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The Scottish Government aims to publish our new palliative and end of life care strategy for consultation in spring 2024.

The Scottish Government is committed to improving the quality, frequency and usage of a number of datasets, including emergency presentation data, across cancer types.

Blood cancers often present in different ways. A wide range of data on blood cancers are regularly published by Public Health Scotland, including Incidence, Quality Performance Indicators (QPIs), Mortality, and Survival. We will continue to work with key partners to identify any gaps in understanding and inequity in data availability, to drive improvements.

For example, we expect to review cancer types measured and reported on with regards to time to first treatment as part of the clinical review of Cancer Waiting Time standards ahead of 2026.

Due to the scope and timeframe of the question, the information requested could only be obtained at disproportionate cost as this data is not available from a single source. However, the Scottish Government has responded to FOI requests seeking information in relation to working groups in September 2021 and September 2023 which may be helpful. Links to those FOI responses can be found below:

Various questions relating to Scottish Government working groups: FOI release - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

Breakdown of Scottish Government groups: FOI release - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) ”

Scottish Ministers are advised by Food Standards Scotland (FSS) on matters of food safety, standards and labelling. FSS met with Sight Scotland, Disability Equality Scotland and the Oban and District Access Panel on 1 March 2023 to discuss braille labelling on foods. FSS have also discussed this issue with policy officials in the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) and the Food Standards Agency (FSA) in Wales and Northern Ireland, lead departments for food labelling in the rest of the UK, as development of any policy proposals would need to be considered on a four-nation basis under the UK Food Compositional Standards and Labelling Common Framework. The Scottish Government is aware this issue is being considered by the Scottish Parliament Citizen Participation and Public Petitions Committee, details of which can be found here: PE1997: Introduce mandatory braille labelling for food products sold in Scotland.

As set out in my response to the question S6W-22545, the contents of the report are now being considered by Transport Scotland. The report will be published once that process has been completed.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-24498 on‎ 23 January 2024. 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 .

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-24444 on 22 January 2024. 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 .

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-24444 on‎ 22 January 2024. 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 matter for ScotRail and the previous Franchisee, Abellio ScotRail prior to 1 April 2022. The information requested is not held centrally by the Scottish Government.

The Member may wish to contact ScotRail, who might have the information relating to the period from April 2022.

NHS Pharmacy First Scotland provides advice, treatment or referral to another healthcare professional for a wide range of minor illnesses as well as common clinical conditions such as impetigo, shingles, uncomplicated UTIs, skin infections and hay fever. It is provided by all community pharmacies in Scotland, usually without an appointment.

As part of Pharmacy First, community pharmacists who are independent prescribers can using their prescribing skills to provide a wider range of treatment options.

The service aims to frees up GP practice appointments and pressures on Emergency Departments and Out of Hours (OOH) services, ensuring people get the Right Care at the Right Place at the Right Time. In 2022-23, over 3.6 million Pharmacy First consultations were undertaken.

There are no current plans for community pharmacists to refer patients directly to GP practices or other settings for blood tests.