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Where parents are separated their respective rights to information about their child's health or treatment depends on whether they have parental rights and responsibilities under the Children (Scotland) Act 1995. It may also depend on the child's age, maturity and capacity to consent both to treatment and the disclosure of information about their care. In deciding whether or not to share information with a parent, the child's welfare should be the paramount consideration for NHS boards and trusts.Guidelines for health professionals on children's capacity to consent and confidentiality are included in Protecting Children - A Shared Responsibility: guidance for health professionals, issued by the Health Department in 2000. The recently published final report of the Confidentiality and Security Advisory Group for Scotland provides further advice on access to medical and health-related information. The Executive has no current plans to issue guidance on access to information specifically for separated parents.

The Scottish Executive has not conducted a survey of the research in this area. The outcomes of research of this nature will be reported in the professional literature. Chiropody and podiatry services are part of the range of services provided by Primary Care NHS Trusts. It is for the NHS locally to make an assessment of the needs of the local population.

The Scottish Executive has not conducted a survey of the research in this area. The outcomes of research of this nature will be reported in the professional literature. Chiropody and podiatry services are part of the range of services provided by Primary Care NHS trusts. It is for local NHS management to ensure that the provision of services is, where possible evidence based, and in accordance with good professional practice to secure improvements in health.

Chiropody and podiatry services are part of the range of services provided by Primary Care NHS Trusts. It is for the NHS locally to make an assessment of the needs of the local population.

Information on the number of foot operations performed as in-patients or day cases in the speciality of orthopaedics since 1997-1998, by NHS board of residence, is provided in the following table. In that period, no surgical cases were recorded in the speciality Surgical Podiatry. Information on operations undertaken in an out-patient setting is not available centrally.The treatment of patients by a Podiatrist is generally undertaken in a primary care setting or at sessions at NHSScotland hospitals, clinics or other Health Service facilities staffed by Professions Allied to Medicine. Information on services provided by Professions Allied to Medicine is not collected centrally. NHSScotland: Number Of In-patient And Day Case Foot¹ Operations Performed By A Consultant In The Specialty Of Orthopaedics. Years Ending 31 March 1998-2001 And 6 Months to 30 September 2001

NHS Board	31 March 1998	31 March 1999	31 March 2000	31 March 2001	6 Months to 30 September 2001P
Argyll and Clyde	162	204	149	155	87
Ayrshire and Arran	193	187	160	189	58
Borders	27	44	47	55	25
Dumfries and Galloway	41	56	64	47	8
Fife	167	204	133	139	67
Forth Valley	105	108	93	116	45
Grampian	232	287	290	222	102
Greater Glasgow	303	305	325	272	117
Highland	68	99	90	89	36
Lanarkshire	195	214	186	166	68
Lothian	296	330	285	380	221
Orkney	5	8	1	3	1
Shetland	6	8	7	5	5
Tayside	258	233	209	170	85
Western Isles	7	8	11	3	1
Scotland	2,065	2,295	2,050	2,011	926

Source: ISD Scotland, SMR01.^p Provisional.Note:¹ Foot operations are defined as OPCS4 codes W03, W04 and W15 or any operation with a supplementary classification of 'site of operation' of Z79, Z80, and Z90.5.

The only information that is collected centrally on the cost of chiropody/podiatry services is the cost of an out-patient attendance at a clinic where the patient is seen by a chiropodist. The average cost of an attendance in 2000-01 was £19.

The number of courses of chiropody and podiatry treatment provided to patients in each Health board area between 1996 and 2000 are shown in the following table. Number of Treatments Provided by Chiropodists and Podiatrists in the NHS

	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000
Argyll and Clyde	53,949	63,034	66,266	74,087	64,960
Ayrshire and Arran	40,824	41,134	43,179	45,074	46,188
Borders	10,590	10,308	11,457	12,322	11,655
Dumfries and Galloway	13,019	13,419	13,433	13,750	13,658
Fife	32,648	29,110	28,196	36,272	37,065
Forth Valley	24,439	23,156	23,157	23,740	24,930
Grampian	39,411	42,109	41,853	43,335	40,936
Greater Glasgow	66,581	66,011	67,155	69,789	75,244
Highland	15,964	16,340	16,483	14,784	14,291
Lanarkshire	48,890	51,329	48,427	42,103	44,376
Lothian	75,892	71,939	70,074	69,665	69,569
Orkney	2,224	2,207	2,321	2,569	2,282
Shetland	2,386	2,711	2,906	2,854	2,983
Tayside	36,218	36,121	41,323	39,734	34,389
Western Isles	4,009	3,892	3,931	4,055	3,433
Scotland	467,044	472,820	480,161	494,133	485,959

It is not possible to identify the number of patients who are treated by a chiropodist or podiatrist. Some patients will receive more than one course of treatment, and therefore the number of patients receiving treatment during a year is likely to be less than the number of treatments provided.

No such statement is planned.

The Information and Statistics Division (ISD) of the Common Services Agency, NHSScotland has published a Health Briefing (2001): Community Chiropody Services which presents information on community chiropody and podiatry services in Scotland between 1990-99. The information relates to the number of patients treated, the number of treatments provided, place of treatment and chiropody staffing levels. Further statistical information on the provision of chiropody services is available from the ISD website.

The information requested is not collected centrally. However, as Patient Focus, Public Involvement which was published in December of last year states, feedback on the services the NHS provides should be solicited in a range of ways. A well-targeted survey can provide useful data on specific elements of service user experience. Guidance on the use of surveys in the NHS, based on research carried out in conjunction with the Scottish Consumer Council, will be published shortly. This guidance will be supplemented by information on alternative ways of soliciting feedback from service users.