Chamber and committees

Work to identify, support and secure the doctors required to meet Scotland’s workforce needs is being taken forward in a number of ways as part of our on-going activity in workforce planning and development.

Working for Health – The Workforce Development Action Plan for NHSScotland, published in August 2002, set out the Scottish Executive’s integrated approach to workforce planning and development for all NHS staff at local, regional and national levels. To take forward effective joint working on medical workforce planning we have established a National Workforce Committee to work with the National Workforce Unit of the Scottish Executive Health Department and with NHS Education for Scotland.

To inform current and future activity in the area of medical workforce planning, I have also commissioned Professor Sir Kenneth Calman and Professor Sir John Temple to lead complementary reviews into, respectively, Basic Medical Education in Scotland and Medical Career Structures in Scotland. These reviews are both due to report to Scottish ministers later this year.

I also announced in Scotland in February 2003 Modernising Medical Careers, the response of the four UK Health Ministers to the consultation on Unfinished Business: Proposals for Reform of the Senior House Officer Grade. Modernising Medical Careerssets out the next steps in a process to make sure that the talents of our medical workforce are realised and used to best effect.

In addition, efforts are continuing to support workforce planning and recruitment initiatives to address particular problems in specific specialities. For example, within the National Workforce Unit, work is under way in the “pathfinder” specialties of cancer, stroke and coronary heart disease, mental health and maternity services to implement planning infrastructures that will cut across regions and staff groups to identify the most effective ways of organising services across NHSScotland. This approach will be rolled out to other specialties in the future.

Gender balance, both of ourmedical undergraduates and of our medical workforce, is one of many factorscurrently being considered in Scotland as part of two complementary medical workforce reviews, namely:

A Review of Basic Medical Education being led by Professor Sir Kenneth Calman,and

A Review of Medical Career Structures being led by Professor Sir John Temple

These reviews are both due to report their findings to Scottish ministers later this year. The Executive awaits the reports for these reviews before deciding on what further action may be needed to ensure that Scotland trains, retains and recruits the doctors required to meet its workforce needs.

As outlined in the White Paper Partnership for Care we undertook to discuss with the dental profession proposals for changes to the system for rewarding primary care dentistry. Following discussions with the profession, we have introduced a number of measures designed to promote prevention, improve access and improve recruitment and retention. We will continue to consider further measures.

The Public Health Institute of Scotland report, NHS Audiology Services in Scotland, recommends that NHS boards should develop and implement an early intervention programme to meet the treatment and support needs of children and their families affected by the early diagnosis of hearing loss through the screening programme.

I would also refer you to the answer given to S2W-1824 on 27 August 2003. All written answers are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at:

http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/search_wa.

I refer the member to the answer given to question S2W-1935 today. All answers to written parliamentaryquestions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for whichcan be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/search_wa.

The median waiting time fora first out-patient appointment with a consultant in the specialty of neurology,following referral by a general medical practitioner, by NHS board area ofresidence, in the year ended 30 June 2003, is given in the table.

NHSScotland: Median WaitingTimes for a First Out-Patient Appointment with a Consultant in the Specialty ofNeurology, Following Referral by a General Medical Practitioner, by NHS BoardArea of Residence. Year Ended 30 June 2003^P.

NHS Board	Median Wait
Argyll and Clyde	81 days
Ayrshire and Arran	102 days
Borders	90 days
Dumfries and Galloway	81 days*
Fife	78 days
Forth Valley	94 days
Grampian	68 days
Greater Glasgow	89 days
Highland	132 days
Lanarkshire	108 days
Lothian	31 days
Orkney	176 days*
Shetland	179 days*
Tayside	97 days
Western Isles	81 days*
Scotland	70 days

Source: ISD Scotland,SMR00.

^PProvisional.

Note:

*Represents less than 100patients.

The Medical Research Council(MRC) is the main agency through which the UK Government supports medical andclinical research. Collaboration between the UK Health Departments and the MRCis formalised in a concordat designed to develop and maintain an effectivepartnership for the promotion, funding and management of UK medical research. TheMRC spent £2.1 million on multiple sclerosis (MS) research in the UK in 2001-02 with a similar amount spent in 2002-03 (finalspend figures for this year are not yet available). The MRC expects to spend in the same region in 2003-04.

Although the MRC hasallocated resources for MS research, the Scottish Executive has placed no restrictions onthe further funding of research in this area. The Chief Scientist Office (CSO),within the Scottish Executive Health Department, has responsibility forencouraging and supporting research into health and health care needs in Scotland. TheCSO is largely a response mode funder of research and this role is well knownand advertised throughout the health care and academic community.

The CSO is not currentlydirectly funding any research projects into MS. This is due to the fact that noresearch proposals on MS have been received in recent years. The CSO would bepleased to consider research proposals for innovative MS studies of asufficiently high standard. These would be subject to the usual peer andcommittee review.

The Executive’s proposed ex-gratia scheme would apply exclusively to infection with hepatitis C through NHS treatment with blood and blood products and there are no plans to extend the scope of the scheme to cover any other virus.