In Parliament

Today in Parliament, I was able to ask the First Minister about support for DriveAbility Scotland.

You can read the question and answer below

Bob Doris 

DriveAbility Scotland, which is based in my constituency, provides essential driving assessments for disabled drivers and offers them support and advice. It takes as short a time as six weeks to secure an appointment, whereas doing so using the national health service national facility in Lothian might take more than six months. DriveAbility Scotland might be forced to close later this year, which would increase NHS waiting times for disabled drivers who desperately need assessments. I have raised that matter with the Minister for Public Health, Women’s Health and Sport. I ask the First Minister to do what she can urgently to secure at least some form of bridging funding for DriveAbility Scotland to allow it to continue to operate for the benefit of disabled drivers while the NHS reviews its own current, under-pressure provision—which I hope will in future involve using DriveAbility Scotland.

The First Minister (Nicola Sturgeon)

The Scottish Government has already been engaged on the issue. We have been working with the DriveAbility Scotland service to explore different options. I understand that NHS Lothian’s driving assessment team has prepared a draft business plan for the establishment of an additional centre in Glasgow and that that is currently being considered by NHS National Services Scotland. The Minister for Public Health, Women’s Health and Sport will keep Bob Doris apprised when NSS reaches its conclusion on the proposal.