Chamber and committees

Radiography education is not commissioned or controlled by the Scottish Government. The following table sets out the number of entrants to accredited radiography courses at Scottish Universities each academic year. Figures for the 2024-25 academic year are not yet available.

Entrants to accredited pre-registration radiography courses (rounded to nearest 5)

The appointments per week on average delivered using the Near Me service in each financial year are detailed in the following table. There are no data for group calls prior to January 2022, and data for period 2025-2026 have been collected until the end of January 2026.

While part funded by the Scottish Government, Near Me is also funded by and delivered through partner organisations. As a result, the Scottish Government does not centrally hold the information required to provide a ‘cost per appointment’. However, I can confirm that in 2025-26 the Scottish Government contributed £1,640,000 to the service.

The current contract ends in March 2027 and we will be considering service delivery and expenditure based on future requirement.

Neil Gray: Public Services Delivery Scotland (PSDS), formerly known as NHS Delivery, will be established on 1 April 2026. It will bring together the functions - and existing budgets - of NSS and NES under the Common Services Agency, building on the strengths of both existing organisations. The Scottish Budget provides a real-terms increase to the combined legacy NES and NSS budgets, in line with the approach applied across Health Boards. This reflects non-recurring funding moving into baseline, new recurring allocations, a 2% baseline uplift, and additional pay cover. Together, these elements take PSD Scotland’s baseline funding to £1,275.1 million in 2026-27. While the organisation’s priorities and strategic direction will continue to be shaped by Ministerial expectations and national policy objectives, it will be for PSDS to set out its detailed financial plan within this overall funding envelope.

Based on 2025-26 pay scales, the estimated average annual cost is £117,922 for a Hospital Specialty training place and £115,792 for a General Practice Specialty training place. These estimates assume banding supplements of 50% for hospital placements and between 40-45% for General Practice placements and use average staff support costs . These estimates include salary, employer contributions and infrastructure costs, and vary depending on the specific grade and year of training.

A total of 164 Clinical Radiology specialty training places were advertised for recruitment in Scotland over the last five years. The breakdown per year is: 34 in 2021, 37 in 2022, 36 in 2023, 23 in 2024, and 34 in 2025. All of these posts were filled successfully.

Advanced level nursing education is not commissioned or controlled by the Scottish Government. We therefore would not hold this information.

In 2026-27, we will build on the progress already achieved, with £100 million available to support further reductions in waiting times and to enhance patient flow across the Health System. This will ensure continued improvements in timely access to care for patients.

The 2026-27 budget has not yet been passed by Parliament and is at draft stage. Spending plans are still being developed by policy leads, therefore there we are not in a position at this point to provide a detailed breakdown of what the budget will deliver.

In 2025-26, we allocated £135.5 million to Health Boards, directing this funding towards specialties experiencing the longest waits. The most recent data demonstrates that this targeted investment is delivering improved outcomes for patients across Scotland. This funding has not been baselined for 2026-27.

Looking ahead to 2026-27, we will build on the progress already achieved. Up to £100 million will be available to support further reductions in waiting times and to enhance patient flow across the Health System, ensuring continued improvement in access to care.

The information requested could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.