§ Mr. Carter-Jonesasked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list in the Official Report the paediatric consultant availability (a) in maternity units and (b) in reasonably close proximity to maternity units for each area health authority; if he will indicate any shortfall; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. FairgrieveThe latest available information about the distribution of consultant medical paediatricians by the health board is given in the table below. Detailed matching of paediatric consultants to specific maternity units could, however, be provided only at disproportionate cost. Such arrangements are matters for the boards: in many instances consultants work at more than one unit in order to provide satisfactory cover for the widest possible area.
Vacancy returns from health boards for the year to September 1980 indicated that no consultant medical paediatrician posts were among those which had been vacant for more than six months. A proposal by one board 342W for an additional consultant post is currently under discussion, and my Department is keeping the national staffing position under careful review.
Distribution of Consultant Medical Paediatricians at 30.9.80 Health Board Numbers (Provisional) Argyll and Clyde 4 Ayshire and Arran 3 Borders 1 Dumfries and Galloway 2 Fife 3 Forth Valley 2 Grampian 6 Greater Glasgow 19 Highland 2 Lanarkshire 4 Lothian 13 Orkney — Shetland — Tayside 9 Western Isles — Scotland 68
§ Mr. Carter-Jonesasked the Secretary of State for Scotland what action he has taken to improve the paediatric consultancy provision for neonates.
§ Mr. FairgrieveIn June last year my right hon. Friend circulated to health boards a report by the national medical consultative committee on "Standards of Perinatal Care in Scotland". It was made clear that the implementation of the report's recommendations was primarily a matter for boards in the light of their own spending priorities Boards were also told, however, that the normal arrangements for approval of medical establishments would continue to apply.