---

Health Board Boundaries

Mr. Worthington: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland (1) what proposals he has to make

12 Dec 1995 : Column: 611

health board boundary changes in Scotland; and what they are; [5116]

(2) what discussions he has had with Argyll and Clyde health board about boundary changes; and if he will make a statement; [5114]

(3) what representations Greater Glasgow health board has made to him about boundary changes. [5115]

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton: The Government are considering the implications of the establishment of the new unitary local authorities for the boundaries of health boards. Discussions have been held by officials with the health boards whose boundaries are not coterminous with those of the new local authorities to obtain the information necessary to inform our consideration of this matter. The health boards concerned are Greater Glasgow health board, Argyll and Clyde health board and Lanarkshire health board.

Highlands and Islands Enterprise

Mr. Maclennan: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will place in the Library a statement of the specific criteria and objectives for consideration of financial assistance to business to which local enterprise companies in the Highlands and Islands Enterprise area are currently required to work. [4806]

Mr. Kynoch [holding answer 11 December 1995]: I have arranged for a copy of the guidelines under which my right hon. Friend expects Highlands and Islands Enterprise to operate to be placed in the Library. Under the terms of their contracts with Highlands and Islands

12 Dec 1995 : Column: 612

Enterprise, local enterprise companies are required to observe the terms of those guidelines. Further guidance is also issued by Highlands and Islands Enterprise and I have asked the chairman to write to the hon. Member about its guidance to local enterprise companies on the provision of financial assistance to business.

Further Education Colleges

Mr. McFall: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what research he has commissioned or evaluated into possible over provision of further education in Scotland; and what assessment he has made of the optimum number of further education colleges in Scotland. [5015]

Mr. Raymond S. Robertson: No specific research has been commissioned on the level of provision of further education in Scotland but colleges' annual development plans and other student numbers and costs information are analysed. This shows that colleges increased student activity by 6 per cent. in 1994-95 and achieved 4 per cent. efficiency gains. Cost information does not suggest that there is an optimum number of colleges in Scotland.

Ambulance Service

Mr. Worthington: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many ambulances equipped for emergency and urgent calls are available to the Scottish Ambulance Service in the Greater Glasgow health board area on each shift on each day of the week. [5082]

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton: The Scottish Ambulance Service NHS trust's accident and emergency vehicles covering the Greater Glasgow health board area are available as timetabled below:

12 Dec 1995 : Column: 611

Time	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday	Sunday
0000-0100	12	12	12	12	16	16	12
0100-0200	12	12	12	12	16	16	12
0200-0300	9	9	9	9	9	9	9
0300-0400	9	9	9	9	9	9	9
0400-0500	9	9	9	9	9	9	9
0500-0600	9	9	9	9	9	9	9
0600-0700	9	9	9	9	9	9	9
0700-0800	9	9	9	9	9	9	9
0800-0900	14	14	15	14	13	12	11
0900-1000	23	22	24	22	21	19	14
1000-1100	31	32	32	32	32	20	16
1100-1200	31	32	32	32	32	20	16
1200-1300	31	32	32	32	32	20	16
1300-1400	32	33	33	33	33	20	16
1400-1500	32	33	33	33	33	20	16
1500-1600	32	33	33	33	33	20	16
1600-1700	32	33	32	33	34	22	19
1700-1800	23	25	23	25	26	15	16
1800-1900	18	18	18	18	22	21	17
1900-2000	18	18	18	18	22	21	17
2000-2100	18	18	18	18	22	21	17
2100-2200	17	17	17	17	21	21	17
2200-2300	17	17	17	17	21	21	17
2300-2400	17	17	17	17	21	21	17

12 Dec 1995 : Column: 611

Mr. Worthington: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will publish statistics for the numbers of emergency and urgent calls for ambulances in the Greater Glasgow health board area over each of the last five years. [5083]

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton: The information is as follows:

12 Dec 1995 : Column: 612

		Responses
Period	Emergency	Urgent	Total
1990-91	41,756	34,615	76,371
1991-92	45,321	32,435	77,756
1992-93	47,841	32,665	80,506
1993-94	49,227	34,925	84,152
1994-95	53,003	34,482	87,485
1995-1996(9)	39,250	22,144	61,394

(9) Based on 1 April 1995-30 November 1995.

12 Dec 1995 : Column: 613

Mr. Worthington: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what (a) citizens charter and (b) other standards he applies to the Scottish Ambulance Service; and how the service has performed in respect of those standards in recent years. [5084]

12 Dec 1995 : Column: 614

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton: The Scottish Ambulance Service NHS trust charter details the time within which the service aims to respond to emergency calls and to urgent calls. These target times and the information on how the trust performed against the targets are set out in the tables below. The target times for responding to emergency calls vary according to population density. The standard for urgent calls is for the service to have collected and delivered the patient to hospital within 15 minutes of the time agreed with the clinician requesting the ambulance.

12 Dec 1995 : Column: 613

Emergency calls

			Performance
Population density	Target--95 per cent. of calls responded to within	1993-94	1994-95	(10)1995-96
High (>3 people per acre)	14 minutes	90	92	92
Medium (0.5-3 people per acre)	18 minutes	94	96	96
Sparse (<0.5 people per acre)	21 minutes	88	90	91

(10) Based on 1 April to 30 November 1995.

Urgent calls

		Performance against standard
	1993-94	1994-95	(11)1995-96
Standard--95 per cent. of patients in hospital within 15 minutes of time agreed with clinician	88	89	91

(11) Based on 1 April to 30 November 1995.

12 Dec 1995 : Column: 613

12 Dec 1995 : Column: 613

Mr. Worthington: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what rights of redress are available to individuals receiving inadequate service from the Scottish Ambulance Service. [5085]

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton: The Scottish Ambulance Service NHS trust's charter sets out the standards of ambulance services that patients should expect to receive. The charter also advises patients on how to progress any complaint they may have about the service they have received. Where a patient is dissatisfied with the trust's handling of a complaint the charter invites them to contact the Health Service Commissioner for Scotland.

Mr. Worthington: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what percentage of requests for an urgent ambulance from the Scottish Ambulance Service are met within (a) 15 minutes, (b) 30 minutes, (c) 60 minutes, (d) two hours, (e) three hours, (f) four hours (g) five hours and (h) more than five hours in the Greater Glasgow health board area. [5087]

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton: The standard for urgent calls is for the Scottish Ambulance Service to collect and deliver the patient to hospital within 15 minutes of the time agreed with the clinician requesting the ambulance.

Performance against this standard in the Greater Glasgow health board area is as follows:

Percentage

Period	Performance against 95 per cent. target
1994-95	84
1995-96(12)	85

(12) Based on 1 April to 30 November 1995.

12 Dec 1995 : Column: 614

Mr. Worthington: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will make a statement about the (a) staff, (b) vehicles and (c) financial resources made available to the Scottish Ambulance Service in the Greater Glasgow health board area in each of the last five years. [5088]

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton: The number of accident and emergency staff, vehicles and the financial resources made available to the Scottish Ambulance Service in the Greater Glasgow health board area has increased steadily during the last five years.

Staff on accident and emergency duties within the area have increased from 156 in 1991-92 to 195 in 1995-96. Accident and emergency vehicles have increased from 27 to 43 during the same period.

The revenue allocation for the provision of the ambulance service in Greater Glasgow has increased from £6.16 million in 1991-92 to £9.884 million in 1995-96, an increase of 43 per cent. in real terms.

---