Chamber
Plenary, 27 Feb 2003
27 Feb 2003 · S1 · Plenary
Item of business
Ambulance Service (Wick)
I will not give way to the member just yet. I may do so later, if I have time, but I have a lot of points to respond to.
As the first session of the new Parliament draws to a close, it is fitting to reflect on an excellent example of how the Parliament has shaped services for the benefit of the people of Scotland. Towards the end of 1999, the Comptroller and Auditor General reported in "The Scottish Ambulance Service: A Service for Life" on the efficiency and effectiveness of emergency ambulance services throughout Scotland. That report in turn informed the first substantive piece of work conducted by the Audit Committee of the new Parliament. Both the Comptroller and the Audit Committee commented favourably on the benefits to Scotland of having one national ambulance service. Management and support costs were minimised and having a national service provided for consistency of operational practice.
The Audit Committee sent a clear steer to the Executive and the service about the need to consider whether to introduce a system of priority-based dispatch as a means of supporting and improving the responsiveness of the emergency service, about how the control room function was provided throughout Scotland and how best to improve it, and about how to remove the variations in performance in different parts of Scotland and to bring the standard of the poorest up to that of the best. It also sent a clear steer on the need to consider how to reduce the overall time spent by ambulances in dealing with incidents and how to develop clinical performance targets and indicators and improved patient care information that would support the monitoring of the health gain achieved from the additional investment.
The service and the Executive supported all the substantive recommendations of the Audit Committee. The Executive has funded them all, and they are now being rolled out throughout Scotland.
The service's budget allocation for 2003-04 is now £119.7 million. All that will be invested in the employment and training of around 200 extra front-line emergency ambulance staff. The service has also developed a range of clinical performance indicators that will enable it to begin to measure whether the faster response times lead to an improved outcome for patients.
Implementation of the improvements to the control rooms began last August in NHS Lothian, followed by the roll-out of priority-based dispatch. Positive progress is being made on the clinical outcome indicators, although further work needs to be done to ensure that the patient experience and outcomes through admission to discharge from hospital are tracked and recorded.
I turn to the situation in our remote and rural areas. The provision of health services in remote and rural parts of Scotland presents challenges that are very different from those in our more populated areas. Difficulties in areas such as recruitment and retention are often magnified in isolated communities. The Executive is committed to providing investment and support in those areas and to tackling the issues affecting them. That is demonstrated by a number of major initiatives to provide additional investment to modernise the infrastructure through improved premises, information technology and transport links, to speed up communications, and to cut the need for patients to make long journeys, partly through the use of telemedicine. The Executive is also committed to attracting health professionals to remote areas through a number of recruitment and retention measures.
Some of the additional resources that the Executive has put into the ambulance service have been used to support the conversion of a number of ambulance stations to full-time working practices. The demands on all 152 ambulance stations in Scotland, particularly the 100 that serve remote and rural areas, are the subject of continuing monitoring and review by service management. Because of that review, this year we are able to move stations in Stranraer, Dundee and Fraserburgh into the full-time category. Stewart Stevenson referred to the situation in Peterhead, which is one of the number of stations that are programmed to move to full time—I do not have an exact date at the moment, but when I do I will let Mr Stevenson know.
As the first session of the new Parliament draws to a close, it is fitting to reflect on an excellent example of how the Parliament has shaped services for the benefit of the people of Scotland. Towards the end of 1999, the Comptroller and Auditor General reported in "The Scottish Ambulance Service: A Service for Life" on the efficiency and effectiveness of emergency ambulance services throughout Scotland. That report in turn informed the first substantive piece of work conducted by the Audit Committee of the new Parliament. Both the Comptroller and the Audit Committee commented favourably on the benefits to Scotland of having one national ambulance service. Management and support costs were minimised and having a national service provided for consistency of operational practice.
The Audit Committee sent a clear steer to the Executive and the service about the need to consider whether to introduce a system of priority-based dispatch as a means of supporting and improving the responsiveness of the emergency service, about how the control room function was provided throughout Scotland and how best to improve it, and about how to remove the variations in performance in different parts of Scotland and to bring the standard of the poorest up to that of the best. It also sent a clear steer on the need to consider how to reduce the overall time spent by ambulances in dealing with incidents and how to develop clinical performance targets and indicators and improved patient care information that would support the monitoring of the health gain achieved from the additional investment.
The service and the Executive supported all the substantive recommendations of the Audit Committee. The Executive has funded them all, and they are now being rolled out throughout Scotland.
The service's budget allocation for 2003-04 is now £119.7 million. All that will be invested in the employment and training of around 200 extra front-line emergency ambulance staff. The service has also developed a range of clinical performance indicators that will enable it to begin to measure whether the faster response times lead to an improved outcome for patients.
Implementation of the improvements to the control rooms began last August in NHS Lothian, followed by the roll-out of priority-based dispatch. Positive progress is being made on the clinical outcome indicators, although further work needs to be done to ensure that the patient experience and outcomes through admission to discharge from hospital are tracked and recorded.
I turn to the situation in our remote and rural areas. The provision of health services in remote and rural parts of Scotland presents challenges that are very different from those in our more populated areas. Difficulties in areas such as recruitment and retention are often magnified in isolated communities. The Executive is committed to providing investment and support in those areas and to tackling the issues affecting them. That is demonstrated by a number of major initiatives to provide additional investment to modernise the infrastructure through improved premises, information technology and transport links, to speed up communications, and to cut the need for patients to make long journeys, partly through the use of telemedicine. The Executive is also committed to attracting health professionals to remote areas through a number of recruitment and retention measures.
Some of the additional resources that the Executive has put into the ambulance service have been used to support the conversion of a number of ambulance stations to full-time working practices. The demands on all 152 ambulance stations in Scotland, particularly the 100 that serve remote and rural areas, are the subject of continuing monitoring and review by service management. Because of that review, this year we are able to move stations in Stranraer, Dundee and Fraserburgh into the full-time category. Stewart Stevenson referred to the situation in Peterhead, which is one of the number of stations that are programmed to move to full time—I do not have an exact date at the moment, but when I do I will let Mr Stevenson know.
In the same item of business
The Deputy Presiding Officer (Mr Murray Tosh):
Con
The final item of business is a members' business debate on the Wick ambulance service.
Motion debated,
That the Parliament recognises the vital work of the Wick ambulance service; is concerned at the lack of additional funding that was made available to the Hi...
Mr Jamie Stone (Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross) (LD):
LD
When eventually I finish work tonight, after we have concluded a short meeting on the Holyrood project at perhaps 7 o'clock or 8 o'clock, I shall drive home ...
Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP):
SNP
I congratulate Jamie Stone on securing the debate on this important issue for his constituency.As Jamie Stone said, there was when I was elected a similar si...
Mr Jamie McGrigor (Highlands and Islands) (Con):
Con
I congratulate Jamie Stone on highlighting the ambulance service in this way, because the service is of the utmost importance to people's lives. In a perfect...
John Farquhar Munro (Ross, Skye and Inverness West) (LD):
LD
I am thankful for the opportunity to take part in this debate and I thank Jamie Stone for bringing it before Parliament.Much of what Jamie Stone has told mem...
Mr Duncan Hamilton (Highlands and Islands) (SNP):
SNP
I have two initial points, one of consensus and one of discord. I join other members in welcoming the debate and congratulating Jamie Stone on securing it, b...
The Deputy Minister for Health and Community Care (Mrs Mary Mulligan):
Lab
I welcome Jamie Stone's motion and am pleased to be able to take the opportunity to discuss the ambulance service, particularly in relation to the Wick area....
Mr Hamilton:
SNP
Will the minister take an intervention?
Mrs Mulligan:
Lab
I will not give way to the member just yet. I may do so later, if I have time, but I have a lot of points to respond to.As the first session of the new Parli...
Mr McGrigor:
Con
I hear what the minister is saying about upgrading, and I agree with that. Wick has Caithness general hospital, yet trips have to be made all the time to Rai...
Mrs Mulligan:
Lab
Almost all the out-of-hours calls are dealt with locally in Wick. Transfers are the exception, not the rule. We must see the picture as it is.In addition to ...
Meeting closed at 17:36.