Current status: Answered by Angela Constance on 1 September 2026
To ask the Scottish Government, regarding section 121 of the Transport (Scotland) Act 2019, how it is (a) monitoring compliance by NHS boards regarding their duty to work with community transport organisations to improve access to healthcare and (b) enforcing implementation by NHS boards.
The Scottish Government's Transport to Health Delivery Plan, published in October 2024, aims to ensure that access to healthcare is fully considered within NHS Board planning and service delivery.
As part of the commitments set out in the Plan, sections 120 and 121 of the Transport (Scotland) Act 2019 came into force on 22 September 2023. These provisions require Health Boards to engage with community transport providers and to consider the social and economic impacts of non-emergency patient transport services.
We continue to engage with NHS Boards on a range of issues relevant to service delivery, including transport-related challenges, and monitor the ongoing implementation of the statutory requirements. We will shortly write to Boards to seek their next annual progress update.
We recognise that effective collaboration between NHS Boards, Regional Transport Partnerships and other relevant partners is essential to improving transport to healthcare. We therefore continue to work closely with Regional Transport Partnerships to support progress in this area.