- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Monday, 22 September 2025
-
Current Status:
Answered by Jenni Minto on 1 October 2025
To ask the Scottish Government what estimate it has made of the economic impact of migraine on Scotland’s economy and workforce productivity.
Answer
The Scottish Government has made no specific estimate of the economic impact of migraine on Scotland’s economy and workforce productivity, however information regarding the impact of migraine on workplaces and the economy has been published by organisations such as the Migraine Trust.
We are working to support people with health conditions, such as migraine, to play an active role within the economy. We are investing up to £90 million in 2025-26 for the delivery of devolved employability services, providing intensive and personalised pre-employment and in-work support for unemployed people with barriers to progressing within work, including disabled people and with those with health conditions.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Monday, 22 September 2025
-
Current Status:
Answered by Jenni Minto on 1 October 2025
To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to investigate any disparity between NHS boards in thrombolysis rates.
Answer
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: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Monday, 22 September 2025
-
Current Status:
Answered by Jenni Minto on 1 October 2025
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.
Answer
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: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Monday, 22 September 2025
-
Current Status:
Answered by Jenni Minto on 1 October 2025
To ask the Scottish Government which NHS boards are providing thrombectomy to eligible stroke patients through one of the thrombectomy hub centres.
Answer
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: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Friday, 19 September 2025
-
Current Status:
Answered by Kaukab Stewart on 30 September 2025
To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of any impact on women working in the Scottish public sector whose employers will not be covered by the UK Government’s commitment to introduce mandatory gender pay gap action plans, in light of reported concerns that they may be left behind if equivalent measures are not introduced.
Answer
While inter-governmental discussions are ongoing, and while we are developing PSED-related improvement proposals, we have not yet made an assessment of the likely impact on women of the UK Government’s commitment but we are making stringent efforts to resolve this matter and to consider how action planning could be used in a Scottish context.
As Minister for Equalities, I am still awaiting a confirmed meeting date with UK Government Ministers, following an offer via correspondence in May 2025, to discuss the Scottish Government’s concerns around provisions in the UK Government’s Employment Rights Bill and to seek a resolution in line with current timelines for the Bill’s passage. These concerns relate to powers to mandate for equality action plans and the naming of outsourcing providers for public bodies in Scotland. Currently these provisions will only come into force for public bodies in England, and so Scottish Ministers continue to seek assurances around receiving the equivalent powers to regulate as those proposed for UK Government Ministers.
Using the powers that we do have and as part of the Scottish Government’s phased approach to improving the effectiveness of the Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED) in Scotland, we continue to review the operation of the Scottish Specific Duties to support Scottish listed authorities to enable better performance of the general duty.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Friday, 19 September 2025
-
Current Status:
Answered by Kaukab Stewart on 30 September 2025
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of reports of many unresolved equal pay cases in the Scottish public sector, what plans it has to reform the equal pay statement duty, to require public bodies to evidence what steps they are taking to ensure equal pay for equal work.
Answer
The Scottish Government is aware of the ongoing concerns regarding unresolved equal pay cases within the Scottish public sector. We recognise that transparency and accountability are essential to ensuring equal pay for equal work for everyone across all public bodies in Scotland.
As part of our phased approach to improving the effectiveness of the Public Sector Equality Duty in Scotland (PSED), we continue to review the operation of the Scottish Specific Duties. This includes considering reforms to the equal pay statement duty, where necessary and proportionate, and seeking to ensure that regulations are used to reinforce each other for maximum effect in enabling better performance of the general duty.
In line with Scottish Ministers’ statutory duty under Regulation 12 of the Scottish Specific Duties, the Scottish Government will publish our new proposals to enable better performance of the PSED in Scotland for 2025-29 in December 2025. These proposals and the accompanying report will set out our considerations and next steps to improve the effectiveness of PSED in Scotland. We are carefully considering a wide range of evidence including the effectiveness of equal pay regulations as we develop these proposals.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Friday, 19 September 2025
-
Current Status:
Answered by Kaukab Stewart on 30 September 2025
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the evidence set out in the Close the Gap briefing, From data to action, what plans it has to strengthen the Scottish-specific duties of the public sector equality duty by introducing mandatory gender pay gap action plans for listed public bodies.
Answer
The Scottish Government is committed to advancing equality and tackling the structural barriers that contribute to the gender pay gap. We recognise the concerns raised in Close the Gap’s From Data to Action briefing, particularly the need to improve the effectiveness of the Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED) to ensure meaningful action on gender pay gaps in Scotland.
We remain committed to taking a phased approach to improving the effectiveness of the PSED in Scotland. This includes consideration of regulatory changes to strengthen pay gap reporting. We are considering the points raised in this briefing carefully, alongside a range of other pieces of evidence on the operation of the Scottish Specific Duties, as we develop our PSED improvement proposals for the 2025-29 cycle. A report on these proposals is due to be published in December 2025, in line with Scottish Ministers’ statutory duty under Regulation 12 of the Scottish Specific Duties.
In the meantime, my officials are meeting regularly with Close the Gap to discuss their briefing and other related issues.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Monday, 29 September 2025
-
Current Status:
Answer expected on 27 October 2025
To ask the Scottish Government what its position is regarding the Thrombectomy Advisory Group's update paper to the National Planning Board in August 2019, stating that “five essential components must all be provided for any given catchment population to receive a full thrombectomy service".
Answer
Answer expected on 27 October 2025
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Monday, 29 September 2025
-
Current Status:
Taken in the Chamber on 2 October 2025
To ask the First Minister what the Scottish Government's response is to reported comments from the chair of the British Medical Association in Scotland, that Scotland's NHS is "dying before our eyes".
Answer
Taken in the Chamber on 2 October 2025
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Tuesday, 16 September 2025
-
Current Status:
Answered by Jenni Minto on 24 September 2025
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the announcement by NHS England in July 2025 that the triple combination medicine vanzacaftor–tezacaftor–deutivacaftor (Alyftrek) is to be made available to patients with cystic fibrosis, including some with rare forms of the disease who will now be eligible for a triple therapy for the first time, whether such therapy will be available by NHS Scotland, and, if so, by what date.
Answer
The Scottish Medicines Consortium (SMC) has received an abbreviated submission from the marketing authorisation holder, Vertex Pharmaceuticals, for vanzacaftor–tezacaftor–deutivacaftor (Alyftrek®), for the treatment of cystic fibrosis in people aged six years and older who have at least one non-class I mutation in the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) gene. The appraisal of Alyftrek® via this abbreviated process is ongoing, and NHS National Procurement (NP) is continuing to work with Vertex Pharmaceuticals on the commercial arrangements.
The medicine product page on the SMC’s website will be updated with the advice in due course, once published.
