Chamber and committees

Data on the total numbers of episodes of NHS care for inpatient and day case treatment and the total number of consultant outpatient and Accident and Emergency attendance's for the years 1996-97, 1997-98 and 1998-99 is provided in the table. Comprehensive information for all aspects of treatment carried out within a primary care setting is not available.

It is not possible to provide the proportion of the population who have received NHS care in hospital as many patients have had more than one episode of treatment or attended an outpatient clinic on more than one occasion.

NHS In Scotland: Inpatient¹, Day Case¹, Outpatient² and Accident and Emergency Activity; Years Ending 31 March 1997 - 1999

	1996-97	1997-98	1998-99p
Total Inpatient Episodes3	969,283	982,804	981,574
Total Day Case Episodes	384,291	414,869	437,819
Total Outpatient Attendance's	4,720,866	4,759,628	4,857,736
Total Attendance's at A&E	1,550,704	1,571,608	1,556,258

p Provisional

1 Includes NHS activity in joint-user and contractual hospitals.

2 Excludes NHS activity in joint-user and contractual hospitals.³ Includes transfers between specialities, between significant facilities or between NHS hospitals.

The White Paper Smoking Kills which was published on 10 December 1998 sets out a comprehensive strategy to combat smoking throughout the UK. The Scottish Executive endorses the White Paper as a framework for action. However, in taking the policy forward, we have been careful to ensure that the measures outlined are being specifically tailored to Scottish priorities and circumstances.A copy of the White Paper is available in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre [SPICe].

No. Advice from the Medicines Control Agency is that the use of pre-filled plasticised PVC bags containing infusion solutions such as sodium chloride is not considered to pose any unacceptable risk to patients.It is understood that the US Food and Drug Administration has not withdrawn PVC bags but is undertaking a risk assessment of a specific plasticiser, which was scheduled for completion at the end of November.

As indicated in our paper Strategy for Carers in Scotland and as discussed in the debate on 25 November, the carers' legislation working group which we are setting up will consider what provisions are necessary to ensure that carers under 16 years can have an assessment of their care needs.

Under the Directions to the Prisons and Young Offenders Institutions (Scotland) Rules 1994 (as amended) a Prison Governor can prohibit a prisoner from making telephone calls to persons who have indicated to the Governor, in writing, that they do not wish to receive telephone calls from that prisoner.

I refer Mr Gibson to pages 112-115 of the report on the Strategic Roads Review which was published and made available to Members on 4 November.

I refer Mr Gibson to pages 112-115 of the report on the Strategic Roads Review which was published and made available to Members on 4 November.

The Local Government Finance Settlement for 2000-01, which includes the Police Grant Aided Expenditure will be announced shortly. Police GAE is not hypothecated and it is for individual authorities and joint boards to determine their expenditure plans.

The Scottish Executive's assessment of the M74 Northern Extension is set out in the report on the Strategic Roads Review which was published and made available to Members on 4 November.

The Scottish Executive endorses the position taken by successive Governments for many years, that complementary or alternative therapies may offer relief to some people suffering from a wide variety of conditions. Legislation allows practitioners of such therapies to offer their services, subject only to some general restrictions such as those on prescribing and supplying medicines and giving injections. Members of the public are free to use these services privately if they choose, and a GP or hospital clinician may refer a patient for alternative treatment. The GP or hospital clinician would require to be satisfied of the value of the treatment and the competence of the practitioner, and would remain responsible for the patient's medical care. It is also open to Health Boards to provide alternative therapies.Many forms of alternative therapy are already available as NHS treatment. The Scottish Office Department of Health's National Medical Advisory Committee produced, in November 1996, a report on the current activity levels in acupuncture, homeopathy, osteopathy and chiropractic, which included guidelines for Health Boards on making purchasing arrangements for their provision. These guidelines, as the report made clear, might be applied to other forms of alternative therapy. Herbal medicine would come into that category. The guidelines do not, however, require Boards to purchase particular therapies, which is a matter for the Boards, based on assessment of need in their areas.