Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government remains fully committed to tackling food insecurity which can contribute to health inequalities. No one in Scotland should have to compromise on food or other essentials.

Food insecurity is driven by insufficient and insecure household income, which is why we continue to call on the UK Government to deliver an Essentials Guarantee to ensure people have enough money to meet their basic needs, which the Joseph Rowntree Foundation estimate could lift 140,000 people in Scotland out of poverty this year.

Scotland is the first nation in the UK to publish a Cash-First Plan, grounded in human rights, that works towards ending the need for food banks in Scotland. Through “Cash-First: Towards Ending the Need for Food Banks in Scotland”, we are taking forward nine actions over three years, 2023-2026, to improve the response to crisis, using a Cash-First approach so that fewer people need to turn to food parcels. The Trussell Trust and the Independent Food Aid Network agree with our approach.

We recognise the pressure on household budgets which is why the 2025-26 draft budget continues to allocate over £3 billion a year to policies which tackle poverty and the cost of living.

The Scottish Government does not hold this data.

Over the counter medicines for common illnesses can be provided through the NHS Pharmacy First Scotland service, may be prescribed, or may be purchased from community pharmacies, other retailers and online.

Public Health Scotland (PHS) publishes reports on prescribing and dispensing of NHS prescriptions dispensed in the community. These reports include prescribed items as well as those that have been provided via Pharmacy First. The most recent Pharmacy First publication can be found online at NHS Pharmacy First Scotland 8 October 2024 - NHS Pharmacy First Scotland - Publications - Public Health Scotland.

Additionally, the most recent open data on Prescriptions in the Community contains dispenser level data which can be filtered for the relevant rural/urban locations and medicines if required. It can be found online at Monthly prescribing activity data - Data for October 2024 - Monthly prescribing activity data - Publications - Public Health Scotland Data about medicines that have been purchased by individuals is not collected by the Scottish Government or PHS.

In terms of general availability of medicines, shortages can occur at a local, regional, national, or global level. When supply issues relating to individual medicines or devices arise, that information is shared by NHS Scotland with the relevant networks within the service to help prescribers and dispensers meet patients’ on-going medical needs. The NHS Scotland Prescribing Advisers’ Network provides support to prescribers on the use of alternative products.

The pricing and supply of medicines, including the management of medicine shortages, is a reserved matter for the UK Government, and Scottish Government policy officials continue to engage with them to find lasting solutions to minimise the impact of medicine shortages.

The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring that everyone who needs it can access well-coordinated, timely and high-quality palliative care, care around dying and bereavement support regardless of geographical location.

As part of the development of the Scottish Government’s draft strategy, ‘Palliative Care Matters for All’, the Strategy Steering Group and a number of expert working groups carried out surveys to map palliative care delivery across Scotland, including in rural and island communities. This report can be accessed at www.gov.scot/publications/palliative-care-strategy-palliative-care-matters/.

This work has been helpful in providing a clearer picture of the delivery and accessibility of palliative care services and support across Scotland and has helped to inform the actions set out in the draft strategy. The final palliative care strategy is due to published later this year.

The information requested on data held by the Scottish Government on the prevalence of postnatal depression over the past five years is not centrally available.

We are committed to ensuring equitable, coordinated access to mental health provision for women, infants and their families throughout pregnancy and during the postnatal period.

In recognising the distinctive challenges that services in the North of Scotland face in delivering care to the most severely ill women in the perinatal period, we have provided an additional £245,000 funding to develop intensive specialist support for these women, their infants and families.

In addition, we are working with NHS Grampian, Greater Glasgow & Clyde and Lothian to further support regional provision which will enable increased joint working around admissions and support care in remote and rural areas.

Between 2019 and March 2024 the Scottish Government invested £37 million in improvements to mental health services and support for parents, infants and families. As part of the Enhanced Outcomes Mental Health Framework we have allocated £123 million to Health Boards in 2024/25 to improve the quality and delivery of mental health and psychological services for all, including perinatal and infant mental health community services.

Glasgow Prestwick Airport operates on a commercial basis and at arm’s length from the Scottish Government and Ministers do not intervene in operational matters.

The following provides details of marketing activity that has run over the preceding five years, to address chronic diseases. Chronic disease is defined in the Scottish Health Survey as any physical illness or mental illness expected to last a year or more. Messaging has not been tailored to target rural communities specifically, however where possible media platforms and channels have been selected and partnerships have been utilised to reach rural communities.

Crohn’s and Colitis

A Crohn’s and Colitis public information campaign ran in March 2023 via stakeholder and community engagement. The campaign aimed to increase awareness of the symptoms of Crohn’s and Colitis, and signpost to trustworthy information to empower and enable the public to seek advice from a healthcare professional.

Community engagement included the distribution of posters to 1,256 community pharmacies, 908 general practices, 256 leisure/community centres and 32 library hubs (for onward distribution to community libraries) throughout Scotland. This included rural areas, the Highlands and Islands.

Campaign resources including a toolkit were sent to over 300 stakeholders, which included Local Authorities and NHS Health Boards.

Women’s Heart Health

To help improve awareness and signs of heart disease and communicate ways of lowering risk, a public information campaign was developed to coincide with national heart month in February 2023 and was activated through community and stakeholder engagement.

Resources highlighted a key stat:istic “heart disease is killing 10 women a day in Scotland” and signposted to NHS Inform for more information on symptoms and actions to take to lower risks.

The campaign was aimed specifically at women and was delivered via community engagement and included the distribution of posters to 1,256 community pharmacies, 908 general practices, 256 leisure/community centres and 32 library hubs (for onward distribution to community libraries) throughout Scotland, this included rural areas, the Highlands and Islands.

A campaign toolkit was also sent digitally to a comprehensive stakeholder list which included Local Authorities and NHS Health Boards.

Cancer

Between April 2020 to date, a number of campaigns have run to support earlier detection of cancer, including Lung cancer, Cervical screening and Detect Cancer Early campaigns. Local press and radio packages were purchased as part of a Scotland wide media plan, to reach rural communities. Press titles included the Ellon Times, Buchan Observer, Berwickshire Advertiser, Ayrshire Post, The Hawick Paper, Banffshire Herald, John 'Groat Journal and radio stations included Radio Borders, Moray Firth Radio, Northsound, Westsound and Tay Radio.

A new burst of the Detect Cancer Early campaign will run in March and includes community radio in a number of rural locations that network radio does not reach, including Argyll FM, Caithness FM, Radio Skye, Radio Wester Ross, Radio Nevis (Fort William) and Shetlands (SIBC). Also included is a content partnership with local publications such as Ellon Times, Buchan Observer, East Fife Mail, Berwickshire Advertiser and Ayrshire Post and Field activity in locations that are more accessible for those living more rurally such as Elgin, Fort William and Stranraer.

Dementia Stigma

The Rethink Dementia campaign launched on 4 September 2024 and ran for 6 weeks in paid-for media. A number of Local Press Titles were purchased as part of the campaign, including:

Community Scotland Zone Newspaper

South Annandale Series

South Ayr Advertiser

South Berwickshire News

South Border Telegraph

South Cumnock Chronicle and Muirkirk Advertiser

South Dumfries Courier

South Eskdale & Lidderdale Advertiser

South Galloway Gazette

South Lanark and Carluke Gazette

South Peeblesshire News

South Southern Reporter

South Stranraer & Wigtown Free Press

South The Hawick Paper

North Angus County Press

North Banffshire Advertiser

North Banffshire Herald

North Banffshire Journal

North The Buchie & Inverurie Herald/ Ellon Times/ Fraserburgh Herald

North Caithness Courier

North Campbeltown Courier & Argyllshire Advertiser

North Deeside & Donside Piper and Herald

North Forres Gazette

North Helensburgh Advertiser

North Highland News Group

North Huntly Express

North Inverness Courier (Fri & Tues)

North Isle of Bute News

North John O'Groat Journal

North Mearns Leader/ Kincardineshire Observer

North Northern Scot

North Northern Times

North Oban Times and West Highland Times

North Ross-shire Journal

North Shetland Times

North Stornoway Gazette

North Strathspey and Badenoch Herald

North The Orcadian - Orkney

North West Highland Free Press

The Rethink Dementia campaign also utilised pharmacies, libraries, GP practices, community centres and sports centres, providing these settings with campaign assets across Scotland including rural communities.

Initial diagnosis of visual impairments largely takes place in community optometry practices following patient presentation to the service. We are not aware of access concerns to the service at this time.

There is currently no community provision for audiology in Scotland. Diagnosis is performed within secondary care settings and typically on referral from wider health networks and services. Consideration of audiology capacity – within existing NHS hospital services – is being taken forward in response to the findings of the Independent Review of Audiology. In addressing the Review’s recommendations, audiology has been designated a clinical priority area, with improvement work being progressed through the National Planning and Delivery Board arrangements, led by the Chief Operating Officer – NHS Scotland.

There is no definition of, and thus no data collected for, waiting times for community optometry services, whether urban or rural.

However, we are working closely with the three island Health Boards to resolve some local access issues.

The Scottish Government has not received correspondence with regards waiting times in Aberdeenshire.

Please find below information, broken down by financial year, the costs for social media managers within the Communications division for the last five financial years.

Glasgow Prestwick Airport operates on a commercial basis and at arm’s length from the Scottish Government and Ministers do not intervene in operational matters.