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Following initial discussions in late 2012 and early 2013 about the need to strengthen national senior clinical capacity within Scottish Government to drive the priority agenda around Health and Social Care Integration, unscheduled care, primary care and improving services for people with multiple and long term conditions, it was agreed that additional senior medical capacity was required to support the Chief Medical Officer with specific expertise and national recognition in these areas. Dr Frances Elliot was identified in mid-January 2013 as having this unique set of appropriate skills and experiences.

The Scottish Government fully funds the Scottish Ambulance Service to deliver its core responsibilities in support of NHSScotland. These responsibilities include the Accident & Emergency (999) Service, the Air Ambulance Service and the Patient Transport Service. This means transporting patients to, from, and between NHS Healthcare facilities and providing the clinical care and support required on that journey.

The Scottish Ambulance Service is permitted to generate income by operating in a private capacity as long as this does not impact adversely on the delivery of their core responsibilities. Under these circumstances they would therefore be providing care and / or undertaking journeys that do not fall within their core NHS responsibilities. Examples of when this could happen include:

• Journeys between two private residences or facilities, for example from a private residence to a Nursing Home or between two Nursing Homes.

• If the journey was to provide a service for an NHS Trust in England, for example transporting a non-Scottish resident home or to an English healthcare facility.

• Providing medical cover at a private event, for example football matches, music festivals and other privately organised events.

Under these examples there are likely to be very few occasions where a patient is charged by the Scottish Ambulance Service, rather the cost is likely to be charged to a local authority, an NHS Trust in England or the organisation running the private event. However patients, or their families or carers, are free to ask the Scottish Ambulance Service to undertake journeys in a private capacity should they wish to do so.

The Scottish Ambulance Service have assured me that they would not charge any pregnant woman for a journey in the case of false labour. Should any member have evidence of this happening, I would welcome the details in order that this can be fully investigated.

A key function of any inspection report is to give public assurance on the quality of care provided. The Healthcare Environment Inspectorate has a robust quality assurance process to ensure reports are accurate; therefore all reports will be subject to amendment during that quality assurance process to ensure the final published report is factually accurate.

Since 1st April 2012, Healthcare Improvement Scotland has advertised 14 roles within the Healthcare Environment Inspectorate on Permanent, Fixed Term and Secondment terms. The 14 roles were advertised via eight separate recruitment campaigns throughout the year, three of which were advertised internally and five which were advertised internally and externally at the same time.

All members of NHS boards are expected to carry out their responsibilities in line with the board member’s Code of Conduct surrounding any potential conflicts of interest and any conflict of interests would be recorded on the Register of Interests. Further details on these can be found on the Healthcare Improvement Scotland website via the following link:

http://www.healthcareimprovementscotland.org/about_us/our_board.aspx.

The Regulation of Care Award is a qualification required by inspectors regulating social care services. Inspectors working in the Healthcare Environment Inspectorate are required to hold appropriate qualifications, but the Regulation of Care Award is not a requirement.

The Healthcare Environment Inspectorate, which has been part of Healthcare Improvement Scotland since 2011, is independent of the Scottish Government.

These details can be found in Part 6 Health Care: Scrutiny and Improvement of the Public Services Reform Act 2010, a link to which is as follows:

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/asp/2010/8/contents

Both the Cabinet Secretary and myself have indicated that an intensive pain management service should be developed and delivered within Scotland. I would be pleased to keep the member and Parliament updated on the progress of this work as it is further developed.