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The numbers of women diagnosed with breast or ovarian cancer are registered retrospectively by the Scottish Cancer Registry. The most recent complete year for which these data are available is 1997, and for which details are set out below.

Taxol and Taxotere are recommended for hospital use only. Centrally collected data relates to items dispensed in the community by community pharmacists and dispensing doctors. Information about the number of women prescribed Taxol and Taxotere as part of their treatment is not therefore available centrally.

Cancer is one of the top priorities for the NHS in Scotland. The overall strategy to bring about continuing improvements in the care and treatment of patients is dependent on robust quality assurance systems and reliable information which are essential to underpin the emerging cancer managed clinical networks as well as the work of the Clinical Standards Board for Scotland. Routine prospective audit systems have therefore been set in place nationwide using national recognised datasets which include information about treatment.

	Numbers of Registrations: 1997
Health Board	Female Breast Cancer	Ovarian Cancer
Argyll and Clyde	281	51
Ayrshire and Arran	242	50
Borders	67	24
Dumfries and Galloway	109	12
Fife	263	38
Forth Valley	137	36
Grampian	308	58
Greater Glasgow	588	111
Highland	169	33
Lanarkshire	346	56
Lothian	473	108
Orkney	15	3
Shetland	10	4
Tayside	253	44
Western Isles	24	2
All Scotland	3,285	630

It is not possible to provide the average cost of treating patients with ovarian and breast cancer with Taxol and Taxotere because the dose used, and therefore the cost of the drugs, is determined by different factors such as the drug regimen prescribed and the patient's surface area.

It is a matter for each health board to determine its prescribing policy on drugs, taking into account advice from local drug and therapeutic committees. When the Health Technology Board for Scotland, established on 1 April, begins work this summer, health boards will have access to a single focus of national advice on the clinical and cost-effectiveness of health technologies, including drugs.

Decisions on treatment with Taxol and Taxotere depend on the clinical judgement of the specialist experienced in the management of cancer.

There are no current plans to institute a Haemodialysis Unit within Edinburgh's Sick Children's Hospital. Treatment for children suffering chronic renal failure, requiring haemodialysis, is undertaken at the Royal Hospital for Sick Children in Glasgow with a network of local clinicians in local centres such as Edinburgh, Aberdeen and Dundee.

In Scotland, there are approximately six to 10 cases of chronic renal failure requiring haemodialysis at any one time, and around five cases progress to transplantation annually. In order to ensure that clinical standards are maintained and that clinical staff have the necessary experience and support to deal with the complex nature of this condition, a certain minimum caseload must be maintained.

The Scottish Executive provides funding to local authorities through the Training Specific Grant for Social Work Training. Local authorities determine their own training needs and if they so decide they may spend these funds on training social workers in lip reading.

Likewise it is for NHS Trusts to satisfy themselves that their employees, including nurses, have the appropriate skills to undertake the duties assigned to them. Where appropriate, this may include funding for training in lip reading

No.

There are no restrictions which would prevent a GP/clinician from referring a patient to a health board other than their health board of residence. Similarly there are no restrictions which would prevent a patient from receiving long term care from outwith their health board of residence. All referrals to health boards for specialist treatments are made on the basis of clinical need, and it would be a matter for the referring GP/clinician to decide on how best to address a patient's needs.

The majority of the activities of the Scottish Rehabilitation Technology Forum (SCOTRET) are undertaken by its four sub-groups: Orthotics, Prosthetics, Wheelchairs and Seating and Electronic Assistive Technology. Membership of the sub-groups is multidisciplinary and includes surgeons, therapists, prosthetists/orthotists and clinical engineers from each of the main Mobility and Rehabilitation Technology Centres in Scotland who are active in the sub-group areas of rehabilitation technology provision. Scottish Healthcare Supplies, who have responsibility for arranging central contracts for the NHS in Scotland, are also involved in the work of the sub-groups.SCOTRET also have a Co-ordinating Group chaired by Mr David Condie, Rehabilitation Engineering Services Manager, Tayside Orthopaedic and Rehabilitation Technology Centre, which comprises the Directors/Managers of the five Scottish rehabilitation technology centres and the Convenors of the four sub-groups. The Co-ordinating Group monitors the activities of the four sub-groups and addresses issues which cut across disciplines. SCOTRET was established in July 1997 as an association of Scottish NHS providers of rehabilitation technology and as such does not include any end users of the service in its membership. Patient end users are however included on the Rehabilitation Technology Services Advisory Group (ReTSAG), which is chaired by the Scottish Executive and also includes representatives from the SCOTRET Co-ordinating Group in its membership.A copy of the SCOTRET Constitution and current Co-ordinating Group membership list has been placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre, as has the remit and membership of ReTSAG.

The information requested is not held centrally.

The information requested is not held centrally.