This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
Listen
NHS jobs move south to Dumfries
09/11/2004
The National Health Service Central Register (NHSCR) is
to relocate to Dumfries, bringing 17 jobs to the town by
spring 2005.
The NHSCR is a key list of all NHS patients in Scotland,
kept by the Registrar General of Scotland, and is currently
located in Edinburgh.
The Registrar General carried out a review as part of
the Executive's policy of creating public sector job
opportunities across the country and Dumfries was selected
because of the suitability of a former hospital building on
Crichton Campus with close links to other NHS units and
flexibility for future changes in the size of the NHSCR.
Deputy Public Service Reform Minister Tavish Scott
said:
"This is good news for Dumfries - it is no panacea, but
these 17 jobs will make an important contribution to local
communities and businesses.
"The NHSCR is a small but high-powered unit which is
vital to the smooth running of the NHS in Scotland.
"It plays an important role in the work of the General
Register Office for Scotland and the Executive has worked
closely with our local partners, including the Council and
the local enterprise company to bring these jobs to
Dumfries.
"The Executive is committed to dispersing public sector
jobs across Scotland. We want to see all areas of Scotland
benefit and to ensure that we evenly spread the advantages
of devolution and give a boost to areas that need it.
The core function of the NHSCR is to maintain a register
of all patients who are on the list of GPs in Scotland, and
to supply to NHS Boards, and to approved medical
researchers, information held on the register.
The current NHSCR staff, and their trade union (Public
and Commercial Services Union), have been consulted during
the review.
Staff will be given the option to move with the work to
Dumfries, or to move to other work in the General Register
Office for Scotland or the Executive in Edinburgh.
A fundamental review of the work of the NHSCR was
carried out in the latter half of 2003 under the leadership
of the Executive's Deputy Chief Medical Officer.