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The following tables give the information requested for UK graduates (Table 1) and Scottish graduates (Table 2). The information has been provided by the Medical Careers Research Group (MCRG) at the University of Oxford. MCRG ask all those who graduate from UK medical schools about their employment history, providing a long-term picture of medical careers. They do not survey graduates every year. The most recent four years for which data are available are the graduates of 1996, 1993, 1988 and 1983.

The numbers recorded as not currently working in medicine include those who will rejoin the profession after a temporary career break.

Table 1: All UK medical graduates two years after graduation

	1996 graduates in 1998	1993 graduates in 1995	1988 graduates in 1990	1983 graduates in 1986*
Total responders	2,509	2,803	2,823	3,275
Not in medical profession	71	86	124	126
%	2.8	3.1	4.4	3.8

* After three years: data for two years unavailable.

Table 2: All Scottish graduates two years after graduation

	1996 graduates in 1998	1993 graduates in 1995	1988 graduates in 1990	1983 graduates in 1986*
Total responders	413	439	456	459
Not in medical profession	8	11	16	13
%	1.9	2.5	3.5	2.8

* After three years: data for two years unavailable.

The expenditure incurred in each of the last three years and in each of the following three years is:

1997-98	£183,391
1998-99	£228,720
1999-2000	£224,771
2000-01	£327,151
2001-02	£343,992
2002-03	£304,792

I refer the member to the statement I made to Parliament on transport spending on 28 September 2000.

It is too early to quantify what savings may be attributable to the work of the Common Services Agency's fraud investigation unit, which has been in operation since July, but this is a matter which will be examined further in the light of experience. The unit will also focus on deterring fraud against the NHS.

The Practitioner Services Division of the Common Services Agency went live in October 2000 with a new data capture, validation and pricing system for processing pharmacists' claims for payment in respect of dispensed prescriptions. Software for processing ophthalmic claims is being developed and that system is expected to go live early next year.

The table below gives the total number of prescription items dispensed, and the percentages of proprietary and generic products.¹

Information on dispensing details for branded products still on patent, and branded products for which a generic equivalent existed, is not recorded centrally and is not available in the form requested.

Prescription Items Dispensed in Scotland - 1995-96 to 1999-2000

	1995-96	1996-97	1997-98	1998-99	1999-2000
Total items dispensed	53,263,578	54,985,962	57,192,917	58,797,506	60,908,779
% dispensed as generic	41.72%	44.34%	47.01%	48.69%	49.49%
% dispensed as proprietary	58.28%	55.66%	52.99%	51.31%	50.51%

Notes:

1. Excludes appliances, dressings, oxygen and unallocated items, which cannot be defined as generic or proprietary.

The Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service (SNBTS) already operates an appointment system at its five main donor centres. SNBTS is committed to improving this system and will assess donor feedback with a view to offering the facility more widely if demand is shown to exist. However, an appointment system does not appeal to all donors, and SNBTS is also committed to retaining its "walk in" facility.

Scottish Healthcare Supplies (SHS), a Division of the Common Services Agency with responsibility for arranging central contracts for the NHS in Scotland, is committed to ensuring that any goods, equipment or services placed on contract are safe, of optimal quality and represent good value for money. SHS has negotiated a wide range of national contracts for common usage, and these have generated substantial savings for the NHS in Scotland. The Scottish Executive continues to work to seek further improvements in this area.

Establishing a serogroup for a case of meningococcal disease is straightforward if the organism itself has been isolated from the patient. However, it is good clinical practice for suspected cases to be given antibiotics as soon as possible, even before transfer to a hospital. In such cases, in particular where antibiotics have been successful, isolation of the organism is frequently impossible (around two thirds of the total) because the treatment makes the organism more difficult to extract.

Technical improvements in diagnostic techniques are being made all the time, and the level of submission of specimens to the Scottish Meningococcal Reference Laboratory which carries out such testing, has never been higher.

This information is not held centrally. NHS in Scotland employers are required to be working towards attaining the "Positive about Disability Two Ticks Symbol" and ensuring the health service is working towards the guidelines in the Employment Service Code of Good Practice on the Employment of Disabled People. The Symbol requires employers to:

• interview all applicants with a disability who meet the minimum criteria for a job vacancy and consider them on their merits;
• ask disabled employees at least once a year what the employer can do to make sure disabled employees can develop and use their abilities at work;
• make every effort when an employee become disabled to make sure the employee remains in employment;
• take action to ensure that key employees develop an awareness of disability needed to make the employers commitments work;

each year employers are required to review their commitments and achievements, plan ways to improve on them and let all employees know about progress and future plans.