Chamber and committees

The targets for chlamydia screening set out in the draft NHS Quality Improvement Standards have been informed by sexual health Key Clinical Indicators and represent existing best practice in Scotland.

Laboratory reports of genital chlamydia received by Health Protection Scotland in each quarter of 2007 are detailed as follows:

January to March 2007	4,468
April to June 2007	4,715
July to September 2007	4,350

 

The fourth quarter data for 2007 are not yet prepared. This data is due for publication on 20 March 2008.

The information requested is not centrally available. Patients with a diagnosis of infertility would generally be seen in an outpatient clinic and would not be admitted to hospital. Information on diagnoses is not recorded on the outpatient summary (SMR00) held with Information and Statistics Division.

I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-9748 on 27 February 2008. 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.

Percentages of men and women being tested for chlamydia by NHS board are shown in the following table.

There are, as yet, no published targets for chlamydia testing. NHS Quality Improvement Scotland is currently in the final stages of developing clinical standards for sexual health, including chlamydia testing, which will be published in April of this year.

Percentage* of the Population of Men and Women in each NHS Board of Testing Undergoing a Chlamydia Test by Age Group, Scotland, 2005

NHS Board areas	Women		Men
	% in those Aged 15-24	% in those Aged 25-49	% in those Aged 15-24	% in those Aged 25-49
Argyll and Clyde**	22	9	3	1
Ayrshire and Arran	21	8	6	2
Borders	22	6	6	3
Dumfries and Galloway	36	13	7	2
Fife	21	9	5	2
Forth Valley	22	7	6	2
Grampian	29	12	7	3
Greater Glasgow	26	10	8	4
Highland	35	12	8	3
Lanarkshire	15	8	4	2
Lothian	28	11	8	5
Tayside	27	10	8	3

Source: Health Protection Scotland.

Notes:

*Percentages were calculated using the GROS 2005 mid year population data.

**The percentage of chlamydia tests performed by age group and gender in Argyll and Clyde NHS Board may be underestimated due to missing data.

It is estimated that an approximate 5-20% of tests in a calendar year are repeat ones on the same individual as a result of: (i) repeat samples taken at a single consultation, (ii) samples taken at different consultations for the same clinical episode and, (iii) samples taken for clinical episodes occurring more than once.

There is no national screening programme for chlamydia in Scotland. Chlamydia testing takes place on an opportunistic basis by GPs and other health care professionals, which is in line with SIGN Guidelines.

It is therefore for local NHS boards to determine services that best meet the needs of their local populations.

The safety of medicines is reserved and is the responsibility of the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA). The MHRA has advised that the European Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use has recommended new restrictions and warnings for rosiglitazone, including advice that it is not recommended for use in patients with ischaemic heart disease or peripheral arterial disease, because of concerns about an increased risk of myocardial infarction in these patients.

Health care professionals were informed about this new advice in the February 2008 edition of the MHRA Drug Safety Update bulletin. The product information for all rosiglitazone containing products is also being updated to incorporate the new advice.

The Scottish Government’s priorityis to recruit, retain and redeploy police officers to build police capacity andstrengthen operational policing in our communities. Thus delivering an additional1,000 officers into our communities.

Retaining valuable officers isimportant to the government and communities. The 30 + scheme is not working as wellas we would wish.

We are therefore looking to developmore opportunities which will enable chief constables to retain the skills of someof the 2,300 experienced officers who will be eligible to retire over the lifetimeof this Parliament and who wish to continue serving their communities.

The total number of prescriptionsdispensed in Scotland by community pharmacists, dispensing doctors and appliancesuppliers is shown in the table.

Financial Year Ending 31 March	Dispensed Without Charge or by Prepayment Certificate1	Dispensed with Charge	Total Dispensed
2000	54,569,254	6,298,914	60,868,168
2001	56,871,396	6,169,236	63,040,632
2002	59,762,675	6,461,267	66,223,942
2003	63,158,412	6,322,180	69,480,592
2004	66,169,189	5,996,779	72,165,968
2005	68,980,965	5,646,360	74,627,325
2006	71,477,618	5,790,334	77,267,952
2007	73,790,083	5,675,627	79,465,710

Source: ISD Scotland.

Note: 1. The number of prepayment certificates issued in theyear ending 31 March 2007 by NHS boards was 182,874. A prepayment certificate canbe used to obtain an unspecified number of prescriptions during the period. Forthe year ending 2007 the number of prescriptions dispensed using a prepayment certificatewas 3,774,467 - data is not available for earlier years.

Our data protection and ITsecurity policies are corporate within the Scottish Government and there arespecific data transfer protocols for transferring particular types of informationbetween specific bodies or systems. This is in line with the overall frameworkon information security laid down by Cabinet Office for the UK civilservice.

Following the HMRC incident,and along with other UK public bodies, we are currently conducting a reviewof data handling across the Scottish Government, its associated bodies and thewider public sector in Scotland. The review is considering the procedures currentlyin place for the protection of data, their consistency with government-widestandards and policies, and arrangements for ensuring that policies andprocedures are being fully and correctly implemented. It will enable us toconsider the need for any further measures and will allow us to consistentlyshare best practice throughout the wider public sector.