Chamber and committees

In the period from 31 March 2007 to 31 March 2010 the number of dentists working in NHS general dental services has increased from 2,474 to 2,847.

Access to NHS general dental services in Scotland has increased, and 85% of general dental practices are regarded as NHS committed.

The substantial increase in the number of dentists working in NHS general dental services in Scotland has been achieved by the significant steps taken by the Scottish Government to address dental service recruitment and retention problems since 2007.

The Scottish Government has:

Invested £368.2 million in 2009-10 in NHS general dental services in Scotland;

Provided funding of £82 million, over two years, for the Primary and Community Care Premises Modernisation programme. The top priority for this funding is the development of new dental centres for general dental practitioners working in the NHS;

Delivered on a manifesto commitment to re-introduce the school based dental service, through the Childsmile programme currently being rolled out across Scotland; and

Delivered on a commitment to establish a third dental school in Scotland when the Aberdeen Dental School opened in October 2008.

The dental bursary (introduced in 2006) continues to be available to students studying in the three dental schools in Scotland.  Students can apply for a bursary of £4,000 per year on condition that they undertake to work in NHS dentistry in Scotland for up to five years following qualification. Approximately 580 students are currently in receipt of the bursary.

Financial assistance is also available through the revised Scottish Dental Access Initiative (SDAI) scheme to help dentists to establish or expand practices.

Significant financial incentives aimed at encouraging dentists to join NHS boards'' dental lists continue to be available. These include:

Remote Areas Allowance;

Vocational trainees payments;

Payments to dentists joining NHS board dental lists;

Commitment payments;

Grants to establish new or improve existing vocational training practices;

Reimbursement of either full or partial practice rental costs; and

Deprived areas enhancements.

All NHS boards in Scotland provide a child health programme. The universal programme for child health screening and surveillance is set out in Health for all Children 4: Guidance on Implementation in Scotland. This details the health checks that should be undertaken on entry to primary school, in Primary 7 and in secondary school. Children and young people with identified health needs will have a series of reviews throughout school.

Guidance on the Administration of Medicines in Schools was published in 2001 and states that an individual health care plan should be drawn up for every child or young person with health care needs to identify the level and type of support that will be needed at school, including information about response to emergency situations.

The Education (Additional Support for Learning) (Scotland) Act 2004 (as amended) places duties on education authorities to identify, meet and keep under review the additional support needs and duties on appropriate agencies, including NHS boards, to help an education authority in the exercise of its functions under it.

Education authorities, NHS boards and other appropriate agencies should work together to ensure the effective co-ordination and implementation of support to address a child''s or young person''s needs. In line with Getting it right for every child, where more than one agency or service is involved, the child or young person should have one integrated plan in place, which may be made up of different elements, such as the educational or health plans required by the individual.

We do not collate information centrally on how many pupils receive individual health plans.

In line with our manifesto commitment, the Scottish Government has increased access to sexual health information and advice services across Scotland. Additional funding of £1 million over the years 2008-09 to 2009-10 was provided to help achieve this. As agreed with stakeholders, half of the additional funding for 2008-09 was allocated to NHS boards to assist them to increase access to accurate sexual health information, particularly in rural areas. This funding has been used to create or update local websites and service information, improve public access to sexual health websites and support the provision of information by voluntary organisations.

In 2009 the Scottish Government launched the Sexual Health Scotland website, which provides information, help and advice. This can be accessed at:

http://www.sexualhealthscotland.co.uk.

The Scottish Government also provides funding to a number of voluntary organisations throughout Scotland which provide independent sexual health and advice services.

In addition, the availability of local drop-in services for young people, offering general health advice, chlamydia testing, pregnancy testing and condoms has increased in line with our National Outcomes 2008-11. The majority of areas are working towards an integrated approach to providing accessible sexual health services for young people, either within school by the school nursing staff, or outwith school, with an emphasis on targeting vulnerable groups of young people. Most nurses working in schools deliver health education programmes on puberty followed by age appropriate information on positive sexual health, including contraception and STIs within secondary schools. Where chlamydia testing or pregnancy testing is included within the health service, the process of setting up clinics has been done in full consultation with teachers, parents, young people and the local authority.

With regard to improved health outcomes, it is too early to measure. However, research suggests that young people require access to information and advice in order for them to take responsible decisions on sexual health and relationships.

NHS National Services Scotland (NSS) centrally record the total number of grievances that have been lodged by employees. NSS do not currently break these figures down further into the various categories, such as harassment and bullying. The figures provided below are the total number of grievance cases lodged per financial year since 2007-08.

2007-08: 12

2008-09: 38

2009-10: 17

2010-11: not reported as yet for the current financial year

NHS National Services Scotland respond to all harassment and bullying allegations under their harassment and bullying policy, last published in August 2010. The policy states that all allegations of harassment and bullying should be investigated.

The following table provides details of progress against this action.

NHS Board Area	Details of Local Service
NHS Highland	Inverness local centre launched in 2005 and co-located with local out-of-hours services and the Scottish Ambulance Service (SAS) Emergency Medical Dispatch Centre (EMDC).
NHS Grampian	Service delivered from within Aberdeen Regional Centre.
NHS Tayside	Dundee local centre launched in 2005 and co-located with local out-of-hours services.
NHS Lanarkshire	East Kilbride local centre launched in 2005 and co-located with local out-of-hours services.
NHS Ayrshire and Arran	Kilmarnock local centre launched in 2005 and co-located with local out-of-hours services.
NHS Dumfries and Galloway	Dumfries local centre launched in 2005 and located within Dumfries and Galloway Royal Infirmary.
NHS Fife	Scottish Emergency Dental Service (SEDS) launched in 2007 based in Glenrothes. Glenrothes local centre launched in October 2009, co-located with SEDS.
NHS Lothian	Dedicated NHS 24 nursing resource located in South Queensferry Regional Centre to respond to Lothian based callers, launched in May 2006. The SAS EMDC has been co-located at the centre since 2010.
NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde	Glasgow local centre launched in June 2008, co-located with Glasgow Out-of Hours Service and Scottish Ambulance Service EMDC in Cardonald.
NHS Borders	Melrose local centre launched in May 2009 and located within Borders General Hospital.
NHS Forth Valley	Falkirk local centre launched in December 2008 and co-located with local out-of-hours services.
NHS Orkney	Local centre was successfully launched in June 2010 within Balfour Hospital.
NHS Shetland	Working with NHS Shetland and planning to launch a local service in Spring 2011.
NHS Western Isles	Working with NHS Western Isles and planning to launch a local service in Summer 2011.

The aim of developing local service is to build NHS 24 capacity, aid the recruitment of specialist nurses and improve the performance of the NHS 24 service. These centres support the development of close relationships with the host territorial health boards and aim to improve patient satisfaction levels through better local service delivery. They afford the opportunity for flexible working and improved work life balance for the nursing workforce within these localities.

NHS 24 has also worked closely with the Scottish Ambulance Service in recent years and is now co-located on three sites with their emergency medical dispatch centres at Inverness, South Queensferry and Cardonald.

NHS 24 will complete the programme of local development this year with the establishment of services with NHS Shetland and NHS Western Isles.

Between 2007 and 2010, the number of physiotherapists in NHSScotland has increased by 4.3% and the number of allied health professions (AHPs) has increased by 7.2% over the same period.

The Scottish Government has supported a range of recruitment and retention measures. The Workload Measurement and Workforce Planning Programme which examined the existing AHP workforce to ensure it was being used to its full potential and set in place methods, tools and intelligence to develop workforce methodology and practice. These have been rolled out to NHS boards. A number of other recruitment and retention measures for AHPs have also been taken forward focussing on developing appropriate skill mix, succession planning, leadership development and continuous professional development.

Implementation of the Framework for Adult Rehabilitation, which is being taken forward by all NHS boards in Scotland, highlights the important role AHPs play in the rehabilitation of older people, people with long term conditions and those needing support to return to work after illness or injury. This framework, together with the increase in the number of AHPs, has delivered significant improvements for service users and their families or carers. The framework may also lead to the need for additional AHPs and their support staff in the future.

The Scottish Government is committed to a service that works in serving the best interests of NHS patients. The first step of this government was to reverse the decision to close accident and emergency departments in Ayr and Monklands Hospitals. Since then, the Scottish Government has invested in protecting children''s cancer units in Aberdeen and Edinburgh, neurosurgery centres and services in the Vale of Leven and Inverclyde. All of these decisions have been taken in line with our presumption against centralisation.

This is a matter for NHS boards to review as part of their travel planning process.

NHS boards are required to follow Health Facilities Scotland guidance document SHTM 07-03: Transport management and car parking which advises NHS boards that an effective travel plan will address the following:

employee transport to and from work;

employee transport during work time;

patient and visitor travel and access to sites;

public transport availability;

use and type of fleet vehicles;

deliveries and contractors;

peripatetic/community visits;

travel and subsistence rates and rewarding small-engine cars or cycle mileage;

the needs of disabled people with a physical, mental and/or visual impairment, and

the needs of patients, employees, visitors and may even address the needs of visitors accompanied by young children.

NHS Circular CEL 38 (2008) confirmed that charges for car parking at NHSScotland operated car parks were abolished with effect from 31 December 2008.