Current status: Answered by Angela Constance on 20 July 2026
To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the funding of private specialist assessment or treatment in circumstances where an NHS board is unable to provide the required service and is unable to secure an onward NHS referral within a clinically appropriate timescale.
Service delivery and patient care are the responsibility of NHS Boards and healthcare professionals locally. Clinical decisions on the care and treatment of individual patients are always matters of professional judgement for the responsible practitioner.
In certain circumstances, NHS Boards may make limited use of alternative providers, including independent sector providers, in response to capacity constraints and to improve access to patient care.