113,710	66,302	58	124,306	66,851	54
Shetland Islands	23,210	14,268	61	22,687	12,485	55
South Ayrshire	112,910	66,189	59	108,793	59,694	55
South Lanarkshire	314,360	196,215	62	330,638	193,799	59
Stirling	91,020	56,683	62	103,410	61,895	60
West Dunbartonshire	90,340	56,898	63	85,207	49,940	59
West Lothian	175,990	111,593	63	203,107	121,019	60
Scotland	5,313,600	3,345,346	63	5,729,465	3,459,549	60

Notes:

1. 2010-based projections published in 2011, based on the 2001 Census and do not take account of the 2011 Census results.

2. Working age at 30 June 2012 is defined as men aged 16 to 64 and women aged 16 to approximately 60 years and 240 days as per the 2011 Pensions Act.

3. Includes the change in women’s state pension age from 60 to 65 between 2010 and 2018 and the subsequent changes of both male and female state pension age to 66 by 2033.

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