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Volume 2, Chapter 7 of the Mental Health (Care and Treatment) (Scotland) Act 2003 Code of Practice details the procedures to be followed by the responsible medical officer (RMO). Where practicable the RMO must consult a Mental Health Officer (MHO) and obtain their consent to the granting of the emergency detention certificate. Where MHO consent is refused the emergency detention certificate may not be granted and the patient may not be detained.

A range of professionals are involved in the care and treatment of an individual under the act. An individual who is required to receive care and/or treatment will have an MHO appointed to work for them. The MHO''s responsibilities include interviewing the individual, advising them of their rights, providing consent for the individual to be assessed or treated in hospital under compulsory measures, applying for a CTO and advising the Mental Welfare Commission and the individual''s named person if they have been detained in hospital or when an application is being made for a CTO. The MHO may also liaise with hospital staff and other members of the multi-disciplinary team involved in the care of an individual.

Anyone carrying out duties or giving someone treatment under the act, e.g. doctors, nurses and social workers, has to follow the principles set out in the act which are to ensure that individuals are treated with respect. This includes taking account of; the patient''s past and present wishes about their care and treatment; the views of their named person, guardian or welfare attorney; the range of options available for their care and treatment; what will ensure the maximum benefit for them; making sure that they are not being treated any less favourably because they are being treated under the act, and the individual''s abilities and background.

Traffic flows on the trunk road section of the A83 range from an Average Annual Daily Flow (AADF) of 5,027 vehicles per day between Arrochar and Tarbet to 2,805 vehicles per day at Castleton, north of Tarbert. It is not possible to quantify the volume of traffic that uses the entire A83 as the flow of traffic varies along the route.

This is a complex site and our key priority is the safety of the road users. An improvement scheme which is planned for next year will be reassessed following the recent landslide. Work will involve building a culvert under the road and strengthening the embankment below the road and installing new drainage above and below the road. Construction is expected to start in early spring 2010, pending completion of statutory procedures.

These details can now be accessed on the NHS Quality Improvement Scotland website using the following link http://www.nhshealthquality.org/nhsqis/6710.140.1366.html.

The Strategic Transport Projects Review (STPR) has recommended a targeted programme of measures to improve road standards on the A82 between Glasgow and Oban/Fort William and reduce accident severity rates between Fort William and Inverness.

In addition to a general upgrade of the route, the measures would include:

carriageway widening at selected locations between Tarbet and Inverarnan and Corran Ferry and Fort William, and

physical works including climbing lanes at Loch Tulla, overtaking lay-bys aimed at providing safer overtaking opportunities and improving journey time reliability and safety targeted measures such as hard strips, junction improvements and local realignment.

On the section between Fort William and Inverness, measures recommended to reduce accident severity include physical works aimed at providing safer overtaking opportunities, hard strip provision for agricultural vehicles and junction improvements.

A timetable for undertaking this work will be set in the context of overall affordability and our commitments to other STPR proposals.

Within the current programme work is progressing to deliver improvements at Pulpit Rock and a new Western bypass at Crianlarich. We are currently engaging with interested stakeholders, including Hitrans and SPT to discuss a vision for the A82.

It is not currently possible to have a waiting time guarantee for IVF as NHS boards do not report this information to Information Services Division as the patient data belongs to the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA).

Scottish Government officials are in preliminary discussions with colleagues in Information Services Division to consider whether it is possible to develop definitions and data to enable the reporting of patient access to infertility services without breaching the HFEA guidelines.

The Expert Group on Infertility Services is expected to start its work in autumn 2009. Six monthly reports from the group, once set up, will be shared with Parliament.

It is for individual NHS boards to decide where patients in their area receive IVF treatment. The Expert Group on Infertility Services, when formed, will consider how best to ensure equity of access to IVF across NHS boards in Scotland.

This information is not collected centrally. Complaints from individuals about being subject to compulsory measures of treatment under the Mental Health (Care and Treatment) (Scotland) Act 2003 are made locally to the appropriate NHS board.

For short term detention certificates (STDCs), statistics in relation to those who challenge their having been made subject to the certificate may be inferred by the numbers who appeal to the Mental Health Tribunal against the STDC. An individual can appeal to the Mental Health Tribunal for a revocation of a STDC, and Volume 2, Chapter 2 of the Mental Health (Care and Treatment) (Scotland) Act 2003 Code of Practice provides guidance on this. Approximately 100 applications for revocation of a STDC are made each quarter, of these around 50% are withdrawn before being heard and between 10 to 25% are revoked. Source Mental Health Tribunal quarterly statistics:

http://www.mhtscotland.gov.uk/mhts/files/Quarterly%20Report%20April%20to%20June%202009.pdf.

For Compulsory Treatment Orders (CTOs), these longer term orders may be made directly by the tribunal on the application of a mental health officer, and following a Tribunal hearing at which the patient will have been involved to give their view. Again, the most recent Mental Health Tribunal quarterly statistics (for April to June 2009) provide an indication of the percentages of CTOs made by the tribunal (around 77%) of those applied for. Thereafter, statistics in relation to those who continue to object to the CTO having been granted by the Tribunal might be inferred from the number of appeals made to the Sheriff Principal under the statutory mechanisms. In the period September 2008 to August 2009 inclusive the tribunal was served with 14 appeals to sheriff principals, not all of which went to full hearings having been dismissed as incompetent or because the appellant no longer wished to appeal; it should also be noted that not all of those appeals from the tribunal will have been made by patients, some may have been made by health boards.

Section 45(1) of the Mental Health (Care and Treatment) (Scotland) Act 2003 places an mental health officer (MHO) under a duty to interview a patient before the granting of a short-term detention certificate. This is reinforced in Volume 2, Chapter 2 of the Mental Health (Care and Treatment) (Scotland) Act 2003 Code of Practice, which provides guidance and best practice as regards the full duties on the MHO, including their interview with the patient, ascertaining the name and address of the patient''s named person, and informing the patient of independent advocacy rights.