Chamber and committees

A decision on the allocations to the NHS boards for 2011-12 will be made following consideration of the NRAC target shares for 2011-12. It is planned to announce funding to the NHS boards in February 2011 following the final stage vote of the Scottish Government''s proposed 2011-12 budget by the Scottish Parliament.

The information requested is not available centrally, as NHSScotland does not generally quantify the funding attributable to any specific long-term condition. We have however been providing funding of just over £60,000 a year to fund the post of Scottish Government Lead Clinician on Chronic Pain. We also provided NHS Quality Improvement Scotland with funding of £24,000 in financial year 2009-10, to help with the administrative support it provides for the lead clinician and the Chronic Pain Steering Group.

We provided pump-priming funding of £50,000 a year for two years to help with the establishment of a chronic pain managed clinical network (MCN) in NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde. It is now supported very effectively by the board. Our intention remains that the network should act as a demonstrator to other NHS boards of the benefits of an MCN approach to chronic pain services.

We awarded the Pain Association Scotland a three year core grant from April 2010 of £35,000 a year under the section 16B scheme of grants. In 2008-09, the association also received a one-off grant of £60,000 over two years to support the role out of its chronic pain self management programme. We also provided Fibromyalgia Friends Scotland with section 16B funding to assist with the costs associated with running support groups across Scotland, in the form of a core grant totalling £9,000 over three years from 2007-10, and a one-off project grant, totalling £2,513.

The following Special Health Boards will not retain efficiency savings on services not delivering direct patient care; NHS Education for Scotland, NHS Health Scotland, NHS Quality Improvement Scotland and NHS National Services Scotland.

All the efficiency savings generated by health will be retained within health.

This arrangement is a pragmatic short-term solution to a major problem. The Transition Director''s appointment to the Social Care and Social Work Improvement Scotland (SCSWIS) transition team was intended to run until the conclusion of the appointment process for the Chief Executive of SCSWIS. The Chair of SCSWIS has been appointed, an announcement on the Interim Chief Executive is imminent and we expect the Transition Director to give up that role at that time.

As indicated in the answer to question S3W-37844 on 6 December 2010, we have been providing funding of just over £60,000 a year since 2009 to NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde to fund the post of Scottish Government Lead Clinician on Chronic Pain. This is a part-time appointment, as is the case with all of our lead clinician posts.

The previous post holder had to resign recently due to serious illness, and we are now in the process of appointing a successor.

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/Apps2/Business/PQA/Default.aspx.

The recommendations of the Getting to GRIPS (Getting Relevant Information on Pain Services) with Chronic Pain in Scotland report form the basis of the current work programme of the Chronic Pain Steering Group set up by the Scottish Government Health Directorates and NHS Quality Improvement Scotland.

The steering group''s main focus has been on developing the Scottish integrated service model for chronic pain which is expected to:

improve prevention and management of chronic pain for people in Scotland;

improve services at all levels;

minimise the burden of pain on individuals and the community, and

promote the aims of other institutions involved in supporting pain management practice, education, research and specialty recognition, including supporting improved self management programmes.

The model is integrated with the pathway for referral into services currently being taken forward through the musculo-skeletal programme of the Adult Framework for Rehabilitation.

Representatives of the Chronic Pain Steering Group provided an update on progress with the work programme at the meeting of the Cross Party Group on Chronic Pain on 24 November 2010.

A decision on the allocations to the NHS boards for 2011-12 will be made following consideration of the NRAC target shares for 2011-12. It is planned to announce funding to the NHS boards in February 2011 following the final stage vote of the Scottish Government''s proposed 2011-12 budget by the Scottish Parliament.

(a) All territorial health boards will retain the efficiency savings that they achieve in 2011-12.

(b) Four Special Health Boards, the Scottish Ambulance Service, the State Hospital, NHS 24 and the National Waiting Times Centre will retain the efficiency savings they generate in 2011-12. The following Special Health Boards will not retain efficiency savings on services not delivering direct patient care, NHS Education for Scotland, NHS Health Scotland, NHS Quality Improvement Scotland and NHS National Services Scotland.

I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-37695 on 2 December 2010. 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/Apps2/Business/PQA/Default.aspx.