To ask the Scottish Government what action has been taken to implement the Respiratory Care Action Plan.
We are working with various delivery partners to implement the commitments in the Respiratory Care Action Plan (RCAP), which runs into 2026.
We established the Scottish Respiratory Advisory Committee to provide expert support to the implementation of the RCAP. The Committee identified three initial areas of focus: child to adult transition, pulmonary rehab and respiratory data.
The Committee’s Child to Adult Transitions subgroup has produced a set of recommendations to ensure children with asthma and other respiratory conditions have the best possible care and treatment as they move into adult service.
To improve the data available on respiratory conditions and ensure people with respiratory conditions are receiving the right care and support, we are working towards establishing a national audit programme for respiratory conditions. We aim to progress this with Public Health Scotland in 2025/2026.
In 2024, we published the Quality Prescribing Strategy for Respiratory: A Guide for Improvement 2024-2027 that sets out our ambitions for better access to respiratory care. This can be found here – https://www.gov.scot/publications/quality-prescribing-strategy-respiratory-guide-improvement-2024-2027/
The Centre for Sustainable Delivery based at the Golden Jubilee National Hospital is developing national patient pathways for respiratory conditions including severe asthma, COPD and sleep apnoea. This work aligns closely with the commitments in the RCAP.
The RCAP also recognises the importance of commitments under the Scottish Government’s Cleaner Air for Scotland and Warmer Homes Strategies and the refreshed Tobacco Action Plan in preventing respiratory disease.
We remain committed to a tobacco-free Scotland by 2034 and welcome the re-introduction of the UK-wide Tobacco and Vapes Bill to UK Parliament, which will help us to achieve our ambitious target.
We are supporting the introduction of Low Emission Zones to improve air quality and protect public health.
We are also committed to supporting those living in fuel poverty or at risk of fuel poverty through installing insulation and heating measures into individual properties, known as the Warmer Homes Scotland scheme. Since the launch of the first Warmer Homes Scotland scheme in 2015, the scheme has invested around £289 million and helped over 39,000 households across Scotland to live in warmer, healthier homes which are more affordable to heat through both phases of the scheme.
