Chamber and committees

NHS health boards have indicated that all children aged over six months and under five years have now been offered vaccination against influenza A (H1N1). Health boards have been encouraged to continue to vaccinate any eligible children who come forward for vaccination until 31 March 2010.

The short-life working group has not yet reported. The revised template is, however, broadly complete and the short-life working group will shortly be consulting infection control experts and Patient Focus Public Involvement groups. The purpose of this consultation process is to ensure that the revised HAIRT is suitable for all NHS boards and is structured in a way which can be understood by the general public. It would not be appropriate for me to advise on the content of the revised HAIRT until this important consultation process is complete. The timing for rolling-out the revised template to NHS boards remains as set out in my answer to S3W-29774.

The Scottish Government issued guidance to local authorities on National Eligibility Criteria and Waiting Times for the Personal and Nursing Care of Older People on 28 September 2009.

This guidance delivers on the recommendation arising from Lord Sutherland''s Review of Free Personal and Nursing Care for older people. If a local authority chooses to apply the eligibility criteria framework set out within the guidance to all community care groups, that is a matter solely for that council and is not tied to the agreement between the Scottish Government and council leaders on free personal and nursing care. Councils have been given no encouragement from the Scottish Government to apply the eligibility criteria framework to other community care groups.

The guidance makes it clear that if someone appears to be in need of community care services they should receive a care needs assessment. Local authorities are encouraged to set a low threshold for access to a care needs assessment.

I understand that a full equality impact assessment was completed by Argyll and Bute prior to the council meeting on 11 February where the decision to the phased removal of the local area co-ordinators (LAC) posts was agreed.

No such discussion has taken place with Argyll and Bute Council.

All Scottish local authorities agreed to apply National Eligibility Criteria and Waiting Times for the Personal and Nursing Care of Older People as set out in the guidance issued jointly with COSLA on 28 September 2009.

The guidance on National Eligibility Criteria and Waiting Times for the Personal and Nursing Care of Older People delivers on the recommendation arising from Lord Sutherland''s Review of Free Personal and Nursing Care for older people. If a local authority chooses to apply the eligibility criteria framework set out within the guidance to all community care groups, that is a matter solely for that council and is not tied to the agreement between the Scottish Government and council leaders on free personal and nursing care.

Councils have been given no encouragement from the Scottish Government to apply the eligibility criteria framework to other community care groups.

We have recently identified a chair for the new National Group on Infertility. Final membership of the group will be agreed with the chair, and we will shortly announce details publicly.

The first meeting will take place in April.

The method used to regulate care services is an operational matter for the Care Commission. It is for the commission to evaluate and review its own inspection methodology. As part of the corporate arrangements for public bodies, officials regularly discuss with the commission its regulatory activities, including its approach to inspections.

If you would like more information about how the commission regulates care services you can contact the chief executive:

Mrs Jacquie Roberts

Chief Executive

Care Commission

Compass House

Riverside Drive

DUNDEE

DD1 4NY

T: 01382 207100

E: [email protected].

The Scottish Government''s Joint Improvement Team is supporting the development of Telecare services in Scotland. All 32 health and social care partnerships are pursuing and developing local telecare services. Additional funding of £4 million is being made available for the financial year 2010-11 to enable partnerships to promote and encourage a consistent and mainstreamed approach to telehealthcare technologies across Scotland.

As part of the eCare Programme, Local Data Sharing Partnerships are upgrading their social care systems to allow them to interact on a multi-agency basis with partners across health, education, the police, and other public sector agencies. Greater emphasis is also being placed on the involvement of the third sector in the technology supporting Getting it Right for Every Child (GIRFEC) requirements, which involves private and voluntary sectors.

These developments will facilitate closer working arrangements with local private and voluntary sector social care service providers in order to support the independence and well-being of an increasingly large number of potential service users.

There is a statutory requirement on the Care Commission to establish a complaints procedure to deal with complaints about care service provision and complaints about how the commission undertakes its work. The procedure and any variations to it require the consent of Scottish ministers. The complaints procedure which currently applies was approved by Scottish ministers in 2004. How that procedure is applied is an operational matter for the Care Commission.

Complaints are an important part of regulating for improvement in the quality of care services. More information about the complaints procedure and how it operates can be obtained from the Care Commission''s website www.carecommission.com or by contacting the chief executive:

Mrs Jacquie Roberts

Chief Executive

Care Commission

Compass House

Riverside Drive

DUNDEE

DD1 4NY

T: 01382 207100

E: [email protected].

The Care Commission''s enforcement powers are an important part of its regulatory role to ensure that people who use care services receive good quality care. The powers of enforcement are set out in the Regulation of Care (Scotland) Act 2001. It is an operational matter for the commission to determine when to use these powers.

The commission regulates about 15,000 services. In 2008-09, it issued 134 enforcement notices against 84 services. In deciding what to do when a care service is not providing care which meets the requirements of the legislation and the National Care Standards, the commission takes account of all the relevant circumstances, and each case is considered on its own merits.