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I understand where Douglas Ross is coming from. What is important is that this is the start of a process. I will go on to talk more about the framework and its importance to Scotland. I am offering to have a meeting, at some point after the debate, with members who are interested in learning more about the issue. I thank him for his intervention, which allowed me to say that.

Although the framework focuses on miscarriage care in the first trimester, I want to take a moment to acknowledge the women and families who go through baby loss and stillbirth at later stages. It is vital that they receive excellent care and support at such an incredibly difficult time, and I know that improvements continue to be made by NHS boards and through the stillbirth national bereavement care pathway.

In developing the framework, we carried out a scoping exercise across all NHS boards into the availability of services for miscarriage and unexpected pregnancy complications. Although the “Miscarriage Care and Facilities in Scotland: Scoping Report National Overview” sets out that all NHS boards have

“dedicated facilities for women experiencing unexpected pregnancy complications”

and

“services available for women experiencing miscarriage”,

there is variation in how those services are delivered.

For example, 10 boards have a dedicated early pregnancy unit, with the rest delivering early pregnancy services through existing services. Eleven boards have a separate room, ward or area away from the labour ward for women experiencing miscarriage. Boards without a separate space are aware that that must be addressed as a priority and are working on providing that space.

Although elements of the graded approach to miscarriage, as recommended by The Lancet’s report, can be accessed in 13 out of 14 boards, none consistently deliver all elements, in particular after the first or second miscarriage.

Like Michelle Thomson, I have had the privilege of seeing the incredible work that independent hospices do—both personally and as a minister. I also recognise that Labour’s decision to increase employer national insurance has created huge pressure across the whole of the public and third sectors, including Scottish hospices. If that is not fully funded by the United Kingdom Government, it will pose risks to service delivery.

We remain committed to working with the hospice sector and IJBs to develop a new national funding framework that will support IJBs and independent hospices to agree sustainable funding, planning and commissioning arrangements to meet their local populations’ needs. We will be creating a partnership group to drive that work.

I thank Miles Briggs for his question and recognise the work that he does in supporting hospices in his region and across Scotland. As I referenced in my previous response, we have been working closely with hospices to address the situation that has arisen—the double whammy, as Miles Briggs called it. We are creating a partnership group to drive that work, and I meet hospices regularly.

I was about to move on to that. As I said earlier, I am delighted to announce that the Scottish Government has agreed £1.5 million of funding to support miscarriage care. I would like to go further than that—I am still arguing to go further—but I am so pleased that I have got that £1.5 million to allocate as appropriate.

We will ask NHS boards to assess what their services are delivering now and how we can progress that support. Very close work is happening between my officials and NHS boards on that. It is one of the conversations that we may have at a future meeting with officials and, I hope, with Professor Justine Craig, our chief midwifery officer.

Bob Doris raised a point about research. The Scottish Government works very closely with Tommy’s, which is a leader in miscarriage research. We meet regularly for discussions including on on-going research and clinical trials. The chief scientist in the Scottish Government also works to support and increase the level of high-quality research in Scotland. Those are other ways in which we are looking at improving knowledge across Scotland and, perhaps, finding some solutions.

That is quite a wide-ranging question. I recognise exactly the point that he makes about fertility and ectopic pregnancy. There is a pathway and a framework for that—I am very happy to get more information and come back to the member on that.

I am so pleased that Beatrice Wishart talked about the northern star ward at NHS Shetland’s Gilbert Bain hospital. It is a star. I hope that other health boards can see that, review it and work towards matching that standard.

I am grateful to everyone for their input to this important debate. I am also grateful for the hard work that the chairs of the working groups have undertaken, for their leadership and for the time that they have given to ensure that the framework for miscarriage care in Scotland and the progesterone pathway are as strong as they can be. They will make a difference to the lives of women who go through miscarriage or threatened miscarriage in future.

I am deeply grateful to the professionals who take care of women and their families every day in Scotland following a miscarriage. That includes the professionals who break bad news, the staff who take care of women following a confirmed miscarriage and the third sector organisations that look after women and their families. I also thank the people with lived experience who have fought so hard to bring about the change.

Finally, I thank everyone in the chamber for their speeches. I look forward to continuing the discussion.

I recognise the role that the Liberal Democrats played in ensuring that the hospices received additional funding. I agree that, in the light of the bill that Liam McArthur is taking through Parliament, it cannot be one or the other, which is why I am very pleased that we had our palliative care consultation, which closed in January. That is an important way of working to ensure that people in Scotland get the right options on end-of-life and palliative care.

The draft budget for 2025-26 now includes £5 million of investment to support independent hospices to provide pay parity with national health service agenda for change levels. The aim of that is to support hospices to retain staff who deliver essential end-of-life and palliative care services. My officials are already undertaking work to explore the mechanisms for providing that funding, while respecting the roles of integration joint boards and local commissioning arrangements.

The director general for health and social care met with senior officials from NHS Dumfries and Galloway, including the chief executive, to discuss national health service dental provision this Monday, 20 January. I understand that the discussion was productive, and my officials continue to meet quarterly with the health board to discuss all aspects of NHS dental service delivery.

I know that some health boards, such as NHS Tayside, to which I referred in responding to previous questions, have chosen to invest in mobile dental units. I understand that those have been successful, and I certainly encourage such innovative thinking. However, that would be a decision for the health board to make, based on its individual needs and circumstances.

The Scottish Government remains committed to expanding the national thrombectomy service and ensuring that access to that treatment is as equitable as possible. I had the pleasure of visiting NHS Lothian’s thrombectomy hub at the Edinburgh royal infirmary on 14 January and I was very impressed by the staff’s dedication and commitment to improving the care of those people who have experienced stroke. I found it an invaluable opportunity to learn at first hand about the east of Scotland thrombectomy service and to discuss service delivery, staffing levels and equity of access with the clinical and service management team.

We will continue to work with everyone who I have just mentioned in boards and regions, and with NHS national services, to expand access to thrombectomy.