I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-12752 on 28 February 2013. 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/Apps2/MAQASearch/QAndMSearch.aspx.

The unscheduled care action plan will be monitored using a small number of new and existing indicators. The unscheduled care expert group is currently considering the unscheduled care data development projects underway in Scotland. New indicators will be developed through this work and these will be used alongside existing indicators (for example on 4 hour access to emergency departments) to monitor the action plan.

Emergency Departments (EDs) were defined by the British Association of Emergency Medicine (now the College of Emergency Medicine) in The Way Forward (2005) as “those hospitals with new patient attendances of greater than 40,000 per annum.

The principles for EDs in this type of hospital are as follows: Departments must have immediate access to the key supporting specialties to allow an ED to function safely. The following should be available on site: intensive care, anaesthetics, acute medicine, general surgery, orthopaedic trauma. There should be rapid easy access to child health (preferably on-site), 24-hour access to imaging (including CT scanning) and laboratory services available on site. In these circumstances, such departments can provide high quality emergency care around the clock for any patient presenting to the department. For those patients requiring regional centre expertise, then safe stabilisation and transfer protocols must be in place. These principles apply to such hospitals whether in metropolitan, urban or rural areas.”

In addition, ISD Scotland has historically classified Emergency Departments as either core or non-core sites. Core sites include all Emergency Departments within large hospitals. It is important to note that, according to this classification, some core sites are large minor injuries units, such as the Western General Hospital in Edinburgh.

Notes: Forth Valley Royal Hospital opened during 2011-12 - attendances based on partial year.

This is additional funding to the territorial NHS boards and will be met from efficiencies/reprioritisation within our central portfolio budgets and will fund around ten full time consultants. NHS boards will be allocated £1,000,000 in 2013-14, £500,000 in 2014-15 and £250,000 in 2015-16.

The Scottish Government has supported NHS boards to increase the number of consultants working in Scotland’s accident and emergency departments, with the number of consultants increasing from 75.8 consultants whole time equivalent (WTE) in September 2006 up to 144.4 consultants (WTE) in September 2012.

Over and above this additional funding, NHS boards will continue to review their projections for their consultant workforce going forward.

The Scottish Government will announce its position on the independent evaluation on health board elections and alternative pilots once it has considered the information contained in the report.

A Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) of National Planning Framework 3 is being undertaken. As required by the Environmental Assessment (Scotland) Act 2005, this will identify the likely significant environmental effects arising from the Framework, and set out mitigation measures to avoid or reduce significant adverse effects, where possible and appropriate. A Habitats Regulations Appraisal (HRA) is also being undertaken, to identify and avoid adverse effects on the integrity of European protected sites and species. The SEA Environmental Report and a Draft HRA Record, setting out the findings of these environmental assessments, will be published for public consultation alongside the Main Issues Report.

The Scottish Government has received the independent evaluation on health board elections and alternative pilots and will take this issue in to account as it considers its position.

The average salary of a consultant working in NHS Scotland is £87,500. This is based on the latest figures available for the financial year April 2011 to March 2012.

It is not possible to provide the average salary of a consultant working in an NHS accident and emergency department as this information is not held centrally.

Further information on Workforce Statistics can be found on the website at: www.isdscotland.org/workforce.

The Scottish Government will publish its position on the independent evaluation on health board elections and alternative pilots once it has considered the information contained in the report.

Therefore, the information requested is not held centrally.