Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government is committed to reducing delayed discharges and addressing the variation in delays across the country and this remains a priority for this Government. However, it is important to reflect that 97% of all discharges happen without delay.

The latest published delayed discharge figures show some progress in reducing the number of people delayed, and we continue to work to drive that number down further. Statistics show that during April 2025, on average 1,854 people were delayed in hospital each day, 3% fewer than in April 2024, the lowest level since October 2023, and a 9% reduction from the peak in October 2024.

The progress comes off the back off intensive work that is being done on a whole system basis, with Health and Social Care Partnerships, the National Health Service, Local Government and community and voluntary sector partners – to ensure that capacity is there to support them.

Furthermore, our budget for 2025-26 set out a clear plan to reduce waiting times, delayed discharges and improve hospital flow, supported by £200 million in targeted investment. Underpinning this is the NHS Scotland Operational Improvement Plan which was published on the 31st of March this year. This is a plan to improve access to treatment, shift the balance of care from acute services to the community, and improve access to health and social care services through digital and technological innovation and prevention.

I am confident that this improvement can continue, delivering better outcomes for patients so that they are cared for in the right setting and hospital beds are there for those who need them.

Whilst the Scottish Government sets the strategic direction for the NHS in Scotland, operational matters including staffing and the recruitment of graduates is the responsibility of health boards as autonomous institutions.

Whilst graduates can apply to join the NHS and care providers in their local area upon graduation, vacancies can fluctuate geographically each year. Alongside this, staff turnover can also vary, making recruitment of newly qualified nurses more challenging in individual health board areas. Such variations can be difficult to predict on occasion.

The Scottish Government is not aware of any evidence which suggests that significant numbers of graduate nurses are unable to secure permanent positions at this point.

Scottish Government recognises that diagnosing brain cancer can be challenging as symptoms are wide-ranging and often vague, contributing to presentations in emergency settings. We continue to work with primary care to improve the earlier diagnosis of brain cancers.

A clinical review of the Scottish Referral Guidelines for Suspected Cancer has just concluded to help ensure the right person is on the right pathway at the right time. For the first time, the review has ensured the inclusion of a nationally agreed non-specific symptoms referral guideline, as well as an update to the guidance for urgent referral for suspected brain tumours. Publication of the reviewed guidelines is expected this month.

A new primary care cancer education platform, Gateway C, was launched in April 2024. Gateway C provides tailored information to support earlier cancer diagnosis and enable effective decision-making. This platform is accessible to all primary care clinicians and includes a brain tumour course specifically aimed at assisting the effective assessment and management of patients with a potential brain tumour.

A new National Headache Pathway has also been published by the Centre for Sustainable Delivery. This pathway, based on presentation at General Practice, clearly lists red flag symptoms that indicate the need for urgent and/or emergency assessment to exclude a secondary cause, such as a brain tumour.

The medicines regulatory body, the MHRA, has issued regulatory action on labelling of topical steroids with their potencies, so that prescribers and patients can have informed discussions about the length of treatment of these products and associated risks and benefits.

Statistics on the class sizes of P1 to P3 pupils are published in the pupil census supplementary statistics, available on the Scottish Government website at:

https://www.gov.scot/publications/pupil-census-supplementary-statistics/

A scoping exercise undertaken by COSLA in 2022, identified that there were 969 parks in need of immediate refurbishment and that 2,542 were in need of refurbishment within 1-5 years. The £60 million capital investment would support the renewal of all play parks in need of immediate renewal and around 1,000 of the play parks identified needing renewal over the funding commitment period.

Since funding began in 2021, the Scottish Government has chaired quarterly network meetings of Local Authority play park leads. The network allows Local Authorities to provide updates on how funding is being used and to share best practice and common issues.

Figures for 2024-25 are still being finalised, but reports so far show the following number of renewals per year since funding began:

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-38037 on xxxxxxx which provides detail on the COSLA scoping study undertaken in 2022. Local authorities have a general responsibility to maintain play parks that serve their communities and this investment provides a boost in funding to accelerate local plans and improve play experiences for all children in Scotland. The reporting by Local Authorities agreed with COSLA does not include data on the condition of play parks before or after renewals. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers.

Scottish Government grant funding is subject to standard terms and conditions, which state that:

“No part of the Grant shall be used to fund any activity or material which is party political in intention, use, or presentation, or appears to be designed to affect support for a political party.”

Grant managers are expected to maintain strong relationships with grantees, with regular monitoring and reporting to ensure funding delivers agreed outcomes.

The Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator provides detailed guidance on how charities can engage on political issues appropriately.

The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring that people living with kidney diseases are able to access the best possible care and support and that they benefit from healthcare services that are safe, effective, and put people at the centre of their care.

We are aware of the findings of Kidney Care UK in their 2024 report, and Ms Minto met with the group shortly after publication. In 2024 we published the transport to health plan to support work across Scottish Government, Health Boards and Transport partners.

Following engagement between Scottish Government and NHS Boards, a Short Life Working Group is set to be established across NHS Boards to consider in more detail the issues relating to transport access for patients attending for kidney care treatment. We look forward to the outcomes of this work.

My statement to the Scottish Affairs Committee on 4 June 2025 is based on operational data and the clinical interventions of the Thistle Safer Drug Consumption Facility team.

By the end of April 2025, staff had managed 30 medical emergencies requiring urgent intervention. These incidents involved overdose responses, including naloxone and oxygen administration, in situations where lives were at immediate risk. The evidence underpinning this statement is drawn from Glasgow City Health and Social Care Partnership’s published service data and the professional assessments of clinical staff on-site to attend to medical emergencies