Chamber and committees

NHS Ayrshire and Arran have stated that they are working with partners to introduce new models of service in the autumn. This work is being progressed through the Community Healthcare Partnerships and both staff and the public will be involved in this process.

No specific discussions have been held with NHS Ayrshire and Arran regarding the intermediate care unit at Kirklandside Hospital.

On the Stranraer line, the busiest flow identified is between Ayr and Girvan; these services have been retimed for December 2009. In particular, there will be a near hourly pattern at 16:30, 17:30 and 18:36 to Maybole and Girvan, this compares to existing non-regular times of 16:34, 17:00 and 18:10. The proposed times will open up commuting opportunities for workers finishing around 17:00 who presently miss the 17:00 train. A good connection is also created with the 17:30 service from Glasgow Central to Ayr into the 18:36 service.

I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-24527 on 15 June 2009. 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.

There have been discussions between ScotRail and SWESTRANS (regional partnership for transport) as part of the formal process of the December 2009 timetable consultation. Additionally, there has been several meetings on this issue between local communities, North Ayrshire Council, MSPs and support groups involving Transport Scotland, Network Rail and ScotRail.

The December 2009 timetable has the same number and frequency of services between Stranraer and Ayr as at present although there are some time changes, better to meet the needs of commuters on the route. The timetables currently proposed are as follows:

Present Services to Stranraer
Ayr	0600	0800	0943	1022	1230	1338	1634		1700	1810	1838	1931	2101	2311
Girvan	0627	0826	1009	1051	1301	1405	1700		1727	1837		1957	2127	2337
Stranraer Harbour		0921	1111		1356		1755					2052	2222	0037
Present Services from Stranraer
Stranraer Harbour		0709	1000		1148		1437				1940	2110	2325
Girvan	0640	0801	1052	1140	1240	1440	1529		1732	1842	2037	2208	0019
Ayr	0708	0836	1122	1208	1309	1517	1558		1800	1908	2106	2237	0047
Proposed Services to Stranraer
Ayr	0545	0800	1032	1132	1232	1406		1630	1730	1836	1930	2136	2337
Girvan	0612	0826	1102	1159	1258	1434		1658	1757	1905	1957	2207	0007
Stranraer Harbour		0921	1157		1354				1852		2054	2302	0102
Proposed Services from Stranraer
Stranraer Harbour		0709	1007		1240			1443			1940		2112	2312
Girvan	0620	0801	1101	1206	1337	1440		1536	1733	1933	2037		2206	0006
Ayr	0650	0835	1131	1236	1406	1518		1606	1818	2018	2106		2236	0034

 

The number of employees¹, by NHS board on long-term sick leave^{2, 3} as at  31 March 2009 were:

NHS Board Area	Number
NHS Scotland	3,389
National Waiting Times Centre	26
NHS 24	32
NHS Ayrshire and Arran	250
NHS Borders	63
NHS Dumfries and Galloway	85
NHS Education for Scotland	11
NHS Fife	206
NHS Forth Valley	140
NHS Grampian	275
NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde	975
NHS Highland	178
NHS Lanarkshire	231
NHS Lothian	415
NHS National Services Scotland	62
NHS Orkney	15
NHS Quality Improvement Scotland	3
NHS Shetland	10
NHS Tayside	277
NHS Western Isles	22
Scottish Ambulance Service	87
State Hospital	30

Source: SWISS (Scottish Workforce Information Standard System).

Notes:

1. Includes permanent and fixed term contract types.

2. Sickness absence is defined as the following “ Normal Sick Leave (SL), Unpaid Sick Leave (US), Industrial Injury (II), Accident involving a third party (AC), Injury resulting from a crime of violence (CV). These categories are all included in the figures.

3. Long-term sick leave is defined as over 28 days sickness absence.

Each NHS board has a sickness absence policy in place. Sickness absence targets have been set for each NHS board and these have been integrated into the objectives of chief executives and other board members.

The Scottish Government recognises the need to ensure that NHSScotland is complying with these rulings and issued a letter to all NHS boards in Scotland “ CEL (2009)17 “ on 30 April 2009. This letter clarifies the implications of the ruling for NHS employers and sets out the leave carry over entitlement from one leave year to the next which staff are entitled to under the European working time directive.

As this ruling only affects staff who are on long-term sick leave for a period which spans the end of one leave year and the beginning of the next, and who have taken less than their European working time directive leave entitlement at that point, the numbers involved each year are likely to be relatively small.

No national assessment of costs associated with the ruling has been undertaken as it is for boards locally to manage ongoing fluctuations in costs in the light of any changes to the law.

Policies for employment issues, such as how staff are managed when on long-term sick leave, are guided by the Partnership Information Network (PIN) policy guideline on Managing Health at Work. This policy is currently under review and the implications of this ruling will be reflected in the revised policy.

The Scottish Government is committed to providing information on influenza A(H1N1) in ways that are accessible to all sectors of the Scottish population. The national Swine Flu Information leaflet has been translated into 15 languages, including Bengali, Urdu, Punjabi, Gujarati, Chinese, Somali and Arabic. In addition, the Swine Flu TV commercial Lift has been screened on a number of Asian TV channels.

I have not received a request from South Ayrshire Council to discuss the state of local roads in their area.

The Scottish Government provides local authorities with funding for local roads through the core local government finance settlement and each council is responsible for the maintenance and improvement of local roads in its area. It is entirely a matter for the councils to decide what priority is given to local roads and to allocate resources accordingly.