National Health Service (Winter Pressures)

Question Time — Scottish Executive — General Questions – in the Scottish Parliament at 11:41 am on 3 November 2005.

Alert me about debates like this

Photo of Irene Oldfather Irene Oldfather Labour 11:41, 3 November 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive what advice it is issuing to NHS boards to cope with winter pressures. (S2O-7960)

Photo of Andy Kerr Andy Kerr Labour

Winter always brings additional pressures. In response, the national health service ensures that it has plans in place to cope with the challenges that it will encounter. NHS boards are putting in place additional capacity through extra staff, more beds, increased critical care ability and additional nursing home places while maintaining the required continued, co-ordinated action on delayed discharge.

This year, I have asked NHS boards to prepare detailed plans for how local out-of-hours services will operate over winter and how they will link to NHS 24's role, to ensure that everyone who needs to access the health system can do so at an appropriate level.

Photo of Irene Oldfather Irene Oldfather Labour

Does the minister agree that elderly people who suffer from flu and flu-like illnesses tend to recover more quickly at home? Does he acknowledge that although that may release beds in the acute sector, it can place additional pressures on community services? Will he give an assurance that a joined-up approach to that aspect of winter pressures will be taken to ensure that our elderly citizens have the best possible care wherever they suffer from flu or a flu-like illness?

Photo of Andy Kerr Andy Kerr Labour

I absolutely support the member's view. We have invested £18 million this year in our campaign for the flu vaccination programmes. I urge everybody who is considered to be in an at-risk group or who is in the elderly community to ensure that they are vaccinated.

As for the member's substantive point about joined-up working, the delayed discharge measures that the Executive took back in 2002 have reduced delayed discharge by 50 per cent overall and reduced longer delayed discharge by 60 per cent. Our investment in joined-up services has the effect that the member desires. People recover better at home and we are investing more in community care services to allow that to happen.