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The Scottish Government understands that Public Health Scotland intends to publish, as official statistics in development, gender identity clinic waiting times information provided by NHS Grampian, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, NHS Highland and NHS Lothian in late summer 2024. This will be subject to the necessary data quality and completeness standards being met.

The term “puberty-suppressing hormones” is non-specific, and could be applied to a range of medicines used for a variety of conditions.

The Scottish Government and NHS Scotland are proactively engaged with NHS England and its commissioned research study on puberty-suppressing hormones as a treatment option for gender dysphoria. This is being delivered by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR). The Scottish Government and the NHS in Scotland are currently observers to that ongoing study development process, however consideration by NHS partners of what further engagement with this study may be appropriate is ongoing, as the scope of the research continues to be developed and defined by NIHR.

The Scottish Government has commissioned Public Health Scotland (PHS) to collect, collate and publish waiting times for all gender identity clinics within the NHS in Scotland. This work will standardise and make routine reporting of waiting time information for these specialist clinical services. This commission also includes collation of patient cohort data, to help inform future service delivery. This work is ongoing.

The Scottish Government also provided funding in 2021 to NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde to support the publication of a trans/non-binary specific report as part of a wider Health Needs Assessment it published in May 2022, in partnership with NHS Lothian and PHS. The main report can be accessed here: stor.scot.nhs.uk/bitstream/handle/11289/580332/Final Report %2831 May 2022%29.pdf?sequence=1 and the trans/non-binary specific supplementary report accessed here: Health needs assessment LGBT+ people: Transgender and non-binary supplementary report (scot.nhs.uk) .

Furthermore, the Scottish Government has provided grant funding to the University of Glasgow for a programme of research on long-term health outcomes for those accessing gender identity healthcare in Scotland, to help expand the collective evidence base for this healthcare. This work is in progress, and funding has been awarded to a number of research projects and a PhD post as part of this programme.

Scottish Government has confirmed funding for the Workforce Specialist Service (WSS) for 2024-25 and the current contract will be extended for a further 12 months. WSS provides confidential mental health assessment and treatment for regulated health, social care and social work professionals in Scotland.

The Digital Prescribing and Dispensing Pathways (DPDP) programme, is scheduled to replace the current paper prescription in Scotland with a digital approach by the end of this parliamentary term.

The business case which sets out the proposal for the next phase, and associated funding, for the programme are currently under consideration.

We do not know the numbers of children affected because the information has not been collected historically.

In response to the Independent Medicines and Medical Devices Safety Review (IMMDSR), the Scottish Government commissioned Public Health Scotland (PHS) to establish a medicines in pregnancy surveillance asset. This resource will support monitoring and reporting to progress improvements in the safe use of valproate and other teratogenic medicines in Scotland. Its first output is due to be published by PHS in April 2024 and will include prescribing data and trends for valproate and other anti-seizure medicines.

The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) naloxone programme was launched in February 2022, backed with investment of £89,000 from Scottish Government. The programme aims to establish a network of fire officers who will carry naloxone and be trained to administer it in the event of an emergency.

Since then, all SFRS staff have been invited to complete online training to learn more about drug deaths in Scotland and how naloxone can help someone in the event of an opioid overdose. To date, 3,379 out of all 7,619 staff have voluntarily completed the training.

There is additional training for Flexi Duty Officers (FDOs) who have volunteered to carry naloxone and there are now 31 trained FDO volunteers within SFRS who are able to do this. It is expected that over the next 6 weeks a further 130 FDO volunteers will be trained and equipped to carry and administer naloxone.

The carrying and administering Naloxone is considered by the Fire Brigades Union (FBU) to be a form of emergency medical response which currently sits out-with the role map of firefighters. SFRS has a desire to broaden the role of firefighters which would incorporate emergency medical response but this is dependent on reaching agreement with the FBU.

SFRS and Scottish Government are determined to fully implement this programme and will continue to work closely with all parties, including representative bodies, to overcome any barriers to its full implementation.

The Scottish Government will await the view and any decisions by the UK Government in relation to redress for anyone who was affected by exposure to valproate.

As set out in our letter to MSPs, this is because the recommendations on redress the UK Government is considering may involve a new agency and schemes that would be funded via a levy on manufacturers of medicines and medical devices and the Scottish Government has only limited powers under the devolution arrangements to impose levies.

We will of course update the Parliament about any important developments.

Patient related experience and patient outcome measures will be recorded through NHS Boards’ use of the C-19 YRS digital screening tool. The provision of heath data through this tool will assist in understanding the provision and effectiveness of long COVID services. Where possible, the data will be disaggregated by age, gender, ethnicity, and deprivation quintile. This will support understanding of any inequitable variation in service provision, experience and outcomes which may need to be addressed through service changes.

The Strategic Network has contracted the University of Leeds to support the initial evaluation of long COVID services in Scotland, using data from the C19-YRS tool. The outputs of the evaluation are expected following the end of the financial year.

NHS Inform has a dedicated long COVID microsite for people with ongoing symptoms after Covid-19, accessible at Long-term effects of COVID-19 | NHS inform . The information was updated in November 2023 following a user research exercise conducted with people living with long COVID to understand their experiences of accessing the information and identify areas for further development of the content.

More broadly, current COVID-19 specific guidance is still in place for the public and wider guidance for individuals and non-clinical workplaces, promoting a risk-based approach to building resilience to respiratory infections, including COVID-19. Any change in guidance will be driven by the data and evidence gathered, as well as expert advice.