Chamber and committees

Scottish Government engages with a range of stakeholders on matters relating to children and young people with cancer, These stakeholders include third sector organisations, the Managed Clinical Network for Children and Young People (MCN CYPC) and other clinical specialists as well as lived experience groups, who support and deliver cancer services for children and young people with cancer.

Many of the measures in the Crofting and Scottish Land Court Act (Scotland) 2026, including the merger of the Scottish Land Court with the Lands Tribunal for Scotland and amendments to the jurisdiction of the Court, will be brought into force by secondary legislation and will therefore be subject to Parliamentary business and timetabling arrangements. It is intended that the expanded Court will be established and operationally ready before other changes to its jurisdiction such as those relating to the 2003 Act are brought in. Officials are currently taking forward the action required to commence the provisions in the Act relating to the Court, and timescales are still to be finalised.

MyCare.scot was rolled out nationally across Scotland from April 2026 and will continue to develop incrementally through the Scottish Government’s Digital Front Door (DFD) programme. A free downloadable app is also available via both the Apple and Google store. More information regarding the MyCare.scot rollout can be found in the National Rollout Plan (https://www.gov.scot/publications/health-social-care-app-mycare-scot-national-rollout-high-level-summary/pages/4/), published September 2025.

Through established sub-national planning and implementation arrangements, the Digital Front Door programme is prioritising the rollout of digital communications and appointment functionality across all NHS territorial health boards before expansion into wider health and care services. The initial phase due for delivery in 2027/28 is focused on enabling patients to view secondary care appointment information and related communications digitally. This capability will be enhanced incrementally in collaboration with other digital projects, including GP IT reprovisioning and the Digital Prescribing and Dispensing Pathways (DPDP) programme, to enable users to book, manage appointments and order their prescriptions online.

The DPDP programme will replace paper prescriptions with a secure, end-to-end digital prescribing and dispensing system. The roll out of a minimum viable product will commence at the end of 2028 and the current trajectory is for patient-facing benefits via MyCare.scot, including prescription ordering, from 2029.

The programme recognises that providing access to test results through MyCare.scot could deliver significant benefits for patients. However, in some circumstances, direct access to results may be inappropriate and could cause unnecessary anxiety or distress. Any implementation will therefore need to be carefully designed to ensure it is clinically safe and that results are presented with appropriate context, explanation and supporting information. This work is currently being considered and scheduled as part of the wider Digital Front Door and MyCare.scot development plans.

Improving access to support for people with neurodevelopmental support needs is a priority for this Government.

The Scottish Government is aware that some people who have received a private diagnosis of ADHD experience difficulties accessing medication through the NHS. Shared care was a key issue discussed at the second neurodevelopment summit convened by the Minister for Social Care and Mental Wellbeing and during the Health, Social Care and Sport Committee inquiry. The outcomes of these discussions will inform ongoing work to improve neurodevelopmental support.

We are committed to working with partners to explore options for shared care arrangements and to consider approaches that are proportionate, effective and meet the needs of both patients and clinicians. Guidance on prescribing ADHD medication to adults following a private-sector diagnosis in Scotland was also published by NAIT in April 2022.

Medication is one form of support for people with an ADHD diagnosis. Many people may also benefit from support available through community and education settings, which can be accessed on the basis of need and do not depend on a formal diagnosis.

The Scottish Government is today publishing the Health and Care Improving Flow Plan 2026-2031, delivering our commitment to publish a National Flow Plan within the first 100 days of this administration.

The Plan sets out our ambition for one connected system, simple routes to care, ensuring every person receives the most appropriate response as quickly as possible. It outlines action to improve navigation into care, expand home and community-based services, strengthen discharge arrangements, improve acute hospital flow, and tackle overcrowding and corridor care.

The Plan has been developed jointly with Scotland East and Scotland West Sub-National Planning Committees and informed through engagement with NHS Boards, Health and Social Care Partnerships, clinicians, national agencies, care providers and other partners. Detailed operational implementation arrangements an collaboration with partners will continue to be developed following publication.

The Plan can be accessed here: Health and Care Improving Flow Plan 2026-2031.

Through delivery of this Plan we will improve access to care, support more care closer to home, reduce delays and improve outcomes for people across Scotland.

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.

The Scottish Government is today publishing the Health and Care Improving Flow Plan 2026-2031, delivering our commitment to publish a National Flow Plan within the first 100 days of this administration.

The Plan sets out our ambition for one connected system, simple routes to care, ensuring every person receives the most appropriate response as quickly as possible. It outlines action to improve navigation into care, expand home and community-based services, strengthen discharge arrangements, improve acute hospital flow, and tackle overcrowding and corridor care.

The Plan has been developed jointly with Scotland East and Scotland West Sub-National Planning Committees and informed through engagement with NHS Boards, Health and Social Care Partnerships, clinicians, national agencies, care providers and other partners. Detailed operational implementation arrangements an collaboration with partners will continue to be developed following publication.

Through delivery of this Plan we will improve access to care, support more care closer to home, reduce delays and improve outcomes for people across Scotland.

In July 2024, Public Health Scotland published a three-year Adverse Weather and Health Plan. With support from the Scottish Government and key stakeholders, the plan will help to protect the health of the population from adverse weather-related harm, including extreme temperatures.

To monitor effectiveness of the plan, a multi-agency steering group was developed which includes key stakeholders, the Scottish Government and third sector partners.

Public Health Scotland has published guidance on outdoor air quality and wildfires which is available on NHS Inform.

Public health messaging and preparedness plans for increasing temperatures and wildfires are the responsibility of the local emergency services and health boards with support from Public Health Scotland, if required.

Maree Todd: The Scottish Government expects educational establishments for all age groups to follow Public Health Scotland’s Health Protection Guidance to minimise the risk of transmission of infectious diseases, including measles.

Any measles outbreak in Scotland is managed through established local and national public health response arrangements. Where a suspected or confirmed case is identified in an educational setting, the relevant NHS Board, supported by Public Health Scotland, will provide advice and support on outbreak management, including public health actions as required.

Colleges and universities, as autonomous institutions, are responsible for their own operational arrangements for responding to incidents and reporting suspected cases of notifiable diseases.

The Scottish Government continues to promote uptake of the Measles, Mumps and Rubella (MMR) vaccine. Information on vaccinations and the importance of keeping vaccinations up to date is available through NHS Inform, Parent Club and Student Information Scotland. This includes advice on vaccines offered at secondary school, checking MMR vaccination status and arranging vaccination appointments through local GP practices.

The information requested could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.