Chamber and committees

The information requested is not held centrally, as the appropriate performance measures for GP access, the Health Efficiency Access Treatment standard are measured by the GP patient experience survey, which was last published on 29 May 2012 and can be accessed at:

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/About/Performance/scotPerforms/partnerstories/NHSScotlandperformance/GPAccessStandard.

Measures for the standard include: proportion of positive responses for 48 hour access to an appropriate healthcare professional; and the proportion of positive responses for booking an appointment with a GP more than 48 hours in advance. For both measures the standard is 90%

The Scottish Health and Care Experience Survey 2013-14 takes place every two years, was sent out in November 2013 and is the successor to the GP patient experience survey. This is the third time that the survey has taken place and it provides valuable information on areas for improvement covering both NHS and local social care services. Given its relevance to a wide range of services, it is sponsored by a number of partners including NHS Scotland and the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (CoSLA). The results will be published later this year.

The latest information and historical information on the numbers of patients removed from GP practice lists in each year from 1999 to 2013 is shown in the following tables.

Source: ISD Scotland, NHS National Services Scotland. Ref: IR2014-00471

Integration joint boards will be required by the regulations underpinning the Public Bodies (Joint Working) (Scotland) Bill to set out their complaints procedures for integrated services.

There is only one GP surgery, the Knightswood Medical Practice within NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, that is classified as having a ‘full’ patient list at present, and its patient list will re-open on 1 May 2014.

I also refer the member to the answer to question S4W-19244 on 29 January 2014. 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/parliamentarybusiness/39875.aspx.

Information on the number of care and support staff employed by each local authority is not held centrally.

We are aware that some local authorities are experiencing difficulties in recruiting care and support staff, and we are in discussion with representatives of the sector about how best we can support the social care sector to ensure that all clients in Scotland receive the service they deserve.

We expect the results of the research that we commissioned from Glasgow University on tail injuries in working dogs to be published in the near future, as peer-reviewed papers in an independent scientific journal. When this research is published we will consider whether further action needs to be taken to protect working dogs from injury.

We expect the results of the research that we commissioned by Glasgow University on tail injuries in working dogs to be published in the near future, as peer-reviewed papers in an independent scientific journal. We believe the research will provide a sound basis to discuss whether further action needs to be taken to protect working dogs from injury.

The letter from the Chief Medical Officer and Chief Pharmaceutical Officer issued on 5 November 2013 asked NHS boards to exercise flexibility in their decision-making of Individual Patient Treatment Requests (IPTRs) in light of the issues highlighted by the Health and Sport Committee and in recognition of the period of transition to a new clinically-led peer review process.

The letter was issued to NHS board Chief Executives, NHS board Medical Directors, NHS board Directors of Pharmacy and NHS board Directors of Finance under cover of SGHD/CMO(2013)20 on 5 November 2013. It was also copied to NHS board Chairs and NHS board Directors of Public Health. It is for NHS boards to ensure that such letters are circulated as appropriate.

The letter was also published on Scotland’s Health on the Web website on 5 November 2013: http://www.sehd.scot.nhs.uk/cmo/CMO(2013)20.pdf.

I would welcome any information the member wishes to share on circumstances where clinicians are not aware of the IPTR process.

An assessment of the NHS’s capacity to deliver three full cycles of IVF will be made as part of the 2015 Review as recommended by the National Infertility Group.

As indicated in the Scottish Parliament on 29 January 2014 during Portfolio Question Time, if sufficient robust data is available, the Scottish Government is content for an earlier IVF review to take place and for views to be submitted to the Scottish Government by the end of 2014.

NHS Ayrshire and Arran, NHS Grampian, NHS Highland, NHS Tayside and the three island boards NHS Orkney, NHS Shetland and NHS Western Isles all offered up to three cycles of IVF prior to the introduction of the updated criteria on 1 July 2013. Of these, the three island boards NHS Orkney, NHS Shetland and NHS Western Isles achieved a waiting time of less than 12 months prior to the introduction of updated criteria on 1 July 2013.