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Questions and answers

Parliamentary questions can be asked by any MSP to the Scottish Government or the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body. The questions provide a means for MSPs to get factual and statistical information.

Written questions must be answered within 10 working days (20 working days during recess)
Other questions such as Topical, Portfolio, General and First Minister's Question Times are taken in the Chamber

Urgent Questions aren't included in the Question and Answers search. There is a SPICe fact sheet listing Urgent and emergency questions.

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Question reference: S2W-03063

Asked by: Sandra White, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 02 October 2003
Current Status: Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 11 November 2003

To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to recruit specialist skin cancer nurses to the NHS.

The Executive remainscommitted to building the capacity of NHSScotland. In order to assist NHSemployers meet local health needs, we have invested record sums in health

A range of recruitment andretention measures have been introduced to help build capacity within thenursing and midwifery workforce.

As part of our on-goingcommitment to this improvement agenda, we will increase our programme to train,recruit and retain nurses and midwives, bringing 12,000 into the NHS by 2007.

Additional help in areas ofrecruitment will also be provided by Careers for Health with one of its aimsbeing to raise the profile of careers in the NHSScotland.

Work is, therefore, under wayto re-energise recruitment to the health service workforce and redesign jobswhere new nursing roles are identified.

In addition, Scotland’sCancer Strategy, Cancer in Scotland: Action to Change, recognised thatnursing care is not restricted to Clinical Nurse Specialists and that thedevelopment of nurses’ skills and experiences is vital to effective patientcare in all care settings. Also, a Framework for Nursing People with Cancer iscurrently being developed.

Question reference: S2W-03258

Asked by: Sandra White, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 October 2003
Current Status: Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 3 November 2003

To ask the Scottish Executive what action is being taken to ensure compliance with the Scottish Medicines Consortium recommendations that fusion inhibitors are available in the treatment of men and women with HIV.

Question reference: S2W-03263

Asked by: Sandra White, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 October 2003
Current Status: Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 3 November 2003

To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of Scots infected by HIV have been found to be resistant to one or more of the treatment agents in use by the NHS.

UK drug resistance monitoring data suggest that theprevalence of HIV drug resistance in patients, whose treatment was failing, was79% in 2002-03. This rate has not changed substantially since 1996.

According to the same data, theprevalence of drug resistance in patients who are newly diagnosed and not yeton therapy, i.e. those who have acquired a drug-resistant form of HIV, was 21%in 2002-03. This rate has increased from 10% in 1996.

Question reference: S2W-03062

Asked by: Sandra White, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 02 October 2003
Current Status: Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 27 October 2003

To ask the Scottish Executive how many specialist skin cancer nurses are employed by the NHS.

Question reference: S2W-03061

Asked by: Sandra White, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 02 October 2003
Current Status: Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 22 October 2003

To ask the Scottish Executive what information it has on how rates of skin cancer in Scotland compare with the rest of the world.

The incidence rates ofmalignant melanoma of the skin and non-melanoma skin cancer in Scotland andselected countries and regions are shown in Tables 1 and 2. The figures relateto the period 1993-97, the latest period for which internationally comparableinformation is available.

Table 1 - Malignant Melanomaof the Skin (C43): International Comparisons of Incidence Rates

Age-standardised Incidence Ratesper 100,000 Person-years at Risk (World Standard Population) for Selected Countriesor Registries; Ranked; by Sex: Period 1993-97

Males		Females
Australia, New South Wales	36.9	New Zealand	30.6
New Zealand	32.8	Australia, New South Wales	25.9
USA, California, San Francisco: Non-Hispanic White	18.2	Denmark	13.4
USA, Connecticut: White	16.7	Switzerland, Vaud	13.4
Switzerland, Vaud	14.0	USA, California, San Francisco: Non-Hispanic White	12.6
Austria, Tyrol	11.2	USA, Connecticut: White	12.3
Canada, Nova Scotia	11.1	Austria, Tyrol	10.9
Denmark	10.5	Scotland	9.9
Scotland	7.1	Canada, Nova Scotia	9.0
Slovenia	6.8	England, Yorkshire	6.9
Italy, Varese Province	5.5	Slovenia	6.8
England, Yorkshire	4.8	Italy, Varese Province	5.9
Slovakia	4.8	Poland, Cracow	5.8
Poland, Cracow	4.7	Estonia	5.4
Estonia	3.7	Slovakia	5.3
Spain, Zaragoza (1991-1995)	2.7	Spain, Zaragoza (1991-1995)	3.3
Thailand, Khon Kaen	0.5	Thailand, Khon Kaen	0.4
China, Shanghai	0.3	China, Shanghai	0.3
India, Bangalore	0.3	India, Bangalore	0.3
Japan, Miyagi Prefecture	0.3	Japan, Miyagi Prefecture	0.3

Table 2 - Non-melanoma SkinCancer (C44): International Comparisons of Incidence Rates

Age-standardised Incidence Ratesper 100,000 Person-years at Risk (World Standard Population) for Selected Countriesor Registries; Ranked; by Sex: Period 1993-97

Males		Females
Switzerland, Vaud	99.4	Switzerland, Vaud	81.6
Scotland	68.3	Denmark	51.5
Denmark	58.9	Scotland	47.3
England, Yorkshire	54.4	England, Yorkshire	40.3
Slovakia	43.1	Slovakia	33.6
Spain, Zaragoza (1991-1995)	39.8	Estonia	22.5
Italy, Varese Province	34.4	Spain, Zaragoza (1991-1995)	22.5
Slovenia	30.0	Slovenia	22.3
Estonia	22.9	Italy, Varese Province	18.3
Austria, Tyrol	22.1	Austria, Tyrol	17.1
Poland, Cracow	14.9	Poland, Cracow	11.6
Thailand, Khon Kaen	4.0	Thailand, Khon Kaen	3.1
Japan, Miyagi Prefecture	2.7	Japan, Miyagi Prefecture	1.6
India, Bangalore	1.3	India, Bangalore	1.2
China, Shanghai	1.1	China, Shanghai	1.0
Australia, New South Wales***	-	Australia, New South Wales***	-
Canada, Nova Scotia*	-	Canada, Nova Scotia*	-
New Zealand*	-	New Zealand*	-
USA, California, San Francisco: Non-Hispanic White*	-	USA, California, San Francisco: Non-Hispanic White*	-
USA, Connecticut: White**	-	USA, Connecticut: White**	-

Source:Parkin DM, Whelan SL, Ferlay J, Teppo L, Thomas DB (eds) (2002). CancerIncidence in Five Continents, Volume VIII. IARC Scientific Publications No.155. Lyon: International Agency for Research on Cancer.

Notes:

*Does notinclude basal cell or squamous cell carcinoma.

**Does notinclude basal cell or squamous cell carcinoma except for skin of anus.

***Notavailable.

Question reference: S2W-02718

Asked by: Sandra White, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 17 September 2003
Current Status: Answered by Margaret Curran on 21 October 2003

To ask the Scottish Executive what information it has on the number of children under 16 amongst asylum seekers currently resident in Scotland.

Question reference: S2W-02744

Asked by: Sandra White, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 17 September 2003
Current Status: Answered by Margaret Curran on 14 October 2003

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-2305 by Ms Margaret Curran on 12 September 2003, how the New Housing Partnership grant was spent by Glasgow Housing Association in (a) 2000-01, (b) 2001-02 and (c) 2002-03.

The breakdown of how thegrant was spent is as follows:

Expenditure	2000-01 (£ Million)	2001-02 (£ Million)	2002-03 (£ Million)	Total (£ Million)
Tenant Communication and Consultation	1.005	1.533	0.337	2.875
Business Planning, Funding and IT Advice	0.799	2.239	4.711	7.749
Legal Costs	0	1.033	3.912	4.945
Staffing Costs	1.820	2.865	6.186	10.871
Local Housing Organisation Costs	0	0.216	0.609	0.825
Total	3.624	7.886	15.755	27.265

Question reference: S2W-02715

Asked by: Sandra White, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 17 September 2003
Current Status: Answered by Margaret Curran on 1 October 2003

To ask the Scottish Executive what housing provision is in place for single male asylum seekers whose application for refugee status has been refused but who do not yet have a date for deportation.

Question reference: S2W-02716

Asked by: Sandra White, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 17 September 2003
Current Status: Answered by Tom McCabe on 1 October 2003

To ask the Scottish Executive what advice is available to local GPs about any potential health risks of high protein diets such as the Atkins diet.

Question reference: S2W-02717

Asked by: Sandra White, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 17 September 2003
Current Status: Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 1 October 2003

To ask the Scottish Executive what support is available to local GPs to assist them in dealing with asylum seekers who have no knowledge of NHS procedures.

Asylum seekers who come to Scotland throughNational Asylum Support Services are entitled to the same health care system asthe indigenous population. The Scottish Refugee Integration Forum Action Plan waslaunched last year and provided information and recommendations for the health service.This was supported by a national conference held in February, which shared goodpractice and identified the challenges ahead.

The majority of asylum seekersin Scotland are based in Glasgow. Greater Glasgow NHS Board and Primary Care NHS Trustprovide GP registration to all asylum seekers dispersed from London withintwo working days of their arrival. There are currently 35 GP practices and associatedstaff providing this service throughout the city.

A multi-disciplinary asylum supportteam has been established which provides information to all GPs in Glasgow, andtraining for frontline staff and other health professionals is available throughGreater Glasgow Primary Care NHS Trust’s Multicultural Team.

Glasgow Interpreting and TranslatingServices provides services for patients, families, health professionals and communitygroups. Health professionals are encouraged to use these services for patient consultations.

The National Resource Centrefor Ethnic Minority Health is currently developing a resource pack for all NHS staffand a website will soon exist for access to up-to-date information.

The Scottish Executive has worked with the National Asylum Support Services and the National ResourceCentre for Ethnic Minority Health to ensure that information on NHS procedures arepart of the induction process for asylum seekers. A variety of health informationleaflets are available and posters in 18 languages exist in all GP and dental surgeriesexplaining how to make an appointment and outlining what to expect.