Chamber and committees

Girls and their parents/carers are given an information leaflet and a question and answer booklet at the same time as the consent form. A DVD was produced for use in schools to aid nurses deliver pre-immunisation talks to girls. The information given at the pre-immunisation talks is developed and delivered by individual NHS boards.

All communication materials signpost girls and their parents to the HPV public information website and the NHS 24 helpline number if they wish further information.

There is a long history of dentists providing a mixture of NHS and private treatment so we do not see difficulties in a properly constituted dental body corporate providing NHS dentistry. Dental bodies corporate are required to have a majority of directors that are registered dentists or dental care professionals, or a combination of both. The listing of dental bodies corporate will in future allow NHS boards to manage properly the relationship with such providers and, where necessary, take action against the dental body corporate.

In contrast, general practice accounts for the vast majority of patient contacts with the NHS and often deals with the most important of life events. General practices are the gatekeepers to the rest of the NHS and it is essential that they are owned and run by individuals personally involved in the delivery of NHS services. That is why the Scottish Government does not consider the delivery of general practice by commercial organisations, driven by financial interest of shareholders, to be compatible with our policy of a mutual NHS.

Amendments are required to the NHS (General Dental Services) (Scotland) Regulations 1996 to provide for the listing of dental bodies corporate. Work is currently ongoing on the consolidation of these regulations and the amendments required to list dental bodies corporate will be made as part of that consolidation.

Only individual general dental practitioners can join NHS board dental lists in order to provide general dental services “ the arrangement is with the individual dentist, not with the practice nor the partnership if one exists.

Dental bodies corporate and commercial companies cannot currently provide general dental services, although individual dentists working for dental bodies corporate can join NHS board lists in order to provide general dental services. Provisions are being made to list dental bodies corporate. Information about the listing of Dental Bodies Corporate is set out in the answer to S3W-17131 on 12 November 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/Apps2/Business/PQA/Default.aspx.

Commercial companies will not be able to be listed to provide general dental services unless they constitute a dental body corporate, which has to have a majority of directors who are registered dentists or registered dental care professionals or a combination of dentists and dental care professionals.

Specific efficiency savings targets for national initiatives in NHS Scotland have been set as follows:

	2008-09 (£ Million)	2009-10 (£ Million)	2010-11 (£ Million)
NHS Procurement	18	36	54
NHS Shared Support Services	1.5	2.6	2.8

 

In addition, as part of the NHS 2% efficiency savings targets for NHS boards of £154 million in 2008-09, £313.9 million in 2009-10 and £478.4 million in 2010-11, various efficiency projects in local support services and estates and facilities are being undertaken.

It is for local authorities to decide on the best way to deliver their efficiencies.

The Scottish Government is working with the public sector, including local government, NHS boards, and executive agencies and non-departmental public bodies to take forward a shared services agenda. Shared services should be about simplifying, standardising and then sharing. Across the public sector there are examples of significant work being undertaken to simplify and standardise which should identify the opportunities to share effectively. The Scottish Government is supporting the public sector in identifying those opportunities based on evidence of efficiency and effectiveness to ensure the solutions supported can deliver real benefits to organisations and the public. This extends to both back office and front line service delivery. The Efficiency Outturn Report for 2007-08 published on 31 October 2008 gives information on efficiency savings delivered to date:

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2008/10/Outturn2008.

We have collected data from NHS boards which shows that waiting lists for this service vary significantly across the country. We are considering options to help NHS boards address this, but are aware that individual boards have invested in this service to reduce waiting lists in their areas.

This is not currently the subject of access criteria for infertility treatment in Scotland. As this is a clinical decision, we would expect clinicians to follow relevant clinical guidelines, for example the NICE clinical guidance on fertility.

Access to infertility services has not historically been included in waiting time targets because there were concerns about breaching patient confidentiality. We have collected data from NHS boards which shows that waiting times for this service vary significantly across the country, and we are currently considering options to address this. We are aware that individual boards have invested in this service to reduce waiting times in their areas.

We recognise that waiting times for this service vary significantly between NHS boards, and we are currently considering ways to address this.

We provided NHS boards with an update on eligibility criteria guidelines in March 2007. This included the recommendation that once accepted onto a treatment programme, patients should be allowed to undergo successive cycles within a reasonable timescale agreed between themselves and the clinicians providing the treatment.

The Scottish Government published Expert Advisory Group on Infertility Services (EAGISS) in 2000 to inform NHS boards planning and provision of infertility services. These guidelines, which remain extant, recommend that those who are eligible for NHS funded IVF treatment should be offered three cycles.