Chamber and committees

It might be helpful if I restate our position on staffing issues and the use of NHS capacity in the independent sector to benefit NHS patients. Where the NHS signs contracts for new facilities with the independent sector we will insist on including contract terms that will enable financial penalties to be imposed on a contractor who takes on staff recently employed in the NHS to fulfil the contract. These arrangements will also apply across the rest of the UK. However, we will be flexible and will not discourage recruitment of NHS part-time staff who wish to undertake some additional work in the independent sector, nor will we wish to penalise any joint venture arrangements where staff with the prior agreement of NHS board work flexibly across the NHS and independent sector.

The department is aware of the difficulties that some NHS boards are experiencing in securing some specialist staff to undertake the various duties within the health service across whole of Scotland. The workforce shortages are being addressed rigorously and NHS boards as employers are pursing several initiatives on behalf of the health service that will make the NHS in Scotland, as an exemplar employer, an attractive career option so to recruit and retain more staff.

The number of newly trained consultants employed by NHS Tayside since 1997 are shown in the following table .

Newly Trained Consultants Appointed to Grade and Started in Post in NHS Tayside During 1 October TO 30 September

	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004
Headcount	13	16	28	9	13	10	10	10
WTE 1	11.2	14.1	26.4	7.9	12.4	8.9	9.3	8.5

Source: ISD Scotland

Notes:

1. WTE (whole-time equivalent) adjusts headcount figures to take account of part time staff.

2. The number of consultants is drawn from the annual medical and dental census undertaken each year by ISD Scotland.

3. The “Date Appointed to Grade” and “Start Date” have been compared when identifying the numbers in each year. Only where these two dates fall within the same year is the consultant included in the table.

4. The definition for “Date Appointed to Grade” is the date on which the doctor took up his/her first appointment to a substantive post in the present grade. Earlier service in the grade with any other trust/health board should be reflected by that date.

In 1998-99, £44 million for waiting times initiative funding was made available nationally, £3.2 million of which was given to NHS Tayside. The data for 1999 reflects the additional consultants who were appointed through this funding stream. Not only did NHS Tayside see a larger than normal increase in consultant numbers but nationally the number of consultants within NHS Scotland grew by 4.3% in 1999. This compared to growth varying between 1.8% and 3.2% in the other years in question.

The replacement of medical equipment, including CT scanners, is a matter for NHS boards. Capital is distributed to NHS boards by Arbuthnott Formula adjusted for cross boundary flows and weighted for the provision of regional specialities. This means that NHS boards can determine, based on their local knowledge or the local needs of the local area how this money should be spent.

Record levels of capital funding are being made available to NHSScotland with £426 million, £458 million and £532 million being provided in 2005-06, 2006-07 and 2007-08 respectively. Within the capital provision available over this period, £125 million has been specifically identified for the purchase/replacement of medical and diagnostic equipment. £40 million has been made available in the current year with a further £40 million and £45 million distributed in 2006-07 and 2007-08 respectively.

 

NHS Board	CTs1	Rate Per 100,000 Population2
Argyll and Clyde	4	0.96
Ayrshire and Arran	2	0.54
Borders	1	0.92
Dumfries and Galloway	1	0.68
Fife	2	0.56
Forth Valley	2	0.71
Grampian	2	0.38
Greater Glasgow	11	1.27
Highland	2	0.95
Lanarkshire	3	0.54
Lothian	6	0.76
Orkney	0	0.00
Shetland	0	0.00
Tayside	4	1.03
Western Isles	1	3.81
Jubilee Hospital	1	-
scotland	42	0.83

Source¹: Scottish Healthcare Supplies, NHS National Services Scotland.

Source²: Information Services, NHS National Services Scotland.

Notes:

1. Number of CT scanners and rate per 100,000 population by NHS board for 2004.

2. Rates take no account of cross boundary flow between NHS board areas.

3. Procurement of a CT scanner for NHS Shetland is underway.

This information is not held centrally.

In 2000-01, £16 million was made available centrally, for the purchase of diagnostic equipment including CT and MRI Scanners.

NHS boards are given an annual capital allocation and it is for them to determine, based on their local knowledge and taking into account other local and national priorities how these resources should be utilised. This includes decisions on the level of funding required for new and replacement CT scanners.

Record levels of capital funding are being made available to NHSScotland with £426 million, £458 million and £532 million being provided in 2005-06, 2006-07 and 2007-08 respectively. Within the capital provision available over this period,  £125 million has been specifically identified for the purchase/replacement of medical and diagnostic equipment. £40 million has been made available in the current year with a further £40 million and £45 million distributed in 2006-07 and 2007-08 respectively.

The information requested is not held centrally. CT scanners are used mainly for diagnosis but may also be helpful in monitoring effectiveness of some treatments and for radiotherapy treatment planning for some patients with cancer.

We have no plans to extend the free personal care policy to disabled people under 65. After three years in force, our immediate aim is to evaluate the existing policy, on which we are about to commission research.

It is the role of NHS QualityImprovement Scotland (NHS QIS) to monitor the quality of care provided in hospitalsproviding continuing care for older people. It published the national overview for older people inacute care in February 2004. It has also recently developed and consulted on newstandards for services for older people.

The NHS QIS review process involves:

A self-assessment of its serviceagainst the standards by each NHS board or service. A review team then undertakesan external peer review of performance. NHS QIS reports and publishes the findingsbased on the self-assessment exercise and on the external peer review.

The Scottish Executive Health Department considers all reports publishedby NHS Quality Improvement Scotland. Where concern is raised regarding the attainmentof a standard this will be considered as part of the performance management processand where necessary at the annual review meeting with the NHS board.

The Information requested is provided in the following table. No newly built medical centres opened in Tayside in the period 1997-2000 inclusive.

2001	2002	2003	2004	2005
Crieff Health Centre, Crieff, Perthshire	Aberfeldy Medical Centre, Aberfeldy, Perthshire	Craigvinean Surgery, Dunkeld, Perthshire	Springfield Medical Centre, Arbroath, Angus	Edzell Medical Practice, Edzell, Angus
Comrie Medical Centre, Comrie, Perthshire	Trades Lane Health Centre, Coupar Angus, Perthshire	Kinloch Rannoch Medical Centre, Kinloch Rannoch, Perthshire
Stanley Medical Centre, Stanley, Perthshire	Arthurstone Medical Centre, Dundee	Academy Medical Centre, Forfar, Angus
		Monifieth Health Centre, Monifieth, Dundee
		Links Health Centre, Montrose, Angus

Source: NHS Tayside Primary Care Division.

I refer the member to the answer to question S2W-15438 on 19 April 2005. 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/webapp/wa.search.