Chamber and committees

I recently launched a campaign to raise awareness of the rights and responsibilities of both tenants and landlords in private rented housing. The new website, www.betterrentingscotland.com,provides information on a range of issues, including the legal requirement to haveannual gas safety checks carried out and to provide a copy of the gas safety certificate to tenants. The website is being promoted through student accommodation services in addition to more general advertising. We also welcome the campaign by Scottish Gas to highlight the dangers of carbon monoxide to students.

Under the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998, all landlords are required to have annual gas safety checks carried out by a contractor registered with the Council of Registered Gas Installers, and to provide a copy of the Gas Safety Certificate to every tenant. Enforcement of these regulations is dealt with by the Health and Safety Executive.I recently launched a campaign to raise awareness of the rights and responsibilities of both tenants and landlords in private rented housing. The new website, www.betterrentingscotland.com,makes clear the requirements of the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations.The national core standards recommended for adoption by local voluntary landlordaccreditation schemes include the provision of carbon monoxide detectors. For houses in multiple occupation, it is for each licensing authority to decide whether to require carbon monoxide detectors to be provided.

We do not hold information on the hours worked by doctors in training. However, the following table provides details of each NHS board’s assessment of the number of junior doctors in training who are non-compliant with the requirements of the Working Time Regulations (WTR), as at 1 August 2004. Some of the non-compliant doctors will be working less than 58 hours but are not compliant with rest requirements. I hope you find this information useful.

Analysis by NHS Board

Board	Number of Doctors in Training3
WTR Non-Compliant at 16-06-045	Expected to be WTR Non-Compliant at 01-08-044,5	Total
Argyll and Clyde	74	15	235
Ayrshire and Arran	144	58	224
Borders	20	19	68
Dumfries and Galloway	19	0	73
Fife	82	16	168
Forth Valley	60	17	177
Grampian	230	39	516.2
Greater Glasgow	305	243	1,277.3
Highland	45	45	138
Lanarkshire	235	0	300.5
Lothian	371.6	137	828.1
Tayside	213	61	500
Orkney	5	0	5
Shetland1	5	5	5
Western Isles2	-	-	-
CSA	0	0	8
Scotland	2714.5	655	4,523.1
Percentages	60.0%	14.5%	100.0%

Notes:

1. Shetland have reported that they will have a 100% WTR compliant rota in place by 4 August 2004.

2. There has been no return received from Western Isles.

3. These figures do not include GP Registrars.

4. Figures are board predictions for the number of doctors in trainingexpected to be WTR non-compliant at 1August 2004.

5. Compliance with the European Working Time Regulations includes working no longer than 58 hours per week, taking a minimum 11 hours rest in a 24 hour period, and receiving four weeks' paid annual leave.

The Executive will be participating in this scheme, which will replace a number of forms relating to access to health care within the European Economic Area including the E-111. It has already been agreed that HM Government will meet the costs of the introduction of the health card.  A UK-wide consultation on proposals for the introduction of the card, led by the Department of Health on behalf of all the UK Health Departments, is currently in process. Details are available at http://www.dh.gov.uk/assetRoot/04/08/74/22/04087422.pdf, or through the Scottish Executive website at http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Consultations/.

No guidance is issued to NHSScotland about the skill and training requirements for non-UK nationals. All doctors, including non-UK nationals who wish to practice in the United Kingdom, must be registered with the General Medical Council (GMC) before they are allowed to apply for any posts within the UK. Doctors wishing to work in the general medical service as general practitioners within the UK, other than a trainee practitioner, require to hold certificatesof prescribed or equivalent experience as required by the Joint Committee on PostGraduate Training for General Practice (JCPTGP). The functions of the JCPTGP willbe undertaken by the new UK competent authority, the Postgraduate Medical Education and Training Board, once it becomes fully operational later this year.

All dentists, including non-UK nationals, who wish to practice in the United Kingdom, have to be registered with the General Dental Council (GDC).

The Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain (RPSGB) has in place a system for the registration of European Union (EU) and other overseas pharmacists.

The position is similar for all non-UK nurses and midwives who want to practice in the UK. All non-UK nurses and midwives have to gain entry to the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) Register before they are allowed to apply for posts within the UK.

The Executive directs all NHS employers to the above requirements when looking to recruit new staff and ensure that they are registered with the appropriate regulatory body. This also ensures that any new staff that they intend to employ in Scotland have the required skills, competences and linguistic abilities necessary to carry out their “duties of care” for the post or job that they are applying for.

The General Medical Council (GMC) along with the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) and the Health Professional Council (HPC) are responsible for maintaining the minimum educational or training standards for staff wanting to undertake employment within the NHS. Therefore, it is for the professional bodies to determine the standard of expertise that any potential member of staff needs to have achieved or maintain when hoping to work in the health service prior to receiving their registration with the organisation.

For example, The GMC is the regulatory body responsible for the undergraduate medical education in the UK and their responsibilities include:

• Deciding the knowledge, skills and attitudes medical graduates need;
• Making sure that the teaching and learning opportunities provided allow students to meet GMC requirements;
• Setting the standards of expertise that students need to achieve at qualifying examinations or assessments, and

Making sure that the standards of expertise the GMC have set is maintained by the medical schools at qualifying examinations.

To dispense prescriptions on the NHS, an internet pharmacy will have to have physical registered premises which can be inspected so that they conform to professional and legal standards.

This information is not available centrally. From 2000-01, funding in respect of the allowance for pre-registration pharmacy trainees was transferred into NHS boards’ unified budget.

This information is not available centrally.

I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:

I refer the member to the answer to S2O-3007 on 21 September 2004 which is available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at:
http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/sch/search.