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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: S3W-39139

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 27 January 2011
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 7 February 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive what the survival rate was for breast cancer in the periods (a) 1995 to 1999, (b) 2000 to 2002 and (c) 2005 to 2007, broken down by NHS board, and how this compared with the rates in (i) England, (ii) Wales and (iii) Northern Ireland.

Comparative survival for breast cancer (in females only) within the United Kingdom is shown in the following table. It is important to note that survival depends on many factors, including data quality, characteristics of the patients and their tumours (case-mix), and health service factors. Survival estimates are also subject to random variation, especially when based on relatively small numbers of patients.

Cancer of the Female Breast (ICD-10 C50 (females)

Relative Survival¹ (%) at 1 and 5 Years Following Diagnosis for those Diagnosed Aged 15 to 99 in 1995 to 1999, 2000 to 2002 and 2005 to 2007²

Country/Region	Diagnosed 1995 to 1999		Diagnosed 2000 to 2002		Diagnosed 2005 to 2007
Country/Region	1 Year	5 Year	1 Year	5 Year	1 Year
Scotland	93.3	78.3	94.7	81.5	95.2
NHS Board Areas³
Ayrshire and Arran	93.0	78.7	94.2	80.6	97.2
Borders	94.7	83.1	91.7	80.3	93.0
Dumfries and Galloway	94.1	81.0	97.2	85.4	94.6
Fife	91.6	77.9	94.6	83.5	96.1
Forth Valley	94.1	78.8	92.8	77.0	94.3
Grampian	95.2	83.2	95.8	83.6	95.6
Greater Glasgow and Clyde	93.3	77.4	94.8	80.3	93.7
Highland and Argyll	92.5	78.2	94.1	82.0	95.6
Lanarkshire	92.8	74.7	94.7	81.3	94.0
Lothian	93.6	78.9	94.7	83.1	96.1
Tayside	93.1	77.6	95.9	82.3	96.6
England	93.3	79.3	94.6	82.8	95.9
Wales	90.8	77.3	92.2	80.6	95.0
Great Britain	93.2	79.1	94.5	82.6	95.8
Northern Ireland	94.1	80.2	96.0	82.4	96.4
United Kingdom	93.2	79.1	94.5	82.6	95.8

Source: UK Cancer Information Service of the National Cancer Intelligence Network.

Notes:

1 The relative survival estimates shown above are adjusted for background mortality in each of the UK countries but not for differences in overall life expectancy in the NHS boards in Scotland (because life tables for NHS boards are not readily available). The survival estimates are not standardised for age.

2 Due to insufficient follow-up time, five-year survival is not available for patients diagnosed during 2005-2007.

3 Separate data are not shown for the island NHS boards of Orkney, Shetland and Western Isles due to small populations.

Ref: IR2011-00244.

Question reference: S3W-39135

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 27 January 2011
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 4 February 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive what the estimated cost to the NHS will be when prescription charges are reduced to zero in April 2011.

The abolition of prescription charges in Scotland is being fully funded by the Scottish Government and as such will be achieved at no cost to the NHS. The Scottish Government estimates that the final step in abolition on 1 April this year will increase costs from £32 million to £57 million. The £57 million funding has been included within NHS boards'' baseline budgets for 2011-12.

Abolishing prescription charges will remove a financial barrier to better health management for many people in Scotland, particularly those on low incomes and who may need regular medicines. Prescription charges can prevent some people from collecting some or all of their medication, and may even deter them from seeing their GP when ill.

Question reference: S3W-39136

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 27 January 2011
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 4 February 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive what impact the abolition of prescription charges will have on the NHS budget.

Question reference: S3W-39152

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 27 January 2011
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 4 February 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive when the Ministerial Task Force on Health Inequalities last met and what issues were discussed.

The Ministerial Task Force on Health Inequalities last met on Tuesday 13 April 2010. This was the Task Force''s third and final meeting as part of its review of Equally Well. The Task Force considered papers on: Persistent Poverty; Health Inequalities and links to Justice, and the Curriculum for Excellence. It also discussed its report of the review of Equally Well which was subsequently published on 23 June 2010:

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2010/06/22170625/0.

Question reference: S3W-39148

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 27 January 2011
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 4 February 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive what progress has been made on developing a referral-to-treatment target to drive faster access to psychological therapies and reduce antidepressant prescribing.

Question reference: S3W-39151

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 27 January 2011
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 4 February 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive what initiatives are in place to encourage people to give blood.

The Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service (SNBTS) utilise an integrated marketing and communications strategy to recruit and retain blood donors.

This includes:

Positive proactive PR targeting areas where the blood donation team is visiting; TV and Radio advertising to back up local campaigns, and direct marketing initiatives, to improve recruitment and retention of donors.

In addition SNBTS has increased the use of new media and online strategies, such as Facebook which now attracts 800 friends of SNBTS every month; an annual schools programme which recruits around 7,000 new donors each year, and the development of the website, including the donor session finder.

Question reference: S3W-39150

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 27 January 2011
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 3 February 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive whether there has been an increase in the number of patients registering with an NHS dentist since 1 April 2010.

In the period from 30 March 2010 to 30 September 2010 there was an increase in NHS general dental service registrations for children from 815,248 to 867,200.

In the period from 30 March 2010 to 30 September 2010 there was an increase in NHS general dental service registrations for adults from 2,571,860 to 2,815,576.

Data showing the number of NHS general dental service registrations in Scotland is available at http://www.isdscotland.org/isd/4680.html.

Source: Information Services Division, National Services Scotland

Question reference: S3W-39149

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 27 January 2011
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 2 February 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive how it considers the NHS is sharing good practice.

The NHS shares good practice through a range of general and topic specific mechanisms.

The NHS event held annually, The NHS Education Evidence into Practice website and the annual NHS Awards contribute to the sharing of good practice generally.

More specifically, national improvement programmes engage every NHS board to share good practice and test service innovation. These programmes include:

The 18 Weeks Referral to Treatment programme,

The Mental Health Collaborative,

The Long Term Conditions Collaborative,

The Scottish Patient Safety Programme and

Releasing Time to Care in acute and mental health wards and in community hospitals.

These programmes share good practice through a variety of channels, including education and network events, newsletters, good practice publications, case studies and through a supporting website http://www.improvingnhsscotland.scot.nhs.uk.

Question reference: S3W-38868

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 January 2011
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 27 January 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-37293 by Nicola Sturgeon on 15 November 2010, whether the Technical Advisory Group on Resource Allocation considered its work plan for 2011-12 at its meeting on 30 November 2010 and, if so, what its work plan is.

The meeting of the Technical Advisory Group on Resource Allocation (TAGRA) on 30 November 2010 was cancelled due to the severe weather conditions. TAGRA''s work plan for 2011-12 has been discussed through correspondence with members, and will cover:

GP out of hours services;

Moving from episodes to spells within specialty as the basis of acute activity costs;

Commencing a review of the morbidity and life circumstances adjustment, and

Reviewing the split between fixed and variable costs.

A new working group will also be established between members of TAGRA and the North of Scotland Planning Group to progress issues concerning the provision of healthcare in remote and rural areas.

Question reference: S3W-38867

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 January 2011
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 27 January 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-37293 by Nicola Sturgeon on 15 November 2010, what issues were discussed at the meeting of the Technical Advisory Group on Resource Allocation on 30 November 2010.

The meeting of the Technical Advisory Group on Resource Allocation (TAGRA) on 30 November 2010 was cancelled due to the severe weather disruption. The issues which were due for discussion were:

Updates to the morbidity and life circumstances adjustment within the NHSScotland Resource Allocation Committee (NRAC) formula;

Options for the future development of the NRAC formula;

TAGRA''s 2011-12 work plan; and

Potential changes to the Costs Book which may affect NRAC formula data.

These issues have been discussed through correspondence with members.