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The information is set out in the table below. The figures reflect the total gross ingredient cost in real terms of all prescription items dispensed in the community in Scotland.Gross Ingredient Cost of Prescriptions Dispensed in Scotland 1995-96 to 1999-2000

Financial Year	Gross Ingredient Cost (£) in Real Terms1
1995-96	454,488,477
1996-97	482,614,848
1997-98	513,116,641
1998-99	527,874,654
1999-2000	587,394,186

Notes:

1. The general index of retail prices has been used to deflate the average costs into real terms using 1995-96 as a baseline.

The following table shows numbers at 31 March 1997, 1998 and 1999. Prior to local government reorganisation in April 1996, figures are only available on the basis of the old local authorities. Figures for 1998 and 1999 cover clients who receive home care purchased or provided by local authorities, whereas figures for 1997 only include home care provided directly by local authorities.

Local Authority	1997	1998	1999
Aberdeen City	4,053	4,391	4,766
Aberdeenshire	2,306	2,384	2,041
Angus	1,885	1,878	1,867
Argyll & Bute	1,033	1,032	950
Clackmannanshire	710	586	601
Dumfries & Galloway	1,869	2,075	1,880
Dundee City	3,762	3,240	2,978
East Ayrshire	1,936	1,512	1,398
East Dunbartonshire	1,275	1,207	1,010
East Lothian	1,456	1,408	1,196
East Renfrewshire	826	881	820
Edinburgh, City of	7,839	7,719	7,261
Eilean Siar	1,126	1,000	870
Falkirk (1)	2,717	2,693	2,420
Fife	9,272	8,167	7,491
Glasgow City	12,425	11,258	10,048
Highland	3,104	2,946	2,999
Inverclyde	1,598	1,314	1,311
Midlothian	1,307	1,253	1,253
Moray	1,045	1,161	1,163
North Ayrshire	2,327	2,167	1,696
North Lanarkshire	2,140	3,133	2,999
Orkney Islands	385	376	492
Perth & Kinross	1,490	1,425	1,479
Renfrewshire	2,672	2,762	2,505
Scottish Borders	1,986	1,563	1,576
Shetland Islands	538	527	514
South Ayrshire	1,734	1,485	1,199
South Lanarkshire	4,047	2,924	2,773
Stirling	1,240	1,427	930
West Dunbartonshire	1,641	1,699	1,760
West Lothian	1,872	1,926	1,812
SCOTLAND	83,616	79,519	74,058

Source: SEHD Community Care Statistics, H1 Return.

Notes:

1. 1997 figure for Falkirk is estimated.

Work on developing integrated mental health information has begun within the Information and Statistics Division (ISD Scotland) of the Common Services Agency of the NHS in Scotland.

There are 254 patients currently receiving treatment with Beta Interferon on the NHS in Scotland.

I have regular meetings with organisations representing the interests of older people at both national and local level, and discuss a wide range of issues with them. Specific cases of alleged age discrimination in the NHS have not been raised by those bodies at any of these meetings.

The overall recruitment and retention of Professions Allied to Medicine (PAMs), which include occupational therapists, remains healthy although there are some recognised difficulties in particular geographic areas and with some specialist posts.

The employment of occupational therapists in the NHSiS is a matter for NHS Trusts.

The Electronic Health Record (EHR) is a longitudinal record of care and relevant health issues about an individual containing summarised information on important health events throughout a patient's life. It will be accessible, appropriately and with the patient's consent, to a range of healthcare professionals caring for an individual patient. It is expected that such records will, in the first instance, be made available to support out of hours and accident and emergency services. The creation of Electronic Health Records is a key part of the NHS in Scotland Information Management & Technology Strategy, now being refreshed, and targets for the establishment of such records will be announced soon.

Cancer is one of the Scottish Executive health priorities and a specific research priority.

a) Over the last three financial years, the Scottish Executive has awarded the following funding in cash terms to cancer research.

	1997-98 £ million	1998-99 £ million	1999-2000 £ million
1. Direct funding - Research Projects	0.6	0.7	1.2
2. Indirect Funding - to support research in NHS in Scotland	Not available	4.7	6.2
3. Scottish Cancer Therapy Network	0.2	0.2	0.2
4. Cancer Equipment initiative			0.5

Notes:

1. A breakdown of total awards made to cancer research projects in 1997-98, 1998-99 and 1999-2000 by cancer type is provided in the table below. Details on individual projects, which may run for up to three years, are available from the National Research Register (NRR), a copy of which is in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (SPICe).

2. Programmes of research which are supported in the NHS in Scotland can be very broad and encompass a range of subjects. Because of this, we are not able to provide a figure/percentage spend on cancer for 1997-98 and, for 1998-99, we are able to provide only a broad estimate. For 1999-2000 however, we asked NHS providers to specify spend on priority areas, like cancer, separately. We are unable to provide a breakdown by cancer type.

3. The Scottish Cancer Therapy Network aims to ensure that optimal treatment is available to all cancer patients in Scotland. Its work includes involvement in trials, developing guidelines about cancer management/treatment and auditing the impact of these guidelines.

4. This one-off initiative funds capital equipment items to support general research on cancer.

In addition to its own research programme, the Scottish Executive Health Department collaborates with other UK Health Departments and the Medical Research Council (MRC) to develop and maintain an effective partnership for the promotion, funding and management of UK medical research. The MRC is the main agency through which the UK Government supports biomedical and clinical research and it is estimated to spend around £28.5 million per year directly on research into cancer. The results of the projects undertaken throughout the UK will inform the future direction of research and treatment of this disease.

The MRC also funds a large body of basic research including the study of molecules and cells, genetics, and injections and immunity, which will underpin advances in cancer research as well as other diseases.

b) At present, the Scottish Executive funds research mainly by response-mode and therefore cannot supply an estimate of future funding on cancer. Its current research funding mechanisms are, however, under review and one aim of the review is to ensure that priority areas such as cancer are adequately resourced.

Breakdown by Cancer Type of Cancer Research Projects Funded

Type of cancer	1997-98 £K	1998-99 £K	1999-2000 £K
Bladder	27	45	19
Bowel	59	100	199
Breast	202	89	291
General	89	136	225
Gynaecological	87	171	154
Haematological	17	-	18
Head & neck	43	50	10
Skin	-	19	68
Upper gastrointestinal	81	93	174
Total	605	703	1,158

Reducing waiting for patients at all stages in their use of health services is one of the Executive's key objectives for the NHS in Scotland. We are currently working with the service on the development of all-Scotland maximum waiting times in the national clinical priorities of cancer, heart disease and mental health.

Action to reduce hospital waiting lists is primarily for health boards and NHS Trusts. The Executive has put substantial extra investment into the NHS in Scotland, including targeted investment to help reduce waiting. Coupled with new ways of working and delivering services, this will help the service to achieve sustained improvements.

Meningitis A is very rare in the UK and there have been no cases for at least five years and no significant outbreaks since the early 1970s.The Scottish Centre for Infection and Environmental Health (SCIEH) has confirmed the cases of meningitis B and C and the rarer serogroups W135, X and Y as set out in the table below for years 1998,1999 and 2000 to date. The tables also provide details of deaths by serogroups where these were known:

2000
Meningitis Strain	Confirmed cases	% of Tested Cases	No.of Deaths
Not Grouped	123	-	10
B confirmed	84	56%	1
C confirmed	53	35%	8
Non groupable	5	3%	0
W135	5	3%	0
X	0	0%	0
Y	4	3%	0
Total Cases:	274
Total Deaths			19

1999
Meningitis Strain	Confirmed cases	% of Tested Cases	No.of Deaths
Not Grouped	141	-	9
B confirmed	105	50%	5
C confirmed	95	45%	8
Non groupable	1	0%	0
W135	3	1%	1
X	3	1%	0
Y	3	1%	0
Total Cases:	351
Total Deaths			23

1998
Meningitis Strain	Confirmed cases	% of Tested Cases	No. of Deaths
Not Grouped	139	-	5
B confirmed	70	40%	3
C confirmed	75	43%	6
Non groupable	6	3%	0
W135	2	1%	0
X	2	1%	1
Y	3	2%	0
Other	16	9%	0
Total Cases:	313
Total Deaths			15

Notes: % Cases - refers to the percentage of cases for which a serogroup has been confirmed.Deaths - refers to the numbers of total deaths, which have been confirmed as having been infected with this serogroup.