Chamber and committees

Scotland’s NHS genomic laboratory service underpins the delivery of genomic medicine in Scotland and is critical to the delivery of the Genomics in Scotland strategy.

NHS National Services Directorate (NSD), the commissioner of NHS genomic testing in Scotland, leads a programme of laboratory transformation with funding from Scottish Government. Significant progress has been made in standardising best practice, data collection and laboratory costings, and through the implementation of new cancer testing as part of national end-to-end patient pathways.

NSD have produced a report and recommendations for the next phase of service reform for review by Board Chief Executives, which will be considered as part of our long-term approach to deliver bold and ambitious action to reform and renew our health and care systems in Scotland within a fiscal position that remains extremely challenging.

Throughout this process, we recognise the work of healthcare scientists working above and beyond in our NHS to provide critical services to the people of Scotland. We want to retain and nurture our existing workforce throughout any service redesign as we continue to work alongside NHS partners to make our laboratory service a more sustainable and innovative place to work.

The Scottish Government does not hold information on how many Scottish-domiciled medical graduates did not enter employment in NHS Scotland in each year since 1999.

Discussions with Public Services Delivery Scotland and Scotland’s medical schools have confirmed that no organisation holds a complete dataset identifying Scottish-domiciled medical graduates and tracking whether they entered employment in NHS Scotland for the period requested.

Data provided by Public Services Delivery Scotland shows the number of individuals who took up a Foundation post with a Scottish Primary Medical Qualification over the last ten years:

The Scottish Government does not hold data for diagnostic waiting times and routes to diagnosis for children and young people presenting with potential cancer symptoms.

The Scottish Government has commissioned a clinically-led review of latest data and evidence to determine whether there is merit in specific, additional or alternative cancer waiting times standards for different types of cancer and cancer treatment, which is underway. This will review the benefit of including data or setting standards for children and young people.

The Managed Clinical Network for Children and Young People with Cancer (MCN CYPC) collect a number of data performance measures across children and young people’s cancer services – see their latest published report - MSN-Children-Young-People-with-Cancer-Annual-Report-2024-25.pdf.

The Scottish Government is committed to improving the diagnosis and targeted treatment of disease through our continued investment in genomics.

The Genomics in Scotland strategy, published in April 2024, aims to improve access to genomic testing and build the foundations needed to allow Scotland to take full advantage of developments in genomic medicine, including data and digital infrastructure and skilled workforce requirements.

Work is ongoing in collaboration with NHS Boards in Scotland, and with academic and commercial partners on the delivery and implementation of the strategy. We will consider the publication of an interim progress report against the Genomics in Scotland strategy following publication of the 2026 Programme for Government.

The Scottish Government is aware that the national programme to implement an NHS Scotland Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS) framework is underway and is intended to connect all NHS laboratory medicine labs and hospitals across Scotland to improve the experience of patients.

A common and fit-for-purpose LIMS is vital to support Scotland’s digital strategies and is a key enabler for the delivery of consistent and connected clinical laboratory services across Scotland.

Procurement and the award of the tender to Magentus was managed by the former NHS National Services Scotland on behalf of a consortium of NHS Boards.

The consortium of twelve NHS Boards has been progressing the programme. They have chosen three NHS Boards in Fife, Shetland and Orkney as accelerator sites and these are now live. A second tranche of NHS Lothian and NHS Grampian are on course to go live in Summer 2027, with the remaining Boards scheduled to go live in a third tranche in Summer 2028 and a fourth tranche in Summer 2029.

Scottish Government engages with a range of stakeholders on matters relating to children and young people with cancer, These stakeholders include third sector organisations, the Managed Clinical Network for Children and Young People (MCN CYPC) and other clinical specialists as well as lived experience groups, who support and deliver cancer services for children and young people with cancer.

Understanding the unique support needs of children and young people with cancer is a priority for both the Scottish Government and the Managed Clinical Network for Children and Young People with Cancer (MCN CYPC).

The number of children and young people diagnosed with cancer in Scotland is small compared to adult cancers, and due to small patient numbers, it is challenging to produce detailed, anonymised data. Special consideration is required for children who are under 16, because they require tailored resources to capture their unique treatment and care needs, while recognising the additional sensitivities involved for those under 16, relating to information governance requirements for children.

The MCN CYPC are continuing to work with NHS Scotland Health Boards to establish consistent national approaches for information governance and approval processes across Scotland, relating to data collection for children under the age of 16.

The Scottish Funding Council (SFC) has advised that it is not possible to identify the number of Scottish-domiciled medical student places funded in each year prior to Academic Year (AY) 2013-14. Up to and including AY 2012-13, students from the rest of the UK (rUK) were eligible for funded places and the data cannot be disaggregated between Scottish-domiciled and rUK students.

The following figures therefore represent the total number of funded undergraduate medical student places available to student eligible for funding in each year. SFC advise that, following the removal of funded rUK places, the vast majority of funded places are held by Scottish-domiciled students, although eligibility is not solely restricted to Scottish-domiciled students.

The Managed Clinical Network for Children and Young People with Cancer (MCN CYPC) will be one of several stakeholders Scottish Government will engage with to consider priorities and approaches that best support improved outcomes for children and young people with cancer. I refer the member to the answer to question S7W-02402 on 31 August 2026.

As a national network of healthcare specialists in children and young people’s cancer services, and the organisation responsible for the delivery of the current children and young people’s cancer strategy – The Collaborative and Compassionate Cancer Care: cancer strategy for children and young people 2021–2026, their input into these discussions is valuable.

Scottish Government has invested in the MCN CYPC since it was first established in 2011 to deliver on its remit of supporting NHS Boards to deliver high-quality cancer services for children and young people, whilst supporting the holistic needs of patients.

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.

Scottish Government worked with the Centre for Sustainable Delivery (CSfD) to explore the potential benefit of applying our existing Rapid Cancer Diagnostic Services (RCDSs) model for adults to children and young people. This exploratory work deduced that including children in the RCDS model would be unlikely to significantly improve earlier diagnoses beyond existing practice.

The Scottish Referral Guidelines (SRGs) for Suspected Cancer were revised in 2025 and included specific updates on supporting a diagnosis of cancer in children and young people specifically. This includes considerations for non-specific symptoms of cancer for under-18s, like those considered for Rapid Cancer Diagnostic Services (RCDSs).