Chamber and committees

NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde has advised that closure of the Out-of-Hours service at the Vale of Leven Hospital on the 5, 12 and 19 February 2017 was a temporary measure taken to protect patient care due to staff shortage.

The Hospital continued to have medical and nursing staff on site in the minor injuries service. Patients requiring emergency medical attention were treated by this service.

For those who needed to see a primary care service, but it was deemed not to be an emergency, transport was offered so that they could be transferred to an alternative out of hours service.

The Scottish Government has been consistently clear that we see a bright future for the Vale of Leven hospital, which plays a crucial role in the local healthcare system.

We have sought and received assurances from NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde that the continued provision of out of hours primary care services across the Clyde area, including at the Vale, is a key priority for the Health Board.

In November 2015, the Scottish Government published the report “Pulling together: transforming urgent care for the people of Scotland” which highlighted the need to think anew about what is best for both urgent care for the people of Scotland and that this would require transformational change across many sectors.

NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde are undertaking a review of their Out of Hours Primary Care services in line with the report's recommendations and we expect the review to undertake meaningful engagement with the public in the shaping and delivery of locality based services.

Provisions relating to the backdating of Council Tax Reductions are set out in Regulation 62 of The Council Tax Reduction (State Pension Credit) (Scotland) Regulations 2012 and Regulation 7 of The Council Tax Reduction (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2016.

In the Fairer Scotland Action Plan, Scottish Government committed to helping older people claim the financial support they are entitled to, as we know that if every person eligible for Pension Credit and Council Tax Reduction received their entitlement, this would help lower poverty levels among older people.

We will work with partners to develop a Financial Health Check, ensuring that advice on income maximisation for older people makes reference to their entitlements, including Council Tax Reduction where applicable. We will also explore with partners whether more needs to be done to raise awareness of entitlements for older people.

It is estimated that up to 54,000 households across Scotland, more than one third of which are pensioner households, will be newly entitled to a Council Tax Reduction as a consequence of the scheme being extended to provide relief for low income households in properties in Council Tax bands E to H.

Estimates disaggregating this figure by constituency are not available.

As entitlement depends on individual household circumstances, including assessed income and savings, the Scottish Government does not have a formal target for the number of households who go on to receive such a reduction.

We estimate that up to 54,000 households across Scotland will be newly entitled to a Council Tax Reduction as a consequence of the scheme being extended to provide relief for low income households in properties in Council Tax bands E to H.

Estimates disaggregating this figure by constituency are not available.

COSLA has provided an agreed text for local authorities to send to all households, including low income pensioner households, in advance of the 2017-18 Council Tax year detailing the changes to Council Tax and the Council Tax Reduction scheme. This specifically highlights the extension of the Council Tax Reduction scheme to provide relief to low income households in properties in Council Tax Bands E to H.

Information on the number of acute care beds there are in each hospital in NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde is published by ISD Scotland and can be found at the following link: