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Questions and answers

Parliamentary questions can be asked by any MSP to the Scottish Government or the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body. The questions provide a means for MSPs to get factual and statistical information.

Written questions must be answered within 10 working days (20 working days during recess)
Other questions such as Topical, Portfolio, General and First Minister's Question Times are taken in the Chamber

Urgent Questions aren't included in the Question and Answers search. There is a SPICe fact sheet listing Urgent and emergency questions.

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Question reference: S4W-23205

Asked by: Dr Richard Simpson, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 18 November 2014
Current Status: Answered by Derek Mackay on 27 November 2014

To ask the Scottish Government when it last carried out modelling of the traffic density and speed and the design suitability on the Keir roundabout on the M9.

Question reference: S4O-03763

Asked by: Dr Richard Simpson, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 November 2014
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 3 December 2014

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to address teachers' workload issues.

Question reference: S4W-23216

Asked by: Dr Richard Simpson, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 18 November 2014
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 26 November 2014

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provides details of each (a) leadership and (b) training course open to (i) doctors, (ii) nurses, (iii) midwives, (iv) allied health professionals and (v) social workers that it has supported in each of the last three years, broken down by the funding it has (A) provided and (B) will provide in 2015-16.

Question reference: S4W-23207

Asked by: Dr Richard Simpson, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 18 November 2014
Current Status: Answered by Maureen Watt on 26 November 2014

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has had legal advice or advice from the Scottish Human Rights Commission on whether the proposed data entry and collection system for the proposed drug and alcohol information system (DAISy) is compliant with Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights, and whether it complies.

Question reference: S4W-23228

Asked by: Dr Richard Simpson, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 18 November 2014
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 26 November 2014

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the reported increase in GP workloads, whether it will reintroduce the requirement for a prescription exemption application form to be completed in order to be eligible for treatment under the minor ailment service.

<>Patients with a valid medical exemption certificate can apply to register for the minor ailment service. The medical conditions by which a patient qualifies for a medical exemption certificate are set out in the NHS (Free Prescriptions and Charges for Drugs and Appliances) (Scotland) Regulations 2011, which can be found at:www.legislation.gov.uk/ssi/2011/55/contents/made

These arrangements remain in place, and there are no current plans for review.

Question reference: S4W-23203

Asked by: Dr Richard Simpson, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 18 November 2014
Current Status: Answered by Derek Mackay on 26 November 2014

To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) serious and (b) other accidents there have been in each of the last seven years at the Keir roundabout on the M9, broken down by (i) the number of fatalities and (ii) how often the roundabout had to be repaired.

The following table shows the number of reported personal injury accidents at and within 300 metres of the Keir roundabout, on the trunk roads, in the last seven full calendar years, 2007-2013.

Year	Fatal	Serious	Slight	TOTAL
2007	0	3	5	8
2008	0	0	7	7
2009	0	1	4	5
2010	0	0	5	5
2011	0	0	2	2
2012	0	0	8	8
2013	1	1	5	7
TOTAL	1	5	36	42

There have been 1 fatal, 5 serious and 36 slight injury accidents. The fatal accident took place in November 2013 and resulted in 1 person being killed.

In the same period, our operating company recorded 17 instances of damage requiring repair at the roundabout.

The figures quoted may differ slightly from those published elsewhere because they were extracted on a different date and the database may have changed between the two dates, e.g. due to late returns or corrections to earlier returns.

Question reference: S4W-23210

Asked by: Dr Richard Simpson, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 18 November 2014
Current Status: Answered by Maureen Watt on 26 November 2014

To ask the Scottish Government what process of consent will be incorporated into the proposed drug and alcohol information system (DAISy).

Question reference: S4W-23221

Asked by: Dr Richard Simpson, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 18 November 2014
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 26 November 2014

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to pay GPs the £55 fee for each diagnosis of dementia as announced for GPs in England.

An accurate, timely dementia diagnosis is the gateway to effective care, treatment and support. The GP contract in Scotland already supports the dementia care pathway by incentivising appropriate clinical activity through the quality and outcomes framework.

The last comparable UK-wide dementia diagnosis data, published by the UK Alzheimer Society in 2013, showed that, nationally, Scotland’s diagnosis rate was 20% higher than England and 26% higher than Wales. This in large, part reflects the success of our 2008-11 national diagnosis target, which was achieved by working collaboratively with local teams including GPs on the value of diagnosis.

Decisions regarding the care and treatment of individual patients are always a matter of professional judgement for the clinician responsible for the patient’s care.

GPs follow national clinical guidelines as well as locally agreed referral pathways to manage a patient’s healthcare, referring them for the appropriate diagnostic tests and to specialist services for their condition.

Funding to improve dementia services continues to be drawn from the overall funds allocated to NHS Scotland and local authorities by the Scottish Government.

Question reference: S4W-23229

Asked by: Dr Richard Simpson, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 18 November 2014
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 26 November 2014

To ask the Scottish Government how many people have registered for the chronic medicines prescription scheme and what action it is taking to encourage registration, other than literature being made available in community pharmacies.

As at week commencing 24 November 2014, there were 417,200 patients registered for the chronic medication service (CMS) in community pharmacies across Scotland. In the context of Prescription for Excellence, the Scottish Government is working with health boards to further promote and strengthen the clinical benefits of the service to people with long terms conditions.

There will also be an increased emphasis on promoting the serial prescribing and dispensing element of the service which, as well as improving the patient’s overall experience of CMS, helps to facilitate shared care between the patient’s GP and pharmacist.

Question reference: S4W-23226

Asked by: Dr Richard Simpson, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 18 November 2014
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 26 November 2014

To ask the Scottish Government how many 16 to 65-year-olds are ineligible for treatment under the minor ailment service.

<>The eligibility criteria for the minor ailment service (MAS) are set out in the Health Board Additional Pharmaceutical Services (minor ailment service) (Scotland) Directions 2011, which can be found on the Scotland’s Health on the Web website at:www.sehd.scot.nhs.uk/pca/PCA2011(P)06.pdf

Information on the number of people aged between 16 and 65 who are not eligible for MAS is not held centrally.