Questions and answers

Question reference: S2W-17974

Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 19 July 2005
Current Status: Answered by Tom McCabe on 9 August 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive how much it spent on organising or sponsoring conferences in each year since 1997.

Question reference: S2W-17879

Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 13 July 2005
Current Status: Answered by Patricia Ferguson on 8 August 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will publish a full economic cost-benefit analysis for Scotland of the successful London Olympic bid.

Question reference: S2W-17945

Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 18 July 2005
Current Status: Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 5 August 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive what proportion of prisoners are drug users upon entry to prison and are considered to remain so at the point of release.

I have asked Tony Cameron,Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) to respond. His response is as follows:

The SPS does not collectthis information routinely. However, a specific reception testing study duringMay 2003 indicated that around two-thirds of prisoners had drugs in theirsystem upon entry to Scotland’s prisons. More detailed information of this studywas given in reply to a previous question and I refer the member to the questionS2W-15576 answered on 14 April 2005. All answers to written parliamentary questions areavailable on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can befound at:

http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.

Liberation testing in December 2004 suggested that about 30%were drug users on release, and the SPS random test of drug use in prisonindicates that less than 20% test positive while in prison.

Question reference: S2W-17664

Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 June 2005
Current Status: Answered by Andy Kerr on 4 August 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive how many cases of (a) gonorrhoea, (b) syphilis, (c) chlamydia and (b) thrush have been diagnosed in each of the last five years, broken down by NHS board.

The information requested isshown in the following tables. Table 1 shows information on number of cases ofgonorrhoea, syphilis and chlamydia based on laboratory reports by NHS board oftesting in the last five years. Table 2 shows estimated number of contacts andincidence contacts for Candidal Vulvovagitis and other Urogenital Candiasis(thrush), based on Practice Team Information (PTI). This information is basedon a sample of General Practitioners which is not of sufficient size to allowfor a breakdown by NHS board.

Table 1

Laboratory Reports ofSelected Sexually Transmitted Infections by NHS Board¹, 2000-2004.

Genital chlamydia

NHS Board	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004
Argyll and Clyde	375	522	832	1,011	1,134
Ayrshire and Arran	275	356	813	888	887
Borders	51	51	48	189	259
Dumfries and Galloway	282	328	408	386	502
Fife	512	524	858	1,002	1,199
Forth Valley	354	442	373	595	608
Grampian	1,160	1,235	1,348	1,427	1,800
Greater Glasgow	1,689	2,406	2,295	3,102	3,487
Highland	500	531	626	630	788
Lanarkshire	400	728	890	885	982
Lothian	1,206	2,432	2,742	2,971	3,016
Orkney	10	41	45	55	51
Shetland	8	24	33	41	50
Tayside	822	953	1,069	1,189	1,281
Western Isles	0	0	3	9	25
Unspecified	0	56	0	0	0
Scotland	7,644	10,629	12,383	14,380	16,069

Gonorrhoea

NHS Board	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004
Argyll and Clyde	36	39	47	24	41
Ayrshire and Arran	10	21	31	16	10
Borders	0	0	7	1	5
Dumfries and Galloway	40	21	13	26	27
Fife	35	28	9	33	27
Forth Valley	41	33	18	31	30
Grampian	92	82	74	78	69
Greater Glasgow	266	264	239	247	309
Highland	33	43	33	13	36
Lanarkshire	45	46	31	31	27
Lothian	194	184	254	282	220
Orkney	1	0	0	2	0
Shetland	0	0	0	0	0
Tayside	51	55	64	35	44
Western Isles	0	0	0	1	0
Unspecified	0	0	0	0	0
Scotland	844	816	820	820	845

Infectious Syphilis

NHS Board	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004
Argyll and Clyde	n/a	1	3	3	1
Ayrshire & Arran	n/a	0	1	0	0
Borders	n/a	0	0	0	0
Dumfries and Galloway	n/a	0	0	0	0
Fife	n/a	3	1	0	0
Forth Valley	n/a	1	0	0	2
Grampian	n/a	n/a	n/a	6	8
Greater Glasgow	n/a	8	24	39	78
Highland	n/a	0	0	0	0
Lanarkshire	n/a	0	0	4	7
Lothian	n/a	n/a	14	15	84
Orkney	n/a	0	0	0	0
Shetland	n/a	0	0	0	0
Tayside	n/a	0	0	3	6
Western Isles	n/a	0	0	0	0
Unspecified	n/a	0	0	2	0
Scotland		13	43	72	186

Notes:

1. NHS Board refers to theboard in which the patient was sampled for testing, rather than the NHS boardof residence.

Source: Health Protection Scotland –July 2005

Table 2

Candidal Vulvovagitis andOther Urogenital Candidiasis

Estimated Contacts¹,incidence and rates per 1000 population for Scotland^2,3; yearsending March 2000-2004

	Gender	Year Ending	Estimated contacts for Scotland⁴	Contact rate per 1000 population	Estimated number of incidence contacts for Scotland⁴	Incidence rate per 1000 population
GP Only¹	Male	March 2000	5,150	1.90	4,850	1.79
		March 2001	4,500	1.66	3,950	1.47
		March 2002	4,900	1.80	4,300	1.59
		March 2003	5,000	1.89	4,500	1.71
		March 2004	4,150	1.57	3,800	1.45
	Female	March 2000	32,150	11.44	28,450	10.13
		March 2001	26,050	9.30	23,550	8.42
		March 2002	23,800	8.51	21,450	7.66
		March 2003	21,550	7.96	19,350	7.15
		March 2004	19,300	7.15	17,550	6.51
Full PTI¹	Male	March 2004	4,250	1.62	3,900	1.49
	Female	March 2004	20,450	7.58	18,350	6.81

Source: Practice TeamInformation (PTI).

Ref: IR2005-01972.

Notes: Read codes used todefine this condition are AB21., AB22. and all read codes under these.

1. Prior to April 2003 datawere collected only from GPs (Continuous Morbidity Recording (CMR)). From 1 April 2003 Datacollection was extended to encompass patient contacts with practice nurses,district nurses and health visitors (Practice Team Information (PTI).

2. Based on 52, 60, 67, 64and 45 practices which collected and submitted GP-only data, years ending 2000to 2004 respectively.

3. Based on 45 practiceswhich collected and submitted PTI data (which includes information from GPs,practice nurses, district nurses and health visitors) for year ending March2004.

4. Figures have been roundedto the nearest 50.

Question reference: S2W-17904

Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 14 July 2005
Current Status: Answered by Andy Kerr on 4 August 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive what the call capacity of NHS 24 has been in each year since it was established and what the planned call capacity is in each year until 2010.

In 2003, the NHS 24Blueprint figure was reviewed and the projected call volume set at 2 million asa planning assumption.

Based on experience anddata, NHS 24 revised its Resource Planning Model in February of this year andadjusted the planned call capacity to 1.65 million.

Dueto the level of redesign work and partnership developments currently underwaybetween NHS 24 and a number of other NHS boards, forward capacity planning to2010 will be progressed once further definition of the new models is achieved.This next review will also factor in the potential impact of the development of the additional satellite centres. This planning work will be taken forward withthe various NHS boards involved through their normal five-year planning cycle.

Due to the call handler recruitmenttargets within NHS 24 being reached, the service is now in a position to answerall calls offered and, if call volumes were to increase to the previouslyforecasted levels, access into NHS 24 should be fully available.

The service continues to striveto achieve its nurse recruitment targets. This and the other measures NHS 24 istaking under its transformation programme are all designed to improve theresponsiveness of the service to patients in particular for those who requirenurse advice and access to out-of-hours services.

Question reference: S2W-17906

Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 14 July 2005
Current Status: Answered by Andy Kerr on 4 August 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive what the average waiting time was between (a) a child and (b) an adult being referred for (i) speech and (ii) occupational therapy and receiving treatment in each of the last five years.

Question reference: S2W-17900

Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 14 July 2005
Current Status: Answered by Patricia Ferguson on 4 August 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive how much funding it has given to VisitScotland in each year since it was created.

The resources that have beenmade available to VisitScotland in each year since its creation during 2000-01are shown in the table below:

Year	£(‘000)
2000-01	25,609
2001-02*	40,659
2002-03	33,189
2003-04	36,450
2004-05	41,850
2005-06	48,850

Note: *Includes additionalresources of £11.9 million made available to combat the effects of Foot andMouth disease.

The resources made availablein 2003-04, 2004-05 and 2005-06 include funds totalling £2 million, £3 millionand £5 million respectively that are specifically ring-fenced forEventScotland.

Question reference: S2W-17901

Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 14 July 2005
Current Status: Answered by Andy Kerr on 4 August 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive how and when the scripts and protocols used by NHS 24 have been peer-reviewed prior to use in Scotland and what continuing or periodic reviews take place.

NHS 24’s Clinical DecisionSupport Software algorithms were originally developed by an external supplier, “ClinicalSolutions”. In advance of launching NHS24, the algorithms were further developed and extensively peer reviewed by arange of clinicians working within the NHS in Scotland, including primary caredoctors, Accident and Emergency consultants, nurses from both primary care andhospital settings, midwives, acute medicine specialists, pharmacists,paediatricians, A&E consultants, mental health specialists and a number ofallied health professionals.

Thisprocess ensured that the algorithms were fully suitable to provide soundclinical decision-support within the Scottish health service environment andthat they were consistent with clinical guidelines from both NICE (NationalInstitute for Health and Clinical Excellence) and, in Scotland,SIGN (Scottish Inter Collegiate Guidelines Network). The algorithms, therefore,provide an up-to-date clinically-evidenced decision-support tool for the NHS 24nurses who are experienced clinicians in their own right.

Since the initial peerreview, there has been further review and development of the algorithms inresponse to feedback from patients, professionals, new clinical guidelines,newly-evidenced best practice and NHS 24 management information, as well as NHS24’s Core Clinical Group (CCG) which is comprised of multi-disciplinaryclinicians, internal and external to NHS 24.

NHS24’s Healthcare Governance Committee, which is a statutory committee, meetsquarterly to ensure that NHS 24’s services, people, processes and technologyoperate not just within clinically safe parameters but exceed those parametersin order to provide the best possible patient care.

The NHS 24 Clinical Forum isan additional review mechanism with membership drawn from both within NHS 24and from a wide range of clinical peers across the health service to support on-goingengagement and direction.

Question reference: S2W-17833

Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 12 July 2005
Current Status: Answered by Allan Wilson on 4 August 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive how many students from (a) China and (b) India took courses in (i) science and (ii) engineering at higher education institutions in Scotland at (1) undergraduate and (2) postgraduate level in each year from 1994 to 2004.

The tables below give the numbers of students domiciled in China and India attending courses at Scottish higher education institutions in the academic years 1994-95 to 2003-04.

(a) China

Students domiciled in China attending Scottish Higher Education Institutions (excluding those studying outside the UK) with main subject of study in listed subject areas 1994-95 to 2003-04

Year	Subject area	Postgraduate	Undergraduate
1994-95	Biological Sciences	10	0
	Physical Sciences	35	0
	Engineering and Technology	75	0
1995-96	Biological Sciences	15	0
	Physical Sciences	30	0
	Engineering and Technology	55	0
1996-97	Biological Sciences	20	0
	Physical Sciences	25	0
	Engineering and Technology	60	0
1997-98	Biological Sciences	20	0
	Physical Sciences	30	0
	Engineering and Technology	55	0
1998-99	Biological Sciences	20	0
	Physical Sciences	30	0
	Engineering and Technology	80	5
1999-00	Biological Sciences	20	5
	Physical Sciences	30	5
	Engineering and Technology	80	5
2000-01	Biological Sciences	15	15
	Physical Sciences	25	5
	Engineering and Technology	85	10
2001-02	Biological Sciences	25	20
	Physical Sciences	20	5
	Engineering and Technology	100	25

Year	Subject area	Postgraduate	Undergraduate
2002-03	Biological Sciences	45	25
	Physical Sciences	20	10
	Engineering and Technology	130	40
2003-04	Biological Sciences	55	40
	Physical Sciences	40	15
	Engineering and Technology	145	60

Source: Higher Education Statistics Agency

Note: All numbers are rounded up or down to the nearest 5.

(b) India

Students domiciled in India attending Scottish Higher Education Institutions (excluding those studying outside the UK) with main subject of study in listed subject areas 1994-95 to 2003-04

Year	Subject area	Postgraduate	Undergraduate
1994-95	Biological Sciences	10	0
	Physical Sciences	5	0
	Engineering and Technology	20	0
1995-96	Biological Sciences	5	0
	Physical Sciences	5	0
	Engineering and Technology	25	5
1996-97	Biological Sciences	5	0
	Physical Sciences	5	0
	Engineering and Technology	25	5
1997-98	Biological Sciences	5	0
	Physical Sciences	5	0
	Engineering and Technology	25	10
1998-99	Biological Sciences	10	0
	Physical Sciences	5	0
	Engineering and Technology	35	25
1999-00	Biological Sciences	5	0
	Physical Sciences	5	0
	Engineering and Technology	60	15
2000-01	Biological Sciences	15	0
	Physical Sciences	10	0
	Engineering and Technology	60	25
2001-02	Biological Sciences	25	5
	Physical Sciences	20	0
	Engineering and Technology	100	30
2002-03	Biological Sciences	55	5
	Physical Sciences	20	0
	Engineering and Technology	180	40
2003-04	Biological Sciences	120	5
	Physical Sciences	30	0
	Engineering and Technology	235	35

Source: Higher Education Statistics Agency

Note: All numbers are rounded up or down to the nearest 5.

Question reference: S2W-17831

Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 12 July 2005
Current Status: Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 4 August 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive how many people were registered on council house waiting lists in each local authority (a) in 1997 and (b) on the last date for which figures are available.

The numbers of households onwaiting lists for each local authority are published on an annual basis for2000-01 onwards in the quarterly Scottish Executive Statistical Bulletin(Housing Series) Housing Trends in Scotland. This is available on-line in the publicationssection of the housing statistics branch reference site http://www.scotland.gov.uk/stats/housing/hsbref.

The most recent figures arefor 2003-04 (HSG/2004/4) and the 2004-05 figures will be published at the endof August 2005.

This data collection beganin 2001 and data are not centrally available prior to that date. The numbersreported to the Scottish Executive refer to applicant households and do notspecify the number of people within each household.

Chamber and committees