- Asked by: Nicola Sturgeon, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 September 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 2 October 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive what extra funding or resources it provided to (a) the Scottish Ambulance Service in the Grampian region, (b) accident and emergency departments of Grampian University Hospitals NHS Trust and (c) the nursing workforce employed by the NHS when it decided to pilot NHS 24 in the Grampian region.
Answer
NHS 24 is not being piloted in the Grampian region; Grampian is the first part of Scotland to benefit from the national rollout of this new NHS service. NHS 24 was designed and developed with the support of staff from the Scottish Ambulance Service and accident and emergency services to complement these services. By providing callers with home care advice or, where required, directing them to the most appropriate NHS service it should help reduce inappropriate demand on these services. NHS 24 is working very closely with NHSScotland to maximise nursing resource and minimise impact on local NHS services. Consequently, no additional funding was provided to the Grampian NHS Board area solely because NHS 24 would be launched in that area.
- Asked by: Nicola Sturgeon, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 17 September 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 1 October 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive what consideration it gave to increased demand on NHS services and constraints on the time of NHS staff and on the availability of space within NHS out-patient departments in reaching its target that no patient should wait longer than six months for a new out-patient appointment by 2006 as stated in target 7 of the health and community care section of Building a Better Scotland - Spending Proposals 2003-06: What the money buys, and whether it will publish details of such consideration.
Answer
In setting the new national maximum waiting time target of six months for a first out-patient appointment, we have taken account of record levels of investment in the NHS which will enable more resources to be deployed to meet growth in demand, for example by increasing numbers of consultants and nurses and making substantial investment in buildings and IT equipment. Moreover, the Centre for Change and Innovation will support and facilitate new and innovative ways of working. The Executive believes that NHS boards and trusts will meet the new target by 2006 and that the people of Scotland will welcome this commitment to reducing out-patient waits.
- Asked by: Nicola Sturgeon, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 17 September 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 1 October 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive how much of the money allocated to health announced by the Minister for Finance and Public Services on 12 September 2002 will be allocated to other portfolios under health improvement initiatives.
Answer
Building a Better Scotland indicated additional resources of £23, 50 and 100 million towards health improvement initiatives. £18, 44 and 61 million of this has been allocated to portfolios other than health but for clarity has not been included in the health portfolio allocation.
- Asked by: Nicola Sturgeon, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 17 September 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 1 October 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive how it plans to provide new drugs where clinically appropriate as stated in the health and community care section of Building a Better Scotland - Spending Proposals 2003-06: What the money buys.
Answer
Substantial additional resources are being made available to the NHS in Scotland over the years of the spending review as announced on 12 September 2002, with an average annual increase of 8.7% over the years 2003-04 to 2005-06 rising to £8.6 billion a year by the end of the period. Within these substantially increased resources, NHS boards are responsible for ensuring that patients residing in their areas have access to clinically appropriate treatment, including new drug treatments. At Scottish level, the Health Technology Board for Scotland reviews new drug treatments and provides guidance on their use. NHSScotland is expected to take account of advice and evidence from the HTBS and ensure that recommended drugs or treatments are made available to meet clinical need. At local level, Area Drug and Therapeutic Committees are responsible for giving advice to clinicians and for ensuring consistent application of national and local guidelines.
- Asked by: Nicola Sturgeon, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 17 September 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Mary Mulligan on 1 October 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive by what percentage it will reduce food-borne illness in Scotland as part of the UK 20% reduction target by 2006 as stated in the health and community care section of Building a Better Scotland - Spending Proposals 2003-06: What the money buys and what funding it will allocate in each year to 2005-06 to achieve this target.
Answer
The Food Standards Agency have advised me that they are committed to reducing food-borne illness in Scotland by at least 20%, by 2006.The funding allocated to reduce food-borne illness across the spending review period is:
| 2003-04 | £1.4 million |
| 2004-05 | £4.1 million |
| 2005-06 | £3.9 million |
- Asked by: Nicola Sturgeon, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 17 September 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 1 October 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive what measures it intends to fund to improve the recruitment and retention of NHS frontline staff as stated in the health and community care section of Building a Better Scotland - Spending Proposals 2003-06: What the money buys; how much these measures are likely to cost, and by how much it estimates the NHS frontline workforce will improve as a result of these measures.
Answer
Record sums are being invested in the NHS by the Scottish Executive so that we can revitalise services for patients everywhere. As part of our action on workforce development we are encouraging innovative multi-professional teamworking. We are working at local, regional and national levels to provide attractive career opportunities for staff at all levels and in all specialities.
- Asked by: Nicola Sturgeon, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 17 September 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 1 October 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive what research has been carried out or commissioned to compare Scotland's health provision with European levels over the next three years and whether it will publish any such research.
Answer
The Scottish Executive do not currently have plans to commission research of this nature. A study to compare health care systems in the United Kingdom with seven other countries (mostly European) was commissioned by HM Treasury and published in April 2002. The report,
Health care systems in eight countries: trends and challenges, is available at:
- Asked by: Nicola Sturgeon, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 17 September 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 1 October 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive how much funding it will provide to ensure that the roll-out of NHS 24 across the country, as stated in the health and community care section of Building a Better Scotland - Spending Proposals 2003-06: What the money buys, does not cause any shortages within the NHS nursing workforce.
Answer
The detailed allocations of the health budget, including NHS 24's, will be published in the draft budget document towards the end of October. NHS 24's funding will facilitate the national rollout of this new NHS service over the next two years. NHS 24 is working very closely with NHSScotland to maximise nursing resource and minimise impact on local NHS services.
- Asked by: Nicola Sturgeon, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 17 September 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Frank McAveety on 1 October 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it estimates that each community place for people leaving hospital will cost #20,000, given that it will provide #20 million each year to 2005-06 to provide 1,000 such community places as stated in the health and community care section of Building a Better Scotland - Spending Proposals 2003-06: What the money buys, and what plans it has to help these people and ensure that their discharge from hospital is not delayed.
Answer
This investment will enable 1,000 additional people to move from hospital into more appropriate community-based settings at varying costs. It will also allow local authority and NHS board partnerships to put in place a variety of other measures to tackle delayed discharge, including admissions avoidance and rapid response.
- Asked by: Nicola Sturgeon, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 17 September 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 1 October 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive what future incentives it intends to provide to the NHS workforce in order to meet its commitment in the health and community care section of Building a Better Scotland - Spending Proposals 2003-06: What the money buys to train 10,000 nurses and midwives and increase the total number of NHS consultants by 600 and how much funding it will allocate to providing any such incentives.
Answer
Record sums are being invested in the NHS by the Scottish Executive so that we can revitalise services for patients everywhere. As part of our detailed plans for workforce development, we are working at local, regional and national levels to provide attractive career opportunities for staff at all levels.
