Chamber and committees

We are committed to ensuring that endometriosis is recognised as a chronic condition and that women with endometriosis experience a continuum of care.

Phase Two of the Women’s Health Plan, published in January, committed to aligning the Endometriosis Care Pathway with the most recent NICE guidance so that NHS Boards in Scotland can ensure that women and girls with endometriosis and endometriosis like symptoms have access to holistic and timely care.

The Pathway has been updated and is available online on the Right Decisions platform.

Healthcare Improvement Scotland (HIS) established a short-life working group in March 2026 to collaborate with all NHS Boards and key partners in developing robust, consistent guidance for the implementation of Martha’s Rule. The group is co-designing an implementation plan, with rollout across all Scottish NHS Boards, where work not already underway, planned throughout 2026–2027.

Initially, the work is focusing on roll out in acute paediatric and adult hospital settings, however, HIS will also support Boards to consider how they can then implement Martha’s Rule more widely in line with their local context and needs of their population.

The Scottish Government has commissioned the Centre for Sustainable Delivery to develop Isla’s Principles, a campaign to promote clinical guidance and support for clinicians to follow best practice in decision-making and communication with patients and colleagues, tailored to reflect the experience of Isla Sneddon. CfSD has planned a publication date of Autumn 2026.

The Scottish Government commissioned the Scottish School of Primary Care to undertake an independent evaluation of the Golden Hello initiative for GPs. The evaluation was published in March 2026: https://www.sspc.ac.uk/media/Media_1254907_smxx.pdf.

The Golden Hello initiative does not currently apply to dentists. Any future expansion and improvement plans for Golden Hellos will be set out in due course.

The final list of items to be covered by the legislation will be determined by consultation and engagement.

The Scottish Government values the contribution of the NHS Scotland workforce and is committed to supporting those who choose to pursue a career in healthcare. Scottish Ministers have overseen 14 consecutive years of growth in the NHS Scotland workforce, invested in the terms and conditions of staff and continue to deliver activity flowing from both the Nursing and Midwifery Taskforce and the Future Medical Workforce Project to support these professions. The Scottish Government is committed to building on this progress and will set out further detail on the proposed job guarantee in due course.

Development of the training package for internationally-qualified dentists is being delivered by Public Services Delivery Scotland and we anticipate this will be introduced in the current financial year.

We are not currently in a position to provide a timescale for when the Community Low Vision Service will be fully rolled out across Scotland. However, this is a critical priority and I can confirm that work has resumed on the design and development phases of the service.

This is a significant programme of work and will require extensive collaboration with a range of partners including NHS Scotland, the community optometry and dispensing optician professions and the visual impairment sector.

The Scottish Government does not currently hold a risk register of care facilities at risk of failure. The statutory responsibility for providing appropriate social care capacity lies with local authorities, integrated joint boards, and integrated health and social care partnerships. It would therefore be the responsibility of these bodies to assess local population needs and consider where investment needs to be targeted to improve the social care infrastructure within their area.

The Government has committed to expanding the Displaced Workers Scheme.

This will be operational to eligible employers within the first 100 days of this administration, with further details to follow in due course.