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Whilst it is a matter for individual NHS boards whether patients can be referred to other NHS boards for infertility treatment, Infertility Network Scotland are working directly with NHS boards to ensure that that the voices of patients are heard at a local level in the planning of infertility services in Scotland.

This is a matter for individual NHS boards.

This information is not collected or held centrally. di

I wrote to Chairs of NHS boards on 8 September 2009 informing them that I had asked Infertility Network Scotland to work directly with health boards to ensure that the voices of patients are heard at a local level in the planning of infertility services in Scotland, and to help progress with the provision of an equitable service throughout Scotland.

A copy of the letter and attachment has been placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (SPICe) (Bib. number 49679).

This information is not yet available.

As of 18 November 2009, NHS Scotland have received just under 720,000 doses of Pandemrix vaccine “ around 55% of the total required for the 1.3 million priority groups as announced on 13 August. The majority of this vaccine has been distributed to GP practices.

Vaccine deliveries to GP practices began from 26 October 2009, and all GP practices now have a supply of vaccine to enable vaccination of patients who are in the priority groups. GP practices have been prioritising initial supplies with those in the clinical at-risk groups, who are pre-school and school age children, pregnant women and those deemed to be at highest risk on the basis of their professional and clinical judgement.

Uptake data will begin to be published soon.

The issue of charging for non-personal care services is addressed in legislation. Under Section 87 (1A) of the Social Work (Scotland) Act 1968, a local authority may charge for certain adult non-residential and domiciliary services it provides. Therefore, this was also the case under the previous administration. It is for local authorities to decide their charging policies for these non-personal care services, in keeping with local accountability. However, the legislation requires that any charges levied must be reasonable and should not be more than appears to be reasonably practicable for the recipient to pay, taking account of his or her other financial commitments. Guidance issued by the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA) in April 2009 recommends a consistent framework for charging and encourages councils to demonstrate that they are following best practice.

The Carers Strategy for Scotland (including a lift-out section on young carers) is being developed in partnership with the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA). As such, and in line with the principles of our concordat with local government, it needs to be approved by COSLA. This should help ensure implementation at local level, as COSLA needs to be satisfied that it will be implementable. There is also representation from some health boards on the steering groups, helping to inform development of the strategy. The strategy will include high-level messages about the benefits of carer support, supported by evidence and set within the context of outcomes.

It is not the purpose of single outcome agreements (SOAs) to provide a comprehensive list of outcomes across all services. The SOAs reflect the priorities and agreed outcomes for each Community Planning Partnership, and include relevant supporting indicators and targets. Copies of all 32 SOAs, which were agreed with Community Planning Partnerships on 1 June 2009, can be obtained via the Improvement Service website by following this link:

http://www.improvementservice.org.uk/single-outcome-agreements/.

All NHS Scotland health boards are anticipating to either break even or underspend in 2009‘10. No board is anticipating an overspend.

As announced on 21 October and 29 October 2009, there will be a phased roll out of the influenza A (H1N1) vaccination programme as more vaccine supplies become available from the manufacturers. NHS Scotland is distributing vaccine supplies as soon as they are received into Scotland. All GP practices now have an initial supply of vaccine to enable them to carry out vaccination of patients who are in the priority groups.