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Negotiations on Agenda for Change have been conducted at the Shadow Executive of the new NHS Staff Council, a partnership body involving the four UK Health Departments, employer representatives and health unions including UNISON.

The results of these negotiations i.e. the UK agreement on Agenda for Change was published in August 2004 and is available on the web at: www.show.scot.nhs.uk/sehd/paymodernisation.

We continue to work to increase the chances of survival for heart attack patients by recognising that care for patients with life threatening conditions does not need to begin in a hospital setting, but can begin where the attack takes place. For many such patients, that care will be provided by paramedic staff from the Scottish Ambulance Service as soon as an ambulance arrives. Paramedics are trained and equipped to use defibrillators and administer “clot busting” drugs to patients at the scene, significantly increasing the probability of survival.

The Scottish Executive has invested an extra £16.5 million in the ambulance service over the past two years, enabling it to deploy 240 more paramedics across Scotland, and make further progress towards its target of reaching 75% of Category A (life threatening) calls within eight minutes by 2008.

Consequently, the issue of distance from and therefore time to reach hospital accident and emergency units is no longer the most important consideration in treating patients who suffer heart attacks.

The monitoring arrangements between NHS organisations and contract providers is a matter for individual NHS organisations.

The Chief Executive of NHS Greater Glasgow has made it clear to Sodexho that he expects nothing other than the highest standards of compliance with their contract. NHS Greater Glasgow is monitoring the situation closely.

NHS boards are responsible for ensuring that hospital cleaning in Scotland, whether undertaken by NHS staff or by cleaning contractors is adequate. NHS Quality Improvement Scotland has issued standards on Cleaning Services for Scotland. The Chief Medical Officer’s Task Force on Healthcare Associated Infection published a National Cleaning Services Specification in May of this year. Boards are required to implement and follow the Standards and Specification.

The Health & Safety Executive has advised that private cleaning facilities contractors would be the responsibility of the Environmental Health Department of the appropriate local authority. We are unaware of any such notices served in respect of Glasgow Royal Infirmary.

Health & Safety Executive Improvement Notices were served on South Glasgow University Hospitals Trust following the outbreak of salmonella at the Victoria Infirmary in December 2001.

Health & Safety Executive Improvement Notices are available on the HSE Public Register of Enforcement Notices website at http://www.hse-databases.co.uk/notices/.

Audit Scotland’s report on hospital cleaning (published in January 2003) provided an assessment of the cleanliness of wards and public areas in the individual hospitals reviewed including Glasgow Royal Infirmary.

The Chief Executive of NHS Greater Glasgow has made it clear to Sodexho that he expects nothing other than the highest standards of compliance with their contract. NHS Greater Glasgow is monitoring the situation closely.

This is a matter for NHS Highland. In planning and delivering services to its resident population, the board must meet targets and objectives laid down by the Scottish Executive.

This is a matter for NHS Highland, which is responsible for providing health services to people resident in the Highland area. The board has kept the Executive informed of its thinking on the issue.

I refer the member to the answer to question S2W-11108 on 25 October 2004. 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/webapp/search.wa.

This information is not available. Priorities in terms of accident and emergency services are to ensure that ambulance personnel are well trained and arrive quickly at the scene of an incident. It is also important that accident and emergency units are properly staffed, with the right range of skilled personnel.