Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government does not hold information on GP Practices implementing short term reductions in clinical activity, appointment availability or service provision. The Scottish Government has agreed with Public Service Delivery Scotland to increase the post migration support to help practices familiarise themselves with the new system and reduce any short-term disruption.

In March 2022, Vision successfully met all Tranche 1 accreditation requirements. Functional and non-functional testing was undertaken covering security, hosting arrangements, clinical safety, support arrangements and training provision, with Health Board subject matter experts contributing to the assessment process.

Scottish Government is committed to and has a strong record of working with a range of third sector organisations to help shape cancer services and support people affected by cancer.

The Cancer Strategy for Scotland 2023-2033 and Cancer Plan for Scotland 2023 – 2026 set out a number of ambitions premised on third sector partnership working and delivery.

We recognise and value the important contribution of organisations such as Mesothelioma UK, the Scottish Mesothelioma Network, Action on Asbestos, the Clydebank Asbestos Group and the Less Survivable Cancers Taskforce in supporting people affected by mesothelioma and other asbestos-related conditions.

The Scottish Government supports Mesothelioma UK's Action Mesothelioma Day campaign, which plays an important role in raising awareness of mesothelioma and asbestos-related disease. In recent years, we have supported this through a parliamentary debate on mesothelioma, and by lighting up blue St Andrew's House and Victoria Quay buildings to join the campaign to 'Go Blue for Meso'.

The Scottish Government does not hold this information centrally. Public Health Scotland (PHS) also does not hold or publish information on the number of MMR or MMRV catch-up vaccination invitations issued, subsequent vaccination following invitation or local uptake targets. NHS Boards will use local management information to support operation planning in their area but this not routinely collected or published at a national level.

The 5-year Scottish Vaccination and Immunisation Programme (SVIP) framework sets out priorities to improve uptake, reduce inequalities and reduce disease burden. To support the delivery of this, national indicators are under development. Bi-monthly Board liaison calls between PHS and NHS Boards provide an opportunity to discuss local data and operational issues.

The Scottish Government is working with Public Health Scotland and NHS Boards, including NHS Tayside and NHS Grampian, to improve childhood vaccination uptake. Nationally, the five-year Scottish Vaccination and Immunisation Programme (SVIP) Framework sets out priorities to increase uptake, reduce inequalities and minimise the burden of vaccine-preventable disease. Public Health Scotland also holds regular liaison meetings with NHS Boards to review local data, share learning and discuss quality improvement activity. Boards continue to implement measures based on local need, including reminder and recall arrangements, flexible appointments and community-based delivery, supported through existing national improvement arrangements.

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.

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.

In 2024, following a commission from the Scottish Government, Public Health Scotland began publishing nationally collated data on waiting times for NHS gender identity services, making Scotland the first country in the UK to publish such data. The third annual instalment of these data was published on 30 June 2026.

These statistics are essential for understanding local progress and variation in the impact of Scottish Government funding, and provide a foundation for ongoing improvement work. While these data demonstrate good progress in some areas in, we recognise that performance is not yet at the level we all want to see, particularly in NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde.

Scottish Government officials are engaging closely with the leadership of NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde to ensure that the Board is appropriately supported to improve its service delivery, and we will continue to share best practices and work collaboratively across NHS Scotland to build on improvements to date.

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.

In recent years, there has been a significant increase in the number of people seeking a neurodevelopmental diagnosis and support, resulting in increased pressure across a range of services.

Recognising these pressures, last year the Scottish Government and COSLA undertook a review of the implementation of the National Neurodevelopmental Specification for Children and Young People. The Specification is clear that support should be put in place at the earliest opportunity on the basis of need, and should not wait for, or be dependent on, a formal diagnosis.

The review identified areas of good practice and areas where further action is required. It highlighted the significant pressures facing services and the need for clearer national direction and practical support to help deliver timely, neuro-affirming care across Scotland.

In response to these findings, the Scottish Government committed to a programme of work to support health boards and local authorities in delivering the aims of the Specification. This work is being supported by the cross-sector Children and Young People’s Neurodevelopment Taskforce, which brings together expertise from health, education, local government and the third sector to ensure a collaborative, whole-system approach to improving support and services for children and young people.