Chamber and committees

The Royal College of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, the professional body for Obstetricians and Gynaecologists in the UK, has recommended that women who believe they may have been exposed to stilbestrol (DES) in utero and who are concerned about the risks of vaginal and cervical cancer should be offered careful monitoring by annual colposcopic examinations in specialist centres.

Cervical screening is offered to women who live in Scotland and are aged between 25 and 64 years and we encourage all women to take up routine cervical screening appointments when invited.

Evidence for an increased risk of other cancers is less conclusive but participation in the National Breast Screening Programme is recommended. Pregnant women who know that they were exposed in utero to DES should inform their obstetrician and be aware of the increased risks of ectopic pregnancy and preterm labour.

The Scottish Government continues to fund the charity Health in Mind to deliver peer support services to those affected by historic forced adoption, including mothers and adoptees.

The Scottish Government does not hold this information. Ensuring the safety of Large Panel System buildings is a shared responsibility, where there are multiple property owners in a shared residential block they hold joint accountability.

While building owners have responsibility for their properties, the matter of Large Panel System buildings has been considered by the Ministerial Working Group on Building and Fire Safety and discussed within the Cross Sector Building Safety Forum. The forum includes key sector leads in this area including local authorities and NHS assure. This forum helps to inform the Scottish Government approach to such buildings in Scotland.

Owners are advised to engage appropriate expert consultants to advise them using the authoritative guidance on Large Panel Systems from the Building Research Establishment and the Institution of Structural Engineers.

The Scottish Government takes matters of building safety seriously. While building owners have responsibility for their properties, the matter of Large Panel System buildings has been considered by the Ministerial Working Group on Building and Fire Safety and discussed within the Cross Sector Building Safety Forum. This Forum has been established to ensure that potential building safety issues are identified and shared amongst those who may have an interest, to allow them to take action where necessary.

Owners are advised to engage appropriate expert consultants to advise them using the authoritative guidance on Large Panel Systems from the Building Research Establishment and the Institution of Structural Engineers

Scotland does not have a legislative provision for safety certification of Large Panel System buildings. Local authorities in Scotland have statutory powers under the Building (Scotland) Act 2003 to address buildings that pose a risk to public safety due to structural instability or other hazards.

Owners of LPS buildings can use the long established guidance from the Building Research Establishment to assess and manage their property and can use information from The Institution of Structural Engineers (IStructE) website: An update about Large Panel System (LPS) - The Institution of Structural Engineers.

The Scottish Government has established the sunbed safety group to review the existing sunbed regulations and procedures for enforcing those regulations.

As part of the group's work, the Scottish Government has worked with Young Scot, NHS Inform and education colleagues to produce information in an accessible format for younger adults. This includes a sunbed safety toolkit for pupil support teachers to discuss sun-safety with their students and published a new NHS inform page to promote awareness of sunbed and tanning safety which includes information about seeking medical advice for changes to your skin.

Thrombectomy services are run on a regional basis with a North, East and West of Scotland ‘hub’ providing thrombectomies in NHS Boards.

NHS Lothian (East of Scotland): Monday to Sunday 8am to 8pm for patients arriving directly at Edinburgh Royal Infirmary. Monday to Friday 8am to 8pm for patients arriving at East of Scotland spoke hospitals.

NHS Tayside (North of Scotland): Monday to Friday 8am to 7pm.

NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde (West of Scotland): Monday to Friday 8am to 8pm for patients arriving directly at Queen Elizabeth University Hospital. Monday to Friday 8am to 5pm for patients arriving at West of Scotland spoke hospitals.

The Scottish Government has no plan to commission an independent review of records retention and data gaps that affect the identification of people exposed to the pregnancy medication, stilbestrol (DES). This is because there was no central system for recording which medicines were prescribed for individuals available at that time and individual paper medical records from this period are unlikely to be retrievable which would make any such exercise extremely challenging.

Since its inception, excluding staff costs, 2.1% of the Techscaler budget spent to date has been invested in international activity, spotlighting Scotland’s growing reputation as a leading tech hub. This is helping our startups secure investment and compete in the international marketplace. Multiple export contracts have been secured, six participants have secured £5.4m of investment and several other firms are in dialogue with investors.

The number of women and their offspring who were exposed to diethylstilbesterol (DES) during pregnancy between the 1940s and 1970s in the UK is unknown because there was no central system for recording which medicines were prescribed for individuals at that time and individual paper medical records from this period are unlikely to be retrievable. It is therefore only possible to estimate the number of women exposed. However, DES was not routinely prescribed in the UK.

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) uses the findings of a survey conducted by the Royal College of Obstetrics and Gynaecology (RCOG) which was published in 1974 and this suggested around 7,500 women in the UK were treated with DES during pregnancy in the interval 1940-1971, mostly during the 1950s.

To ensure transparency and accountability, the Scottish Government commissioned an independent evaluation of the Techscaler programme following my committee appearance in 2024. EKOS were formally appointed in December 2024 to carry out this evaluation. The findings will be published in full and made publicly available by early 2026.