Weekly News
Released on 22/06/2009
Events Diary
3 September
IHM Scotland
Resolving Conflict
9.30-4.30, Airth Castle Hotel
1 day workshop with Joyce Brown. Gives managers the skills and confidence to
prevent and handle conflicts. For all
managers of teams and individual staff members. See attached flyer for
details and booking.
8, 15 & 16 September
IHM Scotland
Employment Law
Castle Douglas, Perth, Inverness
Afternoon seminar with employment law expert, Roy Drummond. Update on current law and practice and how these affect employing organisations and managers. Suitable for all line managers, and particularly HR managers. See flyer for details.
6 & 7 October
IHM Scotland
Annual Conference: Preparing for the Future
Airth Castle Hotel
Keynote speaker: Nicola Sturgeon MSP, Cabinet Secretary for Health and Wellbeing. Delegate registration now open at http://www.hfevents.co.uk/ihm2009; conference programme attached with the Update. Book now to secure your place.
This week in Parliament
Wednesday
17:00 Members’ Business – Christina McKelvie (SNP, Central Scotland): Supporting Social Work
Thursday
12:00 First Minister’s Questions
14:15 Health and Wellbeing Question Time
Kenneth Gibson (SNP, Cunninghame North): what impact will the Tobacco and Primary Medical Services (Scotland) Bill have on the number of children taking up smoking; Karen Gillon (Lab, Clydesdale): what support will be offered to NHS volunteer drivers to continue to give their time in light of a reduction in overall mileage rates; Jamie Hepburn (SNP, Central Scotland): what support in the community does the NHS provides for people affected by multiple sclerosis; Margaret Curran (Lab, Glasgow Baillieston): what it is being done to guarantee that all NHS boards offer three cycles of NHS-funded IVF treatment to those who are eligible; Nigel Don (SNP, NE Scotland): what measures are being introduced to encourage engagement between the public and NHS Grampian; Derek Brownlee (Con, S of Scotland): what is the current position on the Independent Scrutiny Panel reviewing the consultation process in NHS Dumfries and Galloway; Iain Smith (LibDem, NE Fife): are there plans to review the procedures for considering applications for new pharmacies; Brian Adam (SNP, Aberdeen North): what efforts are being made to ensure that delayed discharges from NHS hospitals are kept to a minimum; Christina McKelvie (SNP, Central Scotland): what role is envisaged for local employment partnerships between NHS boards and other agencies during the current economic climate; Rob Gibson (SNP, Highlands & Islands): what importance for the nation’s health do the current powers for making decisions concerning food content and labelling have; Nicol Stephen (LibDem, Aberdeen South): what percentage of adults and of children in the Aberdeen South parliamentary constituency are registered with an NHS dentist; Willie Coffey (SNP, Kilmarnock): what are the reasons for the rise in antidepressant prescribing over the last 10 years, from 43.54 defined daily doses per 1,000 population per day in 1997-98 to 93.20 in 2007-08; John Park (Lab, Mid Scotland & Fife): in view of the recent announcement of pilots of NHS board elections in Fife and Dumfries and Galloway, when and where will the alternatives to elections be piloted and what form they will take.
Health board election pilots confirmed
NHS Fife and NHS Dumfries and Galloway will pilot the first direct elections to NHS boards in Scotland, the Health Secretary has announced.
The choice of Fife and Dumfries and Galloway is,
according to the Scottish Government, designed to ensure that the pilots can test the full range of issues likely to be encountered by a health board in both predominantly urban and rural settings.
Elections will take place in Spring 2010 and run for at least two years before an independent evaluation. The elections will be carried out as all-postal ballots, along similar lines to elections to Scotland's National Park Authorities, with votes cast on a Single
Transferable Vote basis. Members of the public will be able to stand for election and, for the first time in a UK election, 16 and 17 year olds will be able to vote.
In addition to the election pilots – which are required by law under the Health Boards (Memberships and
Elections) Act passed by MSPs in March - NHS
Lothian and NHS Grampian will run two non-statutory pilots which will test ways to improve the existing engagement and involvement mechanisms between the public and the NHS.
Government wants
National Conversation about health
The Scottish Government has published a series of discussion papers about key policy areas as part of its National Conversation about Scotland’s
constitutional future.
In Scotland's Future: Join the Debate: Health and Wellbeing, First Minister Alex Salmond and Health Secretary Nicola Sturgeon argue that although much has already been done under existing devolved
powers, the Scottish Government requires the full powers of independence to be able to make lasting
improvements to Scotland’s health. The paper
singles out the benefits system as a key area where, it says, additional powers in Scotland would help to lift individuals out of poverty and improve population health.
The paper can be found at www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2009/06/12095105/1.
Questions arise from patient rights consultation
The analysis of responses to the Scottish Government’s consultation on its proposed Patients’ Rights Bill has been published, and reveals a number of questions about the government’s planned approach.
Although the large majority of respondents expressed support for the principle of a Patients’ Rights Bill and the key entitlements and responsibilities set out in the consultation, however there were conflicting opinions about the extent to which certain rights should be embedded in law; NHS boards, in particular, expressed concerns about a legal right to access to services within a defined waiting period. The possible creation of a more adversarial relationship between patients and health services and the funding implications of a legal right to access were particular issues raised.
Other concerns were a perceived bias
acute services not taking into account
services for people with long term
conditions, and the exclusion of local
authority community care services from the right to access.
The Scottish Government has addressed some of the concerns in its reply to the consultation responses, saying that the responses have given it “ new issues to consider” and that they have “been very helpful in raising some specific areas of concern.”
The government maintains that it wants to avoid a culture of litigiousness and that the Bill is intended to support clarity and openness.
Read the responses, analysis and government response at www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2009/06/15155531/0, www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2009/06/10131759/0, and www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2009/06/17113955/0.
