Chamber and committees

We have recently launched Working for Health - The Workforce Development Action Plan for NHSScotland, which has set a critical path for creating a robust development function integrating workforce planning and service planning across all services in NHSScotland, including forensic pathology.

The provision of forensic science services in Scotland is currently under review as part of the wider review of common police services. A project team has been established to examine the potential benefits of rationalisation and to recommend a future structure for forensic science services. It would be inappropriate for me to pre-empt the findings of the review.

This information is not held by the Scottish Executive. Information on the courses offered by higher education institutions can be found on the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) website www.ucas.ac.uk or at learndirect scotland (www.learndirectscotland.com).

In my Housing Policy Announcement to Parliament on 7 November, I stated my intention to include local authority housing capital finance within the new Prudential Regime.

The review of forensic pathology services in England and Wales was commissioned by the Home Office. The Scottish Executive was aware of the review and the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service provided information regarding the position in Scotland.

Higher education institutions are autonomous bodies and are responsible for matters relating to the detail of course provision. The Scottish Executive has no locus in these decisions.In areas such as law and medicine institutions work with key professional bodies to ensure that provision meets the needs of their professions.

The Accounts Commission collects information on void levels in local authorities, which is published annually. The management of voids is, however, a matter for individual local authorities.

The median waiting time for NHS patients admitted from the in-patient and day case waiting list and for private patients who had undergone heart operations, at each of the four adult cardiac centres, in the year ended 31 March 2002, are given in the following table. NHSScotland: Median Waiting Times for Heart Operations² For NHS Patients¹ and Private Patients, by NHS Cardiac Centre. Year Ended 31 March 2002^P.

NHS Hospital	Median Wait
	NHS Patients1		Private Patients
	Wait (days)	No. of Patients	Wait (days)	No. of Patients
Aberdeen Royal Infirmary	75	339	14	25
Glasgow Royal Infirmary	50	675	-
Royal Infirmary Edinburgh	76	603	24	27
Western Infirmary/Gartnavel General Hospital	26	816	-
Scotland	50	2,433	21	52

Source: ISD Scotland, SMR01.^PProvisional.Notes:1. Patients routinely admitted from the in-patient/day case waiting list. 2. Patients are defined using operation codes taken from the Office of Population and Censuses and Surveys Classification of Surgical Operations and Procedures 4th revision (OPCS4). Heart Operations defined as OPCS4: K01-K15, K18-K34, K37 K48, K52-K55, K67-K71.

The number of cardiothoracic procedures performed on NHS and private patients discharged from each of the four Adult Cardiac Centres in Scotland during the year ended 31 March 2002 is given in the following table. NHSScotland: Number of Cardiothoracic Procedures¹ Performed on NHS and Private Patients², by NHS Cardiac Centre in Scotland. Year Ended 31 March 2002^P.

NHS Hospital	Number of Procedures
	NHS Patients	Private Patients
Aberdeen Royal Infirmary	1,751	60
Glasgow Royal Infirmary	2,234	-
Royal Infirmary Edinburgh	4,703	122
Western Infirmary/Gartnavel General Hospital	2,429	-

Source: ISD Scotland, SMR01.^PProvisional.Notes:1. Cardiothoracic specialties include: cardiothoracic surgery, cardiac surgery, thoracic surgery.2. Scottish residents only.The planned development of cardiac services in Scotland is set out in the Coronary Heart Disease and Stroke Strategy for Scotland, published on 3 October 2002. An additional £40 million is being made available to implement the strategy, and this will support achievement of the new waiting times targets. By 2004, the maximum wait for angiography will reduce from 12 weeks to eight weeks, and for cardiac surgery or angioplasty from 24 weeks to 18 weeks.Maximum capacity of the Adult Cardiac Centres in Scotland is dictated by a range of factors, notably availability of skilled staff including surgeons, anaesthetists and nurses. Under the CHD and Stroke Strategy, NHSScotland is pursuing a number of initiatives the effect of which will be to increase capacity and thus help to further reduce waiting times.

The Cities Review has examined a range of issues relevant to our cities, including funding mechanisms and allocations.