Chamber and committees

Scottish Government committed to a Four Day Working Week pilot in the public sector to explore the wellbeing and productivity benefits that a shorter working week could bring. No additional funding was allocated to either Accountancy in Bankruptcy or South of Scotland Enterprise to deliver the pilot in their organisations.

The pilot was delivered in partnership with The Autonomy Institute who published their evaluation report on 27 August. The report can be accessed here - Four day working week pilot - Public sector pay - gov.scot.

The Penrose Inquiry’s report, published on 25 March 2015, contained a single recommendation, which was that the Scottish Government take all reasonable steps to offer a hepatitis C virus (HCV) test to everyone in Scotland who had a blood transfusion before September 1991 and who has not been tested for HCV. The Scottish Government accepted this recommendation and in response a Short-Life Working Group (SLWG), involving key stakeholders such as the Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service, was established by Health Protection Scotland. The SLWG progress report was published on 2 September 2016, setting out the range of work undertaken by the SLWG.

The Scottish Government accepted the recommendation of the SLWG that there should be an awareness raising campaign to encourage people who had (or are likely to have had) a blood transfusion prior to 1991, and who have not already been tested for hepatitis C, to come forward for testing. A targeted awareness raising campaign to encourage such individuals to be tested was launched in October 2016 and an evaluation of the campaign, as recommended by the SLWG, was completed by Health Protection Scotland in 2018. The SLWG also recommended that a Chief Medical Officer letter should be sent to all clinicians in Scotland to remind them of certain risk factors and clinical indicators for HCV infection and making them aware of the recent advances in therapy and thus the benefits of HCV testing. The Chief Medical Officer accordingly wrote to all clinicians in Scotland on 20 September 2016, following up a previous letter issued just after the publication of the Penrose report on 27 March 2015. The Penrose Inquiry’s recommendation has therefore been fully implemented.

The Scottish Government has taken a stepwise approach to the expansion of the national thrombectomy service, investing over £51 million to date. The total costs of delivering a national 24/7 thrombectomy service are yet to be established, however Scottish Government officials and NHS planners have been asked to work at pace on developing a plan for the next steps for service expansion.

All cancers, including breast, remain a national priority, within the Scottish Government and across NHS Scotland. That is why we published our Cancer strategy 2023 to 2033 - gov.scot along with an initial three year Cancer action plan 2023 to 2026 - gov.scot on 15 June 2023.

The strategy and plan take a comprehensive approach to improving patient pathways from prevention and diagnosis through to treatment and post-treatment care.

We know that the earlier cancer is diagnosed the easier it is to treat and even cure which is why we continue to invest in our Detect Cancer Earlier (DCE) Programme, initially launched in 2012.

The Programme takes a whole-systems approach to early detection and encompasses primary care, diagnostics, public education, data, innovation and screening.

A Detect Cancer Earlier campaign – Be The Early Bird - launched on March 2023 aiming to reduce fear of cancer and empower those with possible symptoms to act early. This campaign ran for a second time in March 2025 and is due to run again in the coming months.

Scottish Government has also commissioned the Scottish Cancer Network to collaboratively develop national clinical management pathways. One of the first, addressing breast cancer, was published in 2023.

Clinical management pathways are developed through consensus and outline the patient journey from diagnosis through to follow-up or end of life care. The pathways describe the treatment options at the various points in each pathway to support shared decision making. The use of these pathways throughout NHS Scotland supports clinicians in their decision making enabling them to improve outcomes for patients with breast cancer.

Further to this, Scottish Government is continuing to take action to improve waiting times with £14.23 million of the £110 million in additional planned care funding for 2025-26 to Cancer Waiting Times, with a focus on colorectal, urological and breast as our most challenged pathways.

Vorasidenib (Voranigo®) does not currently have a marketing authorisation (sometimes referred to as a licence) from the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) which means it cannot be marketed or sold in the UK. The marketing authorisation process involves the MHRA reviewing and assessing the evidence supporting a medicinal product’s quality, safety and efficacy.

As a result, vorasidenib is being offered for a limited time by the pharmaceutical company, Servier, through a free-of-charge (FOC) pharmaceutical company-led early access programme. Health Boards have processes for considering the use of an unlicensed medicine, including through FOC early access programmes, on an individual case-by-case basis where the clinician feels it would benefit an individual. The Scottish Government does not hold data on these decisions.

Individual Health Boards are responsible for decisions on the implementation and availability of medicines in their area. The Scottish Government has committed to investing rebates from the Voluntary Scheme for Branded Medicines Pricing, Access and Growth (VPAG) to fund the New Medicines Fund (NMF), which provides additional top-up funding to territorial Health Boards to support the cost of introducing new medicines. Since 2014/15, £906 million has been made available to Health Boards via the NMF.

I wrote to Ashley Dalton MP, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Public Health and Prevention at the Department for Health & Social Care (DHSC) on 8 Aprill 2025 in order to outline the Scottish Government’s position on Clauses 2 and 3 of the Rare Cancers Bill.

Over the last year, my officials have been engaging in active conversation with the UK Government and the other devolved nations on the implementation of the provisions of the Bill.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-40323 on 11 September 2025. 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.

The National Child Sexual Abuse and Exploitation (CSAE) Strategic Group held an extraordinary meeting on 15 July to consider the Casey Audit. The minutes of the Group’s meetings are published on the Scottish Government website: https://www.gov.scot/groups/national-child-sexual-abuse-and-exploitation-strategic-group/.

It was noted that Police Scotland is undertaking a number of activities in relation to the Casey Audit including an initial assessment of the current child sexual abuse investigative landscape across Scotland, an analytical review looking at previous group based offending investigations and are carrying out a mapping of CSAE policy, process, practice and investigations. An update on this work will be provided at the Group’s next meeting in October at which there will be further discussion of the Audit findings, alongside other key inquiries and practice reviews including the Independent Inquiry into Child Abuse (IICSA) to inform next steps in its ambition to enhance our shared response to child sexual abuse and exploitation in Scotland.

Scotland’s National Child Protection Data Group also discussed the Audit’s data findings and recommendations in July and officials are taking forward work to explore opportunities to improve data and intelligence on this issue.

Scottish Government officials continue to engage with the UK Government’s response to the Casey Audit to understand implications for Scotland and opportunities to work together and share learning.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-37406 on 19 May 2025. 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.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-38163 on 17 June 2025, on the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights report as regards to the provision of maternity services in rural areas.

The Scottish Government expects all NHS Boards to provide maternity services that are delivered as close to home as practicable, balanced with ensuring the safety of mother and baby. Within the policies we set, it is for NHS Boards to determine the model of service delivery best suited to meet the needs of their local areas and population.

Maternity services continue to be provided for women in Wigtownshire, including local antenatal and postnatal care, scanning and the option of midwife-supported home birth for women who choose to birth locally. Women who require more complex maternity care continue to be supported by the full clinical team at Dumfries and Galloway Royal Infirmary. Responsibility for the design and delivery of local services lies with NHS Boards and Integration Joint Boards in line with their duties to deliver safe, effective and sustainable care. NHS Dumfries and Galloway has reaffirmed its commitment to the delivery of safe, high-quality maternity care for all families in Wigtownshire.

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.