Transport Scotland isleading work to provide firm proposals for the most cost-effective waysto improve reliability, bring down journey times and provide capacity for theexpected continuing growth in rail passenger numbers between Edinburgh andGlasgow. Electrification is one possible option for achieving this and thecosts, risks and timescales of such a project will be considered in the widercontext of the above service improvements. The results of this will be reportedin September and will be considered as part of the strategic transport projectsreview.

Transport Scotland isleading work to provide firm proposals for the most cost-effective waysto improve reliability, bring down journey times and provide capacity for theexpected continuing growth in rail passenger numbers between Edinburgh andGlasgow. Electrification is one possible option for achieving this and thecosts, risks and benefits of such a project will be considered in the widercontext of the above service improvements. The results of this will be reportedin September and will be considered as part of the strategic transport projectsreview.

Information on the incidenceof osteoporosis in Scotland is not available centrally, and the informationrequested is not available through Practice Team Information data.

Information for Scottish Parliamentary constituencies and for Scottish parliamentary regions is onlyavailable from 1 April 1999.

All NHS boards have accessto DEXA scanning. It should be noted however that patients in Forth Valleytravel to either Glasgow or Edinburgh. In Orkney and Shetland, patients travelto NHS Grampian and in the Western Isles, patients travel to Highland NHS.

Information on the incidenceof osteoporosis in Scotland is not available centrally. Information for Scottish Parliamentary constituencies and for Scottish parliamentary regions is onlyavailable from 1 April 1999.

The proportion of the population who consult each year(annual patient rate) and the number of patients seen for osteoporosis in anyyear by a member of the practice team in Scotland can be estimated from Practice Team Information (PTI) data, which is datareceived from a sample of Scottish practices. This data is currently availablefor the years 2003-04 to 2005-06.

Osteoporosis – annual patient rates per 1,000 population andestimated number of patients consulting in Scotland; years ending 31 March 2004, 2005 and2006 by gender and agegroup

 

Gender		2003-04		2004-05		2005-06
	Age group	Annual patient rate per 1,000 population	Estimated number of patients	Annual patient rate per 1,000 population	Estimated number of patients	Annual patient rate per 1,000 population	Estimated number of patients
Males	Under 50 years	0.1	250	0.1	200	0.1	100
	50 - 69	1.5	850	1.4	850	1.2	700
	70 - 79	4.2	700	4.6	750	3.4	550
	80 years & over	3.0	200	3.9	250	3.4	250
	All ages	0.8	2,000	0.8	2,100	0.6	1,600
Females	Under 50 years	0.6	1,000	0.4	650	0.4	650
	50 - 69	11.9	7,200	8.5	5,200	8.8	5,450
	70 - 79	27.1	5,800	25.0	5,350	23.3	5,000
	80 years & over	24.2	3,300	23.9	3,300	18.9	2,600
	All ages	6.4	17,350	5.4	14,500	5.0	13,700
Total	All ages	3.6	19,300	3.1	16,600	2.8	15,250

Source: ISD.

Notes:

Estimated numbers of patients are rounded to the nearest 50.Total figures may not add up to the sum of the parts due to this rounding.

Due to the small numbers on which these estimates are based,care must be taken when examining these data as a trend.

Following a substantial review of PTI data and subsequentrevisions to the methodology for all PTI analyses, direct comparisons withfigures produced prior to 27th March 2007are not valid.  Further information can be found on the ISD website, at:

http://www.isdscotland.org/isd/4724.html.

The Chief Scientist Office(CSO) within the Scottish Government is providing £4.4 million of funding forGeneration Scotland, a large scale genetic study of which osteoporosis is oneof the conditions under investigation.

CSOhas funded other research projects into osteoporosis in the past. Furtherproposals on research into osteoporosis would be welcomed by CSO. These wouldbe subject to the usual peer and committee review.

The Medical Research Council(MRC) is one of the main agencies through which the Government supports medicaland clinical research. In 2005-06, MRC expenditure on research intoosteoporosis amounted to £2.3 million.

Information on the incidenceof osteoporosis in Scotland is not available centrally. Information for Scottish Parliamentary constituencies and for Scottish parliamentary regions is onlyavailable from 1 April 1999.

The proportion of the population who consult each year(annual patient rate) and the number of patients seen for osteoporosis in anyyear by a member of the practice team in Scotland can be estimated from Practice Team Information (PTI) data, which isdata received from a sample of Scottish practices. This data is currentlyavailable for the years 2003-04 to 2005-06 and is shown in the following table.

Osteoporosis – annual patient rates per 1,000 population andestimated number of patients consulting in Scotland; years ending 31 March 2004, 2005 and2006 by deprivationcategory.

Deprivation category (SIMD)	2003-04		2004-05		2005-06
	Annual patient rate per 1,000 population	Estimated number of patients	Annual patient rate per 1,000 population	Estimated number of patients	Annual patient rate per 1,000 population	Estimated number of patients
1 (least deprived)	4.0	4,250	3.0	3,200	3.7	3,950
2	3.6	3,750	3.4	3,600	2.6	2,850
3	3.3	3,450	3.0	3,150	2.4	2,600
4	4.0	4,300	3.2	3,400	2.7	2,850
5 (most deprived)	3.3	3,650	3.0	3,300	2.8	3,050
Scotland	3.6	19,300	3.1	16,600	2.8	15,250

Source: ISD.

Notes:

Estimated numbers of patients are rounded to the nearest 50.Total figures may not add up to the sum of the parts due to this rounding.

Due to the small numbers on which these estimates are based,care must be taken when examining these data as a trend.

the Scottish Indices of Multiple Deprivation (SIMD) are used here as a proxy forsocio-economic group.

Following asubstantial review of PTI data and subsequent revisions to the methodology forall PTI analyses, direct comparisons with figures produced prior to 27th March 2007 are not valid.  Furtherinformation can be found on the ISD website, at:

http://www.isdscotland.org/isd/4724.html.

The information requested isgiven in the tables 1 to 4: Number of NHS dentists registered to providegeneral dental services, by Scottish parliamentary constituency, in the yearsending 31 March 2000 to 2007; Number of NHS dentists registered to providegeneral dental services; by Scottish parliamentary region, in the years ending31 March 2000 to 2007; Number of NHS dentists registered to provide generaldental services, by local authority area, in the years ending 31 March 1996 to2007; and Number of NHS dentists registered to provide general dental services,by NHS Board, in the years ending 31 March 1996 to 2007. Copies of thesetables have been placed in the Parliament’s Reference Centre (Bib numbers43309, 43310, 43311 and 43312).

Information for Scottish Parliamentary constituencies and for Scottish parliamentary regions is onlyavailable from 1 April 1999.

Information on the number ofdentists registered to provide general dental services by local authority andNHS board areas is only shown from the year ending 31 March 1996. Comparableinformation is not readily available for the years prior to 31 March 1996.

The information requested isnot available centrally.

Information for Scottish Parliamentary constituencies and for Scottish parliamentary regions is onlyavailable from 1 April 1999.

The number of skillseekerswho progressed to the modern apprenticeship programme is an operational matterfor Scottish Enterprise and Highlands and Islands Enterprise. This informationis not held centrally.