Call for evidence

The Health and Sport Committee will undertake a short inquiry into out-of-hours health care provision in rural areas of Scotland.  The inquiry will examine the changes to out-of-hours provision in rural areas and the resultant effect on:

• The quality of out-of-ours care in rural areas, with a specific focus on clinical safety and effectiveness
• The accessibility and availability of out-of-hours care in rural areas
• The sustainability and cost of out-of-hours care in rural areas

Questions

To inform the inquiry, the Committee is seeking views on the following questions:

• What do you think is the most sustainable and cost-effective way to provide adequate out-of-hours services in rural areas?
• What are your views on the quality of out-of-hours care provided in rural areas, in particular clinical safety and effectiveness?
• What are your views on the accessibility and availability of out-of-hours care in rural areas?
• How well do you think does NHS 24 and the Scottish Ambulance Service link in with existing out-of-hours services?

How to submit your evidence

Before making a submission, please read our policy on treatment of written evidence by subject and mandatory committees (pdf 15kb).

The closing date for written submission is Friday 6 November 2009. Owing to the timescale required to process and analyse evidence, late submissions will only be accepted with the prior agreement of the Convener. Responses should be no more than four sides of A4 in length. We welcome written evidence in English, Gaelic or any other language.

Responses should be sent, where possible, electronically in Word format to the following address:

healthandsport.committee@scottish.parliament.uk

You may also make hard copy written submissions to:

Health and Sport Committee

T3.60

Scottish Parliament

EH99 1SP

What happens next?

The Committee will consider all submissions received and identify issues emerging from the evidence which it wishes to investigate further through oral evidence sessions.

A list of organisations and individuals participating in oral evidence sessions will be published on the Committee agenda papers in advance of the relevant meeting.

Should you require alternative formats of this document or further information or assistance in making a written submission to the Committee, please do not hesitate to contact the Clerking team (0131 348 5410).