Chamber and committees

Provision of medical first aid at a major sporting event is the event organisers’ responsibility which, in this instance, is the Glasgow 2026 Organising Company.

The Scottish Government continues to work closely with event organisers to ensure that Scottish Ambulance Service, NHS Boards and Public Health Scotland are appropriately engaged in planning groups for major sporting events.

Public sector health colleagues work meticulously with the event organisers and any procured private first aid and ambulance services to ensure adequate first aid and health care is provided to event participants, workforce and spectators, in line with guidance and requirements as set out in the Green and Purple Guides.

The Green Guide, or ‘Guide to Safety at Sports Grounds’, provides guidance on safety at sports grounds for stadium operators and event organisers. The Purple Guide is aimed at event organisers who are responsible for managing health and safety and at events in more general terms.

The 2025-26 Budget will provide a record £21.7 billion for Health and Social Care, including almost £200 million to reduce waiting lists and improve flow through hospitals. Gynaecology will be targeted as a key priority area for additional funding.

We are committed to ensuring those living with endometriosis are able to access the best possible care and support and that they benefit from healthcare services that are safe, effective and put people at the centre of their care.

Endometriosis is one of the key priorities in the Women’s Health Plan and will continue to be so. Timely access to gynaecology services will also be a priority as we continue to develop the next phase of our Women’s Health Plan, which we aim to publish in 2025.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-34345 on 28 February 2025. 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

I refer the member to the answer to the question S6W-36412 on 29 April 2025. 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 2022 Healthcare Improvement Scotland (HIS) Sexual Health Standards set out that patients should have access to information on both medical and surgical abortion to enable an informed choice of abortion method.

Information on available methods of abortion is available on the NHS Inform website and the websites of individual Health Boards. The Scottish Government continues to work with Scottish Abortion Care Providers (SACP) to improve the information provided to patients, both in written patient information and the information shared during consultations with healthcare staff.

I refer the member to the answer to the question S6W-36410 on 29 April 2025. 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 NHS in Scotland holds data on the prescribing of diethylstilbestrol (otherwise known as DES or stilbestrol) in both primary care and secondary care.

Data on primary care usage of medicines is published and available on the Public Health Scotland website Show all releases - Publications - Public Health Scotland. Data on secondary usage is not routinely published.

Extensive work is ongoing to improve coordination of public services as part of our commitment to public service reform. We will support all areas to follow the Getting It Right for Everyone model of person-centred services (GIRFE). This model brings the person, their families, carers and all service providers together to devise a package of care and support in a joined-up, holistic manner across various services and agencies to achieve the best outcomes for individuals. In December 2024 we published the GIRFE toolkit and Health Boards are now required to set out how they will embed the GIRFE principles and toolkit in NHS Annual Delivery Plans for the organisation and delivery of their services. In addition, we are establishing the new National Care Service Advisory Board to improve social care, social work and community health services.

More specifically to support individuals with complex co-occurring mental health and substance use issues we commissioned Healthcare Improvement Scotland (HIS) to create a gold-standard protocol that sets out how these services should work together, which has now been published. HIS are now working to support areas across the country to develop and implement their own protocols. We are also supporting Mental Health Officers (MHOs), who assess and support individuals with mental health conditions and are pivotal to integrated health and social care services. Actions underway include undertaking workforce planning initiatives to address shortfall in MHOs, developing a pilot exercise to reduce administrative burden, and developing a scheme to harness the potential of AI powered tools to support reporting and reduce associated workloads.

The Scottish Government expects Health Boards to offer patients a clinically appropriate abortion method. The 2022 Healthcare Improvement Scotland (HIS) Sexual Health Standards set out that patients should have access to information on both medical and surgical abortion to enable them to make an informed choice of abortion method. The Scottish Government’s 2021 Women’s Health Plan had an aim that ‘all women will have a choice about how and where they access abortion care’.

While most Health Boards can offer surgical abortions to a certain gestation, the Scottish Government is working with the Scottish Abortion Care Providers network, the Faculty of Sexual and Reproductive Health and the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists to improve access for clinicians to surgical abortion training at all gestations. The Scottish Government has also committed to pay for training for any clinician who wishes to provide later stage abortions.

The Women’s Health Champion has been discussing with Health Board Chief Executives issues around contraception and abortion, including ensuring access to early surgical abortion. The Scottish Government will soon be presenting information gathered from Health Boards to Chief Executives to help inform discussions about where surgical abortion provision could be increased.

We recognise the importance of support for individuals on release from custody. While we are not currently pursuing a pilot on post-custody outreach, we are improving support for these individuals by introducing a new national voluntary throughcare service, Upside, which offers one-to-one support for men and women leaving short sentences and periods of remand. This service, which launched on
1 April 2025, will assist people with the immediate challenges they face post-custody, including accessing housing, healthcare and social security, while also linking them to the wider support services they may require, such as mental health or substance use services.

In addition to this, through the Getting It Right For Everyone (GIRFE) model, we are supporting Health Boards to provide a package of care and support in a joined-up, holistic manner across various services and agencies. This will also support people with their needs on release from prison.