Chamber and committees

The number of patients on the in-patient and day case waiting list with an exception to the national waiting time guarantee on 31 March, 30 June, 30 September and 31 December 2002 is given in the table.The increase in the number of waiting time guarantee exception codes on 31 December 2002, is in part due to NHS trusts moving patients from the deferred waiting list to the in-patient and day case waiting list in preparation for the abolition of the former on 1 April 2003.NHSScotland: Number of Patients on the In-Patient and Day Case Waiting List with an Exception to the National Waiting Time Guarantee on 31 March, 30 June, 30 September and 31 December 2002.

Date	Number of Guarantee Exception Codes
31 March 2002	4,752
30 June 2002	4,402
30 September 2002	4,325
31 December 2002	6,244

The Performance Incentive Framework (PIF) will be developed over the coming months with involvement from the key stakeholders in NHS Scotland.The framework will balance the current escalating intervention protocol with a range of incentives designed to encourage and enhance good performance in the NHS, while the protocol will remain in place to help address poor or declining performance.Given that we wish to engage fully with the NHS and other stakeholders in the development of the PIF, it would not be appropriate to outline the likely content of a PIF until we have sought their views.

The Centre for Change and Innovation's budget for 2003-04 is £12.8 million.

The Centre for Change and Innovation's budget of £12.8 million will be used to fund national programmes which will be rolled out across NHSScotland. Where there is clear evidence of innovation within a board area, this may receive pump priming to pilot and evaluate change in service redesign before a programme is driven forward nationally by the Centre for Change and Innovation.All programmes are formally approved and monitored by the Scottish Health Change Panel reflecting the service's demands for modernisation.

The number and percentage of emergency in-patients treated in NHSScotland over the age of 65 for the last three years are contained in the following table.

	Number	Percentage of Total1
Year Ending March 2000	179,456	38.3 %
Year Ending March 2001	179,306	38.0 %
Year Ending March 2002P	182,570	38.3 %

Source: ISD Scotland, SMR01.^PProvisional.Note:Percentage based on all emergency in-patients.

Investment plans for the provision of personal computers, network connections and training for NHS staff are agreed between NHS boards and NHS trusts in support of their local IM&T Strategy. Central records are not kept of this investment.Central funds are provided on a recurring basis for national telecommunications network services, GP email/messaging services, to facilitate provision of local IM&T training for staff and to provide European Computer Driving licences for staff. These funds totalled £4.592 million in 2002-03.Central funds have been provided on a non-recurring basis this year to assist NHS boards and NHS trusts improve their IM&T infrastructure and to assist in advancing their strategic plans for IM&T. These funds totalled £13.39 million.Central funds to be made available for eHealth investment are to nearly double over the coming three years to more than £48 million per annum.

The white paper Partnership for Care notes that patient information is currently available from a variety of sources. However, this information may vary in quality, or may not be in a format which is readily accessible to those who use NHS services in Scotland.The Patient Information Initiative will develop national quality assurance guidance for the development, review and management of patient information. An important part of this is the involvement of patients in the development of information. It will also support equal access across Scotland to a patient focussed resource of generic health information. Funding for this initiative will be £1 million.

Local health councils have formed a national association, the Scottish Association of Health Councils, as a membership organisation entirely funded by its members' subscriptions. Currently, 14 out of the 15 Scottish health councils have chosen to be members.The consultation paper on A new public involvement structure for NHSScotland, launched on 4 March, proposes that the Scottish Health Council should be established within NHS Quality Improvement Scotland as a national body with a local presence in each NHS board area. Copies of the consultation paper are available in the Parliament's Reference Centre (Bib. number 26830).

The information requested is not held centrally.

The work of the Scottish Partnership Forum (SPF) is supportive of the Memorandum of Understanding between the Scottish Executive and the STUC. This provides a framework for the development of genuine partnership working between the two organisations and includes a joint commitment to make the best use of resources. The Partnership Support Unit and Human Resources Forum (HRF) have recently been announced and have no allocated funding for 2002-03. They will not be fully operative until after April. The SPF and the associated Partnership Information Network (PIN) were not allocated specific funding in 2002-03, however it is estimated that funding for work associated with these groups amounted to £108,000.Combined funding of £395,000 has been set aside for 2003-04 for the Partnership Support Unit, SPF,HRF and work of the PIN. The two forums and the PIN board will shortly be developing their programme of work for the coming years which may influence future funding arrangements.The new SPF will be able to influence future strategy on a range of health service policy spending issues. The HRF will have the capacity to influence spending on human resources issues.