§ Mr. Carter-Jonesasked the Secretary of State for Scotland if, during the forthcoming campaign to increase public awareness of the need for kidney transplantation, he will bring to the attention of all general practitioners and all general physicians in Scotland the need to refer all cases of end stage renal disease to a consultant nephrologist in a specialist renal unit for investigation of possible treatment.
§ Mr. John MacKayIt is not for my right hon. Friend to give guidance to doctors on such questions of professional judgment such as how they should treat patients and to whom they should refer those with end stage renal disease.
§ Mr. Carter-Jonesasked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he is aware of any patients being treated for end stage renal disease in Scotland outside of regional renal units under the primary care of general physicians with an interest in nephrology using the technique of continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. John MacKayAll patients receiving treatment for end stage renal failure in Scotland are under the care of the physicians in the five Scottish renal units.
§ Mr. Carter-Jonesasked the Secretary of State for Scotland whether there are any health authority guidelines in Scotland relating to registered diabetics who report with end stage renal disease; and if he will give details of the numbers of these patients in 1982 and 1983, the proportion who were referred to specialist renal units and the proportion of these who were treated either by dialysis or transplantation.
§ Mr. John MacKayThere are no such guidelines in Scotland, and information is not held centrally about the number of patients with diabetes who also have end stage renal disease.