Chamber and committees

The number of Breathing Space staff employed in each of the years (a) 2007-08, (b) 2008-09 and (c) 2009-10 is listed in the following table:

	March 2007		March 2008
Skillset	Head Count	Whole-Time Equivalent (WTE)	Head Count	WTE
Special Helpline Advisors	22	10.35	32	13.03
Breathing Space Service Operations Supervisors	3	2.81	3	2.71
Breathing Space Service Manager	1	1	1	1.00
Breathing Space Development Officer	0	0	1	1.00
Breathing Space National Coordinator	1	1	1	1.00
Breathing Space Support Officer	1	1	1	1.00
British Sign Language workers	-	-	-	-
Total	28	16.16	39	19.74

 

	March 2009		March 2010
Skillset	Head Count	WTE	Head Count	WTE
Special Helpline Advisors	25	11.57	21	9.28
Breathing Space Service Operations Supervisors	3	2.81	3	2.81
Breathing Space Service Manager	1	1.00	1	1.00
Breathing Space Development Officer	1	1.00	1	1.00
Breathing Space National Coordinator	1	1.00	1	1.00
Breathing Space Support Officer	1	1.00	1	1.00
British Sign Language workers	-	-	2	0.40
Total	32	18.38	30	16.49

Note: In March 2010 a recruitment exercise took place and from this a further 2.4 WTE took up post in June 2010.

Currently an average of 7% of calls to Breathing Space are unanswered due to the caller hanging up.

Breathing Space is currently receiving and answering significantly more calls than this time last year. For example, in July 2010 Breathing Space answered 5,885 calls compared to 3,341 in July 2009, which is a 76% increase.

At the end of 2009, some Breathing Space Staff left, which temporarily reduced capacity available. Shift patterns of the remaining staff were reviewed to ensure that resource was aligned to incoming call demand patterns. This combined with Supervisors also taking calls contributed to more calls being answered.

A recruitment campaign took place in March 2010 to recruit a further 2.4 whole-time equivalent to bring the service back to previous staffing levels. Those staff started in June 2010. NHS24/Breathing Space continually reviews its workforce and capacity planning, and is now considering how the service needs to adapt to any increase in call demand approaching the winter season.

Annual funding provided to Breathing Space is as follows:

2007-08

£905,000 total funding received:

£680,000 Scottish Government funding allocation for Breathing Space

£225,000 NHS 24 funding (internal allocation).

2008-09

£1,025,000 total funding received:

£800,000 Scottish Government funding allocation for Breathing Space

£225,000 NHS 24 funding (internal allocation).

2009-10

£1,061,000 total funding received:

£825, 000 Scottish Government funding allocation for Breathing Space

£10,000 Scottish Government funding allocation for the Deaf Connections British Sign Language programme

£226,000 NHS 24 funding (internal allocation).

2010-11

£1,043,000 total funding received:

£825,000 Scottish Government funding allocation for Breathing Space

£218,000 NHS 24 funding (internal allocation).

The number of staff currently employed within Breathing Space is as follows:

Skillset	Headcount	Whole-Time Equivalent (WTE)
Special Helpline Advisors	30	11.48
Breathing Space Service Operations Supervisors	3	2.81
Breathing Space Service Manager	1	1
Breathing Space Development Officer	1	1
Breathing Space National Coordinator	1	1
Breathing Space Support Officer	1	1
Total	37	18.29

 

Plus: 2 (0.4 WTE) British Sign Language (BSL) workers for Deaf pilot ending in November 2010.

I refer the member to the answer to question S3W 37527 on 30 August 2010. 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/Business/PQA/Default.aspx.

The Vale of Leven Hospital Inquiry is an independent inquiry. The procedure and conduct of an inquiry is determined by the inquiry''s chairman in accordance with his/her duties under the Inquiries Act 2005. Scottish ministers are therefore unable to comment as to the reasons for the delay in reconvening oral hearings. For further information please contact the secretary of the Vale of Leven Hospital Inquiry Team at [email protected].

The Vale of Leven Hospital Inquiry is an independent inquiry and any decision about the reconvening of oral hearings is a matter for the inquiry. For further information please contact the Secretary of the Vale of Leven Hospital Inquiry Team at [email protected].

The Vale of Leven Hospital Inquiry is an independent inquiry. The procedure and conduct of an Inquiry is determined by the inquiry''s chairman in accordance with his/her duties under the Inquiries Act 2005. Under the terms of reference the inquiry is due to report to me by May 2011. For further information please contact the secretary of the Vale of Leven Hospital Inquiry Team at [email protected].

The content, standards and competencies required within the GP training curriculum are specified by the General Medical Council, in consultation with the Royal College and educational providers. It is a competency-based curriculum which, over several years, is designed to ensure a GP gains a diverse range of experiences and specialist knowledge in practice settings in order to practice effectively and safely.

While intermediate care is not a specific element within the GP curriculum, its many facets are covered within some of the core and essential skills a GP will need to demonstrate in order to satisfy the standards and behaviours prescribed by the GMC.