Seòmar agus comataidhean

The Transport to Health Delivery Plan published by Scottish Government in October 2024 aims to ensure access to healthcare facilities is fully considered within regional and local planning.

As one of the commitments in the plan set out, the Transport (Scotland) Act 2019 section 120 and 121 commenced on 22 September 2023 placing a requirement on Health Boards to work with community transport providers and consider the economic and social impacts of non-emergency patient transport.

We monitor the NHS Territorial Boards annual delivery returns and continue to use annual reviews and regular meetings with Boards to engage on a range of topics relevant to service delivery as required, including any transport concerns.

We recognise that collaborative working between NHS Boards, Regional Transport Partnerships and other partners is necessary in service planning and decision-making, helping to address longer distances for healthcare.

As part of the Cardiovascular Disease (CVD) enhanced service, GP practices are required to identify people on their practice lists at risk of developing CVD, and carry out appropriate checks with those people, with a particular focus on people who live in areas of deprivation, and who have not received the checks in the last three years. The checks include: blood pressure, lipid profile, type two diabetes risk assessment, waist circumference, Body Mass Index and smoking status.

Each person accessing the service is then given the results of their checks and offered a follow up appointment. If their test results are within the normal range, they are offered lifestyle advice to support onward health. If their test results are out with the normal range, they are offered treatment as appropriate, and a follow up appointment in 6 months, where the checks are repeated.

Vacant Crofts:

The matter raised falls within the remit of Skills Development Scotland (SDS), the Scottish Funding Council (SFC) and the Construction Industry Training Board (CITB).

The Scottish Government does not hold this information centrally.

The Scottish Government does not hold this information. The member may wish to request this information from the operator, Serco NorthLink Ferries.

The information requested is not held centrally by the Scottish Government. More detailed information on cleft lip and palate surgery waiting times will be held locally by NHS boards.

The Scottish Government has not held any discussions with the operator on the subject of crew accommodation standards on MV Helliar and MV Hildasay.

The Scottish Government is unable to disclose this information as it is considered commercially sensitive.

The Scottish Government recognises the wide-ranging benefits of community growing, not only for physical and mental wellbeing, but also for fostering social cohesion and resilience within local communities. Community food growing activities have potential to support our ambition to become a Good Food Nation by providing inclusive spaces where people can learn to grow their own food and improve access to nutritious, local produce.

Since 2012, we have provided over £2.4 million in grant funding to directly support organisations who promote, encourage and establish community food growing sites and initiatives. This funding has helped increase the land under cultivation and has supported a variety of organisations to build the skills and capacity needed to empower individuals and groups to engage in food growing activities.

In addition, the Scottish Government provides support to local authorities in fulfilling their statutory duties under Part 9 of the Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015, including development of food growing strategies. In its food growing strategy, a local authority must identify areas of land that could be used as allotments as well as land that could be used by a community for the cultivation of vegetables, fruit, herbs or flowers.

It is for each local authority to determine whether the inclusion of urban food forests and community growing sites are appropriate to their local needs and requirements. This includes the development of food growing strategies, which must identify land suitable for allotments and other locally appropriate forms of community growing. Support provided by the Scottish Government has included providing guidance, arranging workshops, and enabling collaborative networks to strengthen local expertise and encourage best practice.

As set out in answer S6W-41307 on 13 October 2025, improving access to primary care is a key priority for this Government. We recognise the vital role that GPs, community nurses, pharmacists, dentists and other members of the primary care team play as the foundation of healthcare in our communities.

We are committed to strengthening the whole primary care system, building on our ongoing commitment through the Service Renewal Framework to shift more care into community settings and make services more accessible for patients.

As part of this, we will develop options for new and innovative ways to improve access to primary care, including local walk-in models which will provide more flexibility for patients. It is our intention to develop proposals for a model would see these services open Monday-Sunday. We will develop these proposals first as a pilot model which will complement current core general practice and provide a range of same-day assessment and small-scale diagnostics. To do this we will work in collaboration with NHS Boards and primary care delivery partners to ensure they strengthen, rather than duplicate, existing primary care services.

The Scottish Government will set out further details as these plans develop.

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.