Scottish Parliament e-Brief, Issue 278

Specialist health services become national resource
Patients across Scotland will benefit from eight newly designated national services, it was announced today. The services provide highly specialised treatment and will be funded jointly by all NHS health boards in Scotland.

The services are:

Complex airways management in children, Yorkhill Hospital;
Inpatient psychiatry for children under 12, Yorkhill Hospital, Glasgow;
Obstetric brachial plexus surgery, Yorkhill Hospital. (Brachial Plexus injury in children is most commonly a complication of difficult childbirth and results from the stretching of the complex of nerves that supply the upper limb as they emerge from the neck);
Adult alternative stem cell transplantation, Glasgow Royal Infirmary;
Adult congenital heart disease, Western Infirmary, Glasgow;
National Managed Clinical Network for Acquired Brain Injury, Edinburgh;
Advanced Interventions/neurosurgery for severe mental disorder, Ninewells Hospital, Dundee; and
National Managed Clinical Network for the Scottish Genital Anomalies Network, Yorkhill Hospital leading.

These national services are low volume, high cost services of a very specialised nature which it makes sense to commission on a Scotland-wide basis.

Drop in road deaths
Figures released today in "Road Accidents Scotland 2004" confirm that 306 people were killed in 2004, an 8% decrease on 2003 and the second lowest figure for 50 years. The 2004 figures also show that the Executive has reached its target of halving the number of children killed and seriously injured on the roads by 2010.

Provisional figures for Road Accidents Scotland 2004 were published in June 2005. Today's final figures include a more detailed breakdown of the figures, including a comparison with England and Wales and about 30 other countries. The publication can be found at http://www.scotland.gov.uk/transtat/ras

On 1st March 2000, the UK Government, the Scottish Executive and the National Assembly for Wales announced a new road safety strategy and casualty reduction targets for 2010. The new targets, which were given in the document "Tomorrow's Roads - Safer for Everyone", are based on the annual average casualty levels over the period 1994 to 1998, and are for:

A 40% reduction in the number of people killed or seriously injured in road traffic accidents;
A 50% reduction in the number of children killed or seriously injured; and
A 10% reduction in the slight casualty rate, expressed as the number of people slightly injured per 100 million vehicle kilometres.

WEDNESDAY begins with Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body Question Time.

The 2nd opposition Bill in as many weeks, this Bill would, as the title says, abolish Council Tax and replace it with a new "Service Tax."

However, the Bill has been recommended for rejection by the Parliament's Local Government and Transport Committee, which described it as "a flawed proposal" which would not have the impact on poverty that is claimed. The majority view of the Committee was that it would damage the Scottish economy and undermine local democracy.

The day concludes with a Member's Business debate on Community and Village Halls from Andrew Welsh (SNP).

The Bill, as was noted when it was debated at Stage 1, is based on recommendations from the Scottish Transplant Group and the Review Group on Retention of Organs at Post-Mortem and proposes a new framework for organ donation and transplantation; for post-mortem examination and associated retention of body parts; and for anatomical examination and the public display of dead bodies.

The provisions relating to organ donation and transplantation are aimed at strengthening the present system of "opting in". Carrying a donor card or putting your name on the Organ Donor Register will count as authorisations in terms of the Bill.

The provisions relating to hospital post-mortem examinations make it clear that no such examination can be carried out unless it has been authorised either by the person him or herself while still alive, or, if no such wishes were expressed, by the person's nearest relative. In the case of a child under 12, authorisation has to be given by the child's parents. Anyone performing a hospital post-mortem examination or retaining organs and tissue from such an examination without authorisation would be guilty of an offence and would face a substantial fine as well as the possibility of up to a year in prison.

The Anatomy Act 1984 is also to be modernised. Its provisions will be broadened to allow surgeons in training to practice surgical techniques and to allow HM Inspector of Anatomy in Scotland to regulate the use of bodies and body parts in public exhibitions under the guise of education or art.

This is followed by General Question Time and First Minister’s Question Time.

The day closes with a Member's Business debate on Childhood Obesity in Scotland from Elaine Smith (LAB).

Wednesday 1st February 2006
14:15 – 14:35	Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body Question Time
14:35 – 17:00	Stage 1 Debate: Council Tax Abolition and Service Tax Introduction (Scotland) Bill
17:00 – 17:30	Member’s Business: Community and Village Halls (Mr Andrew Welsh (SNP))

Thursday 2nd February 2006
09:15 – 11:40	Stage 3 Proceedings: Human Tissue (Scotland) Bill
11:40 – 12:00	General Question Time
12:00 – 12:30	First Minister's Question Time
14:15 – 14:55	Themed Question Time: * Health and Community Care; * Environment and Rural Development
14:55 – 17:00	Stage 1 Debate: Police, Public Order and Criminal Justice (Scotland) Bill
17:00 – 17:30	Member's Business: Childhood Obesity in Scotland (Elaine Smith (LAB))

Monday 30th January 2006
AM	Public Petitions	The Committee meets in Dunfermline to consider new petitions covering topics including NHS dental services and tolls on the Forth Road Bridge. Members also return to the petition on solvent abuse.
Tuesday 31st January 2006
AM	Finance	Trade union representatives give evidence to the inquiry into the cost of local authority single status agreement and members hear evidence on the Financial Memorandum of the Bankruptcy and Diligence etc. (Scotland) Bill from the Accountant in Bankruptcy and Scottish Courts.
PM	Health	The Committee will consider the case for an inquiry into infection with hepatitis C as a result of NHS treatment.
	Justice 2	The Committee will consider a petition on an independent police complaints commission.
	Local Government and Transport	3 panels of witnesses - representing interests ranging from Electoral Administrators to Scottish Churches - give Stage 1 evidence on the Local Electoral Administration and Registration Services (Scotland) Bill.
Wednesday 1st February 2006
AM	Communities	A range of witnesses give evidence on the Planning etc. (Scotland) Bill.
	Education	The early years inquiry takes evidence from the Scottish Commission for the Regulation of Care and the Minister for Education and Young People and officials.
	Environment and Rural Development	The Committee takes evidence from, among others, food suppliers and producers for its food supply chain inquiry.