Seòmar agus comataidhean

The number of deaths and the death rates per 100,000, both crude and age-sex standardised, from coronary heart disease for NHS Highland in people aged under 75 during the years 2000-06 are set out in the following table:

Year	Number of Deaths	Crude	Standardised	Crude as % 2000 Rate	Standardised as % 2000 Rate
2000	339	122.1	96.5	100.0	100.0
2001	289	104.3	81.2	85.4	84.1
2002	276	100.1	76.3	81.9	79.0
2003	253	91.5	67.4	74.9	69.8
2004	246	88.4	65.5	72.4	67.9
2005	207	74.0	53.4	60.6	55.3
2006	205	72.9	52.1	59.7	53.9

Source: GRO Scotland Death Registrations and Populations.

The official source of statistics on smoking prevalence amongst adults is the Scottish Household Survey. This survey is not designed to be representative at NHS board level, so smoking prevalence figures at this level of geography should be interpreted with caution. Based on the most recent two years of results available from this survey, adult smoking prevalence in the NHS Highland area was 21% in 2007 and 25% in 2006.

Estimates of smoking prevalence in the Community Health Partnership areas within NHS Highland are only available for the two year sample 2003-04. These figures, and other supporting information, are published in An Atlas of Tobacco Smoking in Scotland at:

http://www.scotpho.org.uk/home/Publications/scotphoreports/pub_tobaccoatlas.asp.

The development of the action plan to eliminate the rostered single manning of traditional double crewed accident and emergency ambulances will include consideration of shift patterns and on-call periods.

While the actions outlined by the Cabinet Secretary on 4 June do not include examination of the recruitment and retention of volunteer car drivers, the Scottish Ambulance Service will be reviewing their Patient Transport Strategy over the coming months and this will include the Volunteer Car Service.

One of the first actions outlined in the Refreshed Strategy for Volunteering issued recently to the NHS in Scotland was to review the payment of out of pocket expenses for volunteers. This review is currently in hand and further guidance will be issued on this in due course to ensure a consistent approach across the NHS in Scotland. We are concerned about the impact of rising fuel costs on volunteer drivers, and plan to hold discussions with HM Revenue and Customs on the current tax-free rate, which is a reserved matter.

The Refreshed Strategy for Volunteering in the NHS in Scotland is available at:

http://www.sehd.scot.nhs.uk/mels/CEL2008_10.pdf.

This is a matter for NHS boards. It is understood, however, that taxis may be used under specific circumstances. For instance some areas co-ordinate the use of local taxis under contract arrangements to bring people in to the out-of-hours service if they are unable to travel by their own means and do not require ambulance transport. This ensures that patients can get to a treatment outwith the times covered by community or voluntary car schemes and avoids inappropriate use for emergency ambulances.

The Scottish Executive does not provide direct support to local community based projects. However, local voluntary organisations can apply to the NHS board in their area for grant funding under section 16b of the National Health Service (Scotland) Act 1978. As funding is limited applications will be considered on their merit and against all of the applications received.

I also refer the member to the answer to question S3W-10474 on 10 March 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.

I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-10474 on 10 March 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.

While this is an operational matter for the Scottish Ambulance Service, it has advised me that the factors that will be taken in to account will be the costs of fuel and the costs of maintaining vehicles.

While this is an operational matter for the Scottish Ambulance Service, they have assured me that the current rates, last reviewed in May, cover the costs. The Scottish Ambulance Service will now be reviewing the rates on a monthly basis to ensure this continues to be the case.

However, given the continuing increases in fuel costs, I would expect to see the rates for volunteer ambulance drivers to increase in light of these reviews.