...and, if necessary, treble ICU capacity. Mutual aid is already under way. For example, one of the reasons why Forth Valley is under pressure right now is the assistance that it is giving to some Lanarkshire NHS Board patients. Mutual aid arrangements will continue to work, where necessary. Finally, I can confirm, and will make some of this information available through the Scottish...
Alex Neil: ...way undertaken an equalities impact assessment of the location. Local people regard the decision as a total stitch-up. The level of incompetence is beyond belief. A few years ago, we had to fight Lanarkshire NHS board on shutting our accident and emergency provision. Now we have to fight it over its promise that the new hospital would be in the Monklands area. This is not a nimby argument;...
Anas Sarwar: ...would have felt the unanimous strength of feeling in support of their local services. Let us be clear about what the changes would mean to Monklands. They are major service changes. In the words of Lanarkshire NHS Board: “This will be a major change in the configuration of several key acute specialties (including critical care, general surgery, orthopaedics and rehabilitation).”
John Pentland: ...by NHS Lanarkshire even though I was using its own words, taken from its own documents. It is as though NHS Lanarkshire does not want the public to know what we are talking about. It is okay for Lanarkshire NHS Board to talk behind closed doors about the fragility of services such as A and E and its plans to close departments because of staff shortages, but woe betide anyone else who talks...
John Pentland: ...The whole system is creaking at the seams and the last few weeks have seen a perfect storm of conditions that demonstrate just how perilous the state of the NHS is.” That echoes statements that Lanarkshire NHS Board made about the fragility of services including A and E. Plans are already lodged with the Scottish Government for closures of up to 48 hours and plans are being developed for...
Richard Simpson: ...outbreak, does the cabinet secretary—who has properly indicated that we have made enormous progress on C difficile—think that the system is working well, when the Hairmyres report showed that Lanarkshire NHS Board left a senior infection control post vacant for five months this year? I conclude by saying that I am glad that the cabinet secretary agrees with the MacLean report that we...
Richard Simpson: ...and Clyde NHS Board and Grampian NHS Board could not even produce figures for movements at that time. Similarly, when we asked about multiple moves, five large health boards—Lothian NHS Board; Lanarkshire NHS Board; Greater Glasgow NHS Board; Tayside NHS Board; and Grampian NHS Board—were unable to say how many multiple moves had occurred. Is the cabinet secretary really satisfied with...
Richard Simpson: ...the Government to get information released. It was the additional information that led us to take this action. What were the actions that the Government fought so long and so hard to conceal? First, Lanarkshire NHS Board undertook a robust, inclusive, exhaustive consultation. If the Government was not satisfied with the consultation, why did it approve the results? The decision was about...
Richard Lyle: ...this week I was contacted by a constituent; I have her permission to name her. Ms Geraldine Ward needs the drug Fampyra, which helps MS sufferers to walk. The drug is not currently prescribed by Lanarkshire NHS Board. I hope that when the new arrangements come into effect, they will help Ms Ward to get the medicine that she requires to improve her quality of life. I intend to pursue that...
Richard Simpson: ...aware of the concerns that I have been raising over the past few years about junior and middle-grade doctor staffing? Those were dismissed by his predecessor, as always, as scaremongering, but today Lanarkshire NHS Board is reported to be concerned about its junior doctor recruitment and Greater Glasgow and Clyde NHS Board has reported significant problems with middle-grade recruitment....
David Stewart: ...hearing the oral evidence from the petitioner, the committee agreed to write to stakeholders to seek their views. We received evidence from a range of organisations, including Highland NHS Board, Lanarkshire NHS Board, Greater Glasgow and Clyde NHS Board, the Royal College of General Practitioners in Scotland and, of course, the Scottish Government. The written evidence that we received...
Cathie Craigie: Will the cabinet secretary bring pressure to bear on Lanarkshire NHS Board to carry through the commitment that it has given to people in Cumbernauld and Kilsyth to provide a new health centre in Kilsyth? The board is not meeting the community's needs. It promised to provide a primary care function in Cumbernauld, which it has not yet provided for. Will she intervene to encourage the board to...
Hugh O'Donnell: ...Democrat position, but I will pick up a couple of issues. Members will have heard me bang on about them before. Before I do that, however, I want to refer to something that Mary Scanlon said about Lanarkshire NHS Board. We are all aware—it is a cliché—that there is more than one way to skin a cat. Having dealt with Lanarkshire NHS Board for getting on for 14 years, I know that it does...
Rt Hon Jack McConnell: Is the First Minister aware of yesterday's announcement that Lanarkshire NHS Board will not be going ahead with the 130-bed mental health facility in our area, following the budget restrictions that have been imposed on the health board by the Scottish Government? Is he aware that the facility is desperately needed in our area, which has an above-average incidence of mental health problems?...
Shona Robison: I am sorry, but I will have to move on; I am a bit short of time. Hugh O'Donnell mentioned considering the counselling service that Lanarkshire NHS Board provides. I am happy to do that, but I think that the increased health care capacity in schools points the way forward, as schools can identify what the key issues are for them, and I would expect issues such as counselling to be taken on...
Michael Matheson: ...often becomes extremely evident when health boards consider closing or reconfiguring local health services, as happened in the Forth Valley NHS Board area—which covers my constituency—and the Lanarkshire NHS Board area. Despite the public meetings and other events that took place, there was a genuine public perception that, before proposals even went out to consultation, the health...
Nicola Sturgeon: ..., joint agreements between all other NHS boards and education authorities covering the arrangements for the administration of medicines are in place. I have asked my officials to liaise with Lanarkshire NHS board to ensure that this matter is addressed quickly, for the benefit of all children in schools with health care needs.
Andy Kerr: The cabinet secretary might be aware that some boards—particularly my local board, Lanarkshire NHS Board—are cautioning us about significant pressures around the recruitment of junior doctors, particularly in relation to modernising medical careers and implementing the final stages of the European working time directive by August 2009. Boards describe the position as challenging and the...
Nicola Sturgeon: ...Brackenridge, the Highland NHS Board chairman, to appoint an independent panel to investigate the allegations that have been made. I confirm that the panel will be headed by Ken Corsar, the chair of Lanarkshire NHS Board. As members are aware, the chief executive and director of operations of the Scottish Ambulance Service have taken voluntary leave of absence while the investigation is...
John Wilson: ...Health & Safety, a company based in Coatbridge. It provides occupational health support to a number of organisations, including Greater Glasgow and Clyde NHS Board, and draws in income for Lanarkshire NHS Board through its consultancy work. That is a good example of how we can raise the issues of workers' health and wellbeing. We must also ensure that the HSE is strengthened in its role of...
