Chamber and committees

Since 1997 the disposal ofpatients’ unwanted medicines has been carried out by community pharmacies underthe terms of local contracts negotiated by NHS boards and trusts and thecommunity pharmacy contractors in their area. The information requested is notheld by the Executive but may be available from individual Health boards and primarycare trusts.

Care of patients withcomorbidities forms an important part of chronic disease management.

We have national strategiesfor coronary heart disease, stroke, cancer and diabetes, implementation ofwhich takes account of the inter-relationship between these conditions and withothers. We have also encouraged strategic planning across NHSScotland to takeaccount of the growing number of older people in the population, as they willbe the group most likely to be affected by co-morbidities.

Community health partnershipswill have a particular focus on delivering improvements in the management ofchronic conditions. They will be particularly well placed to meet theincreasing challenge of tackling chronic disease, and provide an integratedapproach to care when patients present with more than one condition.

Currently the service isbeing piloted in NHS Ayrshire and Arran and NHS Tayside, where the eligibility rules areavailable.

The extension of the minorailment service throughout Scotland will be informed by both experience gained in thepilots (currently underway in NHS Ayrshire and Arran and NHS Tayside) and theon-going discussions with the Scottish Pharmaceutical General Council on thenew community pharmacy contract.

Items excluded from theminor ailments service are those which cannot be prescribed on the NHS and arelisted in Schedule 10 to the NHS (General Medical Services) (Scotland)Regulations 1995 No. 416 (S.29).

The Arbuthnott formuladetermines the increase in boards’ financial allocations on the basis of anoverall assessment of relative needs, taking into account the influences ofdemography, deprivation and remoteness. The planning and provision of servicesare matters for NHS boards within those resources, national guidelines andoverall priorities. The Ombudsman rejected the complaint and indicated thatthis was a resource allocation issue for the trust.

The Executive undertakes a numberof actions to ensure that the output from our further and higher educationinstitutions is appropriate to the workforce needs of NHSScotland. For example:the annual student nurse intake planning exercise undertakes thisresponsibility in respect of nurses and midwives and has resulted in year onyear increases to the number of student nurses and midwives in training; wehave provided funding for additional student places in areas such as radiographyand speech and language therapy, and are working in partnership with higher educationinstitutions, NHSScotland and the Scottish Higher Education Funding Council to support moretherapists in training; steps have been taken to increase dental undergraduateplaces to secure an increased annual output of 130 dental graduates; and areview of basic medical education in Scotland has been commissioned and is expectedto make recommendations shortly on numbers of medical students.

In general terms, the processfor assessing the undergraduate intakes and outputs required to supplyNHSScotland with the many different types of healthcare professionals it needsis complex. It is closely linked to issues of workforce planning anddevelopment, including retention and recruitment strategies and the developmentof multi-professional teams, and also to the alternative routes to trainingthat may be available. I therefore also refer Mr Davidson to the answer givento question S2W-6002 on 5 March 2004.

The developing regionalworkforce networks and their constituent NHS boards will advise on future staffingrequirements in their areas in response to the demand for services they areresponsible for providing at regional and local level. Based on this advice, theNational Workforce Committee will make recommendations on the future size andshape of the NHS workforce in Scotland.

The Executive aims todevelop its first national workforce plan by the end of March, to coincide withthe establishment of the new boards throughout Scotland. The plan will providea comprehensive position statement and scenarios for the future. The newboards, the regional service and workforce planning networks will be able todraw on the national plan to inform their planning processes in the longer termand, in turn, they will inform further development of the national plan. Inaddition, the Executive will be better able to ensure that the supply of staffmatches the service's demand for them.

Following the implementationof the package of measures at the A90/A937 south junction, which I referred toin my answer to S2W-29, the junction was monitored to ascertain theireffectiveness. It has been concluded that some alterations to the signing andlining would be beneficial in increasing driver awareness. These changes willbe implemented during February 2004. The junction will continue to be monitoredand a CCTV camera will be installed to assist in this process once a suitableelectricity supply has been provided.

Analysis of the accidentfigures for the A90/937 north junction confirms that no further investigationof the junction is necessary at this time. However, accident figures for thejunction will continue to be monitored.

Road safety at the A90/B9120junction is currently being investigated by BEAR Scotland Ltd and a report isdue to be submitted to the Scottish Executive by the end of January 2004. Itis expected that any remedial measures identified will be progressed during2004-05.

The operation of the HealthyLiving and Breathing Space helplines has transferred to NHS 24. We expect to allocatesome £700,000 to NHS 24 to cover the operation of these lines in 2004-05. Thiswill allow the Breathing Space service to be rolled-out nationally. No reductionin staff posts has resulted from these transfers.