Questions and answers

Question reference: S2W-29361

Asked by: Shona Robison, MSP for Dundee East, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 30 October 2006
Current Status: Answered by Andy Kerr on 10 November 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive what representations it has made to NHS Quality Improvement Scotland about implementing national guidance on the diagnosis of deep vein thrombosis.

We have asked NHS Quality ImprovementScotland to carry out a stock-take of all the initiatives in place in Scotland aimedat managing venous thromboembolism (VTE), DVT being one of the common presentationsof VTE.

The main message which guidanceon diagnosis needs to emphasise is that all the investigations available at presentcan only indicate a low probability of DVT. They cannot exclude the presence ofa DVT.

Question reference: S2W-28828

Asked by: Shona Robison, MSP for Dundee East, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 03 October 2006
Current Status: Answered by Lewis Macdonald on 1 November 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive what funding is available in the 2006-07 budget for the Prevention 2010 project.

Question reference: S2W-28829

Asked by: Shona Robison, MSP for Dundee East, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 03 October 2006
Current Status: Answered by Lewis Macdonald on 1 November 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive how much of the funding available in the 2006-07 budget for the Prevention 2010 project has been allocated.

Question reference: S2W-28934

Asked by: Shona Robison, MSP for Dundee East, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 06 October 2006
Current Status: Answered by Lewis Macdonald on 1 November 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive how many pupils were seen by the school dental service in each of the last five years, broken down by (a) NHS board, (b) local authority and (c) parliamentary constituency.

Question reference: S2W-28935

Asked by: Shona Robison, MSP for Dundee East, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 06 October 2006
Current Status: Answered by Lewis Macdonald on 30 October 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive what the (a) total and (b) per capita cost was of the school dental service in each of the last five years, also broken down by (i) NHS board, (ii) local authority and (iii) parliamentary constituency.

Question reference: S2W-28832

Asked by: Shona Robison, MSP for Dundee East, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 03 October 2006
Current Status: Answered by Andy Kerr on 24 October 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive how many flu vaccinations were delivered to GP surgeries in (a) October, (b) November and (c) December in each of the last five years.

The information is as follows:

	September	October	November	December
2006-07*	8% 104,000 doses	‎52.8% 686,400 doses‎	‎23.2% 301,600 doses ‎	‎15.6% 202,800 doses‎
2005-06**	15.5% 170,500 doses	‎62.6% 688,600 doses	‎18.6% 204,600 doses	‎2.2% 24,200 doses
2004-05	Information not centrally held
2003-04	Information not centrally held
2002-03	Information not centrally held

Notes:

*2006-07 figures are provisionaland based on the manufactures best estimates. 1.3 million doses ordered for Scotland.

**2005-06 1.1 Million doses orderedfor Scotland.

Due to problems growing one of the flu vaccine’s virus strains, delivery ‎of the flu vaccine for this seasonhas been slightly delayed by ‎approximately one month across Europe. The initial‎delay in production ‎means that deliveries of vaccine will be spreadover a longer period. Flu ‎vaccine will now be delivered throughout October(over half in October), ‎November and ‎December.

Question reference: S2W-28834

Asked by: Shona Robison, MSP for Dundee East, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 03 October 2006
Current Status: Answered by Andy Kerr on 24 October 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive what guidance it is offering GPs regarding the shortage of flu vaccines.

‎There is not a shortageof flu vaccine; only a ‎possible delay.

The Scottish Executive alertedGeneral Practitioners (GPs) to a possible delay, as a result of ‎vaccine productionproblems encountered by manufacturers, in June 2006. Thereafter updates have regularlybeen sent to health professionals by the Scottish Executive, Health Protection Scotlandand professional bodies.

In order to plan clinics effectivelyand ensure maximum uptake, we have ‎asked General Practitioners to ‎liaiseclosely with their Community ‎Pharmacist colleagues. GP clinics will thereforebe arranged around ‎confirmed ‎vaccine deliveries. Patients will beprioritised in ‎terms of ‎clinical need, as advised by the Joint Committeeon Vaccination and ‎Immunisation (JCVI).‎

Due to problems growing one of the flu vaccine’s virus strains, delivery ‎of the flu vaccine for this seasonhas been slightly delayed by ‎approximately one month across Europe. The initial‎delay in production ‎means that deliveries of vaccine will be spreadover a longer period. Flu ‎vaccine will now be delivered throughout October(over half in October), ‎November and ‎December.

Question reference: S2W-28831

Asked by: Shona Robison, MSP for Dundee East, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 03 October 2006
Current Status: Answered by Andy Kerr on 24 October 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive how Scotland will be affected by the delay in the supply of flu vaccination.

‎The delay is not ‎expected‎to prevent priority groups from ‎‎receiving their flu vaccination.Overall there will be ‎sufficient vaccine to ensure that ‎all thoseeligible are ‎vaccinated.

Due to problems growing one of the flu vaccine’s virus strains, delivery ‎of the flu vaccine for this seasonhas been slightly delayed by ‎approximately one month across Europe. The initial‎delay in production ‎means that deliveries of vaccine will be spreadover a longer period. ‎Flu ‎vaccine will now be delivered throughoutOctober (over half in October), ‎November and ‎December.

Question reference: S2W-28833

Asked by: Shona Robison, MSP for Dundee East, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 03 October 2006
Current Status: Answered by Andy Kerr on 24 October 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will prioritise the allocation of flu vaccinations to the most vulnerable groups.

The UK Health Departments soughtthe advice of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) ‎whorecommended prioritisation as shown in the following table. This information wascascaded to General Practitioners in the Chief Medical Officer’s (CMO) letter of29 June 2006 available at http://www.sehd.scot.nhs.uk/cmo/CMO(2006)08.pdf.

Vaccine should be used for allthose in Priority Group 1 first, and then the following groups in order as vaccinebecomes available.

Rationale	Priority Group	Description
Individual risk	1	All those aged 65 year and over
	1	All those aged over 6 months in the JCVI recommended clinical risk groups only
	2	Those living in long-stay residential care home or other long-stay care facilities where rapid spread is likely to follow introduction of infection and cause high morbidity and mortality (this does not include prisons, young offenders institutions, or university halls of residence)
Public health risk	3	Carers
	4	Healthcare Workers
	5	Poultry Workers (This group will be immunised through a separate programme outside of the seasonal flu programme)
6	Demand from any other groups

Due to problems growing one of the flu vaccine’s virus strains, delivery ‎of the flu vaccine for this seasonhas been slightly delayed by ‎approximately one month across Europe. The initial‎delay in production ‎means that deliveries of vaccine will be spreadover a longer period. Flu ‎vaccine will now be delivered throughout October(over half in October), ‎November and ‎December.

Question reference: S2W-28830

Asked by: Shona Robison, MSP for Dundee East, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 03 October 2006
Current Status: Answered by Andy Kerr on 24 October 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive how many flu vaccinations will be available in the next two months.

Scotland will be receiving 1.3 million doses of flu vaccine thisyear, 200,000 doses more than we did last year. The delivery of this vaccine forSeptember, October, November and December is as follows:

September 8%; approximately 104,000doses

October 52.8%; approximately686,400 doses

November 23.2%; approximately301,600 doses

December 15.6%; approximately202,800 doses.

Due to problems growing one of the flu vaccine’s virus strains, delivery ‎of the flu vaccine for this seasonhas been slightly delayed by ‎approximately one month across Europe. The initial‎delay in production ‎means that deliveries of vaccine will be spreadover a longer period. ‎Flu ‎vaccine will now be delivered throughoutOctober (over half in October), ‎November and ‎December.

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