§ Mr. ChisholmTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what percentage of the legal aid budget is taken up by civil legal aid.
§ Lord James Douglas-HamiltonCivil legal aid payments represented 20.8 per cent. of the total amounts paid to solicitors and counsel by the Scottish Legal Aid Board in 1991–92.
§ Mr. McFallTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what proportion of legal aid applications have been granted in each district court, sheriff court, and the high court in Scotland for each of the past five years.
§ Lord James Douglas-HamiltonInformation on the proportion of successful legal aid applications for summary criminal proceedings in the sheriff and district courts and for civil proceedings in the sheriff court is set out in the table. Criminal legal aid in solemn procedures is granted directly by the courts and that information is not held centrally.
Proportion of legal aid applications granted:
Dundee royal infirmary. Until decisions are reached on the board's review it is not possible to begin detailed work on assessing the implications for that hospital. As a result, the board is not yet able to assess future staff numbers in Dundee.
§ Mr. WelshTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will state the capital allocations made to Tayside health board in each of the past four years and the amount of additional allocation made this year; and what is their relationship to Scottish health services revenue equalisation parity.
§ Mr. StewartThe capital allocation to Tayside health board in each of the last four years was:
£ million 1989–90 11.144 1990–91 11.856 1991–92 16.607 1992–93 18.928 In 1992–93 a supplementary allocation was made to health boards and, of this, Tayside was allocated £600,000.
Unlike revenue allocations to health boards capital allocations are not distributed on a "SHARE" formula basis. Health boards and NHS trusts submit their proposals for capital projects to the Scottish Office Home and Health Department. These are reviewed and 711W allocations are made, primarily on the basis of local and national strategic objectives and priorities. The total capital programme for the NHS in Scotland in 1992–93 was £229.588 million.
§ Mr. WelshTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what are the current numbers of ambulances and ambulance staff serving the Angus area; and what increases are planned to meet the changes in hospital services proposed by Tayside health board.
§ Mr. StewartThere are currently 17 ambulances and 35 ambulance staff serving the Angus area.
Until the board has made a decision on the future of acute services in the area it is not possible to determine what changes might be required to the ambulance service.
§ Mr. WelshTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what consultations he has had or plans to have with Tayside health board regarding provision of ambulance services in consequence of proposed changes in Angus hospital services.
§ Mr. StewartMy right hon. and noble Friend the Minister for Health and Home Affairs met the chairman and general manager of Tayside health board on 29 January. During the meeting, the board outlined the remaining work programme for its review of acute services, inlcuding its plans to hold discussions with the Scottish ambulance service. These were to establish the implications for the ambulance service in Angus of the board's options for acute services in that area.
§ Mr. WelshTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list the services closed and reduced at(a) Stracathro and (b) Arbroath infirmary over the past 10 years, stating the reduction in manpower and buildings.
§ Mr. StewartThe following changes have been introduced at Stracathro hospital and Arbroath infirmary during the last 10 years.
Stracathro Hospital
In 1987 in-patient gynaecology services were withdrawn and replaced by a day-case only service. The resources were reallocated to another speciality and there was no effect on staff or buildings.
During 1990 surgical paediatric bed numbers were reduced by eight; orthopaedic surgery decreased by four to 96; and general surgery from 41 to 37. The changes had no effect on staff or buildings.
In 1991, Grampian health board ceased referring patients to the orthopaedic service at Stracathro. This resulted in a reduction of 49 available orthopaedic beds at the hospital. This service change resulted in the following staff reductions:
Reduction per cent. Physiotherapy 0.5 Catering 3.0 Cleaning 2.6 Nursing 136.7 1 Whole-time equivalents Arbroath Infirmary
In August 1989, gynaecology day surgery services were withdrawn, but this had no effect on staff numbers.In 1990 the number of maternity beds were reduced from 18 to 9, reflecting actual usage. There was no effect on staff numbers.712WBetween 1985 and 1987 specialist gynaecology, general surgery and medical paediatrics services transferred to Dundee or Stracathro hospital and a day ward was created for minor surgery. The surgical bed complement was also reduced from 34 to 13 day beds.Some staff transferred to Stracathro along with general surgical beds, while others were redeployed at Little Cairnie, or lost through natural wastage.All the above changes were carried out by redeployment of staff.