Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government convened a meeting on 24 July with Board Chief Executives and Medical Directors to discuss the current situation in NHS Highland to ensure the risks are being mitigated and the system is working collaboratively to do this.

Whilst this is an operational issue for NHS Highland the Scottish Government remains in close contact with the Health Board at this time.

I refer the member to the answer to question S7W-02052 on13 August 2026.

The  Scottish Government provides the overall guidance to NHS Boards for patient travel expenses reimbursement - individual Boards are responsible for developing and applying their own policies, including reimbursement rates, ensuring patient care and safety.

The Patient Travel Expenses Scheme (PTES) is Scotland-wide and provides support to those in receipt of certain benefits. Financial support for travel is available for patients and authorised escorts, according to eligibility criteria and medical requirements.

All Boards are expected to support patients and their families in identifying and accessing available support and Board patient travel contacts can provide advice on eligibility and assistance available with bookings and advance payments, where necessary. The costs of the reimbursement schemes are met from Boards’ budgets.

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.

Public Services Delivery Scotland are obtaining the requisite clinical, planning, financial and staffing information from NHS Boards to understand what would be required to make 24/7 thrombectomy available across Scotland.

The budgets including NCS costs covering the period 2021-2026 are available on the Scottish Government’s website.

Within the budget for year 2026-27 £50,000 is provisioned for the spend on the on-going running of the National Care Service Advisory Board. This includes the costs of supporting the Advisory Board Who continue to play an active role in shaping the Scottish Government’s delivery of the Care Reform (Scotland) Act 2025.

This is an operational decision for NHS Highland.

The Scottish Government wants people diagnosed with cancer to be treated as close to home as clinically possible. We recognise that NHS Scotland’s oncology capacity has been increasingly tested and continue to work with NHS Boards to limit the need for travel where possible and clinically appropriate.

NHS Scotland is required to consider the Scottish Health Technologies Group's(SHTG) recommendations. Discussions are underway to understand how those recommendations can inform sustainable, consistent and effective service delivery across Scotland.

The Scottish Government has not conducted a specific analysis of the impact of thrombectomy access on inpatient stroke rehabilitation services in NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde.

The meeting planned to take place on the 29 April 2026, to discuss the formation of a short life working group to look at interventions for chronic pain, was cancelled to allow full consideration of the group’s remit, methodology, and membership.

The Scottish Stroke Care Audit provides invaluable information that helps drive improvements in the delivery of stroke care, including hyperacute treatment such as thrombectomy.

The Scottish Government works closely with the National Institute for Health & Care (NIHR) including buying into the majority of their research funding programmes to allow access for researchers based in Scotland NIHR Programmes – Chief Scientist Office

The Scottish Government will reach out to the relevant team within NIHR to discuss how the NIHR Brain Tumour Research Consortium will be fully implemented here for the benefit of both patients and researchers.