Seòmar agus comataidhean

Provisional data from ISD Scotland shows that during the year ending 31 December 2001 the number of patients who did not attend their first out-patient appointment was 160,112. A service-led group has recently been set up to work with the service to identify and share good practice and to develop a target for all NHS trusts to demonstrate year on year improvement in the number of did not attends. The group will report in the autumn.Information on the cost of NHS of patients failing to keep appointments is not available centrally. Many out-patient clinics schedule additional appointments to compensate for non-attendance. Information on the average cost of a consultant out-patient attendance is available on the Information and Statistics Division website at: http://www.show.scot.nhs.uk/isd/Scottish_Health_Statistics/subject/Costs/2001/index.htm.

The information requested is set out in the following table.

NHS Board	Number of People Registered
Argyll and Clyde	71,616
Ayrshire and Arran	55,724
Borders	23,774
Dumfries and Galloway	22,038
Forth Valley	49,489
Fife	64,102
Greater Glasgow	193,486
Grampian	110,367
Highland	34,528
Lanarkshire	67,331
Lothian	174,436
Orkney	3,127
Shetland	3,797
Tayside	92,578
Western Isles	342
Total	966,735

I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-26894.

All local authorities have indicated they will meet the regulatory and legislative requirements to implement free personal care for people currently in receipt of care in their area.

Information on and methods of calculating emergency readmission rates has been under consideration by a sub-group of the NHSScotland Clinical Resource and Audit Group (CRAG). A report containing data on emergency re-admissions at all ages will be provided as part of the next Clinical Outcome Indicators Report, scheduled for publication on 16 July 2002. I will write to you thereafter with an age-related analysis of the data.

The Expert Group on Financial and Other Support has considered evidence from wide ranging sources including information on the approach to medical compensation in the Republic of Ireland for patients who contracted hepatitis C from contaminated blood supplies. The group will submit their preliminary report to me by the end of July 2002 and it will be made public following discussion with the Health and Community Care Committee. A list of the evidence considered by the group will be included in the preliminary report.

An estimated 2,095 nursing students in Scotland are expected to complete their studies in the year to October 2002.The information is not available in the form requested. Nursing education is delivered by 11 higher education institutions in Scotland. On completion of their studies, students may take up a post in any NHS board area.

Tables 1 and 2 show the percentage changes to the target allocations within the Arbuthnott formula (updated in November 2001) for Hospital and Community Health Services (HCHS) (table 1) and GP Prescribing (table 2). Columns 1, 2 and 3 indicate the three component elements of the overall changes:1. The change in the population share by health board.2. The change in the age/sex structure of the health board's population.3. The change in morbidity and life circumstance (MLC) i.e. deprivation.There has been no update of the remoteness adjustment in 2001.GP Prescribing (table 2) has been separated from HCHS (table 1) because GP Prescribing uses a different population base. The population base for HCHS is the mid-year estimate (MYE) by Health Board of Residence. For GP Prescribing, the relevant population base is the Community Health Index (CHI) "deflated" for GP list size inflation. GP Prescribing is also based on the Health Board of Management, not the Health Board of Residence (background note - point 3).Table 1. Hospital and Community Health Services (HCHS)

	1	2	3	=1+2+3
Health Board	Change in MYE Pop. Share	Change in age/sex adjustment	Change in deprivation adjustment	Change in overall Arbuthnott HCHS share
Argyll and Clyde	-0.7%	0.3%	1.1%	0.7%
Ayrshire and Arran	-0.4%	0.5%	0.9%	1.0%
Borders	0.7%	0.7%	1.3%	2.8%
Dumfries and Galloway	-0.9%	1.4%	0.4%	0.9%
Fife	0.5%	0.4%	-0.1%	0.8%
Forth Valley	0.9%	0.0%	0.5%	1.5%
Grampian	-0.2%	0.8%	0.9%	1.4%
Greater Glasgow	-0.6%	-1.5%	-0.7%	-2.9%
Highland	0.2%	0.7%	-0.4%	0.6%
Lanarkshire	0.3%	0.6%	-0.3%	0.6%
Lothian	1.4%	-0.6%	-0.5%	0.2%
Orkney	-0.3%	0.0%	0.4%	-0.1%
Shetland	-1.9%	0.7%	-0.1%	-1.4%
Tayside	-1.0%	0.8%	0.1%	-0.2%
Western Isles	-2.6%	0.7%	0.1%	-1.8%

Table 2. GP Prescribing

	1	2	3	=1+2+3
Health Board	Change in HBMgt Pop. Share	Change in age/sex adjustment	Change in deprivation adjustment	Change in overall Arbuthnott Prescribing share
Argyll and Clyde	-1.7%	1.1%	0.9%	0.3%
Ayrshire and Arran	-0.4%	1.2%	0.6%	1.4%
Borders	0.8%	1.5%	1.1%	3.4%
Dumfries and Galloway	-0.6%	2.7%	0.4%	2.4%
Fife	0.5%	0.4%	-0.1%	0.7%
Forth Valley	1.3%	-0.2%	0.3%	1.4%
Grampian	-1.3%	0.8%	0.7%	0.2%
Greater Glasgow	0.2%	-1.8%	-0.6%	-2.3%
Highland	0.2%	1.5%	-0.3%	1.3%
Lanarkshire	0.7%	0.1%	-0.3%	0.5%
Lothian	1.7%	-1.9%	-0.2%	-0.5%
Orkney	-1.4%	2.4%	0.4%	1.3%
Shetland	-2.5%	0.9%	0.0%	-1.6%
Tayside	-1.6%	1.5%	0.0%	-0.1%
Western Isles	-3.4%	3.1%	0.0%	-0.4%

Note:HBMgt = health board management.

All consultant nurse/midwife submissions are vetted by a central evaluation panel co-ordinated by the Scottish Executive Health Department. Prior to doing so each proposal must be supported by the local Unified Health Board. In their submission each trust/NHS board must demonstrate the local need for the post, explaining how this fits with the rest of the organisation and the key policy documents influencing the development of this proposal. Each submission must also include the arrangements for audit and the outcome measures that will be used to evaluate the impact of the post.

Information on the provision of on-site childcare facilities by NHS trusts is not held centrally, but should be available from NHS trusts locally. The Scottish Executive is committed to family friendly policies and encourages all NHSScotland employers to adopt and support appropriate childcare policies.