Chamber and committees

The outsourcing of some diagnostic imaging reporting allows NHS Boards to maintain service capacity and meet rising demand.

The following table details external agency usage in 2017-18 for radiology reporting services. NHS Borders, Lothian, Western Isles and Golden Jubilee National Hospital are not currently using any external agencies for this purpose.

Individual public bodies are responsible for their own procurement decisions and contract management and monitoring activity.

Public Contracts (Scotland) Regulations 2015 require public bodies to include contract conditions, relating to the performance of the contract, as reasonably necessary to ensure compliance with environmental, social and employment law.

Scottish Procurement Policy Note 09/2016 provided model contract clauses to provide for termination in these circumstances and the Scottish Government’s standard terms and conditions were updated and are available at:

https://www.gov.scot/Topics/Government/Procurement/buyer-information/standardformsanddocs/SGtsandcs.

The number of trainee doctor posts within individual locations and units depends fundamentally on the extent to which a location can (a) meet the General Medical Council(GMC) training standards and (b) deliver all or part of an approved curriculum. These are known as training programmes which may require an individual trainee to undertake several different postings during which they will rotate within and across hospital sites, participating on rotas as appropriate to their training and experience.

In Scotland, NHS Education for Scotland (NES) has operational responsibility for the recruitment and monitoring of trainee doctors in GMC-approved training programmes, which it organises in collaboration with NHSScotland Boards, and is done so at a national or regional level and not specifically by posts within individual hospitals.

With the new training year commencing on 1 August 2018, NES advise that the current headcount of trainees commencing or continuing training across the 3 sites mentioned is 241. Of these, 58 will be placed at Inverclyde and 183 at Royal Alexandra Hospital (which includes rotation in a small number of specialties to the Vale of Leven). There is a round of recruitment yet to complete however NES project that after all rounds of recruitment are finalised, there will be 6 vacancies in placements rotating through Inverclyde Royal and 5 at the Royal Alexandra. Any remaining vacancies, with funding, will be passed to the NHS Boards for local recruitment.

I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-17753 on 2 August 2018. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx.

No; all three hospitals continue to hold training accreditation and NHS Education for Scotland (NES) continues to place trainee doctors in these hospitals. NES officials continue to work collaboratively with Greater Glasgow & Clyde Health Board to improve the educational quality of medical training, and the supervision of trainees, in certain sites across the Board area.

At this time in the national trainee recruitment cycle, NHS Education for Scotland advise that there are projected to be 6 trainee vacancies in placements rotating through Inverclyde Royal and 5 trainee vacancies at the Royal Alexandra. As is usual practice, any vacancies in trainee posts (with associated funding) are returned to NHS Boards for local recruitment action, which may be through offering career development-style fellowships through offering career development-style fellowships or sourcing locum cover.

Each NHS Board must plan on the basis of providing safe and sustainable services for patients and will have a range of options available to them where rota gaps exist following national trainee recruitment. The Scottish Government continues to support NHSScotland Boards through initiatives like the International Medical Training Fellowships scheme, improving the quality of training programmes through roll-out of the Professional Compliance Assessment tool, and we stand ready to assist Greater Glasgow and Clyde in its efforts to address trainee vacancies.

I have asked Steve Dunlop, Chief Executive of Scottish Enterprise to respond. His response is as follows:

Over the period covered by the financial years 2011-12 to 2017-18, Scottish Enterprise has spent an average of £1,969,981 per annum on the High Growth Spin Out Programme (HGSP). The High-Growth Spinout Programme (HGSP) supports the commercialisation of leading-edge technologies emerging from Scotland's universities, research institutes and NHS Boards.

In addition, Scottish Enterprise funded Enterprise Fellowships are delivered by the Royal Society of Edinburgh (RSE) and provide funding to allow individuals to concentrate solely on developing the commercial potential of their proposal.

Scottish Enterprise Annualised Enterprise Fellowship Expenditure since 2011

This information is not available centrally. Funding for mental health services, including forensic mental health services and the provision of NHS forensic units, will continue to be drawn from the overall funds allocated to NHS Scotland by the Scottish Government.

The Scottish Government sets the national direction of policy on mental health and provides funding to agencies, including NHS Boards and local authorities, to support implementation of policy. However, the management of local actions in implementing national policy, and decisions on local spending priorities, including how much is spent on the provision of NHS forensic units are the responsibility of relevant local agencies.

I have asked Steve Dunlop, Chief Executive of Scottish Enterprise to respond. His response is as follows:

Scottish Enterprise provides support for University Spinouts via the High-Growth Spinout Programme and the Enterprise Fellowships Programme. The High-Growth Spinout Programme (HGSP) supports the commercialisation of leading-edge technologies emerging from Scotland's universities, research institutes and NHS Boards.

Scottish Enterprise funded Enterprise Fellowships are delivered by the Royal Society of Edinburgh (RSE) and provide funding to allow individuals to concentrate solely on developing the commercial potential of their proposal.

Health Boards should take all the available information into account when reviewing and developing healthcare services, in line with national policy and clinical best practice. We also expect Boards to inform this work through the meaningful engagement of local stakeholders. Both the Scottish Government and NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde have been consistently clear about the commitment to providing comprehensive hospital, community and primary care services across Clyde, including at the Vale of Leven and Inverclyde Royal hospitals.