Questions and answers

Question reference: S2W-31665

Asked by: Shona Robison, MSP for Dundee East, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 06 February 2007
Current Status: Answered by Andy Kerr on 19 February 2007

To ask the Scottish Executive how much was spent on NHS reorganisation in each of the last 10 years.

Further information on the statistics,including information on how the data is collected and notes to aid interpretation,is published on the Scottish Health Statistics website under workforce statistics,at www.isdscotland.org/workforce.

Question reference: S2W-31522

Asked by: Shona Robison, MSP for Dundee East, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 30 January 2007
Current Status: Answered by Andy Kerr on 5 February 2007

To ask the Scottish Executive what the nursing vacancy rate was for posts vacant for more than three months in each year since 1999.

The following table shows thefigures for nursing and midwifery staff vacancies (three months or more) by wholetime equivalent each year since 1999.

At 31 March

1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006
1.0	0.6	0.5	0.9	1.0	1.1	1.6	0.7

Source: ISD Scotland.

Further information on the statistics,including information on how the data is collected and notes to aid interpretation,is published on the Scottish Health Statistics website under workforce statistics,at:

www.isdscotland.org/workforce.

Question reference: S2W-31523

Asked by: Shona Robison, MSP for Dundee East, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 30 January 2007
Current Status: Answered by Andy Kerr on 5 February 2007

To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage and number of nurses left the profession in each year since 1999.

This information is not heldcentrally. However, the number and percentage of registered nurses and midwiveswho left NHSScotland since 1999 is outlined in the following tables.

Registered Nursesand Midwives leaving NHS Scotland¹

Headcount	1999-2000	2000-01	2001-02	2002-03	2003-04	2004-05	2005-06
Leavers	2,746	2,806	2,813	2,819	2,965	2,747	3,040
Leave NHS Scotland²	2,495	2,560	2,471	2,371	2,675	2,358	2,623
Leave to bank³	251	246	342	448	290	389	417

Percentage of Staff in Post⁴

	1999-2000	2000-01	2001-02	2002-03	2003-04	2004-05	2005-06
Leavers	6.6%	6.6%	6.5%	6.4%	6.6%	6.0%	6.4%
Leave NHS Scotland²	6.0%	6.1%	5.7%	5.4%	5.9%	5.1%	5.6%
Leave to bank³	0.6%	0.6%	0.8%	1.0%	0.6%	0.8%	0.9%

Source: ISD Scotland.

Notes:

1. Individual census files arelinked together using national insurance number to produce an approximate careerhistory for individuals employed by NHS Scotland. This linked file allows annualnet movements in and out of NHS Scotland to be established. The movements are netas movements between censuses are not taken into account.

2. Individuals leaving NHS Scotlandare those who were on a census in one year but were not on it in the following year.This will comprise those retiring, those choosing to work as a nurse outside NHSScotland and those leaving the profession.

3. Individuals moving to thenursing and midwifery bank are those individuals who leave a substantive post towork on the bank.

4. The percentage of staff inpost is calculated as leavers / average of staff in post in year 1 + staff in postin year 2. e.g. leavers in 1999 / ((staff in post 1999 + staff in post 2000) / 2))

Further information on the statistics,including information on how the data is collected and notes to aid interpretation,is published on the Scottish Health Statistics website under workforce statistics,at www.isdscotland.org/workforce.

Question reference: S2W-31205

Asked by: Shona Robison, MSP for Dundee East, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 19 January 2007
Current Status: Answered by Lewis Macdonald on 2 February 2007

To ask the Scottish Executive how many people aged (a) 50 to 64, (b) 65 to 74 and (c) 75 and over were treated for depression in each of the last 10 years, broken down by NHS board.

The exact number of those treatedfor depression is not available centrally. The information provided is thelatest available estimates based on returns from a representative sample of generalpractices in Scotland.

Estimated Patients, 50 Yearsand Over, Seen by a GP for Depression, by Age Group; Year Ending 31 March

Age group	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003
50 - 64	65,850	68,450	69,850	69,700	71,950
65 - 74	24,400	23,900	24,550	22,800	22,600
75 and over	20,400	20,200	18,600	19,050	18,150

Source: ISD, Scotland.

Note: Rounded in each caseto the nearest 50.

Delivering for Mental Health(Bib. number 41410) promotes action to reduce the number of people sufferingfrom depression by intervening through self-help and psychological therapieswhich are supported by targets and commitments.

Question reference: S2W-31204

Asked by: Shona Robison, MSP for Dundee East, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 19 January 2007
Current Status: Answered by Andy Kerr on 1 February 2007

To ask the Scottish Executive how many emergency hospital readmissions there were of people aged (a) 50 to 64, (b) 65 to 74 and (c) 75 years and over in each quarter of each of the last three years, broken down by NHS board.

Information on emergencyadmissions within 28 days of discharge is given in Emergency admission rateswithin 28 days of discharge from medical and surgical specialties, by age group,in Scottish Hospitals by quarter and NHS board of treatment, 2003-2005 a copyof which has been placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib.number 41608).

Emergency admissions within28 days will include cases that are readmissions for complications resultingfrom the original hospital stay but will also encompass cases which are completelyunrelated to the previous discharge from hospital. The information has been presentedseparately for surgical and medical groupings as the readmissions rates candiffer quite markedly between these two groups.

Question reference: S2W-31202

Asked by: Shona Robison, MSP for Dundee East, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 19 January 2007
Current Status: Answered by Andy Kerr on 1 February 2007

To ask the Scottish Executive how many operations were performed within (a) one, (b) two, (c) three, (d) four, (e) five, (f) six, (g) seven, (h) eight, (i) nine, (j) 10, (k) 11 and (l) 12 weeks or more of referral from a GP or specialist practitioner in each quarter of each of the last five years, broken down by NHS board.

It is not possible, fromcurrent data sources, to identify the length of the whole wait from a GP orspecialist practitioner referral to the date of in-patient or day caseadmission.

Informationon the length of time waited byScottish residents for a new appointment at a consultant-led out-patient clinicin an acute specialty following referral from a GP or dentist is routinelypublished on ISD Scotland’s website at http://www.isdscotland.org/isd/4013.html

Information on thelength of time waited by patients who were routinely admitted from the waitinglist for in-patient/day case treatment is routinely published on ISD Scotland’swebsite at http://www.isdscotland.org/isd/4031.html.

Question reference: S2W-31203

Asked by: Shona Robison, MSP for Dundee East, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 19 January 2007
Current Status: Answered by Andy Kerr on 1 February 2007

To ask the Scottish Executive how many operations were subject to medical deferral in each quarter of each of the last five years, broken down by NHS board.

Question reference: S2W-30977

Asked by: Shona Robison, MSP for Dundee East, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 11 January 2007
Current Status: Answered by Andy Kerr on 26 January 2007

To ask the Scottish Executive what the total cost was of backlog maintenance in the NHS in each financial year since 1997-98.

Question reference: S2W-30976

Asked by: Shona Robison, MSP for Dundee East, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 11 January 2007
Current Status: Answered by Andy Kerr on 24 January 2007

To ask the Scottish Executive what its estimate is of the total number of NHS staff who have worked in the (a) acute and (b) community sector in each year since 1997 shown in terms of (i) headcount and (ii) full-time equivalent.

The way in which workforce datais collected means that it is not possible to differentiate between those who workin the acute and community sectors for all staff groups.

This data is available for medical,dental and nursing staff. and is published on the Scottish Health Statistics websiteunder Workforce Statistics, at www.isdscotland.org/workforce.

The following table 1 shows thebreakdown and percentage of all nursing and midwifery staff across hospital andcommunity sectors by whole-time equivalent (WTE). The following table 2 shows thesimilar breakdown by headcount.

Table 1

At 30 September	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005
Whole-Time Equivalent	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005
All nursing and midwifery staff	51,478.97	51,106.7	51,390.5	51,310.1	52,234.3	53,196.5	54,119.98	54,552.9	55,468.7
Hospital Specialties	44,893.53	44,399	44,485.2	44,210.3	44,791.5	45,263.8	45,779.39	46,026.9	46,739.1
Community Specialties	6,048.55	6,140.95	6,304.78	6,391.99	6,723.48	6,919.59	7,216.669	7,305.72	7,457.84
% in Hospital Specialties	87.20%	86.90%	86.50%	86.20%	86.70%	86.10%	84.60%	84.40%	84.30%

Table 2

At 30 September	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005
Headcount	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005
All nursing and midwifery staff	61,961	61,374	61,644	61,579	62,379	63,356	64,317	64,855	65,816
Hospital Specialties	53,558	52,816	52,750	52,355	52,748	53,092	53,479	53,752	54,447
Community Specialties	7,756	7,872	8,150	8,281	8,690	8,968	9,351	9,461	9,615
% in Hospital Specialties	86.40%	86.10%	85.60%	85.00%	84.60%	83.80%	83.10%	82.30%	82.70%

The following table3 below shows the whole-time equivalent (WTE),headcount and percentage breakdown of medical and dentalstaff split by hospital and community specialties, in each year from 1997.

Table3: NHS Medical andDental Staff; Hospital and CommunitySpecialties by Year¹

	Whole-Time Equivalent at 30 September
	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005
Hospital Specialties	7,295.2	7,363.9	7,534.8	7,577.7	7,869.4	8,428.6	8,664.7	8,924.3	9,125.3
Community Specialties	475.5	467.2	451.4	453.9	464.7	502.3	477.7	500.1	517.4
% in Hospital Specialties	93.8%	94.0%	94.3%	94.3%	94.45	94.4%	94.8%	94.7%	94.6%
	Headcount at 30 September
	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005
Hospital Specialties	8,228	8,292	8,494	8,555	8,870	9,400	9,575	9,817	9,991
Community Specialties	660	659	638	639	651	723	678	699	742
% in Hospital Specialties	92.6%	92.6%	93.0%	93.0%	93.2%	92.8%	93.4%	93.4%	93.1%

Source: ISD Scotland.

Notes:

1. Excludes staff working inPublic Health Medicine.

The Workforce web pages willbe updated with data to 30 September 2006 at our next release on Tuesday 30 January at 9.30 am. Further informationon the statistics, including information on how the data are collected and notesto aid interpretation, is given in the Background Notes document on the WorkforceStatistics homepage at www.isdscotland.org/workforce.

Chamber and committees