Chamber and committees

The Executive has noted this report, which was carried out by the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee of the House of Commons as a part of its remit to scrutinise the work of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. The UK Government will be responding to this report.

Financial responsibility for the disposal of all household waste, including domestic refrigerators and freezers, currently lies with local authorities. That will continue to be the case until the manufacturers and distributors of such equipment become liable under the producer responsibility provisions of the prospective Directive on Waste Electric and Electronic Equipment (probably during 2005-06).Financial responsibility for the disposal of commercial refrigeration equipment currently lies with the owner or holder of that equipment. The draft directive provides that manufacturers and distributors should bear an element of these costs.

The Executive represents Scottish agricultural interests in a variety of ways, including ministerial attendance at Agriculture Councils, official representation on working groups and direct discussions with the Commission. I am also closely involved in formulating the UK line on agriculture to ensure that Scottish interests are fully taken into account.

The average percentage of patients in Angus requiring ambulance transfer within one or two hours, who were transported within this timeframe in 2000-01, was 83.4% for those within one hour and 91.3% for those within two hours.In the years prior to 2000-01, the information was gathered on an overall basis and a breakdown of the percentage of patients transferred within one or two hours is not available. The table therefore shows the average percentage of patients in Angus requiring ambulance transfer, who were transported to hospital within 15 minutes of the time agreed between ambulance control room staff and the GPs requesting the transfer.

	No. of calls	Average transferred within agreed timescale
1996-97	4,549	89.3%
1997-98	4,594	90.9%
1998-99	4,814	92.2%
1999-2000	4,601	85.4%

The table shows the number of ambulances - both accident and emergency and patient transport vehicles - operating in the Angus area since 1996-97 and where they were stationed (there were no changes to the figures in 1999-2000 or 2000-01).

	1996 A&E	1997PTV	1997 A&E	1998PTV	2001 A&E	2002PTV
Arbroath	3	2	2	2	2	2
Brechin	2	2	2	3	3	3
Forar	2	2	2	2	2	3
Montrose	2	1	2	1	2	1
Total in Angus	9	7	8	8	9	9

Audit of particular services within individual hospitals is the responsibility of the Trust Management Team with responsibility for that hospital. No central audit data is captured for orthopaedic services at Stracathro Hospital. The member's inquiries should be directed to the Chief Executive of Tayside University Hospitals NHS Trust.

The Scottish Ambulance Service's response to GPs urgent calls in Angus continues to improve when measured against the national response time target for such calls. The service aim to transfer 95% of these requests to hospital within 15 minutes of the time agreed with the doctor. In Angus, the service achieved the target in 90.7% of cases in 2001-02, an improvement of 2% on the previous year.

The figure of 90.7% within the response time target covers all requests from GP's in the Angus area to the Scottish Ambulance Service in 2001-02. The breakdown of that figure to illustrate performance against a one hour, two hour, three hour and four hour or more request time by the GP is provided in the following table.

	2001-02
	No. of Calls	Performance
All Requests	4,161	90.7%
1 hour request	426	88.3%
2 hour request	2,438	91.7%
3 hour request	1,104	90.2%
4+ hour request	193	86.5%

Where it becomes clear that the timeframe requested is unlikely to be achieved, then the service will contact the GP to check on the continued well-being of the patient. If the GP feels that the patient's condition has changed and requires an immediate response, then the call will be upgraded to an emergency call with the first available ambulance being dispatched.

Immunisation against hepatitis B has been recommended for people at increased risk of infection since 1988. The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation, which provides expert advice on issues relating to vaccination and immunisation to all UK health departments, is currently reviewing hepatitis B immunisation strategies. This work will take account of a recent pilot study in Glasgow which examined the feasibility and effectiveness of immunising adolescents against hepatitis B.The Executive has also developed a range of policies and measures to reduce transmission, including, for example, guidance and protocols for health care workers and students, advice on immunisation for drug misusers and their partners, and antenatal screening for pregnant women.