- Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 20 July 2005
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Current Status:
Answered by Andy Kerr on 10 August 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive what assessment it has made of the impact of 48-hour access targets for general practitioners on availability of pre-booked routine appointments and how many patients it estimates do not have the opportunity to book advance appointments within 48 hours.
Answer
The information requested isnot available centrally.
The Scottish Executivepublished a commitment in the Partnership Agreement that from April 2004 anyonecontacting their GP practice would have guaranteed access to a GP, nurse orother healthcare professional within 48 hours.
Access is defined asincluding appointments, but also includes other arrangements which areappropriate to the patient’s circumstances and clinical need. The target focuses on access rather than GPappointments and a range of healthcare professionals, not just GPs.
The 48 hour access target isnot intended to preclude the ability of patients and practitioners to pre-bookroutine appointments. We expect eachprimary medical services practice to establish appropriate access arrangementsin accordance with local circumstances and to meet the requirement of thetarget. Access to primary medical services is determined by a number of factorsincluding clinical need.
Information on the targetand the guidance issued to NHS boards is available publicly from the 48 HourAccess website:
http://www.show.scot.nhs.uk/sehd/48houraccess.
- Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 29 July 2005
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Current Status:
Answered by Andy Kerr on 10 August 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive what the average student nurse bursary has been in each year since 1999.
Answer
Information on the totalexpenditure on bursaries is not collected in such a way as to provide averagebursary payments for these academic years. Lower and higher rates of bursaryfor the academic years 1999-2000 to 2005-06 are set out in the following table.Where applicable, nursing and midwifery students can also apply for a lone parent’sgrant, lone parent’s childcare grant and income-assessed dependants’ allowancesfor dependant children.
| Academic Year | Lower Rate (students under 26) | Higher Rate (students over 26) |
| 1999-2000 | 4,686 | 5,277 |
| 2000-01 | 4,803 | 5,409 |
| 2001-02 | 5,302 | 5,971 |
| 2002-03 | 5,430 | 6,115 |
| 2003-04 | 5,566 | 6,268 |
| 2004-05 | 5,700 | 6,418 |
| 2005-06 | 5,845 | 6,580 |
- Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 21 July 2005
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Current Status:
Answered by Andy Kerr on 10 August 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive how many people (a) requested and (b) received an appointment to see a GP within 48 hours in the last period for which figures are available.
Answer
The information requested isnot available centrally.
The Scottish Executivepublished a commitment in the Partnership Agreement that from April 2004 anyonecontacting their GP practice would have guaranteed access to a GP, nurse orother healthcare professional within 48 hours.
Access is defined asincluding appointments, but also includes other arrangements which areappropriate to the patient’s circumstances and clinical need. The target focuses on access rather than GPappointments and a range of healthcare professionals, not just GPs.
The 48 hour access target isincluded in the Quality and Outcomes Framework (QOF) under the new GP contractarrangements. In 2004-05, 97% of Scottish practices qualified for and receivedthe ‘access bonus’ through the QOF. Similarly high levels of compliance havebeen reported by NHS boards through the 2004-05 Performance AssessmentFramework.
Information on the targetand the guidance issued to NHS boards is available publicly from the 48 HourAccess website:
http://www.show.scot.nhs.uk/sehd/48houraccess.
- Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 01 August 2005
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Current Status:
Answered by Lewis Macdonald on 10 August 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive how many people are currently on waiting lists for aids and adaptations, broken down by local authority area.
Answer
The information requested isnot currently held centrally.
- Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 15 July 2005
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Current Status:
Answered by Tom McCabe on 9 August 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive which five management consultancies received the highest value of contracts awarded by it in each of the last five years and what the total value was of the contracts awarded to each.
Answer
Listed are the payments made over the past three years where the word consultancy appears in the account code. Information pre SEAS is not available.
02/03
| Vendor Name | Ac | Ac Desc | Invoice Amount SUM |
| Glasgow City Council | 60101555 | Consultancy Services Swsg 2 | 440,457.63 |
| Astron Document Services Limited | 60100650 | Committees and Consultancies | 286,441.00 |
| Sinclair Knight Merz | 20001425 | Rail Consultancies | 213,914.22 |
| ICAS Limited | 40100905 | Consultancy | 163,716.85 |
| Press Data Bureau | 40100905 | Consultancy | 154,603.78 |
03/04
| Vendor Name | Ac | Ac Desc | Invoice Amount SUM |
| Ernst & Young LLP | 60052650 | Rail Consultancies | 752,091.09 |
| PA Consulting Services Limited | 60253240 | Safety Cameras PA Consulting | 371,192.02 |
| Astron Document Services Limited | 60100650 | Committees and Consultancies | 342,047.26 |
| Lanarkshire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust | 60204205 | Consultancy Services:Other | 244,573.45 |
| Valuation Office Agency | 60204205 | Consultancy Services:Other | 227,086.38 |
04/05
| Vendor Name | Ac | Ac Desc | Invoice Amount SUM |
| Newell and Budge Security Limited | 40100905 | Consultancy | 951,346.47 |
| Office For National Statistics | 40100905 | Consultancy | 883,169.00 |
| Ernst & Young LLP | 60171310 | Rail Consultancies | 864,357.85 |
| Miller Mitchell Burley Lane | 40100905 | Consultancy | 671,326.50 |
| Astron Document Services Limited | 60221765 | Tobacco consultation | 457,178.45 |
- Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 15 July 2005
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Current Status:
Answered by Peter Peacock on 9 August 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive what research it has evaluated on whether there is a relationship between the number of hours spent watching television and children's academic achievement.
Answer
Researchers in SEED areaware of published research findings that examine the relationship between timespent watching television and children’s academic achievement. The Departmenthas not, however, assessed the body of research in this field.
- Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 12 July 2005
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Current Status:
Answered by George Lyon on 9 August 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive what the life expectancy rates were for (a) males and (b) females in each year from (i) 1980 to 1985 and (ii) 1990 to 1995, broken down by NHS board area.
Answer
The information requested isgiven in Life expectancy at birth 1980 to 1995, a copy of whichhas been placed in the Parliament’s Reference Centre (Bib. number 37186).
- Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 13 July 2005
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Current Status:
Answered by Tom McCabe on 9 August 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive what research projects it has commissioned since 1999 and what the timetable is for the publication of each piece of research that has yet to be completed.
Answer
To provide a comprehensiveanswer to this question would involve disproportionate cost. There are,however, a number of websites where Scottish Executive's research programmesare recorded:Theannual report of the Scottish Executive Health Department ChiefScientist's
Office, available at
www.show.scot.nhs.uk/cso, givesdetails of research grants awarded.Thecurrent research programme of the Education Department is available at www.scotland.gov.uk/insight. Thepublications section of that Website lists earlier publications, by topic.Researchcommissioned by the Science and Research Group of the Scottish ExecutiveEnvironment and Rural Affairs Department is described at www.scotland.gov.uk/topics/research/abrg.TheWebsite of the Environment Group of ERAD is at:
www.scotland.gov.uk/environment-group-research.Socialresearch contracts acrossDepartments, in 2002-03, 2003-04 and 2003-04: www.scotland.gov.uk/topics/research/research/sr/secontractors.Researchprojects commissioned in connection with official statistics aredetailed in the relevant topic pages of the statistics website:
www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Statistics.
- Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 23 June 2005
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Current Status:
Answered by Andy Kerr on 9 August 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive what the total number of accident and emergency attendances was in each NHS board area in each of the last five years for which figures were available.
Answer
The information requested isshown in the following table. Data for the year ending March 2005 are not yetcomplete.
The figuresinclude return attendances as well as new presentations.
NHSScotland– Accident and emergency Attendances1; by NHS Board Area YearsEnding 31 March 2000 - 2004
| | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 |
| Scotland | 1,552,634 | 1,530,276 | 1,527,403 | 1,501,272 | 1,513,863 |
| Argyll and Clyde | 149,082 | 148,378 | 147,806 | 144,412 | 151,214 |
| Ayrshire and Arran | 116,287 | 111,695 | 109,220 | 107,188 | 110,035 |
| Borders | 29,532 | 30,531 | 31,823 | 32,219 | 31,503 |
| Dumfries and Galloway | 39,483 | 40,175 | 41,898 | 42,104 | 42,709 |
| Fife | 89,652 | 90,591 | 89,305 | 85,360 | 88,916 |
| Forth Valley | 76,571 | 76,542 | 77,228 | 75,219 | 75,030 |
| Grampian | 124,890 | 113,419 | 114,252 | 109,222 | 102,699 |
| Greater Glasgow | 376,734 | 373,273 | 370,410 | 363,440 | 359,969 |
| Highland | 61,749 | 61,028 | 61,225 | 59,231 | 64,776 |
| Lanarkshire | 160,336 | 163,472 | 159,772 | 165,762 | 174,120 |
| Lothian | 206,080 | 203,918 | 197,654 | 188,191 | 183,639 |
| Orkney | 2,551 | 2,555 | 2,714 | 2,915 | 3,292 |
| Shetland | 7,190 | 7,407 | 8,972 | 7,999 | 8,036 |
| Tayside | 105,809 | 100,005 | 107,780 | 109,623 | 109,058 |
| Western Isles | 6,688 | 7,287 | 7,344 | 8,387 | 8,867 |
Source:ISD Scotland.
Note:1. Excludes patients attending for A&E treatment that are seen by GPs.
- Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 13 July 2005
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Current Status:
Answered by Tom McCabe on 9 August 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive how many people employed by it and non-departmental public bodies have a compulsory retirement age of 65.
Answer
The Scottish Executivenormal retirement age is 60, although staff can be retained on a yearly basisup to age 65 provided their performance, conduct and attendance aresatisfactory and there is a post available. This policy extends to all ScottishExecutive core departments, agencies and associated departments, which amountsto around ,7500 staff.
NDPBs are responsible fordetermining their own staff terms and conditions of employment and we do nothold information centrally on this.
