Scottish standing committee

Convenor's Message

Welcome to the Scottish Standing Committee web page.

The Standing Committee of the Association was established in 2001 as a direct consequence of devolution, primarily to reflect members’ views in Scotland and represent their interests within a devolved health service. It consists of six elected members, AAGBI Council Members resident in Scotland , a GAT and SAS member, along with coopted members from the Royal College of Anaesthetists Scottish Board, the Scottish Intensive Care Society, the North British Pain Association, the Scottish Society of Anaesthetists, the BMA Scottish Consultants’ Committee and the Chief Medical Officer’s adviser. As such, it is well placed to represent the specialty in a rapidly evolving Scottish Health Service and provide informed professional input to the Executive, Parliament and the media.

As members are only too well aware, major changes are underway in health care delivery across Scotland : new ways of working are evolving, services are being reconfigured and postgraduate medical training is undergoing a comprehensive overhaul. With record financial investment going into the health service, particularly on salaries, the profession is under intense Government pressure to meet ever more demanding targets in relation to patient care.

Significant differences are developing between the Scottish Health Service and that South of the Border. While the purchaser provider model seems to have been reinvented in England with services being commissioned from a variety of providers, including the private sector, Scotland has abolished Trusts and chosen an integrated model of primary and secondary care forming single operating units within unitary health boards. Foundation hospitals are not on the agenda and private sector involvement has been minimal so far.

The Standing Committee meets regularly throughout the year and holds a popular annual open meeting in Stirling every February, providing a mixture of clinical and political topics with the opportunity to debate many of the current medico-political issues affecting the specialty. The Convenor attends all AAGBI Council meetings to provide Scottish input to Council at UK level.

Important areas addressed by the Committee include manpower, service and training, contractual issues, assistance for the anaesthetist, remote and rural problems and the disparity in chronic pain services across Scotland and minutes can be viewed on the website. We look forward to members’ continuing support during the challenges ahead and extend the usual warm invitation to join us at the next Open Meeting in Stirling in February.

Neil Mackenzie
Convenor, Scottish Standing Committee