Chamber and committees

All members of NHS boards are expected to carry out their responsibilities in line with the board member’s Code of Conduct surrounding any potential conflicts of interest and any conflict of interests would be recorded on the Register of Interests. Further details on these can be found on the Healthcare Improvement Scotland website via the following link:

http://www.healthcareimprovementscotland.org/about_us/our_board.aspx.

The Regulation of Care Award is a qualification required by inspectors regulating social care services. Inspectors working in the Healthcare Environment Inspectorate are required to hold appropriate qualifications, but the Regulation of Care Award is not a requirement.

The Healthcare Environment Inspectorate, which has been part of Healthcare Improvement Scotland since 2011, is independent of the Scottish Government.

These details can be found in Part 6 Health Care: Scrutiny and Improvement of the Public Services Reform Act 2010, a link to which is as follows:

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/asp/2010/8/contents

A key function of any inspection report is to give public assurance on the quality of care provided. The Healthcare Environment Inspectorate has a robust quality assurance process to ensure reports are accurate; therefore all reports will be subject to amendment during that quality assurance process to ensure the final published report is factually accurate.

The Cabinet Secretary and I have commissioned a project to determine the scope and budget of developing an intensive pain management services in Scotland. Budgets to fund this service will be decided and allocated once this exercise has been completed.

Both the Cabinet Secretary and myself have indicated that an intensive pain management service should be developed and delivered within Scotland. I would be pleased to keep the member and Parliament updated on the progress of this work as it is further developed.

I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-13679 on 28 March 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/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx.

The National Confidential Alert Line will run as a pilot from 2 April 2013 until 31 March 2014. The contract allows for a three month extension.

The Alert Line service, which will be provided by Public Concern at Work (PCaW), will be independent of government. The principles for operation state that PCaW will encourage callers to raise their concerns with their employer in the first instance. PCaW will also support callers to pursue their case with the appropriate regulator when they consider this to be the most suitable course of action.

PCaW will provide 6 and 12 month evaluation reports. These will include a breakdown of calls received by type and NHS board (where the caller is prepared to share this), a review of the trends identified in call patterns and recommendations for next steps. Should the evaluation demonstrate that the Alert Line is considered to be a valuable addition to the support available to NHS staff in Scotland, my intention would be to make the service permanent.

No incidences of bullying and harassment were raised at the NHS 24 and Scottish Ambulance Service Annual Reviews.