§ Mrs. EwingTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what plans he has to appoint a professor of nursing research at the Scottish Office Department of Health; and if he will make a statement. [18817]
§ Mr. GalbraithI have no plans to appoint a professor of nursing research at the Scottish Office Department of Health.
My Chief Scientist's office sponsor the Nursing Research Initiative in Scotland which is progressing nursing research in Scotland admirably. It is headed by Professor Jennifer Hunt.
I do not believe that the appointment of a professor of nursing at The Scottish Office would contribute further to nursing research in Scotland at this time.
618W
§ Mrs. EwingTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will publish the total expenditure by his Department on(a) research and (b) nursing research within the NHS in Scotland for each year since 1990 broken down by health board. [18663]
§ Mr. GalbraithThe Chief Scientist Office (CSO) of the Management Executive of the NHS in Scotland has responsibility for managing funds which support research activity to further the development of health care in Scotland. Details of CSO expenditure for each year since 1990 are given in the attached table 1a.
Since 1994–95, the CSO has funded the Nursing Research Initiative for Scotland (NRIS) in Glasgow and, before that, the Nursing Research Unit (NRU) in Edinburgh specifically for nursing research. In addition, other CSO-funded research includes nursing research. It is possible only to distinguish nursing research funding in recent years, as shown in Table lb. (It should be noted that nursing grants awarded in-year can be spent over a number of years).
It is not possible to break down the expenditure in Tables la and b by health board. NRIS is a national body (as was NRU before it), and other research funding frequently crosses health board boundaries and is collaborative.
Information regarding expenditure by health boards and NHS Trusts to support research infrastructural costs is not readily available prior to 1995–96. From that year, NHS Trusts in Scotland were asked to declare their expenditure to support research. As a result, the declared amount of £27,743 thousand for each of the years 1995–96 and 1996–97 was allocated to Trusts. Details of allocation by health board area are given in the attached Table 2. Costs specific to nursing cannot readily be broken down by health board area but totalled £0.7 million in the Declaration.
Table 1a: CSO research expenditure £000 Year NRU/NRIS Other research CSO expenditure 1990–91 190.9 5,366.1 5,557 1991–92 195.7 6,368.3 6,564 1992–93 248.1 8,401.9 8,650 1993–94 122.4 9,615.6 9,738 1994–95 15.9 10,046.1 10,062 1995–96 166.4 10,067.6 10,234 1996–97 100.9 10,416.1 10,517 Totals 1,040.3 60,281.7 61,322 619W
Table 1b: Funds committed to nursing research in recent years £000 Year Grant 1993–94 690 1994–95 190 1995–96 512 1996–97 434 Total 1,826
Table 2: CSO support fund allocation Health Board 1995–96 £000
1996–97 £000
Argyll and Bute 12.4 12.4 Ayrshire and Arran 246 246 Fife 28 28 Forth Valley 41 41 Grampian 5,643 5,643 Greater Glasgow 10,956 10,956 Highland 13 13 Lanarkshire 55 55 Lothian 7,124 7,124 Tayside 3,626 3,626 Total 27,743 27,743