Chamber and committees

Public Health Scotland (PHS) releases statistics, as part of the monthly Stage of Treatment (SoT) publication. This covers waits for new outpatient appointments under the 12-week standard, and for inpatient and day case admissions covered by the 12-week Treatment Time Guarantee (TTG). The latest statistics are published up to 30th June 2026 and can be found using the link below:

https://publichealthscotland.scot/publications/stage-of-treatment-waiting-times/

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.

No formal review has been undertaken of the provision of sexual health clinics in rural areas. It is the responsibility of NHS Boards to ensure appropriate provision of services within their region.

As part of the Sexual Health and Blood Borne Virus Action Plan (2023 to 2026), Scottish Government officials carried out a programme of local area visits across all NHS Boards in Scotland. The purpose of these visits was to identify barriers to delivery and opportunities for improvement, including challenges associated with the provision of sexual health services in rural areas.

These visits have now concluded, and the learning and insights gathered will help inform the development of future sexual health policy, including the next Sexual Health and Blood Borne Virus Action Plan.

Everyone should be able to access the services they need, when and where they need them and that is why we have provided a record £17.6bn to territorial health boards for 2026-27.

Further to this, we are providing an additional £90 million investment in planned care to reduce waiting times. I refer the member to the answers to questions S7W-02165, S7W-02166 and S7W-02170 on 17 August 2026 and S7W-02168 on 20 August 2026.

Our Health and Social Care Service Renewal Framework, as part of our wider Health and Social Care Reform Portfolio, sets out a ten-year strategic vision for reform focused on delivering sustainable health and social care services through prevention, integration, improved access, digital transformation and system redesign.

Following the election, work is underway to review and refresh programme priorities. Our Programme for Government will be put to Parliament in due course.

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.

The Scottish Government recognises the impact that delays in diagnosis and treatment can have on people with obstructive sleep apnoea, as well as the wider consequences for health services and the economy.

NHS boards are responsible for the planning and delivery of sleep services to meet the needs of their local populations. The Scottish Government is supporting boards through investment to increase NHS capacity and reduce waiting times across services, including diagnostic and treatment pathways.

The 2026-27 Scottish Budget provides a record £22.5 billion for health and social care, alongside an additional £100 million to build on progress made through the Operational Improvement Plan. This investment will support the creation of additional NHS capacity and further reductions in waiting times, particularly for those who have been waiting the longest.

Through this investment and ongoing engagement with NHS boards, we are supporting improvements to referral, diagnostic and treatment pathways, including for patients referred to sleep services, with the aim of reducing waits and improving timely access to assessment and treatment for conditions such as obstructive sleep apnoea.

Prior to 2021, international recruitment was not widely utilised across NHS Scotland, and no direct funding was available to health boards to support these activities. Between 2021 and 2026, the Scottish Government invested more than £21.5 million to develop international recruitment capacity across NHS Scotland. This included funding for dedicated international recruitment leads and support for overseas recruitment costs, such as visa and sponsorship fees. This investment enabled the recruitment of more than 1,200 overseas professionals into roles across NHS Scotland.

Although no direct funding has been provided since 2024 to meet international recruitment costs, the infrastructure established through this investment remains in place. With the continued funding of an international recruitment lead in each health board, international recruitment can continue to be considered as a means of filling hard-to-recruit vacancies where appropriate.

The Scottish Government has no current plans to extend kinship care allowances to age 21.

We recognise, however, the importance of supporting young people in kinship care as they move into adulthood. Existing legislation allows local authorities, where they consider it appropriate, to provide an allowance to certain eligible young people in kinship care after they reach 16 and until age 18.

A range of other support is available to eligible care-experienced young people as they move into adulthood, including Continuing Care and Aftercare, depending on their individual circumstances and care history.

The Scottish Government has been working with NHS Boards to improve the consistency and effectiveness of staff banks across Scotland. This is supported through regular engagement with those tasked with management of staff banks within Boards. Guidance has been developed to support organisations in adopting a consistent approach to the recruitment of bank staff whilst steps have also been taken to standardise the statutory and mandatory training which staff are expected to undertake.

Whilst there are currently no plans to implement a national staff bank, we welcome the steps taken by Boards such as NHS Lothian and NHS Borders who work together on bank staff deployment. Moving forward, we will continue to consider how we can deliver services on an increasingly Once for Scotland basis in line with the Health and Social Care Service Renewal Framework.

This information is not held. Public Health Scotland (PHS) holds data on MRI and CT activity through aggregated monthly returns submitted directly by NHS Boards. As this data is not collected or held at an individual week or weekend level, PHS is unable to report the number of MRI or CT scans carried out at weekends.

PHS statistics relating to the eight key diagnostic tests are published with data up to 31 March 2026 and can be found using the following link:

https://publichealthscotland.scot/publications/nhs-waiting-times-diagnostics/diagnostic-waiting-times-waits-for-key-diagnostic-tests-26-may-2026/.

The Scottish Government has supported and used modelling to inform planning across the wider Trauma and Orthopaedic specialty.

This includes modelling undertaken through the Performance Management and Assessment Tool (PMAT), which considers demand and capacity across the full Trauma & Orthopaedic waiting list to support delivery planning and Scottish Government targets. However, this modelling is not undertaken specifically for hip and knee replacement services.

In addition, work has been undertaken with the University of Strathclyde through the Centre for Sustainable Delivery to model aspects of orthopaedic demand and capacity. This work was conducted at whole-specialty level rather than at the level of individual sub-specialties such as hip and knee replacement surgery.

Separately, the Golden Jubilee National Hospital, which is the largest hip and knee replacement centre in the UK, employs a Clinical Fellow who undertakes modelling relating to arthroplasty demand through the Scottish Arthroplasty Project.