Chamber and committees

Care home staff are encouraged to receive the seasonal flu vaccine to protect themselves and the vulnerable people they care for from the flu virus. The vaccination of care home staff is the responsibility of employers, who have responsibility for delivery of occupational health services. Data on the uptake of the seasonal flu vaccine by care home staff is not held at a national level.

Seasonal flu vaccination is offered to all people aged 65 or over. Based on information collected by the Practitioner Services Division of NHS National Services Scotland, uptake in Scotland for those aged 65 and over was 74.1% in 2007-08, 76.3% in 2008-09 and 75% in 2009-10. This data is based on payment claims by GP practices for the vaccination of people aged 65 and over. In each of the three years for which information is provided, the vaccination target set by the Scottish Government for this risk group was 70%.

The 2010-11 seasonal flu season is the first year in which pregnant women have been eligible for the seasonal flu vaccination. In previous years pregnant women were only eligible for vaccination if they had a clinical risk condition such as chronic heart or lung disease. Uptake data from previous years does not record uptake amongst pregnant women.

I announced on 18 August 2010 that safer streets funding of £400,000 will be made available to support community safety partnerships between November 2010 and March 2011. This brings our investment in safer streets since 2007 to £3.06 million.

As in previous years, the funding is to be divided between all 32 local authorities to fund community safety initiatives including high visibility police patrols in hot spot areas, dedicated support for licensed premises, targeting of street drinkers, enhanced CCTV and late night taxi marshals.

I have authorised funding for North Ayrshire of £14,000 for this campaign. This allocation is based on average group 1 crime figures for the relevant local authority over the period 2006-09.

Forestry Commission Scotland, which manages the funding of Timberlink, is currently reviewing the situation before making recommendations on future financing. As part of the review process it has commissioned independent studies of the economic and environmental benefits derived from the Timberlink service. Both reports provided a very good indication of not only the positive benefits of Timberlink, but also the level of support that it has from the local communities and tourist industry, as well as the timber sector

However, I am sure the member will appreciate that I am unable to commit to further resources, until we have a clearer idea of the outcome of the Comprehensive Spending Review.

In 2009-10, 2.6% of people receiving a direct payment had dementia.

Information on clients with dementia was collected for the first time in the 2010
self-directed support (direct payments) survey. In previous surveys, these clients were included in the Other client group category.

The Scottish Government provided Alzheimer Scotland with funding to carry out a study into the use of direct payments for people with dementia and their carers. The findings, published in their report, Let''s get personal, illustrates that self-directed support along with natural supports in the lives of people with dementia can delay the need for institutional care. The dementia and the self-directed support strategies will make it clear that people with dementia and their families should have choice and control in the support provided to them. Alzheimer Scotland is represented on the Self-directed Support Bill Steering Group.

In 2009-10, 97 people receiving a direct payment had dementia.

Information on clients with dementia was collected for the first time in the 2010
self-directed support (direct payments) survey. In previous surveys, these clients were included in the Other client group category.

An independent evaluation of the economic impact of Homecoming Scotland 2009 was done by Glasgow-based EKOS Ltd, a leading independent UK consultancy specialising in economic and social development. EKOS concluded that Homecoming Scotland 2009 generated net additional expenditure for Scotland of £53.7 million. The evaluation did not breakdown this impact on a regional basis.

The specific information requested is not available centrally.

The current waiting time standard is for 98% compliance with the national maximum wait of 24 hours from admission to a specialist unit for hip surgery following fracture, subject to medical fitness and during safe operating hours. The standard came into effect from 31 December 2007.

Performance on delivery of the 24 hour standard was compiled from the Scottish Hip Fracture Audit at NHS hospital level. The table below provides performance against the standard by NHS board for the period 2006-07, 2007-08 and 1 April to November 2008 and for the last reported month of 31 December 2008.

NHS Scotland delivered the hip fracture target in December 2007 and maintained it throughout 2008. Due to this excellent performance by NHS Scotland it was decided to stop the Scottish Hip Fracture Audit and re-invest the funding into a service where there was a need for significant improvement in access to treatment.

From 2009, NHS boards should be monitoring performance against the waiting time standard locally to ensure continuing delivery.

NHS Hospital	2006-07	2007-08*	1 April to 30 November 2008	December 2008
	% Meeting Standard	% Meeting Standard	% Meeting Standard	% Meeting Standard
Ayrshire and Arran
Crosshouse	92.3	94.6	99.3	90.0
Ayr	100	98.8	99.0	100
Borders
Borders General	98.2	93.3	92.8	93.3
Dumfries and Galloway
Dumfries and Galloway Royal	98.4	95.4	100	100
Fife
Queen Margaret''s	96.8	97.1	98.5	97.0
Forth Valley
Stirling Royal	92.1	95.7	98.4	93.3
Grampian
Aberdeen Royal Infirmary	96.1	97.3	97.7	97.6
Dr Gray''s	96.7	96.8	100	100
Greater Glasgow and Clyde
Glasgow Royal Infirmary	100	95.4	98.3	97.0
Western Infirmary Glasgow	86.4	96.5	98.9	100
Victoria Infirmary	100	99.0	100	100
Southern General	100	93.4	100	100
Royal Alexandria	90.6	97.1	97.2	100
Inverclyde	98.9	98.4	100	100
Highland
Raigmore	95.3	96.3	94.2	100
Lanarkshire
Hairmyres	94.2	90.7	97.2	100
Wishaw	86.7	94.5	98.4	100
Monklands District General	92.9	96.7	93.9	100
Lothian
Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh	65.9	91.4	99.4	98.8
Tayside
Ninewells	95.8	97.5	99.3	97.7
Perth Royal Infirmary	97.5	99.4	100	94.4
NHSScotland	89.0	95.7	98.4	98.1

Note: *The 24 hours standard delivery date was 31 December 2007 “ this is a whole year performance for 2006-07. The monthly data published in February 2008 showed that NHS Scotland delivered 98% compliance - delivering the standard.