Chamber and committees

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The Scottish Government welcomes the insight provided by the British Society for Haematology in this report and recognises the challenges facing haematology services and our overall workforce.

The Scottish Government is responsible for setting the strategic policy direction for NHS Scotland and its workforce. Operational matters, including the staffing of individual services, are the responsibility of each NHS Scotland Health Board.

At a local level, the Health and Care (Staffing) (Scotland) Act 2019 places duties on Health Boards to ensure that at all times suitably qualified and competent individuals are working in such numbers as are appropriate for the health, wellbeing and safety of patients, the provision of high-quality care and the wellbeing of staff.

We are working with NHS Scotland to address staffing as a matter of urgency, working closely with NHS Boards and clinical leaders from across the country to address pressures in a sustainable way. This includes retaining staff in specialist roles and prioritising staff wellbeing, as evidence shows that positive wellbeing enhances staff retention and engagement, which in turn raises standards of patient safety and quality of care.

I also refer the member to the answers to questions for S6W-39724 and S6W-39726 on 14 August and S6W-39725 on 20 August. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers.

Whilst the Scottish Government sets the strategic policy direction for the NHS in Scotland, responsibility for operational matters - including the staffing of individual services – rests with individual health boards based on national, regional and local priorities.

Should health boards require direct support with attraction and recruitment activities they can contact Centre for Workforce Supply, hosted by NHS Education for Scotland (NES) who can provide bespoke, direct support, guidance and advice on such matters.

Following work with stakeholders to review the number of medical specialty training places needed to meet anticipated future service demand and consultant need, since 2014 the Scottish Government has funded the creation of hundreds of additional specialty training places in Scotland across multiple different specialties, including in haematology.

Looking ahead, the Scottish Government recognises the need for a medical workforce plan to account for what patients and the public want and need from their health service, and to ensure the attractiveness of medical careers. To that end we have committed to taking forward the ‘Future Medical Workforce’ project which will report on the extensive planned dialogue with doctors and analysis of workforce demand and supply by the end of 2025.

Following work with stakeholders to review the number of specialty training places needed to meet anticipated future service demand and consultant need, since 2014 the Scottish Government has funded the creation of hundreds of additional specialty training places in Scotland across multiple different specialties, including in haematology.

Specialty training expansion has been done in line with recommendations made by the Scottish Shape of Training Transition Group, largely based on workforce modelling taking into account consultant retirals data to support future annual consultant/GP growth of 1% to meet anticipated increases in service demand.

The Scottish Government undertakes annual reviews of the number of specialty training places needed in order to meet anticipated future service demand and consultant need. Since 2014, the Scottish Government has funded the creation of hundreds of additional specialty training places in Scotland across multiple different specialties, including in specific cancer specialities and haematology.

These specialty training places have been created in response to recommendations made by a stakeholder group which includes NHS Education for Scotland, the British Medical Association, the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges, and various Health Board representatives including regional workforce planners.

The Scottish Government welcomes Kidney Care UK’s recently published report and its important findings and recommendations. These will be carefully considered and reflected as appropriate in future policy planning for long term conditions like chronic kidney disease.

While there are no current plans to conduct a national audit, we expect all NHS Boards to adhere to existing guidelines and best practice in delivering psychosocial care. Our Mental Health and Wellbeing Strategy, MentalHealth Core Standards and the National Specification for Psychological Therapies and Interventions set out clear expectations for the delivery of high-quality, person-centred support across Scotland.

More broadly, the Scottish Government recently consulted on a Long Term Conditions Framework, which will help inform future approaches to prevention, diagnosis and care, including support for mental health and wellbeing.

The Scottish Government remains committed to ensuring people living with kidney disease can access safe, effective and person-centred care, including appropriate psychosocial support.

Regulation 4 of the Burial and Cremation (Inspection) (Scotland) Regulations 2025 makes provision for the Scottish Ministers to establish and maintain a register of relevant bodies and provides a power to publish the register or any information contained in the register.

The Funeral Sector Register opened on 1 April 2025, and to date 92 organisations including funeral directors, cremation and burial authorities have registered. These organisations relate to 333 different premises across Scotland. The Scottish Government has and continues to encourage all organisations working in the funeral sector to register. In addition, the Scottish Ministers have the ability to add organisations to the register if they become aware of them.

We continue to promote the digital register and build on current number of organisations registered whilst highlighting the positive benefits of registration for both the sector and the public.

The Burial and Cremation (Inspection) (Scotland) Regulations 2025 (the Inspection Regulations) make provision for the Scottish Ministers to establish and maintain a register of relevant bodies and provide a power to publish the register or any information contained in the register.

At present there is no universal list of burial authorities, cremation authorities and funeral directors operating in Scotland. The system of inspections will therefore be aided by the inspection register as provided for in regulation 4 of the Inspection Regulations. The Scottish Ministers may publish the inspection register or information from the register and this will, as information is collected over time, provide a platform for the public to access information about the location of relevant bodies, and whether they have been found to be non-compliant with relevant regulations or Codes of Practice. (Such regulations and Codes of Practice are the Funeral Director Code of Practice, the Cremation (Scotland) Regulations 2019, the Burial (Applications and Register) (Scotland) Regulations 2024, and the Burial (Management) (Scotland) Regulations 2025.) The inspection register will also help Inspectors to plan their inspections.

The Scottish Government launched the inspection register (titled the Funeral Sector Register) on 1 April 2025 via a digital portal and continues to encourage all organisations working within the funeral sector including funeral directors to register. The register is also publicly available and details the names and locations of those organisations who are registered.

Section 93 of the Burial and Cremation (Scotland) Act 2016 requires each Inspector to prepare and publish an annual report. The time period for each report is dependent on the appointment date of each Inspector. The current Inspector’s appointment began on 1 October 2024, and the current report is due no later than 12 months after that appointment. Once published, the report will be laid before the Scottish Parliament in accordance with the requirements of the Act.

The Scottish Ministers appointed inspectors of burial, cremation, and funeral directors under section 89 of the Burial and Cremation (Scotland) Act 2016 on 1 October 2023 and 1 October 2024. There is currently one Inspector of burial, cremation, and funeral directors.

In light of the introduction of the inspection regime set out in the Burial and Cremation (Inspection) (Scotland) Regulations 2025, a range of work is in progress to support the appointment of further Inspectors, including establishing the register provided for under regulation 3 of those Regulations, training for Inspectors and support materials for Inspectors.