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.

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 recognises the workforce and skills implications of delivering across these sectors and is working to ensure the skills system can respond.

The consented onshore wind pipeline presents a significant opportunity for Scotland’s economy, as does the transmission infrastructure needed to unlock the full benefit of the clean, affordable and secure power that Scotland can generate from its own resources.

Delivery of the pipeline and investment by Scotland’s Transmission Owners will support thousands of skilled jobs in construction, engineering and the wider supply chain. The Scottish Government is supporting this through the skills system and working with industry, developers and our skills agencies to ensure that communities across Scotland benefit from these opportunities.

In respect of data centres, we continue to take steps to understand the impact on Scotland’s construction supply chain. This includes working with wider public sector to understand what research may be required to fully account for the current projects in the planning system.

The Scottish Government has also introduced a Scottish Government-led skills planning model, being developed in partnership with stakeholders, to ensure the post school education and skills system becomes more responsive to Scotland’s strategic skills priorities.

The Scottish Government is responding to ongoing cost of living pressures being felt by households acros , and we are working towards a consultation on the price cap on essential food items within 100 days of this Government.

We continue to invest in free income maximisation support, welfare and debt advice and have maintained investment in the Scottish Welfare Fund, at £41 million this year, alongside £25.5 million of additional investment over the previous two years, helping ensure the Fund remains a vital safety net for households.

I refer the member to the answer to question S7W-01604 on 22 July 2026. 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.

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.

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.

Official statistics on the current vacancy rate for consultant psychiatry posts across NHS Scotland can be found on the TURAS data intelligence website.

While the Scottish Government sets the strategic policy direction for NHS Scotland, workforce planning and recruitment are, in the first instance, the responsibility of individual NHS Boards. Boards are expected to plan and deliver safe, effective and high-quality care in line with their statutory workforce planning and service delivery responsibilities.

We recognise the ongoing recruitment and retention challenges facing psychiatry and remain committed to working closely with the profession, NHS Boards and other partners to support a sustainable psychiatric workforce. The Psychiatry Recruitment and Retention Working Group reported in 2025. Implementation of agreed recommendations is now underway.

We remain committed to the delivery of a 24/7 thrombectomy service. Public Services Delivery Scotland(PSDS) are obtaining the requisite clinical, planning, financial and staffing information from NHS Boards, including NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, to understand the requirements to deliver 24/7 thrombectomy availability 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.