Chamber and committees

ScotRail submits complaints data to the rail regulator, the Office of Rail and Road (ORR). This data is published quarterly on the ORR website and can be obtained via the following link:-

Passenger rail service complaints | ORR Data Portal

Delivery partners are responsible for awareness raising and promotion of Scottish employability services, and use a variety of channels for this including social media. The Scottish Government’s Employability social media promotional activity to date has not used the TikTok platform.

People living with Parkinson’s should be responsible for the administration of all their medicines, including during a stay in any health or care setting, unless a risk assessment indicates otherwise. There are several tools to help people to remember to take their medication, including using alarms on a digital watch, or setting a reminder on a smartphone, using medication reminder charts, using pill timer boxes and multi-compartment compliance aids. In health and care settings, including hospitals, organisational policies will define who can administer medicines, or the appropriate delegation of the administration of medicines, within that setting. This should include a policy for self-administration of medicines.

All registered healthcare professionals who administer medicines, or - when appropriate - delegate the administration of medicines, are accountable for their actions, and this includes recording when a dose of medication may have been missed. This is in line with professional and regulatory standards and guidance. Non-registered healthcare professionals are appropriately trained, assessed as competent and meet relevant organisational guidance on medicines administration.

The administration of Parkinson’s medications vary from person to person and does not always correspond with hospital ward medicine administration rounds for people who are not able to self-administer, and so the roll-out of a Hospital Electronic Prescribing and Medicine Administration (HEPMA) system across Scottish hospitals will help to reduce any missed doses, as well as providing a record of any omissions which provides data to support improvement in the administration of medicines. In addition, there are additional tools in use in some hospitals which can provide alerts as reminders to administer Parkinson’s medicines.

The medicines reconciliation process is set out at a national level, and the responsibility lies within each Health Board to enact and monitor adherence.

Board specific policies detail the roles and responsibilities of healthcare professionals when completing and updating medicines reconciliation forms during admission, transfer, and discharge.

Arrangements may vary, therefore specific details could be obtained directly from the Health Boards.

The Scottish Government welcomes this report and recognises that reaching our target of a 20% reduction in car km by 2030 will require a broad combination of interventions, including infrastructure, incentives and disincentives.

I further refer the member to the answer to question S6T-01336 on 25 April 2023, with regard to investment in public transport. All answers to oral parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, which can be found at: https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/official-report/search-what-was-said-in-parliament/meeting-of-parliament-25-04-2023?meeting=15260&iob=130152

Destinations signed on Scotland’s roads, including the strategic trunk road network managed by Transport Scotland, are determined in accordance with national guidance in ‘Local Transport Note 1/94 Design and Use of Directional Traffic Signs’. The guidance presents a list of 43 ‘Primary Destinations’ in Scotland which are prioritised for inclusion on trunk road directional signing. Factors influencing what is appropriate as a Primary Destination may include population, the levels of traffic attracted to the destination, the strategic position of the destination relative to key junctions and route-finding, and the geographical density of destinations within the local area. The guidance emphasises the need for continuity, and provides recommended limits on the number of destinations included on each sign, to ensure clarity.

We are committed to finding ways to make alternative travel modes more attractive, and supporting people to take fewer journeys by car. The Scottish Government’s plans to encourage the use of public transport and active travel alongside plans to reduce car use, are set out in the draft route map on 20% reduction in car kilometres by 2030, jointly developed with COSLA. We have also set out our future transport infrastructure priorities in the second Strategic Transport Projects Review published on 8 December 2022 which includes a focus on active travel, mass transit and bus priority for mode shift away from the predominance of cars.

However, the evidence is clear that incentivising sustainable alternatives alone will not be sufficient to bring about the behaviour change to deliver the scale of 20% car KM reduction. Therefore as outlined in our draft 20% route map, we have commissioned research exploring equitable options for demand management to discourage car use.

The most direct levers on the cost of buying or running a petrol or diesel car – fuel duty and vehicle excise duty – are currently reserved, and the recent rises in the cost of motoring underline the unfairness of the current, regressive motoring tax regime. As such, we will continue to press the UK Government for a fair and progressive future transport tax system that better incentivises the transition to zero-emission vehicles, reduces unnecessary journeys and raises revenues to fund policies to support a shift to more sustainable travel.

The final version of the route map to achieving a 20% reduction in car km in Scotland by 2030 will be published alongside the public consultation analysis of the responses to the draft version of the route map, and the commissioned demand management research, in the coming months.

Transport Scotland is aware of concerns expressed by the local community in relation to signage on the A7 towards Langholm. Transport Scotland has reviewed the signing and is content that current signage is in accordance with national guidance document ‘Local Transport Note 1/94 Design and Use of Directional Traffic Signs’. In relation to the A7 trunk road, Langholm currently features on all route confirmatory signs northbound and southbound within Scotland, and on advance direction signage southbound in Hawick. Transport Scotland has engaged with officials at Department for Transport, National Highways and Cumbria County Council to discuss continuity of signing to Langholm on both sides of the border.

The Scottish Government meet weekly with the team at NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde to discuss their capital investment plans, including redevelopment of the Institute of Neurological Sciences in Glasgow. The Scottish Government would be happy to discuss with NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde any plans they have to establish a Centre of Excellence for Brain Tumour Research in Scotland.

The Scottish Government has worked collaboratively with partners, patients and third sector organisations in recent months to develop a ten year cancer strategy for Scotland.

Due to publish Spring 2023, the strategy will take a comprehensive approach to improving patient pathways, from prevention and diagnosis through to treatment and post-treatment care. It aims to improve cancer survival and provide excellent, equitably accessible, care across Scotland, including those affected by brain cancer.

A new earlier diagnosis vision will feature within the strategy and will include similar actions to those outlined in The Brain Tumour Charity’s report. This includes continuing to deliver our Detect Cancer Earlier Programme, working with primary care clinicians to ensure they have direct access to diagnostic tests and quality education sources; optimal cancer diagnostic pathways are designed and implemented across NHS Scotland; and public campaigns educate and empower those with possible symptoms to act early.