HC Deb 20 May 1976 vol 911 cc665-7W
Mr. Welsh

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what are the estimated average minimum ambulance travelling times in dealing with emergency hospital cases occurring in Arbroath and travelling to: (a) Arbroath Infirmary, (b) Nine-wells and (c) Stracathro; and if he will give figures for each of the past five years showing the number of such patients.

Mr. Harry Ewing

The estimated average minimum travelling times are seven miutes to Arbroath Infirmary, 25 minutes to Dundee hospitals and 30 minutes to Stracathro. In 1975–76, 284 emergency cases were taken to Arbroath Infirmary, two to King's Cross, Dundee —(infectious diseases)—none to Ninewells and three to Stracathro; the information for earlier years is not available.

Number of ambulances including spares Number of mobile ambulance staff including reliefs Provisional cost Workload 1975–76
Depot 1975–76 Stretcher cases Other cases
£
Dundee and Monifieth 24 47 195,000 22,836 42,396
Arbroath … … 3 8 27,000 1,345 6,503
Brechin … … 3 4 18,000 829 3,594
Montrose … … 2 2 11,000 1,141 2,455
Laurencekirk … … 1 2 3,000 218 1,015
Forfar … … 3 5 24,000 1,586 3,510

Mr. Welsh

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what is the number and location of general practitioner hospitals in Scotland similar to that proposed for Arbroath; and how many such experiments are planned elsewhere in Scotland.

Mr. Harry Ewing

The range of services provided at general practitioner hospitals varies according to local circumstances. There are 18 general practitioner hospitals in Scotland with 30 or more beds, located as follows:

  • Brechin Infirmary
  • Castle Douglas
  • Chalmers, Banff

Mr. Welsh

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what improvements are planned in ambulance services at: (a) Nine-wells, (b) Stracathro and (c) Arbroath Infirmary; how many extra vehicles and staff are planned; and at what cost.

Mr. Harry Ewing

I understand that the Scottish Ambulance Service proposes to provide one additional ambulance and one driver at the Arbroath depot in 1976–77 at an anuual cost of £5,100.

Mr. Welsh

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what are the numbers of ambulances and ambulance staff in Nine-wells, Stracathro and Arbroath Infirmary; what are the running costs in each case and the present workload for each unit; and whether these provisions are adequate to meet these present needs.

Mr. Harry Ewing

Ambulances and staff for the general catchment area of these three hospitals are provided by seven ambulance depots which also serve other hospitals. The information relating to these depots is set out in the table below. With the addition of one ambulance and one driver at the Arbroath depot during 1976–77, these resources should meet adequately present needs.

  • Fraserburgh
  • Galashiels
  • Hawick Cottage
  • Huntly Jubilee
  • Invergordon County
  • Inverurie
  • Leanchoil, Forres
  • Lockhart, Lanark
  • Montrose Royal Infirmary
  • Peterhead Cottage
  • Ross Memorial, Dingwall
  • St. Andrews Memorial
  • Seafield, Buckie
  • Spynie, Elgin
  • Turner Memorial, Keith

Although some of these hospitals have developed a pattern of services similar to that proposed for Arbroath, none of them has been classified as experimental.