Chamber and committees

Since 30 September 2008, the number of paediatric consultants has increased from 218 to 288 an increase of 70 (whole-time equivalent) 32.5%. Neonatology is a sub specialty of paediatrics and doctors working in neonatal services are trained to the standard required by the General Medical Council.

Neonatal services are provided by a multi professional Clinical Team which includes Consultants and Clinical Nurse Specialists who provide a treatment pathway to meet the needs of the patient.

However, the current policy of Reshaping the Medical Workforce will address the issues of staffing affecting neonatal services. The Reshaping Medical Workforce Project is our strategic policy objective of moving to a service predominantly delivered by trained doctors and reducing the reliance on doctors in training for front-line service delivery. This will ensure better health and higher quality healthcare services for patients resulting in improved patient outcomes and clinical safety.

We have also written to NHS board chief executives to seek assurances that the levels of neonatal staffing and skill mix are sufficient to ensure a high-quality neonatal service to meet their local need.

The number of neonatal transfers were fewer in previous years due to service limitations. As both specialist services and the Scottish Ambulance Service have continued to evolve, sick and premature babies can receive the most appropriate treatment and best possible care from this excellent system.

A review of the Scottish Neonatal Transport System has recently been completed which concluded that the service is staffed appropriately to respond to current demands, however the demands on the service will continue to be monitored.

A wider review of specialist transport services will be undertaken to consider the future needs and demands of all specialist transport services.

Services should be offered locally where possible, however both the highly specialist and unpredictable nature of neonatal services means they cannot always be provided locally. It is regrettable when babies and/or pregnant women have to be transferred to another unit but we recognise that on occasion this may be appropriate or necessary.

We have a dedicated 24 hour neonatal transport system which surpasses arrangements in the rest of the UK, with dedicated and professional staff who provide high quality care to these babies and their families.

The Scottish Neonatal Transport Service will only transport sick infants when there is a clear clinical need, such as the need for intensive care, a cardiac condition requiring surgery or ECMO. The team will also transfer infants back to the referring unit and this accounts for 40% of the team''s annual activity.

The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring that this vulnerable group of babies receives the highest quality of care, by the most appropriate professional, at all times. We know that admissions to neonatal units are not always predictable, that the level of care a baby requires may change at any given time, and that units have the responsibility to look after safely all of the babies in their care. Staffing and levels of care provided must be flexible to cope with this change in demand.

In addressing this, NHS Scotland has developed, tested and begun implementation of a neonatal nursing workload and workforce planning tool that will identify the nursing needs of this vulnerable group of babies. This tool takes into account the British Association of Perinatal Medicine (BAPM) staffing recommendations and will capture actual nursing workload on a real-time basis.

Arrangements are in hand to notify Greater Glasgow and Clyde of approval of the Outline Business Case now that confirmation has been received regarding the provision of community dentistry services within Dumbarton.

I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-32947 on 21 April 2010. 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.

The Chief Dental Officer was provided with information regarding community dentistry provision in the Clyde area during visits to the dental clinics in the Alexandria area in April 2008 following initial discussions with the Director of Oral Health within NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde. This included details of the numbers attending, members of staff, and categories of patients. The Outline Business Case for the new Alexandria Health Centre did not refer to the proposed closure of the dental surgeries in Dumbarton. As part of the assessment of the Outline Business Case, the Chief Dental Officer sought clarification of the impact of proposed dental services on existing community dentistry in Dumbarton.

Issues regarding the impact on dental services in Dumbarton were raised with NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde as part of the assessment of the Outline Business Case for Alexandria Health Centre on 1 April 2009.

The Scottish Government is not involved routinely in decisions connected to the delivery of specific Scottish Enterprise (SE) interventions, which are clearly matters for the agency itself, taking account of the need to optimise the value and impact of its spend.

However, in this case, I understand that SE has postponed the proposed delivery of EDGE in 2010, rather than cancelled the scheme overall. The aim of this postponement is to allow SE to work with a range of partners to consider the scope for the organisation and funding of the programme to be put on a stronger and longer term footing.

In addition, the postponement of the EDGE programme in 2010 should be seen in the context of the significant range of other support provided by this government and its agencies to promote entrepreneurship in our schools and university students. Through our Enterprise in Education Strategy, Determined to Succeed we are working with a range of entrepreneurial agencies. These include Social Enterprise Academy school awards, Social Enterprise Academy Fresh Options Booklet & A guide to social enterprise in relation to enterprise and employability Skills, work with the Co-operative Education Trust and Young Enterprise Scotland.

The Scottish Government is not involved in the delivery of the Encouraging Dynamic Global Entrepreneurs (EDGE) programme, which has been led by Scottish Enterprise, or in consideration of future plans for the scheme which are clearly a matter for the agency itself, taking account of the need to optimise the value and impact of its spend.

However, I understand that Scottish Enterprise has postponed the proposed delivery of EDGE in 2010, rather than cancel the scheme overall and other options are being explored such as combining with other programmes of a similar nature such as Graduates into Business. The aim of this decision is to allow Scottish Enterprise to work with a range of partners to consider the scope for the organisation and funding of the programme to be put on a stronger and longer-term footing.

The Scottish Government has no plans, itself, to replace the EDGE programme but our ongoing commitment to encouraging entrepreneurship in our school and university students is illustrated by the significant range of other measures we have in place to support this agenda through our Enterprise in Education Strategy, Determined to Succeed. These include Social Enterprise Academy school awards, Social Enterprise Academy Fresh Options Booklet & A guide to social enterprise in relation to enterprise and employability Skills, work with the Co-operative Education Trust and, Young Enterprise Scotland.