Chamber and committees

I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-32640 on 16 April 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.

This information is not held centrally.

However, we are working closely with NHS Education for Scotland (NES) and NHS boards to develop a range of initiatives to support the development around our commitment to expand and increase access to psychological therapies to meet patient''s needs better and sooner.

We have established a Psychological Therapies Group to oversee the implementation of the advice in The Matrix, a tool for NHS boards to use in reviewing available evidence and in considering which psychological interventions might best be used to meet local need and demand, its continuous updating, and to expand its coverage to other key priority areas in mental health.

In collaboration with Skills for Health, NES has also produced psychological therapy competence frameworks to ensure that training equips staff to delivery therapy safely and effectively. We have also funded NES to support the training of a range of staff in a number of evidenced based therapeutic approaches.

During 2010-11 the Scottish Government will work with NHS boards to develop an access target for psychological therapies for inclusion in HEAT in 2011-12. There was no such target under the previous administration.

I welcome Audit Scotland''s Review of orthopaedic services and the Scottish Government Health Directorates have already begun to implement several of the recommendations. We have established an Efficiency & Productivity programme, closely linked to our Quality Strategy, to improve productivity and the efficiency of services. Progress is already being made by shifting the balance of care to more community and team based services, improving benchmarking information and supporting boards to further increase rates of same day surgery.

The increasing demand on orthopaedic services for joint replacements has been significant. From 2000 to 2008, the number of knee replacements increased by 106% and hip replacements increased by 43%. The Scottish Government has continued to increase investment in orthopaedic services with £370 million dedicated towards this area last year alone and this report recognises that considerable improvements have been made. An area of significant improvement is in waiting times. NHS boards have exceeded their waiting time targets by effectively meeting the March 2010 targets in March 2009. This is a substantial achievement by NHS staff.

Service improvements related to orthopaedic services are being taken forward by the national and local NHS board 18 Weeks Improvement Teams and the focus of this activity will be targeted at the key areas within this report.

Scottish Enterprise is responsible for allocating any bonus payments.

I will ask its Chief Executive to write to you in this regard.

This information is not held centrally.

The Licensing (Scotland) Act 2005 introduced a duty for licensing boards to assess whether there is overprovision of licensed premises or licensed premises of a particular description in any locality within the board''s area. By virtue of the act, it is for licensing boards to determine what constitutes overprovision in any given area.

Guidance to licensing boards concerning operation of the Licensing (Scotland) Act 2005, including overprovision, was agreed by Parliament under the affirmative resolution procedure and published by the previous administration

This information is not held centrally.

NHS boards are given a formula capital allocation and it is for them to identify their capital spending requirements and prioritise these in line with available resources. NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde have been notified of a formula capital allocation of £83.887 million for 2010-11. NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde has not yet completed formal approval processes for the capital plan for 2010-11 and beyond. The plan is due to be discussed at the NHS board''s performance review group on 15 may 2010 and will be available thereafter.

No savings are anticipated.