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There is presently no national community audiology service. We are sponsoring the RNID ‘Near You’ scheme in partnership with the NHS in five Health Board areas. Benefits include locally-recruited staff, trained volunteers, savings of circa 500 clinical hours and 4,600 patient miles per year, and provision of domiciliary care.

Remote consultations are now part of free universal NHS funded eye examinations. The Government is also in the process of rolling out new enhanced services including the Community Glaucoma Service. No specific assessment has been made of the impact this has had on rural areas, but these commitments support patients being treated closer to home.

The Scottish Government published our Cancer Strategy for Scotland 2023-2033 along with an initial three year Cancer Action Plan for Scotland 2023 – 2026 in June 2023. Over a 10-year period, our strategic aim is to improve cancer survival and provide excellent, equitably accessible care.

The strategy and plan have a focus on reducing inequities in access to cancer care and cancer outcomes. This means treatment and care will be equally good wherever anyone lives and whoever they are. Actions to tackle inequalities are incorporated into other ambitions in the action plan.

The Scottish Government is looking to improve our understanding of the experience of people with cancer living in rural and island communities. Examples include an independent evaluation of their access to cancer care services, and a research programme on rural healthcare funded by the Chief Scientist Office.

In order to provide high quality services to all patients NHS Scotland plans and delivers some services on a national or regional basis. This is particularly the case for highly specialist treatments and those with low numbers of cases.

We have convened an NHS Board-led working group which is working to develop a framework for delivery of health services in rural and island areas and considering how best to deliver the right care in the right place

The group will develop a model with services provided as local as possible and specialised as necessary in order to ensure equity of outcomes. As part of the work, the group will seek to define what the "core services" are that should be provided locally, balancing these with the need for specialised care which may be provided outside the local area where clinically appropriate.

The Scottish Government's Transport to Health delivery plan aims to ensure access to healthcare facilities is fully considered within regional and local planning, including planning for our rural communities.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-33541 on 27 January 2025.

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

Health Boards received core capital funding of £453 million as part of their 2025-26 budget allocation from the Scottish Government, which is an increase of £139 million on 2024-25. This will be primarily focussed on delivering improvements to existing facilities and upgrading medical equipment. It will also allow the plans to complete the Baird Family Hospital and ANCHOR Cancer Centre in Aberdeen and for plans to replace the Belford Hospital in Fort William to be taken forward.

In the last 5 years, the Scottish Government have successfully delivered facilities that support remote and rural healthcare such as Badenoch and Strathspey Community Hospital and Broadford Hospital in Skye. There has been substantial investment in national treatment centres which serve all of Scotland, including the NTC Highland which is located in Inverness.

Throughout NHS Scotland, patients who require urgent or emergency surgery will always be given clinical priority as determined by the clinicians involved in their treatment and care.

In the event that a patient requires transport to an appropriate facility for treatment, there are several resources available including the Scottish Ambulance Service’s patient transport service for scheduled care, or emergency ambulance for life threatening incidents. Scotland’s rural communities are also supported by air assets from the Scottish Ambulance Service (helicopters in Inverness and Glasgow), Scottish Charity Air Ambulance (helicopters in Aberdeen and Perth) and HM Coastguard helicopters based at Prestwick, Inverness, Stornoway and Sumburgh in Shetland.

The Scottish Government is committed to developing a sustainable health and social care system that ensures people get the right care, at the right time, in the right place.

Our vision is for ‘a Scotland where people live longer, healthy and fulfilling lives.’ is supported by four key areas of work: improving population health, a focus on prevention and early intervention, providing quality services, and maximising access, all underpinned by a person-centred approach.

The majority of health boards across Scotland have all, or some of their constituent population in a rural area. Health Boards and Health and Social Care Partnerships take account of the diverse needs of their populations and plan their service provision according to that need.

Officials engage with Health Boards and HSCPs on a regular basis to review health outcomes.

This information is not held by the Scottish Government. You should contact the Scottish Ambulance Service directly.

Telemedicine is essential to supporting care across Scotland. Access to services has shifted significantly over the past 5 years and we expect this to continue as we roll out improved ways to engage with health and social care services. Digital services are supporting people across Scotland to reduce unnecessary travel whilst also saving time, cost and uncomfortable journeys.

The requested information on what percentage of healthcare staff currently working in rural areas are locum staff, broken down by NHS board is not centrally held.