Chamber and committees

Questions and answers

Parliamentary questions can be asked by any MSP to the Scottish Government or the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body. The questions provide a means for MSPs to get factual and statistical information.

Written questions must be answered within 10 working days (20 working days during recess)
Other questions such as Topical, Portfolio, General and First Minister's Question Times are taken in the Chamber

Urgent Questions aren't included in the Question and Answers search. There is a SPICe fact sheet listing Urgent and emergency questions.

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Question reference: S4W-20044

Asked by: Jim Hume, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 06 March 2014
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 14 March 2014

To ask the Scottish Government how many babies have required neonatal care in each of the last four years, broken down by NHS board.

The following table shows the available figures for babies requiring neonatal care in last four years. Figures for 2013 are not yet available:

NHS Health Board

The number of babies requiring neonatal care

Year ending 31 March at	2009	2010	2011	2012
Ayrshire and Arran	364	386	424	411
Borders	125	121	116	118
Dumfries and Galloway	180	146	169	129
Fife	54	70	243	395
Forth Valley	284	272	267	301
Grampian	789	631	647	709
Greater Glasgow and Clyde	1334	1354	1065	1770
Highland	367	424	358	395
Lanarkshire	730	895	848	1039
Lothian	872	792	770	895
Tayside	378	396	376	424
Islands*	49	57	39	37
Unknown	12	16	17	29
Total	5538	5560	5339	6652

Source: Scottish Birth Record (SBR)**

* Totals for Island boards reflect Special Care neonatal services only

**Data for the Scottish Birth Records is collected in different ways in the various hospitals in Scotland. Some enter data directly onto the system and for others the data may be collected onto a separate system and transferred electronically to the SBR. Some units only collect minimal data on healthy babies and this is reflected in the high levels of data for which ‘Level of Care’ is labelled as ‘Missing/Unknown’. Further investigation of the data by birth weight, including linkage to SMR02 (Scottish Morbidity Records) data to obtain more complete information, suggests that the majority of such births were of normal birthweight (2500-5999g) and therefore less likely to have required extra care. However, as with the publication of any new type of information, there are likely to be concerns about completeness and accuracy particularly in the earlier years presented here.

Question reference: S4W-20049

Asked by: Jim Hume, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 06 March 2014
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 14 March 2014

To ask the Scottish Government how many teeth have been extracted in the (a) NHS general and (b) hospital dental service setting in each of the last four years, broken down by NHS board.

NHS general dental services

Table 1 shows the number of teeth extracted in NHS general dental services by NHS board for financial years 2009-10 to 2012-13 inclusive.

Table 1:

NHS board of treatment

Financial year

2009-10

2010-11

2011-12

2012-13

Ayrshire and Arran	43,290	45,226	44,590	46,535
Borders	8,931	9,452	10,146	11,172
Dumfries and Galloway	12,389	14,768	18,757	15,647
Fife	36,846	36,918	38,675	38,024
Forth Valley	28,800	29,853	32,626	31,065
Grampian	32,714	36,426	40,101	46,433
Greater Glasgow and Clyde	145,140	142,810	141,797	138,516
Highland	24,250	27,232	27,623	28,970
Lanarkshire	63,836	63,702	62,556	60,726
Lothian	78,468	77,818	78,037	77,699
Orkney	1,356	1,477	1,900	1,990
Shetland	1,656	1,871	1,666	1,825
Tayside	38,668	41,236	43,729	42,162
Western Isles	2,341	2,266	2,698	2,810

Source: ISD Scotland, MIDAS (Management Information and Dental Accounting System)

Hospital dental service

Information on the number of teeth extracted during operations carried out in the Hospital dental service is not held centrally.

However, table 2 shows the number of dental extractions (removal of one or more teeth) carried out in NHS hospitals by NHS board of treatment and financial years 2009-10 to 2012-13.

Table 2:

NHS board of treatment

Financial Year

2009-10

2010-11

2011-12

2012-13

Golden Jubilee National Hospital	3	5	1	0
NHS Ayrshire and Arran	1,102	1,182	1,090	1,120
NHS Borders	239	184	213	185
NHS Dumfries and Galloway	789	578	550	516
NHS Fife	375	238	280	273
NHS Forth Valley	239	202	231	219
NHS Grampian	609	666	1,399	1,170
NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde	3,265	3,083	3,391	3,201
NHS Highland	797	793	721	674
NHS Lanarkshire	1,400	1,225	1,328	1,333
NHS Lothian	1,737	1,664	1,646	1,408
NHS Orkney	77	70	88	80
NHS Shetland	129	145	116	84
NHS Tayside	1,024	1,097	999	1,151
NHS Western Isles	26	37	37	36
Non-NHS Provider	7	2	9	40

Source: ISD SMR01 database-inpatient/day case discharges from non-obstetric and non-psychiatric hospitals in Scotland.

Question reference: S4W-20047

Asked by: Jim Hume, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 06 March 2014
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 14 March 2014

To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) nurses and (b) doctors specialise in neonatal care, broken down by NHS board.

Information regarding (a) nurses who specialise in neonatal care can be found in the following table.

Information regarding (b) doctors who specialise in neonatal care is not held centrally.

Neonatal care	Number of nurses (headcount)	Number of nurses (whole time equivalent)
NHS Ayrshire and Arran	23	18.7
NHS Borders	-	-
NHS Dumfries and Galloway	13	9.2
NHS Fife	42	35.7
NHS Forth Valley	16	12.9
NHS Grampian	106	88.4
NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde	71	62.7
NHS Highland	22	16.5
NHS Lanarkshire	79	68.3
NHS Lothian	151	132.0
NHS Orkney	-	-
NHS Shetland	-	-
NHS Tayside	40	36.0
NHS Western Isles	-	-
Scotland Total	563	480.4

Source: ISD Scotland

Question reference: S4W-20048

Asked by: Jim Hume, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 06 March 2014
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 14 March 2014

To ask the Scottish Government how many people aged (a) under five, (b) five to 18 and (c) over 18 have had teeth extracted in the (i) NHS general and (ii) hospital dental service setting in each of the last four years.

Table 1 shows the number of patients with a least one tooth extracted in the NHS general dental services; by age of patient and for financial years 2009-10 to 2012-13 inclusive.

Table 1:

Age of patient

Financial year

2009-10

2010-11

2011-12

2012-13

0-4	573	616	702	619
5-18	54,151	52,736	52,566	49,974
19+	241,305	246,868	255,585	260,236
Total number of patients	295,936	300,143	308,750	310,771

Source: ISD Scotland, MIDAS (Management Information & Dental Accounting System)

Table 2 shows the number of patients receiving a dental extraction in NHS hospitals; by age of patient and for financial years 2009-10 to 2012-13 inclusive.

Table 2:

Age of patient

Financial Year

2009-10

2010-11

2011-12

2012-13

0-4	1,978	1,904	2,018	1,858
5-18	6,388	6,048	6,260	5,844
19+	3,339	3,126	3,670	3,616
Total	11,703	11,075	11,946	11,315

Source: ISD SMR01 database-inpatient/day case discharges from non-obstetric and non-psychiatric hospitals in Scotland.

Question reference: S4W-20050

Asked by: Jim Hume, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 06 March 2014
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 14 March 2014

To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) women and (b) men aged (i) 16 to 34, (ii) 35 to 54 and (iii) 55 and over are estimated to have no natural teeth.

Information on how many (a) women and (b) men aged (i) 16 to 34, (ii) 35 to 54 and (iii) 55 and over are estimated to have no natural teeth is not held centrally.

However, statistics on dental health are available from the Scottish Health Survey which show the proportions of men and women in 2012 estimated to have no natural teeth. This information is summarised in table 1 and is based on a sample of people from each of these particular age groups.

Table 1:

Proportion of men and women aged (i) 16 to 34 (ii) 35 to 54 and (iii) 55 and over estimated to have no natural teeth (2012)

Patient Age

Patient Gender	16-34 years	35-54 years	55 and over
Male	1%	2%	23%
Female	0%	2%	29%

Source: Scottish Health Survey

Question reference: S4W-20018

Asked by: Jim Hume, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 06 March 2014
Current Status: Answered by Alex Neil on 13 March 2014

To ask the Scottish Government whether the (a) governance structure and (b) implementation groups required for the delivery of Prescription for Excellence have been formed.

Question reference: S4W-20016

Asked by: Jim Hume, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 06 March 2014
Current Status: Answered by Alex Neil on 13 March 2014

To ask the Scottish Government which healthcare (a) professional and (b) negotiating bodies the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Wellbeing has met to discuss Prescription for Excellence.

I have not as yet met with healthcare or pharmacy professional or negotiating bodies, but plan to do so in the near future.

Meetings have however taken place at official level with representatives of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society (Scotland), the General Pharmaceutical Council, Community Pharmacy Scotland, the Royal College of General Practitioners and the Scottish General Practitioners Committee of the British Medical Association.

Question reference: S4W-20017

Asked by: Jim Hume, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 06 March 2014
Current Status: Answered by Alex Neil on 13 March 2014

To ask the Scottish Government which pharmacy (a) professional and (b) negotiating bodies the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Wellbeing has met to discuss Prescription for Excellence.

Question reference: S4W-20042

Asked by: Jim Hume, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 06 March 2014
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 13 March 2014

To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) adults and (b) children have received dialysis (i) at home and (ii) in hospital in each of the last four years, broken down by NHS board area.

The number of patients in Scotland receiving renal replacement therapy for established renal failure is small and so data are provided in amalgamated age ranges that are consistent with the Scottish Renal Registry annual publication, that is, under 20s and over 20s.

Table 1: Number of prevalent patients, age range on hospital haemodialysis by age group in Scotland as at 31st December in each year.

NHS

2009

2010

2011

2012

Board	Over 20 years	Under 20 years	Over 20 years	Under 20 years	Over 20 years	Under 20 years	Over 20 years	Under 20 years
Ayrshire and Arran	146	-	157	-	145	-	147	-
Borders	50	-	52	-	49	-	41	-
Dumfries and Galloway	50	-	53	-	49	-	51	-
Fife	134	2	134	2	152	1	158	-
Forth Valley	111	-	119	2	111	3	105	-
Grampian	188	-	190	1	201	2	218	1
Greater Glasgow and Clyde	438	6	439	3	455	2	447	3
Highland	99	1	88	-	86	1	79	-
Lanarkshire	186	1	198	1	184	1	205	2
Lothian	219	2	214	1	205	2	223	-
Orkney	7	-	9	-	7	-	6	-
Shetland	3	-	4	-	4	-	3	-
Tayside	164	-	169	-	177	-	169	-
Western Isles	8	-	11	-	8	-	6	-
Scotland	1803	12	1837	10	1833	12	1858	6

Source: ISD Scotland. Scottish Renal Registry, 2013

Table 2: Number of prevalent patients, age range on home haemodialysis by age group in Scotland as at 31st December in each year.

NHS

2009

2010

2011

2012

Board	Over 20 years	Under 20 years	Over 20 years	Under 20 years	Over 20 years	Under 20 years	Over 20 years	Under 20 years
Ayrshire and Arran	7	-	7	-	8	-	9	-
Borders	3	-	2	-	1	-	2	-
Dumfries and Galloway	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-
Fife	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Forth Valley	8	-	8	-	7	-	7	-
Grampian	6	-	5	-	3	-	4	-
Greater Glasgow and Clyde	16	-	16	-	20	-	19	-
Highland	4	-	3	-	6	-	9	-
Lanarkshire	2	-	2	-	5	-	6	-
Lothian	5	-	5	-	4	-	4	-
Orkney	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Shetland	1	-	1	-	1	-	1	-
Tayside	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Western Isles	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Scotland	52	-	49	-	55	-	62	-

Source: ISD Scotland. Scottish Renal Registry, 2013

Table 3: Number of prevalent patients, age range on home peritoneal dialysis by age group in Scotland as at 31st December in each year.

NHS

2009

2010

2011

2012

Board	Over 20 years	Under 20 years	Over 20 years	Under 20 years	Over 20 years	Under 20 years	Over 20 years	Under 20 years
Ayrshire and Arran	39	1	43	1	47	3	40	2
Borders	6	1	7	1	6	1	4	-
Dumfries and Galloway	14	-	8	-	13	-	16	-
Fife	29	-	29	-	30	-	21	-
Forth Valley	8	3	7	2	6	2	5	1
Grampian	30	3	34	2	22	3	24	3
Greater Glasgow and Clyde	37	2	35	2	34	1	34	1
Highland	27	-	27	-	24	1	23	1
Lanarkshire	14	1	12	1	11	-	11	1
Lothian	56	1	46	1	34	2	34	1
Orkney	3	-	1	-	1	1	2	1
Shetland	-	1	-	-	-	-	-	-
Tayside	24	-	20	1	20	-	18	-
Western Isles	2	-	4	-	2	-	1	-
Scotland	289	13	273	11	250	14	233	11

Source: ISD Scotland. Scottish Renal Registry, 2013

Question reference: S4O-03009

Asked by: Jim Hume, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 05 March 2014
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 13 March 2014

To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to support rail travel in the South Scotland region.