- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 09 October 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 6 November 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive what the average waiting times have been from GP referral to first appointment with a consultant psychiatrist for each NHS board area in each year since 1999.
Answer
The median waiting times fora first out-patient appointment with a consultant in the speciality of psychiatry,following referral by a general medical practitioner, in the years ended 30June 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002 and 2003, by NHS board area of residence, are givenin the following table.
NHSScotland:Median Waiting Times for a First Outpatient Appointment with a Consultant in theSpecialty of Psychiatry, Following Referral by a General Medical Practitioner, byNHS Board of Residence. Years Ended 30 June 1999, 30 June 2000, 30 June 2001, 30 June 2002 and 30 June 2003P.
| NHS Board | Median Wait (days) |
| | Year Ended 30 June 1999 | Year Ended 30 June 2000 | Year Ended 30 June 2001 | Year Ended 30 June 2002 | Year Ended 30 June 2003P |
| Argyll and Clyde | 31 | 34 | 35 | 35 | 35 |
| Ayrshire and Arran | 15 | 18 | 23 | 25 | 26 |
| Borders | 14 | 14 | 16 | 20 | 20 |
| Dumfries and Galloway | 19 | 19 | 21 | 27 | -1 |
| Fife | 24 | 21 | 21 | 23 | 28 |
| Forth Valley | 21 | 20 | 21 | 25 | -1 |
| Grampian | 21 | 21 | 22 | 28 | -1 |
| Greater Glasgow | 29 | 28 | 31 | 31 | 35 |
| Highland | 24 | 19 | 21 | 19 | 17 |
| Lanarkshire | 45 | 44 | 46 | 45 | -1 |
| Lothian | 19 | 22 | 25 | 23 | -1 |
| Orkney | 12 | 11 | 26 | 18 | -1 |
| Shetland | 25 | 21 | 36 | 31 | -1 |
| Tayside | 15 | 18 | 22 | 26 | 28 |
| Western Isles | 39 | 32 | 35 | 35 | 43 |
| NHSScotland | 23 | 24 | 27 | 28 | 29 |
Source: ISD Scotland, SMR00.
Notes:
Pprovisional
1 Information not shown due to incomplete unrepresentative data.
The £4.5 million investment in the Doing Well by People with Depression programme will engage service users, carers, clinical leaders and staff in the redesign and improved use of resources to provide better care with improved and timely access to evidence-based intervention including referral to psychiatrists where appropriate.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 09 October 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 5 November 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-31193 by Mrs Mary Mulligan on 13 November 2002, how many unfilled vacancies currently exist in the NHS for consultant psychiatrists in all disciplines.
Answer
Information on the number ofvacancies is collected centrally by Information Statistics Division, via theannual medical and dental census.
The latest information onthe number of vacancies in NHS Scotland for consultant psychiatrists in alldisciplines is contained in the table below.
Table 1: ConsultantPsychiatrist Vacancies as at 30 September 2002
| | Establishment | Total Vacancies | Vacancies as % of establishment |
| Psychiatric Specialties | 484 | 56 | 11.6 |
| Child and Adolescent Psychiatry | 68 | 12 | 17.6 |
| Forensic Psychiatry | 32 | 5 | 15.6 |
| General Psychiatry | 273 | 29 | 10.6 |
| Psychiatry of Learning Disability | 29 | 4 | 13.8 |
| Old Age Psychiatry | 66 | 6 | 9.1 |
| Psychotherapy | 16 | 0 | 0 |
The Medical and DentalCensus was completed on 30 September 2003 and will be available in spring 2004.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 30 September 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Euan Robson on 28 October 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it will take, with schools and colleges, to educate pupils and students in foster care issues in order to reduce ignorance of the circumstances of fostered children.
Answer
Schools have designatedteachers whose role is to champion the interests of looked after children intheir school and act as an information point within the school for others toaid their understanding of what it means to be looked after. Seminars for designated teachers will be held inDecember to share best practice and start a network of such teachers to providesupport and information.
The Fostering Network alsoundertake training in individual schools to educate young people and teacherson fostering issues.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 09 October 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 22 October 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-23840 by Malcolm Chisholm on 3 April 2002, how many training places there are for clinical psychologists.
Answer
As at 1 October 2003, therewere 65 trainee clinical psychologists in first year, 36 trainee clinical psychologistsin second year and 32 trainee clinical psychologists in third year.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 24 September 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Andy Kerr on 21 October 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-2500 by Cathy Jamieson on 23 September 2003, what the amount of exceptional additional funding for a joint police station and courthouse at Rosetta Road, Peebles, would have been.
Answer
The Scottish Borders Council requested additional capital consent of £710,600 for a co-located district court, police station and council offices at Rosetta Road, Peebles.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 30 September 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicol Stephen on 21 October 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it will take to alleviate the impact of congestion charges in Edinburgh, when introduced, on commuters from the Borders and Midlothian until the Borders railway is in operation.
Answer
The Scottish Executive sets out the framework within which a local authority that wishes toimplement a road user charging scheme must operate. It is for local authoritiesto decide whether or not they wish to implement such a scheme.
A local authority will haveto ensure that a range of public transport improvements are in place beforecharging is introduced, with further improvements to follow.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 30 September 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicol Stephen on 21 October 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive what efforts will be made to include the option of twin tracks for the Borders rail route so that full advantage can be taken within the Borders and Midlothian of the new economic opportunities opened as a result of the route's reinstatement.
Answer
The specification of therailway is a matter for the Waverley Railway Partnership to propose in theirbusiness case.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 30 September 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Euan Robson on 14 October 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it will take to improve the public image of children and young people in foster care to reduce any perceived stigma attached to them, encourage inclusiveness and highlight the value to the community of fostering.
Answer
The Fostering Network undertakesan annual Foster Care Fortnight campaign to raise awareness of the role of fostercare and its importance to vulnerable children and young people.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 30 September 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Euan Robson on 14 October 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it will take to ensure that all children in foster care are guaranteed information relating to a proposed foster placement and that no such placement will be made without a pre-placement visit.
Answer
Volume 2 of the Children (Scotland)Act 1995 Regulations and Guidance sets out the preparation that should beundertaken by local authorities with a child prior to any foster placement. Theguidance makes clear that the child’s views must be taken into account whenconsidering a foster care placement and that methods to prepare children forplacement should be suited to their age or development.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 30 September 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Euan Robson on 14 October 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive how many children are in foster care, broken down by local authority area.
Answer
The number of children looked after in foster care on 31 March 2002 is in the following table.
| Local Authority Area | Children Looked After in Foster Care |
| Aberdeen City | 130* |
| Aberdeenshire | 115 |
| Angus | 85 |
| Argyll and Bute | 30 |
| Clackmannanshire | 35 |
| Dumfries and Galloway | 125 |
| Dundee City | 120 |
| East Ayrshire | 65 |
| East Dunbartonshire | 15 |
| East Lothian | 75 |
| East Renfrewshire | 10 |
| Edinburgh - City of | 320 |
| Eilean Siar | 5 |
| Falkirk | 85 |
| Fife | 185 |
| Glasgow City | 715 |
| Highland | 105 |
| Inverclyde | 25 |
| Midlothian | 45 |
| Moray | 55* |
| North Ayrshire | 55 |
| North Lanarkshire | 140 |
| Orkney Islands | 10 |
| Perth and Kinross | 65 |
| Renfrewshire | 85 |
| Scottish Borders | 80 |
| Shetland Islands | 15 |
| South Ayrshire | 50 |
| South Lanarkshire | 75 |
| Stirling | 55 |
| West Dunbartonshire | 70 |
| West Lothian | 120 |
| Scotland | 3,170 |
Note:
Cells marked with anasterisk are where estimates have been made, figures rounded to the nearest fiveto preserve confidentiality.
