Chamber and committees

The financial implications of these changes to health board populations will be taken into account and reflected as part of the annual NHSScotland Resource Allocation Committee allocations process in due course.

The Scottish Government does not hold this information.

It is for each board to decide how much it will spend on tackling bullying and harassment.

I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-15277 on 13 June 2013. 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.

The performance of the national TAVI service is being closely monitored over the first 12 months, and consideration will be given to whether there is a need to introduce a regional model of service, or extend the service to two sites, if appropriate.

A total of 39 patients have had transcatheter aortic valve implantation at the Royal Infirmary Edinburgh, since the national service started in September 2012.

I am due to meet with Earl Howe on 3 July 2013.

The regulation of pricing of medicines is listed as a reserved matter under Schedule 5 of the Scotland Act 1998. The proposals for Value Based Pricing of medicines licensed from 1 January 2014 are being taken forward in negotiations between the UK Government’s Department of Health and the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI).

Once the conclusions of the negotiations are available to the Scottish Government we will be able to examine their impact on Scotland.

Scottish Government officials are in regular contact with the Department of Health concerning value based pricing.

Staff should see the cost of living rise in their June 2013 pay, and the intention is to pay arrears in the following month’s salaries. The NHS pay cycle begins on 1 April each year but it is not unusual for circulars to be issued later than this date for one reason or another. The Agenda for Change pay circular has been issued in May for the last two years. And in 2006, 2007 and 2008, it went out in June.

This year, the NHS review bodies recommended a 1% pay raise for all staff within their remits. However, in Scotland (unlike in England) we decided to go further in protecting the lower paid and to make a non-consolidated payment to staff earning under £21,000 to raise their overall salary in 2013-14 by a total of £250. Discussions around the logistics of how to make this additional payment delayed the publication of the Agenda for Change pay circular.