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The Scottish Government expects doctors to make use of the Emergency Care Summary and Key Information Summary to ensure that anyone with diabetes in Scotland receives appropriate, timely care regardless of where and when they are receiving treatment.

The Government is also supporting work to improve the management of diabetes in Scottish hospitals. The Diabetes in Scottish Hospitals (DiSH) initiative led by the NHS Scotland Quality Improvement Hub is currently working with a number of boards to test approaches and a range of tools (such as diabetes specific education and training of doctors and other healthcare professionals) to support the early identification and appropriate treatment of patients with diabetes admitted to hospital.

The Scottish Government expects emergency services, first responders and doctors to make use of the Emergency Care Summary and Key Information Summary to ensure that anyone with diabetes in Scotland receives appropriate, timely care, regardless of where and when they are receiving treatment.

The Scottish Ambulance Service’s training and education programmes for ambulance staff include the management and treatment of patients with diabetes, aligned with the UK Ambulance Service Clinical Practices Guidelines 2013. The guidelines includes, for example, which patients can be safely left at home and which patients need transferring to further care and recommends referral to the local diabetic nurse or primary care health team for those left at home.

First Responders focus on the management of people who have diabetes. If they require any clinical advice, they can contact a clinical adviser at the Ambulance Control Centre until they can hand over to an ambulance crew. The service is also trialling videoconferencing to allow first responders to consult with local GPs if the call is out of GP hours.

In addition, the Ambulance Service is piloting the electronic transfer of ambulance patient records to both hospital A&E departments and the patient’s GP. The plan is to roll this out across Scotland which will improve communications and provide improved continuity of care and planned follow up after an emergency episode.

The planning system does not define this term. Classes 18 and 22 of the Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) (Scotland) Order 1992 set out, respectively, the criteria that must be met for a private way to benefit from the permitted development rights conferred by each class. Tracks which fail to meet one or more of the criteria do not benefit from the permitted development rights set out in these classes.

The Scottish Government is continuing to engage with stakeholders in regard to agricultural and forestry private ways. A decision will be taken in due course and the results of the review will be published to coincide with this.

An environmental impact assessment must be completed where one is required either by virtue of the development falling within Schedule 1 of the Town and Country Planning (Environmental Impact Assessment) (Scotland) Regulations, or where the development falls within Schedule 2 to the 2011 EIA Regulations and it is likely to have a significant effect on the environment, by virtue of factors such as its size, nature or location.

Alternatively, if the development is intended for forestry use, the requirement for Environmental Impact Assessment is considered under the Environmental Impact Assessment (Forestry) (Scotland) Regulations 1999.

The criteria are set out for agricultural and forestry tracks in classes 18 and 22 respectively of the Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) (Scotland) Order 1992. Agricultural tracks are not permitted development if;

The development is not on agricultural land; or,

The development would be carried out on agricultural land less than 0.4 hectare in area; or,

Any part of the development would be within 25 metres of a trunk or classified road; or,

The development is subject to an Environmental Impact Assessment

Forestry tracks are not permitted development if;

The development is not on forestry land; or,

Any part of the development would be within 25 metres of a trunk or classified road.

The Scottish Ambulance Service has electronic communication methods in place to dispatch first responders to the scene of some categories of patients who require immediate attention. Thereafter the first responder information gathered at the scene in respect of the patient is electronically available within the Scottish Ambulance Service. At present the Scottish Ambulance Service can electronically send this information to some hospitals and some GP practices. The Scottish Ambulance Service is currently working in partnership with the territorial boards to roll out electronic information transfer to all boards.

The Scottish Ambulance Service also recently announced it is to make a multi-million pound investment in installing the latest tablet computers in its 600-strong accident and emergency fleet, while wireless satellite, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and 4G technologies will also be added to the vehicles. This investment in the latest infrastructure will greatly enhance the capabilities of first responders to communicate with doctors and other clinicians.

Funding provided by the Scottish Government to NHS boards to support insulin pump therapy is set out in the following table:

The Scottish Government has not been approached by NHS boards with any requests for further funding for insulin pumps and consumables out with the national procurement exercises carried out in each of the last three years.

I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-21579 on 25 June 2014. 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.