Seòmar agus comataidhean

The NHS boards currently using the multi disciplinary information system are: NHS Dumfries and Galloway, NHS Fife, NHS Forth Valley, NHS Highland, NHS Lanarkshire and NHS Tayside.

The Primary Care Workforce Survey 2013, a survey of Scottish general practices and GP Out of Hours Services was published on 24 September 2013 and provides a “snapshot” of locums. The report is available on the Information Services Division (ISD) of National Services Scotland website at:

http://www.isdscotland.org/Health-Topics/General-Practice/Publications/2013-09-24/2013-09-24-PCWS-Report.pdf.

Overall, 89% of responding practices had used GP locums and/or sessional GPs in the year ending 31 January 2013. The estimated whole time equivalent (WTE) amount of time input by locum/sessional GPs to all general practices over this one year period was 290. This estimate is based on an assumption of eight sessions being equal to one full time working week and 44 weeks comprising a working year (allowing for six weeks annual leave and two weeks study leave). The estimated WTE input by locum/sessional GPs over the year appears to be a little higher than the equivalent estimate of 255 WTE from the 2009 Primary Care Workforce Planning Survey (for the year ending 30 January 2009).

However, as these two estimates are both based on incomplete data, they are broadly rather than directly comparable.

The role of the Scottish Government is to provide policies, frameworks and resources to NHS boards in order that they can deliver the healthcare services that meet the needs of their local population. Within this context, the actual provision of services and patient care is the statutory responsibility of health boards and healthcare professionals locally. GP practices are mostly all independent contractors who are free to decide (within the context of the services they must provide under contract with boards) exactly how they set up their operations in terms of employing staff whilst how NHS boards organise the provision of GP services is an operational matter for the board to determine, based on an assessment of local needs.

While it remains for individual NHS boards to plan and deliver services according to the needs of their population, the Scottish Government is working closely with NHS boards to monitor and manage the potential impact of expanding the Family Nurse Partnership programme. In doing so, it is taking account of the year on year increase in the number of health visitors since 2009.

<>As indicated in my answer to S4W-10514 on 7 November 2012, this is an important area for development and for the past 18 months the Scottish Health Council has been promoting and supporting the value of involving people and patients in primary care and in particular general practices. Its March 2013 report, Promoting, Supporting and Developing Public Involvement in Primary Care (available on its website at www.scottishhealthcouncil.org) estimates that at that point in time, 151 of Scotland’s 1,032 General practices had established Patient Participation Groups. Through its local office network, the Scottish Health Council continues to offer support to general practices using tools it has produced to improve or widen their involvement practice.

All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at:

http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx.

Major trauma centre is not currently a designation used by NHS Scotland.

With NHS Scotland and stakeholders we have been developing a suite of workload measurement and workforce planning tools in recent years to support evidence based decisions about the midwifery establishment in clinical areas. The Royal College of Midwives (RCM) endorses the use of these tools and NHS boards are must apply them in planning their workforce. Midwifery numbers have increased by 242.7 whole term equivalent (wte), or 8.8%, under this Government.

We already collect data on the family nurse partnership workforce for national purposes, including alignment to the licensing agreement for the programme.

GP practices already have a significant role in health protection, prevention of ill health or deterioration in the condition, health promotion and health improvement issues, delivered through the The National Health Service (General Medical Services Contracts) (Scotland) Regulations 2004, or The National Health Service (Primary Medical Services Section 17C Agreements) (Scotland) Regulations 2004.

GP Practices play an important role in public health management of single cases and outbreaks of infectious disease. They are the liaison between Public Health and the patient e.g. they help taking samples for laboratory analysis and communicating results, they may help in recruitment of patients for studies (as happened in Edinburgh for legionella studies), they manage public concern and potential cases in an outbreak, they assess, treat and vaccinate patients in a flu outbreak in nursing homes.

In particular this year there has been increased involvement of GPs as two entirely new immunisation programmes have been introduced, rotavirus for infants and shingles for 70 year olds and both of these are being given in primary care. Furthermore this year saw the first phase of childhood flu vaccination being rolled out with all two and three year olds being offered flu vaccination in primary care.

The Scottish Government is also undertaking a review of the Public Health Domain within the GMS Contract, in conjunction with Scottish General Practitioners Committee, to ensure it fits with NHS Scotland’s public health priorities.

The General Medical Council (GMC) is the regulatory body for doctors in the UK and its purpose is to protect, promote and maintain the health and safety of the public by ensuring proper standards in the practice of medicine. All doctors have to be registered by the GMC to practise and the GMC has powers to take action on serious concerns which call into question a doctor’s fitness to practise.

Individual GP practices are also responsible for the provision of the premises from which they operate and directly accountable to their contracting health board for the services they provide. This includes ensuring their premises are suitable for the delivery of their services, including cleanliness, and sufficient to meet the needs of their patients. GP contractors must also co-operate fully with any reasonable inspection or review that the health board or another relevant statutory authority wishes to undertake, that may include random visits.

The software upgrade is entirely cost-neutral as new versions of operating system software are covered as part of our Microsoft Enterprise Agreement.

As with the previous upgrade to Windows 7, no formal training programme will be required but online help and assistance will be provided via interactive guides and a purpose built online productivity hub. This will incur no additional cost.