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On 27 April 2001 I announced funding for an additional 375 junior doctors. This followed my announcement of 100 extra junior doctors on 28 June 2000. These will be targeted at areas with an identified need for additional resources.In 2001-02 health boards received an average increase in unified budgets of 6.5%, which represents a cash increase of over £270 million. In addition, boards are to receive average increases of 6.5% and 7.4% in 2002-03 and 2003-04 respectively. It is the responsibility of health boards to determine local priorities for the use of these funds including meeting the targets and standards of the New Deal for Junior Doctors.

I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-17446 which confirms that postgraduate deans will be expected to enforce the requirement that all Pre-Registration House Officer (PRHO) posts comply with the hours and rest requirements of the New Deal from 1 August 2001. This will mean PRHO posts deemed non-compliant will be withdrawn from service delivery. Arrangements on the procedures for doing so will be subject to local discussion and negotiation between NHSScotland trusts and postgraduate deans.

The Scottish Executive Health Department (SEHD) expects all employers locally to work within current employment and health and safety legislation. Compliance with contracted hours is a matter for individual Trust employers and is not information that is held centrally by SEHD.

The New Contract for Doctors in Training implemented on 1 December 2000 requires that NHS Trusts demonstrate clearly that all Pre-Registration House Officer (PRHO) posts are fully compliant with the hours limits of the New Deal from 1 August 2001. Information contained within returns due from NHS Trusts at the end of August 2001 will show the level of progress that has been made.The Chief Medical Officer (CMO) has confirmed to all NHSScotland Trusts that the UK agreement for Doctors in Training does not allow for any discretion in the achievement of PRHO compliance and that postgraduate Deans will be expected to enforce this requirement.The New Deal Implementation Support Group (ISG) formed as a partnership between the Scottish Executive Health Department and the Scottish Junior Doctors Committee of the British Medical Association continues to provide support to Trusts at local level in resolving issues of non-compliance.

The Health Technology Board for Scotland has not yet completed a health technology assessment. It announced its first three assessment topics in January 2001 after wide consultation. Each assessment will take about one year to complete due to the large amount of evidence considered and the board's open and inclusive consultation process.

Since May 2001, The National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) has released Technology Appraisal Guidance on four topics. The Health Technology Board for Scotland (HTBS) has published a comment on one of these topics and will deliver the other three, currently in preparation, on schedule.HTBS has also provided a one-off retrospective comment on the NICE Guidance on treatments for Alzheimer's disease.

I refer the member to the answer to question S1W-17576.

The Health Technology Board for Scotland (HTBS) is currently conducting three Health Technology Assessments.These are in the areas of organisation of services for diabetic retinopathy screening, PET imaging for cancer management and prevention of relapse in alcohol dependence.

The mortality rates from circulatory disease per 100,000 population, by health board, of all persons under the age of 75 years, as defined by ICD-9 codes 390 - 459 for each of the years 1998 and 1999, and ICD-10 codes I00 - I99 for the year 2000, are:

Health Board	1998	1999	2000*
	ICD-9	ICD-9	ICD-10
Argyll and Clyde	225	219	202
Ayrshire and Arran	206	204	196
Borders	164	165	141
Dumfries and Galloway	210	188	198
Fife	190	176	161
Forth Valley	168	170	164
Grampian	147	145	134
Greater Glasgow	224	204	192
Highland	192	167	190
Lanarkshire	213	203	182
Lothian	166	152	145
Orkney	188	171	144
Shetland	158	112	138
Tayside	187	191	169
Western Isles	192	203	190
SCOTLAND	193	183	172
* Figures for 2000 are not directly comparable with figures for previous years due to the change from ICD-9 to ICD-10

The Scottish Executive Health Department has a target to reduce deaths from cerebrovascular disease by 50% between 1995 and 2010. The ICD-9 codes used for this target are codes 430 - 438. The ICD-10 codes that are used for this target are codes I60 - I69.