Questions and answers

Question reference: S2W-11029

Asked by: Shona Robison, MSP for Dundee East, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 September 2004
Current Status: Answered by Andy Kerr on 8 November 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive what the world age-standardised rate for cancer (a) incidence, (b) mortality and (c) survival is, broken down by NHS board area and not by gender.

The information requested in shown in the following tables.

(a): World Age-Standardised Rate¹ (WASR) for Cancer Incidence², for All Ages, by Health Board of Residence: 2001

NHS Board Area of Residence	Number of cases	WASR
Argyll and Clyde	2,258	295.9
Ayrshire and Arran	1,910	273.2
Borders	597	273.1
Dumfries and Galloway	756	236.1
Fife	1,679	264.5
Forth Valley	1,390	282.0
Grampian	2,460	272.3
Greater Glasgow	4,553	304.3
Highland	1,071	270.9
Lanarkshire	2,413	264.2
Lothian	3,877	298.0
Orkney	87	236.9
Shetland	100	268.8
Tayside	2,035	272.1
Western Isles	160	285.3
Scotland⁵	25,348	281.1

(b): World Age Standardised Rate (WASR) for Cancer Mortality³ for All Ages, by Health Board of Residence: 2003

NHS Board Area of Residence	Number of deaths	WASR
Argyll and Clyde	1,282	150.0
Ayrshire and Arran	1,126	140.3
Borders	352	125.2
Dumfries and Galloway	535	144.3
Fife	1,008	137.4
Forth Valley	864	151.4
Grampian	1,367	127.6
Greater Glasgow	2,837	171.3
Highland	642	141.7
Lanarkshire	1,524	148.0
Lothian	2,097	136.8
Orkney	45	103.3
Shetland	57	133.2
Tayside	1,226	136.6
Western Isles	101	171.8
Scotland⁵	15,063	144.8

(c) One-Year and Five-Year Relative Survival⁴, by NHS Board Area of Residence, Ages 15 to 99, Patients Diagnosed in 1997 and 2001.

NHS Board Area of Residence	Number of cases in analysis	Survival estimate (%) at 1 year	Survival estimate (%) at 5 years
Argyll and Clyde	9,978	61.0	43.3
Ayrshire and Arran	8,638	61.4	44.0
Borders	2,647	63.6	45.2
Dumfries and Galloway	3,571	62.0	44.8
Fife	7,647	62.3	43.2
Forth Valley	5,955	63.6	44.3
Grampian	11,037	65.6	46.2
Greater Glasgow	20,707	58.1	39.9
Highland	4,942	65.7	46.7
Lanarkshire	11,361	60.4	41.8
Lothian	16,688	63.1	45.9
Tayside	9,251	62.2	42.3
Scotland	113,955	61.8	43.5

Notes:

1. WASR: age-standardised rate per 100 000 person-years at risk (World standard population).

2. Incidence rates are provided for 2001, the most recent year for which cancer registration is considered complete.

3. Mortality rates are provided for 2003, the most recent year for which death information from General Register Office (Scotland) is available.

4. Survival estimates are provided for cancer patients diagnosed between 1997 and 2001, at one year and five years after diagnosis. While 1998 is the most recent year of diagnosis for which five-year follow-up is complete, patients diagnosed between 1999 and 2001 were followed up to 2003 and their survival experience is included in the analysis.

5. The differences in the totals in tables (a) and (b) from those presented inparliamentary question S2W-11028 are due to missing values. Deprivation category is derived from post-code of residence–for a very small proportion of cancer registration the post-code is not available and therefore the dep. cat. is not known. For a smaller number of registrations the health board of residence is also not known.

Question reference: S2W-11033

Asked by: Shona Robison, MSP for Dundee East, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 September 2004
Current Status: Answered by Andy Kerr on 8 November 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive how many (a) doctors, (b) consultant doctors, (c) nurses, (d) allied health professionals, (e) scientific and professional staff, (f) technical staff, (g) administrative and clerical staff and (h) ancillary staff ceased to be employed in the NHS in each year since 1999, broken down by NHS board area.

Question reference: S2W-11283

Asked by: Shona Robison, MSP for Dundee East, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 06 October 2004
Current Status: Answered by Andy Kerr on 4 November 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive what progress has been made towards meeting the target of recruiting an extra 600 consultants to the NHS by 2006.

There is a commitment to increase consultant numbers by 600 and we are working hard to achieve this challenging target.

Additional interventions to improve consultant recruitment and retention are required against a backdrop of UK and, indeed global, shortages in some specialties.

An action plan has been developed to address these issues and includes a range of short, medium and longer term interventions, to help supplement and support ongoing initiatives on retention and recruitment of consultants. The Scottish Executive is working with NHS boards to achieve this.

The commitment to increase consultants by 600 may be influenced by the work being undertaken by the Advisory Group on Service Change (chaired by professor David Kerr) on the development of a national Framework for Service Change.

Question reference: S2W-11036

Asked by: Shona Robison, MSP for Dundee East, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 September 2004
Current Status: Answered by Andy Kerr on 4 November 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive what funding will be provided to (a) doctors, (b) nurses, (c) allied health professionals and (d) scientific and professional staff to help subsidise continuing professional development.

I refer the member to the answer to S2W-11035, on 21 October 2004. 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.

Funding for continuing professional development will be included as part of the annual overall funding given to the NHS in the financial year and therefore there will be no requirement for additional monies made available for continuing professional development in the health service.

Question reference: S2W-11203

Asked by: Shona Robison, MSP for Dundee East, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 05 October 2004
Current Status: Answered by Rhona Brankin on 3 November 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive how many places there were in care homes for (a) older people, (b) physically disabled people, (c) adults with mental health problems, (d) adults with learning disabilities and (e) adults in other client groups in (i) 1998-99 and (ii) 1999-2000, broken down by care home sector.

This information was published in Scottish Community Care Statistics 2002 and will be available from the Parliament’s Reference Centre. This information can also be found on the following web address:

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/stats/bulletins/00309-00.asp.

The information you require can be found in the following tables: (a) Tables 1.12 and 1.21; (b) Tables 4.7 and 4.15; (c) Tables 3.5 and 3.13; (d) Tables 2.5 and 2.13; and, (e) Tables 5.5 and 5.10. The first table for each client group gives data on Residential Care Homes and the second gives data on Private Nursing Homes.

Please note that, up until March 2003, information was not available on which Private Nursing Homes were registered for residents belonging to the various client groups. However, information was collected on the number of residents belonging to the various client groups who were in Private Nursing Homes during the census period.

Question reference: S2W-11202

Asked by: Shona Robison, MSP for Dundee East, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 05 October 2004
Current Status: Answered by Rhona Brankin on 3 November 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive how many care homes there were for (a) older people, (b) physically disabled people, (c) adults with mental health problems, (d) adults with learning disabilities and (e) adults in other client groups in (i) 1998-99 and (ii) 1999-2000, broken down by care home sector.

This information was published in Scottish Community Care Statistics 2002 and will be available from the Parliament’s Reference Centre. This information can also be found on the following web address:

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/stats/bulletins/00309-00.asp.

The information you require can be found in the following tables: (a) Tables 1.12 and 1.21; (b) Tables 4.7 and 4.15; (c) Tables 3.5 and 3.13; (d) Tables 2.5 and 2.13, and, (e) Tables 5.5 and 5.10. The first table for each client group gives data on Residential Care Homes and the second gives data on Private Nursing Homes.

Please note that, up until March 2003, information was not available on which Private Nursing Homes were registered for residents belonging to the various client groups. However, information was collected on the number of residents belonging to the various client groups who were in Private Nursing Homes during the census period.

Question reference: S2W-11204

Asked by: Shona Robison, MSP for Dundee East, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 05 October 2004
Current Status: Answered by Rhona Brankin on 3 November 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive how many residents there were in care homes for (a) older people, (b) physically disabled people, (c) adults with mental health problems, (d) adults with learning disabilities and (e) adults in other client groups in (i) 1998-99 and (ii) 1999-2000, broken down by care home sector.

This information was published in Scottish Community Care Statistics 2002 and will be available from the Parliament’s Reference Centre. This information can also be found on the following web address:

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/stats/bulletins/00309-00.asp.

The information you require can be found in the following tables: (a) Tables 1.12 and 1.21; (b) Tables 4.7 and 4.15; (c) Tables 3.5 and 3.13; (d) Tables 2.5 and 2.13; and, (e) Tables 5.5 and 5.10. The first table for each client group gives data on Residential Care Homes and the second gives data on Private Nursing Homes.

Please note that, up until March 2003, information was not available on which Private Nursing Homes were registered for residents belonging to the various client groups. However, information was collected on the number of residents belonging to the various client groups who were in Private Nursing Homes during the census period.

Question reference: S2W-11205

Asked by: Shona Robison, MSP for Dundee East, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 05 October 2004
Current Status: Answered by Andy Kerr on 2 November 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive what the average waiting time is for patients whose priority is classed as urgent rather than routine, broken down by speciality.

Question reference: S2W-11194

Asked by: Shona Robison, MSP for Dundee East, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 05 October 2004
Current Status: Answered by Andy Kerr on 2 November 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive how many (a) whole-time-equivalent radiologists and (b) radiologists are trained to administer nuclear medicine, broken down by NHS board area.

Question reference: S2W-11195

Asked by: Shona Robison, MSP for Dundee East, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 05 October 2004
Current Status: Answered by Andy Kerr on 2 November 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive how many NHS patients have received treatment with nuclear medicine in each year since 1999, broken down by NHS board area.

Nuclear medicine is used primarily for diagnostic procedures. A much smaller number of patients receive treatment using nuclear medicine. Information on the number of attendances at nuclear medicine departments is shown in the table. This covers attendances only where patients were seen by a nuclear medicine technologist.

NHSScotland – Attendances at Nuclear Medicine Departments; by Location of Department (NHS Board Area): Years Ended 31 March 2000–04

NHS Board	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004^P
Ayrshire and Arran	3,470	3,765	3,812	3,893	3,928
Fife	1,661	1,638	1,609	1,664	1,627
Forth Valley	1,790	1,249	1,040	1,143	824
Grampian	7,174	9,647	11,803	12,298	12,403
Greater Glasgow	18,452	19,693	19,646	19,969	20,793
Lanarkshire	1,671	1,614	1,063*	1,707	1,635
Lothian	2,185	2,367	1,821	1,853	1,746
Tayside	8,463	8,336	8,018	7,884	7,898
Scotland	44,866	48,309	48,812	50,391	50,854

Source: ISD Scotland.

^PProvisional.

Note: *Information may be under-recorded.

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