§ Mr. SalmondTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what consultations took place to ascertain the most suitable specification for the new communications system in the Scottish ambulance service control room in Aberdeen; and if he will make a statement.
§ Lord James Douglas-Hamilton[holding answer 20 January 1995]: The Scottish ambulance service consulted within the service to establish its communications requirements and agreed the specification in consultation with the Scottish Office directorate of telecommunications which provided appropriate technical advice.
§ Mr. FoulkesTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will give an analysis of the response to the consultation on trust status for the Scottish ambulance service; what consideration he has given to this analysis; and if he will make a statement.
§ Lord James Douglas-Hamilton[holding answer 10 January 1995]: An analysis of the responses is as follows:
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Body/individual 1Number consulted Supporting the application No clear view expressed Not Supporting the application Health boards 15 4 3 1 NHS Trust and DMUs 51 14 7 0 Local health councils 19 6 7 2 Regional and District councils 65 3 15 15 MPs and Euro MPs 80 0 1 16 Trades Unions/Trade councils 12 0 0 3 Emergency services 16 0 3 0 Universities 12 1 1 0
Body/individual 1Number consulted Supporting the application No clear view expressed Not Supporting the application Health related organizations 20 4 11 5 Community councils 1,000 5 19 38 Political parties/organizations 0 0 0 4 GPs, pharmacists, members of the public 2,000 2 4 7 Total 3,290 39 71 91 Note: 1 Number of the Application Documents issued for consultation. Copies of all comments received in response to the public consultation have been retained by the Common Services Agency and are available for inspection. A copy is available for inspection in the Library of the Scottish Office, St. Andrew's house, Edinburgh.
Following an extensive consultation exercise including 34 public meetings held throughout Scotland, 201 responses were received. Only 91 of these specifically indicated opposition to the application. Consideration was given to all the comments made and to the report and recommendations made by the Common Services Agency. The application was considered against the published criteria of benefits for patients, management competence, involvement of clinicians and other health care professionals in management and financial viability. My right hon. Friend announced on 25 November that he had given his approval to the application after appraisal against the criteria.