Chamber and committees

Approximately £50-75k has been identified for developing a web-based service that will provide a more accessible service targeted at working age people in a collaboration between NHS24 and the Centre for Healthy Working Lives. This is expected to go live in 2015. The remainder of the £133k budget has been provided to programmes delivering targeted support for people in communities with high levels of inequalities in health.

Health checks for people reaching their 40th Birthday were introduced as a pilot in Grampian in May 2010 and rolled out across Scotland in February 2011. However, due to the poor level of take up and lack of evidence of improvements in health outcomes the programme was considered, on the basis of clinical advice, not to be delivering value for money and the programme was discontinued from the end of March 2013.

The performance measure is monitored through results of an access survey, which directly measures patients’ experience of getting access to their General Practice, within 48 hours, on the basis of clinical need. The percentages shown are calculated from the results of national surveys of GP practice patients and reflect the views of randomly sampled patients who responded to the survey in each year. They are not based on an evaluation of all appointment records/all patients in each practice.

Latest available figures, published in May 2012, show that 92.6% of patients were offered the opportunity to see or speak to a doctor or nurse within 48 hours – above our target of 90%. 85% of patients were able to see or speak to a doctor or nurse within two working days, 8% were offered an appointment, but the person they wanted to see was not available or the time was not convenient and 7% were unable to get access.

Part 2 of Schedule 5 to the 2004 General Medical Service Regulations sets out the requirements that GP Practices and Health Boards must follow in managing patient lists, including closure of patients lists.

Boards should find ways to either support the practice to once again take on patients or to agree a formal, usually time limited, closure, informing other local practices in the area. This safeguards patient access and allows the Board to monitor the situation more fully and to take any further appropriate action.

NHS Boards have provided the following information.

Any woman who is worried, or is experiencing adverse side effects, should contact their surgeon or GP for advice.

An expert group is developing a revised patient information and consent leaflet that will go into use in NHSScotland and new care pathways for those women who decide to go ahead with a mesh procedure and for those who have suffered complications.

The Chief Medical Officer wrote to all GPs, through Medical Directors, on 11 July 2013 and 20 December 2013 regarding the investigation and management of patients being treated for urinary incontinence and pelvic organ prolapse, including the management of patients with vaginal mesh and tape products. The Scottish Government will be writing again to Medical Directors once the expert group has concluded its work developing the documents and new care pathways.

The Scottish Government will write to NHS Inform following the publication of these documents. NHS Inform provides a health information service and is able to respond to enquiries regarding transvaginal mesh surgery. They can be contacted online at www.nhsinform.co.uk or by using their helpline number: 0800224488.

Regulation of medical devices, including implants, is a reserved matter dealt with by the UK Government.

I have written to both the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) and the European Commission asking that they urgently consider the US Food and Drug Administration’s proposed reclassification of surgical mesh for treatment of pelvic organ prolapse.

The European Commission is seeking further research and expert opinion. I have asked for assurance that it will act quickly once the research is available to reclassify these devices if the evidence points to that requirement.

The budget allocation to NHS 24 for the delivery of the Life Begins at 40 programme was £670,000 between October 2010 and December 2012.

In 2014-15, part of the budget has been allocated to redeveloping the website to provide a more accessible service targeted at working age people in collaboration with the Scottish Centre for Healthy Working Lives. This is expected to go live in 2015. Additional funding has been provided to programmes providing targeted support for people in communities with high levels of inequalities in health.

NHS Inform provides a health information service which is able to respond to enquiries regarding transvaginal mesh surgery. They can be contacted online or by telephone.

The Scottish Government will write to NHS Inform following publication of the patient information booklet, currently being developed by the expert working group set up to address the issues affecting women who have undergone transvaginal mesh surgery.

This Government believes in preventative action on health.

We are targeting scarce resources on those most at risk. We have introduced Anticipatory Care Plans through the GP contract and have launched the Links Worker pilot programme in selected Deep End Primary Care practices to support those with complex and multiple needs.

Work is being taken forward by NHS 24 and the Scottish Centre for Healthy Working Lives to develop a web-based resource that will be targeted at people of working age providing advice on health and wellbeing as well as on returning to work from sickness absence.

The Chief Medical Officer wrote to all GPs, through Medical Directors, on 11 July 2013 and 20 December 2013 regarding the investigation and management of patients being treated for urinary incontinence and pelvic organ prolapse, including the management of patients with vaginal mesh and tape products.