- Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 October 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Susan Deacon on 18 October 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to extend the age range of patients screened routinely for cancer.
Answer
The Scottish Executive is committed to extending the upper age range of routine invitation for breast screening to include those aged (64-70).
I have commissioned a task group to prepare an implementation plan for this extension of the screening programme and look forward to receiving the plan by spring 2001.
There are no plans to extend the age range (20-60 years) for cervical cancer screening.
- Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 October 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Susan Deacon on 18 October 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive what the average cost, in real terms, of (a) generic and (b) branded prescriptions were to the NHSiS in each of the last five years for which figures are available.
Answer
The information is set out in the table below.
1 The general index of retail prices has been used to deflate the average gross ingredient cost into real terms, using 1995-96 as a baseline.
Average Gross Ingredient Cost of General and Proprietary Items Dispensed 1995-96 to 1999-2000
| | Generic | Proprietary |
Financial Year | Average cost per item 拢 | Total cost of all items dispensed 拢 | Average cost per item 拢 | Total cost of all items dispensed 拢 |
1995-96 | 1.80 | 39,320,610 | 12.72 | 388,274,138 |
1996-97 | 2.01 | 48,201,533 | 13.54 | 407,937,513 |
1997-98 | 2.72 | 71,981,179 | 13.89 | 414,375,875 |
1998-99 | 2.63 | 74,064,879 | 14.41 | 427,385,527 |
1999-2000 | 3.66 | 105,354,734 | 15.07 | 455,592,429 |
Notes:
1. Excludes appliances, dressings, oxygen and unallocated items, which cannot be defined as generic or proprietary.
- Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 October 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Susan Deacon on 18 October 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive whether doctors will be able to use patient community health index numbers to make claims for items of service.
Answer
Currently, the Community Health Index (CHI) number cannot be used as the sole identifier when GPs are making claims for item of service payments. Whilst GPs do currently use the CHI numbers to make claims for items of service, another form of identification is also required.
- Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 October 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Susan Deacon on 18 October 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive what the findings are of the meningococcal carriage research study.
Answer
The project entitled "Carriage on hypervirulent meningococci before and after introduction of serogroup C conjugate polysaccharide vaccine in the UK" is due to submit a progress report in November 2000 with the possibility of the study being extended until the end of October 2002.
- Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 October 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Susan Deacon on 18 October 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive what progress has been made towards electronic data interchange in the NHSiS.
Answer
A number of initiatives which use electronic data interchange are underway. An important initiative is being taken forward as "Electronic Clinical Communications Implementation" (ECCI). This programme will establish widespread electronic clinical communications between primary and secondary care over a three-year programme. These communications include:
- widespread clinical email including seeking consultant's opinion;
- co-ordinated referral information;
- electronic booking - protocol based where appropriate;
- test ordering and results receiving;
- discharge letters and summaries and clinic letters; and
- information in support of shared care.
Other national projects being led by Common Services Agency include GP practices submitting patient registration data electronically to Practitioner Services Division (PSD), with over 50 practices now live. Similar electronic links to PSD are currently in planning covering payments to dentists. A project to provide community pharmacists with access to NHSnet is underway; this would be an important step towards enabling transmission of prescriptions from GP Practices to community pharmacists.
- Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 October 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Susan Deacon on 18 October 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to introduce community-based blood collection teams across Scotland.
Answer
The Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service (SNBTS) has already established six locality based collection teams throughout Scotland, and hold 2,000 sessions per year in communities and workplaces. SNBTS is currently reviewing its National Collection programme to assess the feasibility of establishing further teams.
- Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 October 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Susan Deacon on 18 October 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to ensure that the generic drug shortages of 1999-2000 do not recur.
Answer
Although there were shortages of generic drugs during 1999-2000, contingency arrangements already in place ensured both that patients continued to receive their medicines and that community pharmacists were appropriately reimbursed. Scottish Executive Health Department officials are in regular contact with the Scottish Pharmaceutical General Council to ensure that these arrangements continue to achieve these twin objectives in cases of shortages.
I also support the steps taken by the Department of Health to commission a fundamental review of the way the generics market serves the needs of Primary Care. I will be looking carefully at the department's conclusions and the implications for Scotland.
- Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 October 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Susan Deacon on 18 October 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive how many (a) adults and (b) children were registered with the NHSiS for dental services in each year from 1990-91 to 1999-2000.
Answer
The information is shown in the table below.
Number of Children and Adults in Scotland Registered with the General Dental Service (GDS)
Financial Year | Child Registrations | Adult Registrations |
1990-91 | 423,104 | 1,065,303 |
1991-92 | 620,696 | 1,864,835 |
1992-93 | 626,645 | 1,901,623 |
1993-94 | 632,720 | 1,861,265 |
1994-95 | 623,874 | 1,849,884 |
1995-96 | 635,945 | 1,942,469 |
1996-97 | 637,743 | 2,027,245 |
1997-98 | 710,064 | 2,034,688 |
1998-99 | 726,124 | 1,891,328 |
1999-2000 | 754,545 | 1,972,310 |
Notes:
1. Registering of patients with dentists was first introduced when a new dental contract came into force in October 1990. During 1990-91 registrations were under-counted as patients were only added to the dentists registered list when they visited a dentist after this date.
2. Prior to 1 September 1996 adult registrations lapsed after 24 months and child registrations lapsed at the end of the following calendar year unless the patients returned to the practice. This contributed to the fall in adult numbers between 1997-98 and 1998-99.
3. A new payment system for dentists was introduced in April 1999. Prior to this, records for new patients, patients registering after a period of being lapsed and patients whose information had been written or captured incorrectly were excluded from the registration figures and so some under-counting occurred.
- Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 04 April 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Susan Deacon on 12 October 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive whether the NHS capital allocations for 2000-01 and 2001-02 include underspent capital allocations for previous years or are in addition to these sums.
Answer
Currently, the level of resources allocated for capital investment in the NHS in Scotland during 2000-01 and 2001-02 total 拢179 million and 拢194 million respectively. In addition, capital resources of 拢30 million were made available during 2000-01 for investment in medical equipment and other areas of the NHS.
Any resources carried forward from the previous year due to capital slippage will be added to future year totals.
- Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 04 April 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Susan Deacon on 12 October 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-5152 by Susan Deacon on 31 March 2000, why capital expenditure in the NHS was #324.53 million in total during 1997, 1998 and 1999, when capital allocations amounted to #428 million in the same period.
Answer
As explained in the answer to S1W-5152, there are two main reasons for the variance between capital provision and recorded capital expenditure in any one year. These are: slippage of particular schemes where expenditure planned to be met in one year falls to be made in the following year; and the transfer of capital resources to revenue budgets to pay for minor works of a capital nature that do not add capital value to the NHS estate.
