Chamber and committees

The Scottish Executive has funded a stocktake of policy statements and action plans on race equality and access to services, the results of which will provide the basis for best practice guidance for the NHS in Scotland.

The fieldwork for the 1998 survey, which commenced in April 1998, was completed in May 1999 and took the form of individual interviews and separate nurse visits for the purpose of blood pressure and other measurements and collection of blood and saliva samples. The resultant extensive and complex data have been subject to rigorous evaluation and analysis to ensure the validity and quality of the survey outcome and report, a task which is essential to set within an appropriate time frame.

I announced on 23 May an extension of the flu vaccine immunisation programme to everyone aged 65 and over. Community pharmacists have been advised to take this into account when ordering supplies.

We are committed to increasing the number of doctors working in the NHS in Scotland, particularly in the area of cancer treatment. Figures show that the whole time equivalent figure for consultants in radiology has increased by 8.5% from 1996 to 1999 and the headcount has increased by 11% over the same period.

I have recently announced a package of additional investment in the workforce which includes provision for 100 extra junior doctors and 10 extra consultants. Half of the additional junior doctor posts will be flexible posts, to recognise the increasing role of women in the medical workforce. The distribution of posts across various specialties is currently being determined.

Notes:

1. The source of the data for European countries is the OECD healthcare database 1999. The estimate for Scotland is based on total NHS expenditure and an estimate of GDP at market prices.

2. OECD estimates of health expenditure as a percentage of GDP use GDP at market prices. Although this figure is available for the UK, separate estimates are not made of GDP at market prices for regions within the UK. To obtain a figure for GDP at market prices in Scotland the following method has been used: it has been assumed that the Scottish share of UK GDP at market prices (Including North Sea oil output) is the same as the share of GDP at factor cost. It should be noted that estimates of UK GDP at market prices may be subject to revision and this would affect the estimate of Scottish GDP at market prices.

3. The EU average has been estimated by weighting together the figures for individual European countries, with each country's GDP used as the relative weight.

4. Private expenditure on healthcare is excluded from these figures.

Expenditure on the NHS in Scotland in 1997 was about the same percentage as the EU average although comparisons of health expenditure between countries should be treated with considerable caution. There are differences between countries in methods of organising and delivering healthcare as well as differences in funding arrangements. There may also be differences in methods of recording expenditure on healthcare and, as the OECD point out, "the very definition of healthcare...differs from country to country". All of these factors may distort comparisons between countries.

The Scottish Executive is committed to making substantial increases in health spending for the duration of this Parliament. As tangible evidence of this, health spending in the current year has been increased by almost £500 million on last year's planned level of funding and is due to increase by a further £2.095 billion by 2002-03. This represents a significant investment in the NHS in Scotland and the Executive is now working with the service to ensure that the resources are invested effectively in a way that will deliver sustainable improvements for patients across Scotland.