Chamber and committees

Since 1 February 2010 the Scottish Resilience Development Service has delivered multi-agency training events for strategic and tactical managers in responder organisations across Scotland on the following dates:

Month	Course Dates
February 2010	3
March 2010	30
April 2010	21 and 27
May 2010	6 x 2, 24 and 25
June 2010	7, 8, 10, 15 and 30
July 2010	1, 5, 21 and 29
August 2010	6, 9, 13, 19 x 2, 24 and 25
September 2010	1, 13, 14, 20, 29 and 30
October 2010	22
November 2010	4, 5, 10 x 2,11, 16, 17, 23 and 25
December 2010	9 and 15
January 2011	14, 19, 20, 26 and 27

These training events provide attendees with the skills required to respond to emergencies irrespective of the cause but scenarios based around severe weather and flooding are included in the training material.

The Scottish Medicines Consortium (SMC) assesses newly licensed medicines or treatments for clinical and cost-effectiveness and issues advice to NHSScotland.

SMC decisions are made by a panel of experts from different fields including clinicians (medical and pharmacy), public partners, health economists, NHS board Chief Executives and the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry.

The SMC does not undertake formal collaboration with any other health technology bodies, either in undertaking assessments or in sharing or developing methodology.

The SMC operates independently from the Scottish Government. Further information about the membership and role of the SMC can be found on their website at www.scottishmedicines.org.uk.

The information is not centrally available. However, published information showing whole time equivalent of school nurses by NHS board at 30 September 2007 to 2010 is available at :

www.isdscotland.org/isd/servlet/FileBuffer?namedFile=Nursing_and_midwifery%202010.xls&pContentDispositionType=attachment.

Table 1 shows the number of practices for which total Quality and Outcomes Framework (QOF) payments for 2009-10 (a) increased by 1% or more, (b) changed by less than 1% and (c) decreased by 1% or more relative to 2008-09. No practice received exactly the same QOF payment in both years. The table is based on data for 1,003 Scottish general practices that were open in both years and for which detailed comparable payments data are held centrally. For context, in each of these years the total number of GP practices in Scotland was around 1,015.

Table 2 shows the number of practices for which QOF payments associated specifically with the GP patient experience survey for 2009-10 (indicators PE7 and PE8) (a) increased by 1% or more, (b) changed by less than 1% and (c) decreased by 1% or more relative to 2008-09. In 78% of practices the part of their QOF payment that related directly to the GP patient survey results was higher in 2009-10 than it was for 2008-09.

Overall changes in payments made to practices for the 2009-10 year relative to 2008-09 were the product of a number of changes made to the QOF indicator set, the rules used to calculate payments for indicators, and the baseline number of pounds available for each QOF point achieved, as well as variations in practice QOF achievements from year to year.

The results of the GP patient experience survey 2009/10 are published at:

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Health/GPPatientExperienceSurvey

The results of the GP patient access survey 2008/09 are published at:

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Health/NHS-Scotland/Survey

Detailed information on QOF achievements for Scottish general practices is published annually at www.isdscotland.org/qof.

Table 1. Change to Total QOF Payments Between 2008-09 and 2009-10 ^1,2

NHS Board	Number of Practices1	(a) Increased by 1% or More	(b) Changed by Less Than 1%	(c) Decreased by 1% or More
Ayrshire and Arran	59	46	6	7
Borders	25	16	3	6
Dumfries and Galloway	35	23	4	8
Fife	57	38	5	14
Forth Valley	56	26	12	18
Grampian	84	28	9	47
Greater Glasgow and Clyde	267	128	28	111
Highland	102	54	10	38
Lanarkshire	98	48	15	35
Lothian	116	29	22	65
Orkney	13	4	0	9
Shetland	10	4	0	6
Tayside	69	33	15	21
Western Isles	12	11	0	1
Scotland	1,003	488	129	386

Table 2. Change to QOF Payments Directly Relating to the GP patient survey (Indicators PE7 and PE8) between 2008-09 and 2009-10 ^1,2

NHS Board	Number of Practices1	(a) Increased by 1% or More	(b) Changed by Less Than 1%	(c) Decreased by 1% or More
Ayrshire and Arran	59	47	8	3
Borders	25	19	5	1
Dumfries and Galloway	35	30	5	0
Fife	57	48	7	2
Forth Valley	56	41	8	4
Grampian	84	72	5	5
Greater Glasgow and Clyde	267	207	36	23
Highland	102	67	21	14
Lanarkshire	98	77	9	10
Lothian	116	100	9	7
Orkney	13	7	3	3
Shetland	10	7	2	1
Tayside	69	55	8	5
Western Isles	12	5	5	2
Scotland	1,003	782	131	80

Notes

1. Based on data for 1,003 Scottish general practices that were open in both years and for which detailed comparable payments data are held centrally. In each of these years the total number of GP practices in Scotland was around 1,015.

2. These figures do not reflect any local or national adjustments that may have been made to practice payments after QOF achievement data for each year were published at www.isdscotland.org/qof.

There are currently no plans to establish a national managed clinical network for the treatment of severe and complex obesity.

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

Prevalence of smoking within prisons is recorded as part of the prisoner survey. In 2008, prevalence was 79% overall; in 2009, the figure was 76%. The next survey takes place later this year.

Stop smoking services are available for prisoners. Since 2006 over 1,500 prisoners have made quit attempts, with a success rate similar to community rates.

The following table shows information on the number of bariatric surgery procedures undertaken, where a main diagnosis of obesity has been recorded, by NHS board of residence in the financial year 2009-10.

NHS Board of Residence	2009-10
Ayrshire and Arran	33
Borders	1
Dumfries and Galloway	-
Fife	4
Forth Valley	1
Grampian	15
Greater Glasgow and Clyde	34
Highland	12
Lanarkshire	23
Lothian	35
Orkney Islands	1
Shetland Islands	1
Tayside	-
Western Isles	-
Scotland	160

Source: ISD Scotland (SMR01).

 

For patients discharged in the year ending 31 March 2010, there were 51 acute occupied bed days in NHS Forth Valley connected to the diagnosis of assault by a sharp object.

The smoking ban has undoubtedly reduced exposure to second-hand smoke among children in Scotland, because of greater awareness among their parents about the risks of second-hand smoke. The Scottish Government has not undertaken any formal assessment of the effects on children of passive smoking in cars to date. However, this specific topic is to be considered by the Research and Evaluation sub-group of the Scottish Ministerial Working Group on Tobacco Control which has been set up to identify gaps in research knowledge in relation to tobacco control.

NHS Health Scotland on behalf of the Scottish Government will shortly be publishing guidance which will support and encourage a move towards smoke-free environments within mental health settings at a pace which suits the services'' particular needs and circumstances.

The guidance offers a step-by-step approach to support the process of engagement with all concerned, including staff and patients who are most directly affected and which will ultimately lead to a reduction in smoking.

NHS Health Scotland will undertake a one-off exercise which will provide a snapshot of the status of establishments at the time of the introduction of the guidance. Measures will also be put in place to review progress over time.