The Menopause Specialist Network, chaired by Dr Heather Currie, has been meeting on a quarterly basis since 2021. A peer support group, the Network includes representatives from all the mainland Health Boards, providing consistent advice and peer support to healthcare professionals. The Network supports primary care teams by providing access to a menopause specialist for consistent advice, support, onward referral, leadership and training.

We have also recently established a Menopause Clinical Reference Group. Issues raised by the Network are fed into the Group which then considers potential Scotland wide approaches.

Information on the activity of the Network can be found in the Women's health plan: progress report published in January 2023 and the Womens-health-plan-interim-progress-update published in August 2023.

The Scottish Government is committed to listening to the voices of children and young people across the education landscape. Learner engagement and participation are vital elements within Scotland’s curriculum, and these are further enhanced with the incorporation of the UNCRC into Scots Law.

Education Scotland has recently updated the Successful Young Leaders of Learning programme, which supports learners from P4 upwards to engage in school improvement activity, working in collaboration with other schools. Schools also have access to the ‘Learner Participation in Education Settings’ and the ‘How Good is OUR school?’ online resources, which support the engagement of learners in school improvement and decision making within the classroom, school and community. Education Scotland also provides professional learning to take schools through the materials, providing an opportunity for further dialogue and support.

Public Health Scotland produces a range of reports on sexual health data, which include breakdowns by demographic characteristics where this is appropriate and feasible. There are no imminent plans to change any of the demographics reported on in these publications.

A short update paper has recently been provided to the Women’s Health Plan Implementation Programme Board. The ‘Women’s Health Plan: Interim Progress Update’ describes further progress made since the Report on Progress, which was published in January 2023.

The report can be accessed here: Women's Health Plan: Interim Progress Update 2023 - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

Additionally, Women’s Health Champion Professor Anna Glasier publishes a quarterly blog on her progress which can be found here:

Health and Social Care Women's Health Champion Archives - Health and Social Care (blogs.gov.scot)

A Women’s Health Leads Network, to which each health board lead is invited, is chaired by Professor Glasier. The network meets quarterly and further such meetings are scheduled into 2024.

The Women’s Health Plan Implementation Programme Board is the decision making body responsible for the delivery of the Women’s Health Plan programme. The Board provides strategic oversight of the programme and ensures that the actions outlined in the Plan are implemented across the country.

The appointment of a Women’s Health Lead in every NHS Board is important to driving change and ensuring women’s health is appropriately prioritised.

The results of the initial Desktop survey of NHS Scotland buildings was shared with the Scottish Government on 9 June 2023.

The Scottish Government does not hold this information as the recruitment and employment of teachers including recruitment practices are matters for individual councils.

The regulation of consumer protection, including the work of Trading Standards Scotland, is reserved to the UK Government.

Trading Standards Scotland (TSS) is an intelligence-led organisation that investigates consumer issues where harm has occurred across local authority boundaries. It has never held the function of providing advice directly to consumers.

Anyone seeking help with a consumer issue should contact Advice Direct Scotland at www.consumeradvice.scot or on 0808 164 6000.

The appointment of Women’s Health Leads is an important cross cutting action in the Women’s Health Plan. It is for NHS Boards to identify their women’s health leads according to local need and priority and with reference to the aims set out in the Plan.