Chamber and committees

The terms of service for contractors providing NHS pharmaceutical services are set out in the NHS (Pharmaceutical Services) (Scotland) Regulations 2009, as amended. The principal Regulations can be found at:

www.legislation.gov.uk/ssi/2009/183/contents/made

The action which NHS boards can take against contractors who fail to comply with their terms of service are set out in the NHS (Discipline Committees) (Scotland) Regulations 2006, as amended. The principal Regulations can be found at:

www.legislation.gov.uk/ssi/2006/330/contents/made

Complaints against NHS contractors can be made through the NHS complaints procedure. Further information, and details of the Charter of Patient Rights and Responsibilities, can be found on the Health Rights Information Scotland website at:

www.hris.org.uk/index.aspx?o=1025

Before issuing a notice to cease all or most of its dispensing, NHS boards must consider whether or not their decision would lead to patients having difficulty in obtaining drugs from a pharmacist or another dispensing practice in the local area because of distance, inadequacy of means of communication or other exceptional circumstances.

If this doesn’t apply, paragraph 44(3)(b) of Schedule 5 to The National Health Service (General Medical Services Contracts) (Scotland) Regulations 2004 obliges health boards to give the dispensing practice reasonable notice that the supply of drugs, medicines and appliances is to be discontinued.

Applications relating to community pharmacies are considered by NHS boards’ Pharmacy Practices Committees (PPCs) under provisions set out in the NHS (Pharmaceutical Services) (Scotland) Regulations 2009, as amended. PPCs will consider each application on an individual basis in accordance with the terms of the Regulations, taking into account the specific factors and local circumstances relating to that application.

Further amendments to the Regulations came into force on 28 June 2014 and explicitly require PPCs to consider the likely long-term sustainability of any proposed pharmacy in their deliberations. The Scottish Statutory Instrument can be found at:

www.legislation.gov.uk/ssi/2014/148/contents/made

In addition, the Scottish Government issued guidance to NHS boards alongside the amendments on 30 June 2014, which can be found at:

www.sehd.scot.nhs.uk/pca/PCA2014(P)15.pdf

The new approach by the Scottish Medicines Consortium, including an additional opportunity to offer a patient access scheme, was put in place for submissions received after noon on 7 April 2014. The first decisions made under this new approach were published in October 2014. A review of the operation of the new process, as recommended in the Task and Finish Group Report, will be undertaken in 2015.

NHS boards’ reporting arrangements are described in the answers to S4W-23317 and S4W-23318 on 3 December 2014.

NHS National Services Scotland’s Information Services Division publishes an annual report on NHS complaints statistics, which is available online at:

http://www.isdscotland.org/Health-Topics/Quality-Indicators/NHS-Complaints-Statistics/

The Scottish Public Services Ombudsman (SPSO) lays investigation reports before Parliament, in some cases that meet their public interest criteria. They also publish an annual report on SPSO’s performance, and a health sector specific report.

The Scottish Government has no additional plans to report to Parliament on the operation of sections 14 and 15 of the Patient Rights (Scotland) Act 2011.

All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at:

http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx

Each health board and local authority must include within their integration scheme a description of how they will manage complaints, and the process by which a service user may make a complaint, in relation to service delivery under integration. The integration scheme is subject to ministerial approval. The model integration scheme provides guidance on the completion of the integration scheme.

Policy and guidance on NHS continuing healthcare is different between Scotland and England and the data is not therefore comparable.

Since the State Hospital stopped admitting female patients in 2009, 21 female patients have been sent to England for treatment. Of these, only a very small number (actual number suppressed to protect patient confidentiality) were sent to a high-secure facility. This figure does not include those patients who were being repatriated to England.

Information on costs is held by each individual health board and is not provided to the Scottish Government as a matter of course.

The Scottish Government has provided funding since 2012-13 to support NHS Education for Scotland and the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman to develop and deliver a suite of learning, education and workforce development opportunities for NHS staff and other NHS service providers, in order to equip them to respond effectively to feedback, comments, concerns and complaints in line with the requirements of the Patient Rights (Scotland) Act 2011. These include masterclasses, e-learning modules, workshops, a webinar, a leaflet and series of factsheets. The Scottish Government is also supporting the Person-Centered Health and Care Collaborative to spread best practice in person-centered care, with a focus on learning from all types of feedback.

The Patient Rights (Feedback, Comments, Concerns and Complaints) (Scotland) Directions 2012 require NHS boards to gather, review and report information on complaints from their own service and health service providers on a quarterly basis, with a view to identifying areas of concern and any actions that could be taken to improve services.

The directions also require boards to produce the annual reports outlined in the answer to question S4W-23317 on 3 December 2014.

All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at:

http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx