Chamber and committees

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.

The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring that parents and guardians are given the opportunity to engage fully and meaningfully in the strategic review of learning provision for children and young people with complex additional support needs. The secretariat to the review will shortly be writing to the parents or guardians of pupils attending independent, grant-aided and local authority special schools with details of how they can both be kept informed of the review''s progress and engage with its working groups.

Communication activity will include a dedicated website for the review, opportunities for anyone with an interest in the review to register an e-mail address for updates and a regular blog from the review chair on the engage for education website. Both the strategic and working groups will consider how to ensure parents and pupils are meaningfully engaged in the review, and will involve parental stakeholders and representatives as necessary. The Scottish Government National Parental Involvement Coordinator is a member of the Strategic Review Group and will provide advice.

This information is not held centrally.

The Scottish Government does not have a role in this area. The Standards in Scotland''s Schools etc (Scotland) Act 2000 includes many provisions to make sure that parents are consulted on key issues at both school and education authority level.

In addition, the Schools (Consultation) (Scotland) Act 2010 sets out the list of relevant proposals that must be consulted on by local authorities in line with the act''s provisions. However, this legislation only applies to schools managed by local authorities.

The Schools (Consultation) (Scotland) Act 2010 sets out the consultation process that local authorities must adhere to when proposing the closure of a school, a school-based nursery and a stand alone local authority nursery school. As part of their statutory duties, local authorities must prepare an educational benefits statement which includes its assessment of the likely effects of the proposal on all of the affected pupils. There is however, no requirement to produce separate statements for different age groups.

The Scottish Government introduced two Directed Enhanced Services, Extended Hours Access for GP Practices and Nursing Provision for Extended Hours Access released on 1 April 2008 and 25 June 2008 and these are currently ongoing.

These services provided financial support for GP practices to provide pre-booked appointments to their patients outwith the recognised core hours of 8.00am to 6.30pm.

In addition, many GP practices demonstrated flexibility by running weekend clinics during 2009 and 2010 to deliver the pandemic and seasonal flu vaccines.