Chamber and committees

This information is not recorded by the Scottish Ambulance Service.

I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-17046 on 30 October 2008. 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.

The Scottish Ambulance Service (SAS) has provided the information set out in the following table.

NHS Board	Number of PTS Journeys			Number of Aborted PTS Journeys			% of Aborted Journeys
	2005-06	2006-07	2007-08	2005-06	2006-07	2007-08	2005-06	2006-07	2007-08
Argyll and Clyde	200,093	182,002	170,268	9,118	6,819	6,982	4.6%	3.7%	4.1%
Ayrshire and Arran	149,966	145,318	143,132	8,250	6,989	6,046	5.5%	4.8%	4.2%
Borders	54,580	51,622	54,307	936	1,126	1,440	1.7%	2.2%	2.7%
Dumfries and Galloway	60,269	54,273	54,748	1,078	1,545	1,623	1.8%	2.8%	3.0%
Fife	124,945	150,355	161,765	6,049	5,990	7,038	4.8%	4.0%	4.4%
Forth Valley	110,861	111,614	135,870	6,684	5,636	7,226	6.0%	5.0%	5.3%
Grampian	121,581	110,629	96,776	4,618	4,738	5,885	3.8%	4.3%	6.1%
Greater Glasgow	349,736	307,379	284,185	28,478	25,036	21,582	8.1%	8.1%	7.6%
Highland	78,515	73,153	67,048	1,257	1,147	1,204	1.6%	1.6%	1.8%
Lanarkshire	199,435	186,527	177,666	9,162	12,382	13,080	4.6%	6.6%	7.4%
Lothian	172,031	175,138	191,260	8,914	8,670	11,174	5.2%	5.0%	5.8%
Orkney	159	2,045	2,240	1	11	42	0.6%	0.5%	1.9%
Shetland	2,841	3,200	3,243	2	7	59	0.1%	0.2%	1.8%
Tayside	99,354	129,172	144,868	5,126	4,629	5,109	5.2%	3.6%	3.5%
Western Isles	5,934	5,767	4,595	60	65	97	1.0%	1.1%	2.1%
Total Scotland	1,730,300	1,688,194	1,691,971	89,733	84,790	88,587	5.2%	5.0%	5.2%

Notes:

 * The SAS IT systems record data under the previous structure of 15 geographic health boards.

** Any journey which is cancelled on the same day as it was due to take place is counted as an aborted journey. In addition, where the SAS has not been notified of a cancellation and proceeds to pick up the patient, that is counted as an abort and the return journey is also counted as an abort (rather than a cancellation).

The Scottish Ambulance Service do not calculate the costs of abortive journeys.

However, average costs of patient transport service journeys are published annually in the ISD Scotland Cost Book. This information can be found at:

http://www.isdscotland.org/isd/costs-overview.jsp?pContentID=3726&p_applic=CCC&p_service=Content.show&.

The Scottish Ambulance Service (SAS) has been liaising closely with NHS boards and community health partnerships through a series of workshops, liaison groups and multi disciplinary patients transport project groups to find a way of reducing aborted journeys.

The SAS Patient Transport Strategy will be fully revised during 2008-09 to ensure it addresses issues arising from Scottish Government policies and strategies, including national transport strategies and the Better Health, Better Care Action Plan which outlined the need for NHS Scotland to engage more effectively with the seven Regional Transport Partnerships (RTPs), given the statutory duty on RTPs to develop local transport strategies which support the provision of health care.

In order to continuously develop patient transport services, further collaborations with NHS boards, local authorities and voluntary agencies continue to be explored to improve the cohesion and efficiency of collective health and social care transport resources.

SAS will continue to work towards ensuring flexibility and efficiency in meeting the health transport needs of patients.

The first tranche of announcements on the accelerated Affordable Housing Investment Programme (AHIP) was made on 7 October 2008. Further consideration will be given to future opportunities over the coming months and funds will be allocated to specific projects rather than announcing general geographic allocations, so that best strategic fit and value for money can be assured.

However, from the existing 2008-09 AHIP programme we are investing £7 million in East Ayrshire which includes a £0.348 million allocation to support first time buyers, and in South Ayrshire we are investing £6.3 million which includes a £0.609 million allocation to support first time buyers. The First Minister has also announced £60 million to temporarily extend the Open Market Shared Equity Pilot for 2009-10 to low income first time buyers across Scotland to find affordable homes.

Investment plans and details are matters for the relevant local authorities. The Scottish Government does not, just as the previous Scottish Executive did not, commission individual school building projects.

This information will not be available until the end of the current financial year.

However, the Energy Saving Trust have estimated that, based upon expenditure in the previous financial year, approximately £7,500 will be spent on direct support for business in the Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley constituency during 2008-09.

Energy efficiency measures typically implemented as a result of this support would generate estimated lifetime cost savings of £85,000.

In addition to this, there will be indirect spend on business support via the Energy Saving Scotland Advice Network which cannot be separated from the total £3.5 million allocated to the network in 2008-09.

Since the inception of Loan Action Scotland in 1999, managed over the period by the Energy Saving Trust and the Wise Group, six interest-free loans for energy efficiency measures, worth a total of £103,400, have been allocated to small businesses in the Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley constituency through the scheme.

From the accelerated funding we are planning to prioritise bringing forward new construction but will also spend on off the shelf units and land acquisitions where it is strategically sensible and offers value for money. We will review opportunities on a regular basis over the coming months and allocate funds to specific projects rather than announcing general geographic allocations, so that best strategic fit and value for money can be assured. We announced the first tranche of £9 million of projects, including site starts and land acquisitions on 7 October. Further announcements will be made shortly.