Chamber and committees

Treatment for cancer can take place in either an out-patient or in-patient setting. Information is not held centrally on waiting times for treatment which starts in an out-patient setting – for example, chemotherapy and radiotherapy.

Information on the time between a patient being placed on the in-patient and day case waiting list and their admission to hospital is collected centrally. However, this dataset would not provide an accurate picture of the longest waiting times for patients placed on the waiting list with a diagnosis of cancer, because it will include patients who were admitted for treatment for conditions other than cancer and whose cancer was discovered in the course of that admission.

The Executive is currently considering the detailed design for a proposed new grade separated interchange at Schoolhill, Portlethen as part of a major residential development. The construction of the junction will be at the developer’s expense.

The Executive is also carrying out a comprehensive study into the safety of at grade junctions on dual carriageways. Laurencekirk will be specifically considered within this study.

The proposals which NHS boards are currently developing focus on clinical safety and governance. Both locally and nationally, service plans have been developed in consultation with all appropriate agencies to ensure that patients needs are accommodated. The new arrangements must also meet the mandatory accreditation standards set to ensure a safe and quality service for patients.

As part of the new contract implementation process, a national working group has been set up to look at the issues around out-of-hours across Scotland. The group includes representation from NHS systems, the Scottish Ambulance Service, NHS24 and patient representatives. The aim of the group is to identify alternative schemes and produce models of best practice which are available for use by NHS boards.

Under the Scotland Act it is the Scottish Executive’s duty to comply with EU obligations and be in conformity with the requirements of the European Convention on Human Rights. The Executive is, therefore, required to ensure that EU students receive the same treatment as home students in relation to their tuition costs at Scottish universities. It should be noted that this requirement only applies to nation states of the EU, not the home countries of the UK nation state.

Students who are EU nationals and meet the residence criteria are therefore eligible for the same fee support from the Student Awards Agency for Scotland (SAAS) as students who are ordinarily resident in Scotland.

Students who have been ordinarily resident in the UK and Islands throughout the three year period immediately preceding the start of the course, and are ordinarily resident in Scotland on that day, are also eligible for student support from SAAS. The purpose of these criteria is to ensure that eligibility for support is determined by residence rather than nationality.

European Court of Justice case law indicates that EU obligations do not currently extend to student support. EU nationals who are in Scotland wholly or mainly for the purposes of education therefore are not considered eligible for student support.

However, students may qualify for the same student support as Scottish domiciled students if they, their partner or parents are classed as European Economic Area (EEA) migrant workers, and they meet the residence criteria. This fulfils an obligation under an EEC Council Regulation on freedom of movement for workers within the Community.

This information is not held centrally.

There has been no national rate set for salaries of GPs to provide out-of-hours services. This is a matter between NHS boards and individual salaried GPs, but levels will vary depending on the duties involved, the time commitment and local market forces.

UK-wide negotiations over the new General Medical Services (GMS) contract began during 2001-02. A framework document was produced in April 2002 which contained an early indication of the proposed new out-of-hours arrangements. Further information was contained in the contract document itself, published in February 2003 and accepted in a GP ballot in June 2003. The National Health Service (General Medical Services Contracts) (Scotland) Regulations 2004, which came into force at 1 April 2004, set out in detail the terms to be included in contracts.

NHS boards have been aware from these documents of the need to plan for the re-provision of out-of-hours care and have until 31 December 2004 to do so.

BEAR Scotland Ltd has been commissioned to investigate and report on what additional road safety measures, including signage, would be appropriate at the A90/A972 junction at Laurencekirk junction following the recent fatal accident. All appropriate recommendations will be acted on as quickly as possible.

NHS Borders does not have a dedicated specialist palliative care unit. Inpatient specialist palliative care is provided at Borders General Hospital.

All NHS boards, other than NHS Orkney, have indicated that they will have new service models in place before 31 December 2004. No GP practices in Orkney intend to transfer responsibility for out-of-hours provision and so the current arrangements will continue there.

Guidance on public consultation was issued to the NHS by the Scottish Executive in May 2002, in Health Department Letter (2002) 42 – Consultation and Public Involvement in Service Change – Draft Interim Guidance for Consultation (Bib. number 21063). No specific guidance has been provided relating to service change issues involving cottage hospitals. The guidance has been revised in partnership with the NHS, and other stakeholders, to reflect the experiences of involving the public in the consultation process, and revised material will be issued shortly.