Chamber and committees

Since the introduction of the Agenda for Change pay system, nursing staff have been categorised according to their Agenda for Change pay band and the term staff nurse is no longer used in NHS Scotland. Those formerly designated as staff nurses will be covered either by Band 5 or Band 6 of Agenda for Change. Scottish Government analysts advise that the average salary of a Band 5 nurse is currently £25,215 and the average salary of a Band 6 nurse is £31,619.

Under Agenda for Change, there are job profiles available for nursing staff ranging from Band 2 Clinical Support Workers (£13,653 - £16,753) to Band 9 Nurse Consultant Higher Level (£77,079 - £97,478).

The information on staff numbers collected by Scotland''s Information and Statistics Directorate does not allow the identification of salaries for specific positions.

The Scottish government does publish remuneration information for chief executives which is available on the Scottish government website at:

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Government/public-bodies/about/Bodies.

Also, NHS organisations are required to publish pay data for staff earning over £50,000 in their annual accounts which for NHS Health Scotland can be found at:

http://www.healthscotland.com/documents/4896.aspx.

The information on staff numbers collected by Scotland''s Information and Statistics Directorate does not allow the identification of salaries for specific positions.

The Scottish government does publish remuneration information for chief executives which is available on the Scottish government website at:

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Government/public-bodies/about/Bodies.

Also, NHS organisations are required to publish pay data for staff earning over £50,000 in their annual accounts which for NHS24 can be found at:

http://www.nhs24.com/content/mediaassets/doc/Annual%20Accounts%202009%20-%2010.pdf.

The information requested is not collected centrally. Current information on waits for diagnostic tests relate to the eight key diagnostic tests such as MRI and CT scans, but not for X-rays.

Waits for X-rays will of course be included in the 18 weeks referral to treatment time target due for delivery at the end of this year.

Around half of NHS boards have made improvements in reducing the rate of did not attends in the last few years, in particular NHS Forth Valley and Lanarkshire.

In the current economic climate it is more vital that NHS boards reduce waste in their budgets. It is every patient''s responsibility to keep their appointment, but we recognise that the NHS has to be flexible in helping make appointments convenient for patients.

That is why the Scottish Government has given the NHS in Scotland a three per cent target for efficiency savings and all NHS boards are working on implementing policies to reduce missed appointments. This includes text and phone reminders, more choice over the time of an appointment and a poster campaign reminding patients of their responsibility in using NHS services. The Health Delivery Directorate Improvement and Support Team will continue to work with boards and ensure that good practice is identified and shared across Scotland.

Information on the number of acute care hospital admissions is published quarterly by ISD on the Acute Hospital Care section of the ISD website at:

http://www.isdscotland.org/isd/4150.html.

The next publication is scheduled for 29 March 2011 and will include high level statistics up to the quarter ending 31 December 2010 based on ISD(S)1 aggregate data returns. Complete data at a more detailed level, e.g. diagnosis level, for December 2010 should be available in June 2011.

Whilst details of diagnoses on the Standard Morbidity Record (SMR01) can be used to identify medical conditions likely to be related to cold weather, the data collection cannot attribute admissions due to adverse weather per se.

The Scottish Government is currently developing a national musculoskeletal programme which aims to bring about significant service redesign to improve the delivery and outcome of musculoskeletal services across Scotland. The redesign focuses on improving access to services, including rheumatology services, by establishing a centralised self referral triage system utilising the technology within NHS 24, which is the national telephone and web based advice service for NHS Scotland.

Our intention is to enhance supported self management and timeous access to expert advice and interventions when required.

Nursing and midwifery staff are paid under the Agenda for Change pay system which allocated pay bands according to which job profile their job description has been matched to. Pay band 8b equates to a pay scale from £45,254 to £55,945. Band 8c is £54,454 to £67,134, band 8d is £65,270 to £80,810 and band 9 is £77,079 to £97,478. The job profiles which match to these bands would typically be senior nursing or midwifery posts such as nurse or midwife consultant.

Information on complaints made in relation to charges for home help services is not held centrally.

Data collected on complaints about the NHS in Scotland is published annually by the Information Services Division and is available at:

http://www.isdscotland.org/isd/4424.html.

The information on staff numbers collected by Scotland''s Information and Statistics Directorate does not allow the identification of salaries for specific positions.

The Scottish government does publish remuneration information for chief executives which is available on the Scottish government website at:

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Government/public-bodies/about/Bodies.

Also, NHS organisations are required to publish pay data for staff earning over £50,000 in their annual accounts which for NHS Quality Improvement Scotland can be found at:

http://www.nhshealthquality.org/nhsqis/files/BM240610_AgendaItem17_Appendix1.pdf.