To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many ambulances equipped for emergency and urgent calls are available to the Scottish Ambulance Service in the Greater Glasgow health board area on each shift on each day of the week. [5082]
The Scottish Ambulance Service NHS trust's accident and emergency vehicles covering the Greater Glasgow health board area are available as timetabled below:
| Responses | |||
| Period | Emergency | Urgent | Total |
| 1990–91 | 41,756 | 34,615 | 76,371 |
| 1991–92 | 45,321 | 32,435 | 77,756 |
| 1992–93 | 47,841 | 32,665 | 80,506 |
| 1993–94 | 49,227 | 34,925 | 84,152 |
Responses
| |||
Period
| Emergency
| Urgent
| Total
|
| 1994–95 | 53,003 | 34,482 | 87,485 |
| 1995–19961 | 39,250 | 22,144 | 61,394 |
1 Based on 1 April 1995–30 November 1995. | |||
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what (a) citizens charter and (b) other standards he applies to the Scottish Ambulance Service; and how the service has performed in respect of those standards in recent years. [5084]
| Emergency calls | ||||
| Performance | ||||
| Population density | Target—95 per cent. of calls responded to within | 1993–94 | 1994–95 | 11995–96 |
| High (3 people per acre) | 14 minutes | 90 | 92 | 92 |
| Medium (0.5–3 people per acre) | 18 minutes | 94 | 96 | 96 |
| Sparse (0.5 people per acre) | 21 minutes | 88 | 90 | 91 |
| 1 Based on 1 April to 30 November 1995. | ||||
| Urgent calls | |||
| Performance against standard | |||
| 1993–94 | 1994–95 | 11995–96 | |
| Standard–95 per cent. of patients in hospital within 15 minutes of time agreed with clinician | 88 | 89 | 91 |
| 1Based on 1 April to 30 November 1995. | |||
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what rights of redress are available to individuals receiving inadequate service from the Scottish Ambulance Service. [5085]
The Scottish Ambulance Service NHS trust's charter sets out the standards of ambulance services that patients should expect to receive. The charter also advises patients on how to progress any complaint they may have about the service they have received. Where a patient is dissatisfied with the trust's handling of a complaint the charter invites them to contact the Health Service Commissioner for Scotland.
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what percentage of requests for an urgent ambulance from the Scottish Ambulance Service are met within (a) 15 minutes, (b) 30 minutes, (c) 60 minutes, (d) two hours, (e) three hours, (f) four hours (g) five hours and (h) more than five hours in the Greater Glasgow health board area. [5087]
The standard for urgent calls is for the Scottish Ambulance Service to collect and deliver the patient to hospital within 15 minutes of the time agreed with the clinician requesting the ambulance.Performance against this standard in the Greater Glasgow health board area is as follows:
| Percentage | |
| Period | Performance against 95 per cent. target |
| 1994–95 | 84 |
| 1995–961 | 85 |
| 1 Based on 1 April to 30 November 1995. | |
The Scottish Ambulance Service NHS trust charter details the time within which the service aims to respond to emergency calls and to urgent calls. These target times and the information on how the trust performed against the targets are set out in the tables below. The target times for responding to emergency calls vary according to population density. The standard for urgent calls is for the service to have collected and delivered the patient to hospital within 15 minutes of the time agreed with the clinician requesting the ambulance.
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will make a statement about the (a) staff, (b) vehicles and (c) financial resources made available to the Scottish Ambulance Service in the Greater Glasgow health board area in each of the last five years. [5088]
The number of accident and emergency staff, vehicles and the financial resources made available to the Scottish Ambulance Service in the Greater Glasgow health board area has increased steadily during the last five years.Staff on accident and emergency duties within the area have increased from 156 in 1991–92 to 195 in 1995–96. Accident and emergency vehicles have increased from 27 to 43 during the same period.The revenue allocation for the provision of the ambulance service in Greater Glasgow has increased from £6.16 million in 1991–92 to £9.884 million in 1995–96, an increase of 43 per cent. in real terms.