Chamber and committees

This information is not held centrally by the Scottish Government.

The Scottish Government is committed to continuous improvement in maternity safety across Scotland, in partnership with NHS Boards and clinicians and service users, to deliver the best and safest person-centred care for mothers and babies. We are aware of the evidence around implementing care which aims to reduce risk of developing stress incontinence. We regularly facilitate meetings and events bringing together senior leaders in maternity services to discuss evidence aimed at improving services and provide learning opportunities.

All pregnant women are also provided with a copy of Ready, Steady, Baby! , a guide to pregnancy, birth and early parenthood up to one year, by their midwife as part of their routine antenatal care. Ready, Steady, Baby! includes information on and signposting to additional materials regarding stress incontinence and pelvic floor muscle exercise for women, both during pregnancy and following birth, which can help to reduce the risk of stress incontinence following childbirth.

Information on pelvic health is also available on the Women’s Health Platform on NHS Inform. This includes information on urinary incontinence in women and is publicly available to both service users and healthcare professionals.

We are clear in our expectations that all women, at all times, receive high-quality and person-centred maternity care tailored to their needs, with quality and safety for mothers and babies central to decision-making. To understand the quality and safety of maternity care and identify where improvement should be made, we are closely following data published by Public Health Scotland (PHS). Occurrences of third- and fourth-degree perineal tears (also referred to as obstetric anal sphincter injury (OASI)), a leading cause of faecal incontinence following childbirth are recorded by PHS as part of its Maternity Inpatient and Day Case - Scottish Morbidity Record (SMR02) dataset and can be viewed via its Scottish Pregnancy, Births and Neonatal Dashboard .

We are also aware of the research and evidence endorsed by the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists and the Royal College of Midwives on obstetric anal sphincter injury and recognise that further work is required to improve care for women who experience incontinence including follow-up care and specialist care. Obstetric anal sphincter injury is on the agenda at various meetings bringing together senior leaders in Scotland’s maternity care.

Community youth work remains an important pillar of local authority provision. The Scottish Government utilises a Block Grant system, affording local authorities significant autonomy in allocating financial resources, including those designated for youth work. This approach empowers councils to prioritise local needs and tailor services accordingly, while fulfilling mandatory obligations and adhering to nationally-agreed priorities. Transparency is ensured through annually-published breakdowns of spending on the Scottish Government website.

Furthermore, an independent review of Community Learning and Development (CLD), encompassing youth work, was launched in December 2023 and is expected to conclude in June 2024. This review aims to assess the impact of CLD on learners across Scotland, providing valuable insights for the future.

Community youth work remains an important pillar of local authority provision, including in schools. The Scottish Government utilises a Block Grant system, affording local authorities significant autonomy in allocating financial resources, including those designated for youth work in schools. This approach empowers councils to prioritise local needs and tailor services accordingly, while fulfilling mandatory obligations and adhering to nationally-agreed priorities. Transparency is ensured through annually-published breakdowns of spending on the Scottish Government website, though there is no statutory obligation for youth work activity to be recorded or monitored by local authorities, third sector organisations or voluntary organisations.

An independent review of Community Learning and Development (CLD), encompassing youth work, was launched in December 2023 and is expected to conclude in June 2024. This review aims to assess the impact of CLD on learners across Scotland, providing valuable insights for the future.

We remain committed to eradicating long waits to ensure all people receive the treatment they need as soon as possible.

We opened two new National Treatment Centres in Fife and Highland in Spring 2023, and NTC-Forth Valley and the second phase expansion of NTC-Golden Jubilee will open in 2024. These centres will deliver eight orthopaedic theatres and will provide additional and protected capacity for hip and knee replacements.

This year NTC Highland is providing 1,500 orthopaedic procedures and NTC-Fife plans to deliver more than 700 orthopaedic procedures by 2025/2026.

Significant progress is also being made in the delivery of same-day discharge arthroplasty, allowing patients to be safely discharged home on the same day as their procedure, increasing capacity within Orthopaedics.

The Scottish Government recognises that Transport plays an important role in supporting patients’ health journeys and the Scottish Government has recently prepared a draft Transport to Health delivery plan which has commitments against transport and healthcare across the work of Health Boards, Regional Transport Partnerships, Health and Social Care and Transport Scotland.

All Health Boards should consider patient transport needs when they plan and deliver services and must ensure Patients have access to all information on any relevant patient transport (including community transport) and travel reimbursement entitlement.

The Scottish Government greatly values the Community Transport sector’s work helping older and disabled people to access GP or hospital appointments and live happier, healthier and more independent lives for longer in their own homes and communities.

The information that has been requested is not held centrally by the Scottish Government.

The information that has been requested is not held centrally by the Scottish Government.

Following the completion of the Allied Health Professions (AHP) Education and Workforce Policy Review, an advisory group has been established to oversee the effective implementation of the recommendations. The group held its second meeting on 4 March 2024 where the group considered the delivery plan.

The delivery plan takes an outcome based approach and the group recognises the complexity and interdependency of how the suite of recommendations contributes to achieving the overarching positive change required.

The group will consider the timescales required to meet the overarching aims at its future meetings, scheduled in June and October 2024.