Scottish Conservatives Debate: Retain the HIE Boardpublished at 15:14 Greenwich Mean Time 18 January 2017
The Scottish Conservatives will now lead a debate calling for the retention of the HIE board.
The Education Committee take evidence on the Curriculum for Excellence, hearing from the chief executives of the SQA and Education Scotland.
In the chamber more education as John Swinney and his ministers will be quizzed.
Opposition party leaders quiz Shona Robison on the delayed trauma centres.
The Scottish Tories lead a debate calling for the retention of the HIE board.
The Tories then lead a debate on preventative health interventions.
Labour MSP Richard Leonard's member's debate celebrates the 30th anniversary of the worker's occupation of the Caterpillar Plant in Tannochside.
Craig Hutchison and Colin Bell
The Scottish Conservatives will now lead a debate calling for the retention of the HIE board.
Lib Dem MSP Alex Cole-Hamilton says getting triage right is "absolutely essential".
Mr Cole-Hamilton asks if the Health Secretary will review the procedures relating to trauma care for head injuries.
Mr Robison says the definition of major trauma is very specific and a very specific group of patients including those with head injuries.
Health Secretary Shona Robison says it is clear Anas Sarwar has not read the statement he received an hour in advance.
Ms Robison says if he had done so he would understand how important it was to take time to reach a clinical consensus on the trauma centres.
She says 1,100 people with major trauma will be treated in the new trauma centres.
The health secretary says perhaps if Anas Sarwar listened to anyone but himself he would learn something.
SNP MSP Fulton MacGregor asks when the four trauma regions will have implementation plans in place.
Health Secretary Shona Robison says it is expected to be October this year.
She says Aberdeen and Dundee will be "the trailblazers of this network".
Labour MSP Anas Sarwar says this is the second time that the health secretary has been forced to come to the chamber to discuss changes.
Mr Sarwar says the delays mean up to 18,000 patients willl be failed by the cabinet secretary
"Only in Shona Robison's world is a three year delay moving forward," he says.
He asks if the health secretary will take this opportunity to apologise.
Health Secretary Shona Robison says she hopes members would agree that it was right to take the time to build consensus on the trauma network model.
Ms Robison says she does not accept Donald Cameron's assertion there was a failure in forward planning, rather there was a lack of clinical concensus.
She says winter always brings pressures to A&E and the new trauma network will help those with the worst injuries, the 6,000 of them.
The minister says the £30 figure should be taken as a guide.
Tory MSP Donald Cameron says he finds it strange that it took calls from Scottish Tory Leader Ruth Davidson for the health secretary to come to the chamber.
Mr Cameron says the fact that she went to the media first is "unacceptable".
He says the delay to the introduction of these services is intolerable because they are needed now.
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Ms Robison concludes saying she is confident that the right model has come out of all of this work and this will enhance our trauma services and save more lives every year.
The health secretary says the government is investing an extra £5 million in 2017/18 to accelerate these improvements.
Ms Robison says over the lifetime of implementation the anticipated cost of the new enhance network and 4 centre model is approximately £30 million – the final costs will be informed by the development of the network steering group’s plans.
Ms Robison says the Scottish ambulance service desk will be 24/7 and this will be up and running by October.
She says a triage tool that helps paramedics quickly identify major trauma patients - and tells them where they should be taken, will be tested in the summer.
The health secretary says the SAS are going to recruit additional staff, with the aim of having staff in place by July.
She says the vital trauma equipment for all SAS vehicles has already been procured and it will be in universal use by end February 2017.
Ms Robison says: "In 2015, the GEOS study cast doubt on the four centre model, and instead suggested."
The health secretary says the report had to be fully considered.
She says in June last year the Scottish government announced the necessary preparatory work for an enhanced 4 centre trauma network would be completed by December 2016.
Ms Robison says that has now been delivered.
Ms Robison says it should therefore come as no surprise that trauma networks require significant planning and investment.
The health centre says in September 2013, the National Planning Forum’s Major Trauma Sub Group produced a report with a number of recommendations for the development of a major trauma network.
She says in April 2014, her predecessor Alex Neil asked for the suggested 4 centre model to be taken forward as a practical first step.
That required the consideration of whether there should be fewer than four trauma centres and where they should be, says Ms Robison.
Ms Robison says: "Uniquely, trauma centres provide a dedicated trauma service.
"A trauma service is a highly specialist team expert in major trauma care."
Health Secretary Shona Robison says there will be four major trauma centres in Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh, and Glasgow.
Ms Robison says a trauma network provides clinical leadership throughout the entire patient journey, not just in a trauma centre.
Nicola Sturgeon has insisted the government is right to take its time developing a network of trauma centres.
The first minister came under fire from opposition leaders, who said centres in Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh and Glasgow were meant to be operational in 2016.
Ms Sturgeon said the "scale and complexity" of the changes meant full implementation could take three years.
But she insisted Scotland's NHS was outperforming health boards in other parts of the UK.
Health Secretary Shona Robison will now give a ministerial statement on delivering an enhanced trauma network for Scotland.
Education Secretary John Swinney says the education system has many strengths but it faces challenges.
Mr Swinney says the PISA results underline the need for reform and that is why he is committed to empowering teachers.
Mr Gray says several stakeholders have queried the review and told the education secretary he is "barking up the wrong tree".
Mr Swinney says the government accepts the need for education reform.
Labour MSP Iain Gray ask the Scottish government what its response is to concerns expressed by the Royal Society of Edinburgh regarding an “absence of a clear rationale” for the school governance review.
SNP MSP Bruce Crawford asks the Scottish government how much funding it provided toward the building of the new St Margaret's Primary School in Cowie