Chamber and committees

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: S3W-25794

Asked by: Ross Finnie, MSP for West of Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 14 July 2009
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 6 August 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive whether ministers oversee the use of the Scottish Drug Misuse Database.

Question reference: S3W-25773

Asked by: Ross Finnie, MSP for West of Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 14 July 2009
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 6 August 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive how national support coordinators will help deliver drug treatment services.

Question reference: S3W-25786

Asked by: Ross Finnie, MSP for West of Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 14 July 2009
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 6 August 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive what (a) information is or (b) data are held on the Scottish Drug Misuse Database.

The Scottish Drug Misuse Database (SDMD) holds information/data about clients in drug treatment services. This information/data comprises:

1. Personal details, including full name, city/town and postcode, date of birth and ethnic group.

2. Initial presenting information, including main source of referral and co-occuring health issues.

3. Contact with each service used, including caseworker name, date of initial assessment and follow-up reviews, date and reason for discharge and/or date and destination of referral to another treatment or rehabilitation service.

4. Previous contact with services.

5. Age when first started using illicit drugs and at onset of problem use.

6. Currently prescribed drugs related to the treatment of addiction.

7. Illicit drugs taken in the past month, including frequency and daily quantity and spend.

8. Injecting/equipment sharing details.

9. Blood borne viruses.

10. Alcohol consumed in the past month.

11. Social profile, including accommodation, legal situation, living situation, prison record (last 12 months), employment/education and source of funding for drugs use.

12. Number of dependent children and their living situation.

13. Details of interventions received (including drugs treatment and wider social, housing and employment interventions).

These categories reflect the most comprehensive information that may be held about an individual who has received both an initial and a follow-up assessment.

For reasons why the amount of information about different individuals may vary I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-25798, on 6 August 2009. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament''s website, the search facility for which can be found at:

http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/Apps2/Business/PQA/Default.aspx.

Question reference: S3W-25776

Asked by: Ross Finnie, MSP for West of Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 14 July 2009
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 6 August 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive to whom the drug service national support coordinators will report.

Question reference: S3W-25797

Asked by: Ross Finnie, MSP for West of Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 14 July 2009
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 6 August 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive whether individuals are consulted on the retention of their details on the Scottish Drug Misuse Database.

Individuals are provided with a leaflet, Scottish Drug Misuse Database: Protecting Personal Information. This makes clear an individual''s right to object to Information Services Division (ISD) Scotland making use of their information. It also advises individuals that they may ask ISD to change or restrict the way they use their information and that ISD is obliged to agree if it is possible to do so.

Question reference: S3W-25791

Asked by: Ross Finnie, MSP for West of Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 14 July 2009
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 6 August 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive what involvement the police has with the Scottish Drug Misuse Database.

Question reference: S3W-25774

Asked by: Ross Finnie, MSP for West of Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 14 July 2009
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 6 August 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive whether national support coordinators will be in charge of the delivery of drug treatment services in local authority areas.

Question reference: S3W-25799

Asked by: Ross Finnie, MSP for West of Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 14 July 2009
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 6 August 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive what assessment has been made of the efficacy of the use of the information and data held on the Scottish Drug Misuse Database.

The Scottish Drug Misuse Database (SDMD) has a number of important uses including:

Monitoring problem drug use;

Helping to identify, or confirm, trends;

Informing discussion about service provision;

Providing data to local partnerships on alcohol and drugs to help them plan their work and manage local performance;

Providing information in support of single outcome agreements.

Prior to 2008, the utility of the database was restricted because it only contained information about clients when they first entered treatment. The new SDMD follow-up reporting system was introduced in April 2008, with Scotland-wide coverage expected by the end of 2009. This will enhance the utility of the database by providing information on:

The total number of clients in treatment;

The length of time spent in treatment;

Details of the interventions clients receive;

Changes in clients'' drug use and social situations (including the living situation of dependent children).

This new data will permit the analysis of effective treatment pathways and outcomes, in addition to enhancing the existing uses of the database outlined above.

Question reference: S3W-25789

Asked by: Ross Finnie, MSP for West of Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 14 July 2009
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 6 August 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive whether medical records are held on the Scottish Drug Misuse Database.

Clients'' medical records are not held on the Scottish Drug Misuse Database. However, some basic self-reported health information is held, which is described in the answer to question S3W-25786, on 6 August 2009.

All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament''s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/Apps2/Business/PQA/Default.aspx.

Question reference: S3W-25721

Asked by: Ross Finnie, MSP for West of Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 10 July 2009
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 3 August 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive how many patients have been admitted to hospital following surgical errors in each of the last five years, broken down by NHS board and type of error.