asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if his attention has been drawn to the fact that at certain health centres staff have easy access to private and confidential files concerning individual patients; and what steps he intends to take about this situation.
My attention has not been drawn to any particular causes for concern regarding the handling of confidential records in health centres.
| ASSAULTS ON PRISON OFFICERS | ||||||
| Year | Number of assaults | Dealt with by referral for police investigation | Resulting in criminal prosecutions | Dealt with by internal discipline procedures | ||
| 1973 | … | … | 40 | 5 | 2 | 35 |
| 1974 | … | … | 62 | 31 | 24 | 31 |
| 1975 | … | … | 51 | 33 | 28 | 18 |
| 1976 | … | … | 59 | 38 | 36 | 21 |
| 1977 | … | … | 55 | 37 | 28 | 18 |
| 1978 (to 20th November 1978) | … | 63 | 45 | 18 (to date) | 18 | |
asked the Secretary of State for Scotland how many assaults on prison warders were recorded in the most recent annual period for which figures are available; and what were the comparable figures in each of the previous 10 years.
The following table gives the relevant information:
| ASSAULTS ON PRISON OFFICERS | ||
| Year | Number of assaults | Serious assaults |
| 1968 | 38 | 10 |
| 1969 | 46 | 13 |
| 1970 | 46 | 8 |
| 1971 | 48 | 19 |
| 1972 | 46 | 13 |
| 1973 | 40 | 5 |
| 1974 | 62 | 16 |
| 1975 | 51 | 1 |
| 1976 | 59 | 16 |
| 1977 | 55 | 8 |
| 1978 (to 20th November 1978) | 65 | 7 |
General practitioners, as independent contractors in contract with health boards, are responsible for maintaining their own high ethical standards and those of staff directly employed by them. Health board staff who may have access to personal information about patients are made fully aware of the need to maintain the confidentiality of the information and it is the board's responsibility to ensure that its staff comply with instructions.