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Plenary, 04 Jun 2008

04 Jun 2008 · S3 · Plenary

Item of business

Scottish Ambulance Service

Sturgeon, Nicola SNP Glasgow Govan Watch on SPTV

I thank Margaret Curran for her questions. I acknowledge that Labour raised those issues two weeks ago. Members of all parties have raised them and I thank all of them for doing so. I hope that Margaret Curran accepts that I have, as I said I would in the statement two weeks ago, acted swiftly to address the concerns. If it is the desire of party spokespeople to meet before the summer recess to discuss progress, I will be more than happy to arrange such a meeting. I am sure that such a meeting would have a useful part to play in ensuring that members and the wider public are kept informed.

I confirm to Margaret Curran that all aspects of the operation of the front-loaded model will be covered by the independent evaluation that will be commissioned by the chief medical officer. I stress again that I have confidence in the model. It has been operating in other parts of the United Kingdom for much longer than it has in Scotland, and with quite impressive results. It is already subject to the clinical governance procedures of the Scottish Ambulance Service, which are in turn reviewed by NHS Quality Improvement Scotland. Although I have confidence in the potential of the model to improve the service for patients, I understand that it is not enough for me or the Scottish Ambulance Service to have confidence in it; the public must have confidence in it, too, which is why I have announced the actions that I outlined in my statement.

Margaret Curran said that there are

"fewer ambulances … on the streets of Scotland."

I draw her attention to the fact that there are more emergency ambulances on the streets of Scotland now than at any time since 2003. That important point should be placed on the record. It is right that the Scottish Ambulance Service continues to ensure that the mix of those vehicles is right. Margaret Curran is correct to say that there are slightly fewer accident and emergency units as part of that fleet, but the reason is that the Scottish Ambulance Service has acted to increase the number of mid-tier ambulances that are more appropriate for activities such as transferring patients between hospitals or to hospitals from general practitioner referrals. That allows the Ambulance Service to make better use of accident and emergency units. Let us be clear: there are more emergency ambulances. However, the Ambulance Service has an obligation to ensure that it has the correct mix of vehicles.

Like every other NHS board and every other part of the public sector in Scotland, the Ambulance Service has been asked to deliver efficiency savings of 2 per cent. That is 1 percentage point less than the figure that Wendy Alexander wanted the public sector to meet. We are absolutely clear that efficiency savings are exactly that. They are not efficiency savings if they reduce service quality, which is why I made it clear in my statement that I do not expect shifts to be not covered for budgetary reasons.

Margaret Curran also mentioned a difficult constituency case. I understand—I am sure that she will correct me if I am wrong—that she has had the opportunity to listen to the recording of the conversation that took place between the ambulance staff member and the dispatch centre control staff. I am more than happy to meet her constituents, if that would be helpful, and to consider any further representations that are made. However, I emphasise that the decisions that were taken in that case were taken to protect the safety of Ambulance Service staff. I merely speculate when I say that had different decisions been taken and had the staff member come to harm, members would rightly call for an inquiry into that, as well. All I am saying is that difficult judgments need to be made, but I am more than happy to discuss them further.

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Plenary, 04 Jun 2008

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