Chamber and committees

Yes. Scottish cancer managedclinical networks are bound by the terms of NHS HDL(2002)69 and NHS HDL (2001)71, both of which require continuous assessment of and improvements in thequality of care provided for patients.

The statistics availablecentrally are compiled on an annual basis. The latest available data ondrink-driving offences proceeded against are given in Table 20 of the ScottishExecutive statistical bulletin Criminal Proceedings in Scottish Courts, 2001,copies of which are available in the Parliament’s Reference Centre (Bib. number25720).

On patients outcomes, themember should refer to my answer to question S2W-4335 on 8 December 2003. Asfar as quality of data is concerned, this is a matter for the CancerInformation Group of the Information and Statistics Division of the CommonServices Agency who work with Scottish Cancer Managed Clinical Networks on this.

There are currently no plansto review the Scotland and Newcastle Lymphoma Group.

Information and StatisticsDivision (ISD) Scotland holds epidemiological and other health-relatedinformation.Data on incidence rates betweenNHS board areas for all cancers including colorectal cancer is available at http://www.isdscotland.org/cancer_information.

For other diseases ISDScotland works in partnership with a wide range of organisations – NHS boards,hospitals, general practitioners, local authorities, voluntary organisationsand many other care and service providers to build the national database ofdiagnoses at NHS board level. This includes acute in-patient and day case care,maternal/obstetric care, neonatal care, mental health/psychiatric hospitalcare.

Colorectal cancer surgery isnot a recognised clinical specialty. Workforce information, including thenumbers of consultants by clinical specialty are available from ISD Scotland atwww.isdscotland.org/isd.

The voluntary sector is animportant partner in the delivery of health and social care. The Working TimeRegulations currently apply to almost all employees in the UK and, fromAugust 2004 will have a significant impact on doctors in training. Work isunder way by NHSScotland on assessing the impact of the Working Time Regulationson this group of staff’s ability to deliver care – it remains to be seen what,if any, impact there will be on the voluntary sector.

When the Care Commission wasestablished, resources were left with local authorities to allow them to payfor residual work and accommodation related to their previous regulatory role,and to meet the cost of paying registration fees for their own serviceprovision. The Executive does not hold information on the use of theseresources by authorities. The resources were included in the total distributedto authorities through grant aided expenditure. It is for individual localauthorities to decide how to use the resources available to them. Contractualarrangements between the authorities and the voluntary sector for the provisionof services are an operational matter for them.

Registration is based on aqualification criteria. The Scottish Social Services Council (SSSC) consultedon Phase 1 qualifications criteria and registration fees between June andSeptember 2002. One thousand copies of the consultation document weredistributed and 14 consultation events took place across Scotland.The consultation document also appeared on the SSSC’s website between August2002 and February 2003. One hundred and sixty seven responses were received. Nineteenfrom individuals and 148 from organisations.

Four thousand copies of theconsultation documents were distributed during Phase 2 consultation. Furthercopies were distributed at the nine consultation events and eight external agencyevents organised by the SSSC. The documents appeared on the website betweenJune and September. Responses were received from 399 early education and childcare workers. Sixty four employee and 51 organisation responses were receivedfrom adult residential care workers.

There are currently 66 applications awaiting Disclosure Scotland certificates. It takes an average of 21.6 working days for the return of a Disclosure Scotland certificate. This is an average figure based on the applications processed during September. Some were processed in less than 20 days and some took up to 58 days. Delays in processing are usually caused by the applicant having a previous address outside Scotland or Disclosure Scotland carrying out a secondary search on the applicant. They have recently recruited more staff and expect a swifter turnaround period in the near future.

The Scottish Social Services Council take, on average, 24.4 working days to process an application. This includes the Disclosure Scotland check time.