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In September 2001, we established 15 new NHS boards to enhance local decision making in NHSScotland. The membership of the new boards - which now includes elected local councillors, NHS staff and clinicians - has been specifically designed to provide a better reflection of the communities they serve.Putting in place the new, unified local NHS systems has involved more than 100 new non-executive appointments to NHS boards and trusts since January 2001, each of which has been made in line with guidance issued by the Commissioner for Public Appointments. This process has included local and national advertising campaigns, most notably for the Chairpersons of 13 NHS boards and five trusts, which have attracted a wide range of applicants from diverse backgrounds.Additionally, Patient Focus and Public Involvement, published in December 2001, requires each new NHS Board to work closely with its community planning partners and voluntary organisations to develop a sustainable framework to support local public involvement.

Our National Health: A plan for action, a plan for change, set out the Executive's intention to establish an expert group to support and advise local NHS Boards in managing changes in the configuration of services and to advise the Health Department on the appropriateness of local reconfiguration. I expect to make an announcement about this in the next few weeks.

The consistent development of clinical information systems across Scotland is being supported by the work of the Clinical Standards Board for Scotland, ISD and Audit Scotland. During 2001 they held two national meetings to review national databases in order to identify information sources suitable for monitoring the quality of direct patient care. A further meeting is planned with wider participation in spring 2002. In addition improving the quality of clinical information was a key strand of the recent CRAG Symposium, Improving Quality of Care for Patients: Sharing Principles and Practice. This showcased examples of good practice in developing consistent information systems to support direct patient care and to bring about improvements in patient management. CRAG has also supported the development of the Strategy Programme for Information & Management which sets out national and local programmes and targets for establishing greater collaboration and consistency of approach to the development of information management and technology (IM&T) across NHS Scotland. As part of this wider work CRAG will support a conference on IM&T systems in April.

In 2000-01, Scotland's Health at Work scheme received resources from health boards of around £1 million. Following the commitment in the Scottish Health Plan, additional funding from the Scottish Executive of £0.450 million in 2001-02 and £0.750 million in 2002-03 was approved.

Our National Health; A plan for action, a plan for change, commits the Scottish Executive to developing a complaints process which is "credible, easy to use, demonstrably independent and effective."A working group, which includes patient representatives and NHS staff, has been established to develop proposals for inclusion in a public consultation on a revised NHS complaints procedure. The group is currently considering responses to a pre-consultation exercise on the report of the independent evaluation of the NHS complaints procedure. The group's advice will inform the development of a formal consultation document to be issued in the spring.The consultation process will seek views on how to raise the profile of the NHS complaints procedure and make it more accessible to patients and the public including the use of a telephone and internet-based feedback system.

The Scottish Health Promoting Schools Unit has not yet been formally established. The Scottish Executive Health and Education Departments are working with the Health Education Board for Scotland, COSLA, and Learning and Teaching Scotland to establish the Unit within the first half of 2002.

The Public Health (Notification of Infectious Diseases) (Scotland) Regulations 1988 require medical practitioners to notify viral hepatitis as an infectious disease.In addition, the Scottish Centre for Infection and Environmental Health operates an enhanced hepatitis C infection database, developed in collaboration with the key hepatitis testing laboratories, which is believed to have an under-reporting rate of less than 1%.

There has been no public commitment made by the Scottish Executive to consult on mental health services for deaf and deafblind people.

Funding applications submitted to the Chief Scientist Office (CSO) can propose using researchers based outside Scotland but the principal research grant holder must be a permanent salaried member of staff in a Scottish Institution and the administering body must be based in Scotland. Further information on CSO grant conditions is available on the CSO website at www.show.scot.nhs.uk/cso/.

The Chief Scientist Office (CSO) within the Scottish Executive Health Department has responsibility for encouraging and supporting research into health services and patient care within the NHS in Scotland. CSO directly funds three projects on child and adolescent mental health research. Details are as follows:Adolescents with psychosis in Scotland: prevalence, health service use and disabilities. Cost: £116,134. A pilot study using fMRI to image imitation in autistic spectrum disorders. Cost: £66,165. Prosodic skills in children with autism. Cost: £135,438. In addition, information provided to CSO by NHS Trusts suggests that the NHS R & D Support Fund indirectly supported 359 research projects into mental health, at a total cost of £2,729,260 in the last financial year. It is not known what proportion of these projects deal specifically with child and adolescent mental health. Details of all current and recently completed research projects can be found in the National Research Register, a copy of which is available in the Parliament's Reference Centre (Bib. number 17404).