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NHS 24 is not being piloted in the Grampian region; Grampian is the first part of Scotland to benefit from the national rollout of this new NHS service. NHS 24 was designed and developed with the support of staff from the Scottish Ambulance Service and accident and emergency services to complement these services. By providing callers with home care advice or, where required, directing them to the most appropriate NHS service it should help reduce inappropriate demand on these services. NHS 24 is working very closely with NHSScotland to maximise nursing resource and minimise impact on local NHS services. Consequently, no additional funding was provided to the Grampian NHS Board area solely because NHS 24 would be launched in that area.

Following the changes introduced to the Capital Planning and Approval processes in April this year, it is anticipated that the majority of the £750 million will be allocated directly to NHS boards to undertake those improvements already under way or planned as part of the board's Capital Investment Programme.Those building projects currently under development include the provision of appropriate facilities for mental health; ambulatory care and diagnostic facilities; reconfiguration of services arising from completed or on-going acute services reviews; improved primary care and community hospital facilities, and investment in and the upgrading of medical equipment. IT projects costing under £1 million are managed under delegated authority by the NHS boards and trusts. Projects managed by NHS boards and trusts costing over £1 million are subject to business case approval by the Health Department. These projects are likely to include the development of electronic integrated care records and systems supporting accident and emergency and ambulatory care and diagnostic services. Such investments will be directed in line with the national Information Management and Technology (IM&T) strategy and the health board IM&T Action Plans currently under development.

The Spending Review 2002 settlement reflects the Care Development Group's costing assumptions for free personal care. These assumptions estimated an increase in demand from unmet need and a shift from informal to formal care of approximately 12% building up over the first two years of the policy to 2004-05. Within that framework, identification of individuals in need of care is a matter for local authorities. The Scottish Executive has provided the necessary resources.

Stroke medicine is a continuously advancing field. Our Coronary Heart Disease and Stroke Strategy, which we will publish shortly, will set out arrangements designed to make sure that people in Scotland who have had a stroke can benefit at as early a stage as possible from those advances.

Record sums are being invested in the NHS by the Scottish Executive so that we can revitalise services for patients everywhere. As part of our action on workforce development we are encouraging innovative multi-professional teamworking. We are working at local, regional and national levels to provide attractive career opportunities for staff at all levels and in all specialities.

The detailed allocations of the health budget, including NHS 24's, will be published in the draft budget document towards the end of October. NHS 24's funding will facilitate the national rollout of this new NHS service over the next two years. NHS 24 is working very closely with NHSScotland to maximise nursing resource and minimise impact on local NHS services.

Record sums are being invested in the NHS by the Scottish Executive so that we can revitalise services for patients everywhere. As part of our action on workforce development we are encouraging innovative multi-professional teamworking, and seeking to reward staff appropriately to the level of responsibility carried. We are working at local, regional and national levels to provide attractive career opportunities for staff at all levels and in all specialities.

Building a Better Scotland indicated additional resources of £23, 50 and 100 million towards health improvement initiatives. £18, 44 and 61 million of this has been allocated to portfolios other than health but for clarity has not been included in the health portfolio allocation.

The national clinical effectiveness organisations, for example the Health Technology Board Scotland, the Scottish Inter-Collegiate Guidelines Network and the Clinical Standards Board for Scotland, are funded to evaluate the clinical and cost effectiveness of health technologies and develop evidence-based clinical guidelines and standards. NHSScotland is expected to take account of advice and evidence from these organisations so that effective medical advances are quickly adopted as mainstream practice across Scotland. NHS boards are expected to allocate their funds so as to meet national and local priorities, including taking account of clinical advances where relevant. NHS boards' allocations for future years will be announced around the turn of the year, and we expect those to be sufficient to meet pay and price increases and clinical advances.

The treatment of coronary heart disease is a continuously advancing field. Our CHD and Stroke Strategy, which we will publish shortly, will set out arrangements designed to make sure that people in Scotland who suffer from CHD can benefit at as early a stage as possible from those advances.