Chamber and committees

The endometriosis care pathway for NHS Scotland aims to support healthcare professionals to provide a holistic approach and timely care for those with endometriosis and endometriosis-like symptoms. The pathway ensures that healthcare professionals are considering women’s need for and access to pain management. All NHS Boards should be taking steps to implement the pathway.

Through the Women’s Health Plan we have developed the Women’s Health Platform on NHS Inform which includes an endometriosis page with consistent, reliable and accessible information, including a lived experience film, empowering women to make informed decisions about their health.

To increase the information available to women, we funded Endometriosis UK to produce a booklet and two webinars on treatments and self-management tips for managing endometriosis pain.

More information is available in the Women’s Health Plan Final Report.

We are committed to ensuring those living with endometriosis 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. Endometriosis will continue to be a priority as we develop the next phase of our Women’s Health Plan.

The Endometriosis Care Pathway for Scotland, adapted from NICE guidance, provides a streamlined integrated primary, secondary and tertiary care pathway aimed at providing a holistic approach and timely care for those with endometriosis and endometriosis-like symptoms.

The Scottish National Menstrual Health Specialist Network provides healthcare professionals with a special interest in menstrual health a forum for peer support and sharing expert clinical advice and best practice related to menstrual health symptoms and conditions.

We will build on the progress set out in the Women’s Health Plan 2021 - 2024 Final Report, as we work towards ensuring those living with endometriosis 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.

This information is not held centrally.

As of December 2024 there have been:

• Almost 65,000 users on the life sections
• Over 986,000 views on the Periods pages
• Just under 3.2 million views on the Menopause pages

The number of full-time equivalent civil servants is broken down by policy area and condition as follows:

The Scottish Government’s role is to set the strategic policy for the NHS in Scotland and provide core funding to NHS boards. NHS boards have responsibility for deciding how to use this core funding to deliver services locally based on the needs of the people in their area.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-31859 on 11 December 2024. 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 Scottish Government’s role is to set the strategic policy for the NHS in Scotland. NHS boards have responsibility for deciding how to deliver services locally based on the needs of the people in their area. Detail on whether osteopathic services are offered to patients would have to be requested from NHS Boards.

Timely access to gynaecology services will remain a priority as we continue to develop our Women’s Health Plan

The Budget we set out on 4 December 2024 will throw the weight of the government behind performance improvements with almost £200 million to reduce waiting lists and help support reduction of delayed discharge. By March 2026, we expect no one to be waiting longer than 12 months for a new outpatient, inpatient treatment or day case treatment.

We have already invested £30 million to reduce waiting lists that built up throughout the pandemic. This funding is being targeted at a series of national and local plans to reduce backlogs by maximising the use of local and national resources across Scotland. As part of this, we have allocated additional funding to Gynaecology services which we expect to deliver around 3,500 new outpatient appointments.

NHS Scotland’s Centre for Sustainable Delivery (CfSD) is also playing a central role in identifying new ways to increase capacity, and to respond to demand through service innovation and redesign. CfSD programmes have developed strong clinically-led Specialty Delivery Groups (SDG), including one for Gynaecology, which promote multidisciplinary team working, and support local adoption of service improvement programmes.

Our actions will further enable NHS Scotland to maximise capacity, build greater resilience and deliver reductions in the number of patients who have waited too long for treatment.

Provisions in the Community Wealth Building (CWB) Bill will be informed by operation of the internationally recognised CWB economic development model.

Community Wealth Building provides a strategic framework that can be applied to local areas and regions to bind together action in areas such as Fair Work, Sustainable Procurement and supporting the creation and sustainability of democratic and inclusive business models.

The Scottish Government has now confirmed arrangements for an implementation process with regard to the independent report, “Developing Scotland's Economy: Increasing the Role of Inclusive and Democratic Business Models.”

A new group will be formed to examine how the recommendations in this report can be delivered. Consideration of supported businesses can be included in the work of the group.

The Lord President as head of the Scottish judiciary is responsible for the training of judicial office holders. Training is delivered by the judicial institute for Scotland.