§ Mr. MacKenzieasked the Secretary of State for Scotland how many nurses are in post in each health board area for the nursing of geriatric patients.
§ Mr. YoungerThe whole-time equivalent numbers of trained nurses and nursing auxiliaries employed in geriatric hospitals and in long-stay units mainly for geriatric patients at 30 September 1984 are as follows.
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Health Board Trained Nurses (whole-time equivalent) Nursing Auxiliaries (whole-time equivalent) Argyll and Clyde 153.0 241.7 Ayrshire and Arran 181.0 228.2 Borders 61.8 84.2 Dumfries and Galloway 61.9 37.6 Fife 75.3 63.4 Forth Valley 172.8 254.0 Grampian 239.0 242.5 Greater Glasgow 443.6 623.9 Highland 73.0 67.4 Lanarkshire 302.3 233.1 Lothian 301.3 304.5 Orkney — —
Health Board Trained Nurses (whole-time equivalent) Nursing Auxiliaries (whole-time equivalent) Shetland — — Tayside 274.0 283.6 Western Isles 40.3 13.8 Scotland 2,379.3 2,677.9 Statistics of nurses in training at these hospitals are not available. Geriatric patients are nursed also in general and geriatric beds in general and teaching hospitals, but the number of nursing staff involved cannot be separately identified.
§ Mr. MacKenzieasked the Secretary of State for Scotland how many doctors with specialist qualifications are in post in each health board area for the treatment of geriatric patients.
§ Mr. YoungerThe number of consultants engaged wholly in geriatric medicine in Scotland as at 30 September 1984 is as follows. (Whole-time equivalent numbers are given in parenthesis.) Geriatric patients are also treated by consultants in many other specialties.
Health Board Consultants in geriatric medicine Argyll and Clyde 4 (4.0) Ayrshire and Arran 3 (3.0) Borders 2 (2.0) Dumfries and Galloway 2 (2.0) Fife 3 (3.0) Forth Valley 4 (4.0) Grampian 5 (5.0) Greater Glasgow 17 (16.6) Highland 2 (2.0) Lanarkshire 6 (6.0) Lothian 11 (9.9) Orkney — — Shetland — — Tayside 8 (7.6) Western Isles 1 (1.0) Scotland 68 (66.2)
§ Mr. MacKenzieasked the Secretary of State for Scotland how many elderly men and women are on the waiting list for treatment as geriatric patients in each area health board.
§ Mr YoungerThe latest available information which relates to 31 March 1984, is as follows:
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Number on Waiting lists Ayrshire and Arran 90 Borders 64 Argyll and Clyde 162 Fife 205 Greater Glasgow 0 Highland 75 Lanarkshire 508 Grampian 143 Orkney 57 Lothian 219 Tayside 145 Forth Valley 97 Western Isles 13 Dumfries and Galloway 29 Shetland 0 ALL SCOTLAND 1,807 Lists tend to overstate numbers of patients waiting for treatment. It is not possible to provide separate figures for men and women.
§ Mr. MacKenzieasked the Secretary of State for Scotland what additional resources he proposes to make available to area health boards for the provision of additional beds and nursing for geriatric patients.
§ Mr. YoungerThe age structure of the population is one of the factors taken into account in determining the allocation among boards of resources for their hospital and community health services. For the current year, these resources have been increased by 5.5 per cent. in cash terms compared with 1984–85. In using these funds boards are expected to be guided by the recommendations in the report "Scottish Health Authorities' Priorities for the Eighties", which give high priority to services for the elderly.
§ Mr. MacKenzieasked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will provide local authorities responsible for day centres for the elderly with additional resources to maintain and expand the service.
§ Mr. YoungerThe number of day centre places provided by local authorities has risen from 1,355 in 1979 to 1,845 in 1984. Over the same period, places in centres provided by voluntary agencies rose from 2,168 to 2,676. It is for authorities to determine local priorities, but the Government's planning figures for social work services will continue to take the needs of the elderly into account.
§ Mr. MacKenzieasked the Secretary of State for Scotland how many elderly people are presently accommodated in local authority and voluntary old people's homes in each regional council area of Scotland.
§ Mr. YoungerThe information requested is as follows:
Regional Council Local Authority Homes Registered Homes* No. of Residents aged over 65 years (Estimated at 31 March 1984) Borders 296 190 486 Central 354 216 570 Dumfries and Galloway 296 145 441 Fife 610 267 877 Grampian 876 640 1,516 Highland 423 220 643 Lothian 1,103 843 1,946 Strathclyde 3,452 1,621 5,073 Tayside 883 741 1,624 Orkney 66 — 66 Shetland 55 16 71 Western Isles 150 — 150 TOTAL—SCOTLAND 8,564 4,899 13,463 * These are mainly homes run by voluntary bodies, but a small number of privately run homes are included
§ Mr. MacKenzieasked the Secretary of State for Scotland how many district nurses are available in each health board area to visit elderly sick people in their own homes.
§ Mr. YoungerThe whole-time equivalent number of district nurses available in each health board area in Scotland at 30 September 1984 is as follows:520W
Health board Number of district nurses expressed as whole-time equivalents Argyll and Clyde 161.3 Ayr and Arran 112.7 Borders 16.7 Dumfries and Galloway 30.5 Fife 156.1 Forth Valley 80.4 Grampian 193.9 Greater Glasgow 500.7 Highland 62.9 Lanarkshire 192.5 Lothian 238.4 Orkney 11.3 Shetland 6.5 Tayside 117.0 Western Isles — Scotland 1,880.9 The figures exclude the community nurses (670.0 whole-time equivalents) who combine midwifery, district nurse and health visitor duties.
In 1984, 57.7 per cent. of visits by district nurses were to people aged 75 and over and 80.4 per cent. to people aged 65 and over.