Current status: Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 3 January 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will investigate any management failures that contributed to the resignation of staff at the Vale of Leven District General Hospital.
The support team that I sent in to NHS Argyll and Clyde on 26 September 2002 to help the chairman of the board and his colleagues address management issues across the NHS board area concluded that there were strategic management shortcomings that needed to be put right. As a result, senior staff changes have taken place, and I announced on 17 December 2002 that an interim support team had been appointed to tackle key strategic and management challenges in the area. Among these challenges will be designing and delivering sustainable health care services across the Argyll and Clyde area and the recruitment and retention of staff.