Asked by: Balfour, Jeremy (Independent - Lothian)
Question
To ask the Scottish Government what action is being taken to expand access to specialist migraine care through community and primary care services.
Answered by Minto, Jenni - Minister for Public Health and Women's Health
We recognise the distress and pain that migraines cause and we take the issue of migraine seriously.
The Scottish Government funded £221,176 to the Migraine Trust across 2022-2024 to work upskilling community, primary and secondary care pharmacists across NHS Grampian to help people with migraine manage their condition more effectively. This included funding to partner other health boards to extend the reach of this model and increase care and support for people living with migraine.
An eLearning programme for NHS Education for Scotland’s (NES) platform TURAS was developed through the project, comprising a suite of training materials available for all pharmacists and pharmacy teams in Scotland to access.
Asked by: Baillie, Jackie (Scottish Labour - Dumbarton)
Question
To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to investigate any disparity between NHS boards in thrombolysis rates.
Answered by Minto, Jenni - Minister for Public Health and Women's Health
The Scottish Stroke Improvement Programme plays an important role in driving forward improvements in Stroke care, including thrombolysis, throughout Scotland. Regular reviews are held with the stroke services in every NHS Board, and improvements in thrombolysis and reasons for variations in performance are discussed at these meetings. We continue to expect Health Boards to work to improve their standards of care locally.
A dedicated thrombolysis improvement event has been arranged for 8 October. This will allow medical and nursing representatives from all NHS Boards to share good practice, assess reasons for disparities in thrombolysis performance and agree approaches to clinical improvement.
Asked by: Lennon, Monica (Scottish Labour - Central Scotland)
Question
To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the impact of the recent changes to Lanarkshire sexual health services on accessibility for people across the region, including centralising the repeat prescription service for contraception to Coathill Hospital.
Answered by Minto, Jenni - Minister for Public Health and Women's Health
Following a review of services and in order to prioritise access to specialist sexual health services for those in greatest need, NHS Lanarkshire have made a decision to centralise non-Long Acting Reversible Contraception (LARC) prescription appointments to Coathill Hospital. Patients are still able to access non-LARC contraception (such as the pill) at Coathill Hospital or through their GP, which may be more convenient for them. Appointments for LARC continue to be available throughout the wider sexual health service in Lanarkshire.
Asked by: Baker, Claire (Scottish Labour - Mid Scotland and Fife)
Question
To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with Serco NorthLink Ferries regarding (a) capacity and (b) crewing levels of the Northern Isles Ferry Services fleet, ahead of expected increased volumes of livestock transport from the Northern Isles to the mainland in October 2025.
Answered by Fairlie, Jim - Minister for Agriculture and Connectivity
As part of ongoing Contract Management, Transport Scotland officials discuss regularly capacity, including during the Peak Livestock Season.
Officials have not held any discussions specifically about crewing levels as this is a matter for the operator.
Asked by: Baillie, Jackie (Scottish Labour - Dumbarton)
Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it has a plan to monitor the number of patients who receive thrombectomy, and, if so, whether this data will be published.
Answered by Minto, Jenni - Minister for Public Health and Women's Health
The Scottish Stroke Improvement Programme report provides information on thrombectomy procedure numbers, and the latest report can be found at: Scottish stroke improvement programme annual report 2025 - Scottish stroke improvement programme - Publications - Public Health Scotland.
Asked by: Baillie, Jackie (Scottish Labour - Dumbarton)
Question
To ask the Scottish Government which NHS boards are providing thrombectomy to eligible stroke patients through one of the thrombectomy hub centres.
Answered by Minto, Jenni - Minister for Public Health and Women's Health
All NHS Boards, apart from NHS Orkney and NHS Shetland, have the ability to refer patients for thrombectomy procedures at hub hospitals.
Scottish Government officials and NHS planners have been asked to work at pace on developing a plan for the next steps for thrombectomy service expansion.
Asked by: Leonard, Richard (Scottish Labour - Central Scotland)
Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-39984 by Fiona Hyslop on 16 September 2025, in relation to the Clyde and Hebrides Ferry Services 3 (CHFS3) contract, what discussions of the detailed specifications of the contract Transport Scotland officials have had with the (a) the Chair of the Ferries Community Board, (b) local authorities and (c) CMAL since 8 March 2025, and what the outcome was.
Answered by Hyslop, Fiona - Cabinet Secretary for Transport
Since 8 March 2025, Transport Scotland have continued to engage with the Ferries Community Board, both in relation to performance management of the new contract, and also the nature of their ongoing role post-award. This was invaluable to inform the suite of performance indicators, and the role of the Ferries Community Board has been formally embedded within the new arrangements, ensuring that the Ferries Community Board will continue to be engaged on strategic matters throughout the life of the contract.
Since 8 March 2025 officials have engaged with local authorities, including at the Roundtable event on 19 March 2025, and through the Islands Transport Forum, local area ferry groups such as the Argyll Ferry Infrastructure Group and Western Isles Ferry Group, and vessel and infrastructure project working groups, but have not discussed the detailed specification with them; whilst CMAL, as owners of the fleet, have been engaged on a number of technical matters relating to the specification.
Asked by: Balfour, Jeremy (Independent - Lothian)
Question
To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether it is a requirement for a second angiographic suite to be built at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh to enable a 24/7 thrombectomy service, and what plans there are to build such a suite.
Answered by Minto, Jenni - Minister for Public Health and Women's Health
A commitment to a round-the-clock thrombectomy service was set out in our Stroke Improvement Plan and this remains our aim for the thrombectomy service.
Work is ongoing to align the governance and delivery of thrombectomy with similar national programmes. This alignment with wider health service planning aims to support oversight of thrombectomy planning, for the NHS Chief Executive Group and encourage greater collaboration between NHS Boards in delivering this vital service.
This work will inform the future expansion of the service, including angiography capacity, and will support consistency across thrombectomy services in Scotland, ensuring the service maximises use of existing resources.
Asked by: Cole-Hamilton, Alex (Scottish Liberal Democrats - Edinburgh Western)
Question
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the reported plans to do so in England, whether it plans to adopt a version of the so-called Jess’s Rule to ensure that people repeatedly presenting with unresolved medical symptoms are referred for further investigation.
Answered by Gray, Neil - Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care
The Scottish Government does not know at this juncture what the rolling out of Jess’s Rule will require in terms of implementation either by GPs or NHS England. We will be in a position to consider the benefits of the rule when we know more.
However, the Scottish Government understands that the RCGP learning resource which supports “Jess’s Rule” is available to GPs who are members in Scotland as well as in England. We would encourage GPs to make use of this resource.
Asked by: Cole-Hamilton, Alex (Scottish Liberal Democrats - Edinburgh Western)
Question
To ask the Scottish Government how it monitors repeat GP attendances for unresolved symptoms, what data it collects on such cases, and how this data informs policy to prevent missed diagnoses.
Answered by Gray, Neil - Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care
The Scottish Government recognises the importance of early diagnosis of cancer or serious illness and would expect any patient presenting with potential symptoms to be assessed as quickly as possible.
The Scottish Referral Guidelines (SRG) for Suspected Cancer support primary care clinicians to identify those with symptoms suspicious of cancer and identify those who require urgent assessment by a specialist.
A clinical review of SRGs has been completed with updated guidance published on 6 August 2025.