Chamber and committees

The information requested on how many dedicated mesothelioma nurses are currently employed in Scotland, and whether this number has increased over the past 20 years is not held centrally.

Maree Todd: The Scottish Government expects educational establishments for all age groups to follow Public Health Scotland’s Health Protection Guidance to minimise the risk of transmission of infectious diseases, including measles.

Any measles outbreak in Scotland is managed through established local and national public health response arrangements. Where a suspected or confirmed case is identified in an educational setting, the relevant NHS Board, supported by Public Health Scotland, will provide advice and support on outbreak management, including public health actions as required.

Colleges and universities, as autonomous institutions, are responsible for their own operational arrangements for responding to incidents and reporting suspected cases of notifiable diseases.

The Scottish Government continues to promote uptake of the Measles, Mumps and Rubella (MMR) vaccine. Information on vaccinations and the importance of keeping vaccinations up to date is available through NHS Inform, Parent Club and Student Information Scotland. This includes advice on vaccines offered at secondary school, checking MMR vaccination status and arranging vaccination appointments through local GP practices.

The Scottish Government's Central Communications Division works with Media Planning and Buying Framework agencies to plan and buy media that delivers reach, frequency and engagement for each campaign's target audience.

Improving access to support for people with neurodevelopmental support needs is a priority for this Government.

The Scottish Government is aware that some people who have received a private diagnosis of ADHD experience difficulties accessing medication through the NHS. Shared care was a key issue discussed at the second neurodevelopment summit convened by the Minister for Social Care and Mental Wellbeing and during the Health, Social Care and Sport Committee inquiry. The outcomes of these discussions will inform ongoing work to improve neurodevelopmental support.

We are committed to working with partners to explore options for shared care arrangements and to consider approaches that are proportionate, effective and meet the needs of both patients and clinicians. Guidance on prescribing ADHD medication to adults following a private-sector diagnosis in Scotland was also published by NAIT in April 2022.

Medication is one form of support for people with an ADHD diagnosis. Many people may also benefit from support available through community and education settings, which can be accessed on the basis of need and do not depend on a formal diagnosis.

Scottish Government is committed to and has a strong record of working with a range of third sector organisations to help shape cancer services and support people affected by cancer.

The Cancer Strategy for Scotland 2023-2033 and Cancer Plan for Scotland 2023 – 2026 set out a number of ambitions premised on third sector partnership working and delivery.

We recognise and value the important contribution of organisations such as Mesothelioma UK, the Scottish Mesothelioma Network, Action on Asbestos, the Clydebank Asbestos Group and the Less Survivable Cancers Taskforce in supporting people affected by mesothelioma and other asbestos-related conditions.

The Scottish Government supports Mesothelioma UK's Action Mesothelioma Day campaign, which plays an important role in raising awareness of mesothelioma and asbestos-related disease. In recent years, we have supported this through a parliamentary debate on mesothelioma, and by lighting up blue St Andrew's House and Victoria Quay buildings to join the campaign to 'Go Blue for Meso'.

Social value considerations did form part of the considerations for the Media Planning and Buying Framework.

MyCare.scot was rolled out nationally across Scotland from April 2026 and will continue to develop incrementally through the Scottish Government’s Digital Front Door (DFD) programme. A free downloadable app is also available via both the Apple and Google store. More information regarding the MyCare.scot rollout can be found in the National Rollout Plan (https://www.gov.scot/publications/health-social-care-app-mycare-scot-national-rollout-high-level-summary/pages/4/), published September 2025.

Through established sub-national planning and implementation arrangements, the Digital Front Door programme is prioritising the rollout of digital communications and appointment functionality across all NHS territorial health boards before expansion into wider health and care services. The initial phase due for delivery in 2027/28 is focused on enabling patients to view secondary care appointment information and related communications digitally. This capability will be enhanced incrementally in collaboration with other digital projects, including GP IT reprovisioning and the Digital Prescribing and Dispensing Pathways (DPDP) programme, to enable users to book, manage appointments and order their prescriptions online.

The DPDP programme will replace paper prescriptions with a secure, end-to-end digital prescribing and dispensing system. The roll out of a minimum viable product will commence at the end of 2028 and the current trajectory is for patient-facing benefits via MyCare.scot, including prescription ordering, from 2029.

The programme recognises that providing access to test results through MyCare.scot could deliver significant benefits for patients. However, in some circumstances, direct access to results may be inappropriate and could cause unnecessary anxiety or distress. Any implementation will therefore need to be carefully designed to ensure it is clinically safe and that results are presented with appropriate context, explanation and supporting information. This work is currently being considered and scheduled as part of the wider Digital Front Door and MyCare.scot development plans.

The information requested could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

The Scottish Government has not held discussions with Community Radio Scotland regarding the use of community broadcasters in national public information campaigns.

Many of the measures in the Crofting and Scottish Land Court Act (Scotland) 2026, including the merger of the Scottish Land Court with the Lands Tribunal for Scotland and amendments to the jurisdiction of the Court, will be brought into force by secondary legislation and will therefore be subject to Parliamentary business and timetabling arrangements. It is intended that the expanded Court will be established and operationally ready before other changes to its jurisdiction such as those relating to the 2003 Act are brought in. Officials are currently taking forward the action required to commence the provisions in the Act relating to the Court, and timescales are still to be finalised.