Seòmar agus comataidhean

Vaccination is globally recognised as being second only to clean water in terms of its transformative impact. The Scottish Government is working with NHS Health Boards and Public Health Scotland through the Scottish Vaccination and Immunisation Programme (SVIP) to improve public confidence in vaccination.

Scotland's 5-year Vaccination and Immunisation Framework and Delivery Plan, published in November 2024, includes goals to increase uptake and reduce inequalities in vaccination. To do this, SVIP will continue to build on existing practice to build confidence through a range of actions, including: making vaccination, and information about vaccines, more easily accessible; improving the patient experience; working with different communities to understand and respond to any concerns or questions; and supporting the workforce to have confident conversations about vaccines with patients and members of the public.

SVIP continues to build on and develop partnerships with community, third sector and religious organisations to co-produce and disseminate factual information for those who have questions about vaccination.

The Scottish Government is also aware of the harms false health information can cause and is looking at what approaches can be taken based on the latest evidence.

The Sexual Health and Blood Borne Virus Oversight Committee was established in May 2024.

Information about the group, including the minutes and membership are published here Sexual Health and Blood Borne Virus Oversight Committee - gov.scot.

The Scottish Government’s guidance on Welfare at the time of Killing in Salmon Farming, published on 17 July 2025, is based on the recommendations made by the UK Government's Animal Welfare Committee and developed in conjunction with the Scottish farmed salmon industry, Animal Plant and Health Agency (APHA) and animal welfare organisations.

The Scottish Government takes the welfare of farmed fish very seriously and the welfare of farmed fish at the time of killing is assured by the requirement at Article 3.1 of retained Council Regulation (EC) 1099/2009 that ‘animals shall be spared any avoidable pain, distress or suffering during their killing and related operations’. We have no current plans to introduce further legislation.

The question of liability in relation to any healthcare matter will depend on the particular facts and circumstances. This is a legal matter for the relevant parties involved in the provision and receipt of healthcare.

Healthcare Improvement Scotland (HIS) recently reviewed and published an updated version of A national framework for reviewing and learning from adverse events in NHS Scotland in February this year. This provides updated templates to support NHS Health Boards to consistently report and learn from Significant Adverse Event Reviews (SAER). Work is ongoing by HIS to standardise the terminology and definitions for recording SAERs.

The Education (Scotland) Act 1980 places statutory responsibility for the provision of education in Scotland with individual local authorities. Under section 70 of the 1980 Act any interested party can make a reference to the Scottish Ministers that a responsible body (the managers of a school or education establishment, an education authority or other persons) has failed to discharge a duty imposed on them by or for the purposes of any enactment relating to education. This includes duties imposed by the Education (Additional Support for Learning) (Scotland) Act 2004.

Furthermore, where families are concerned that education authorities may not be fulfilling their duties under the Education (Additional Support for Learning) (Scotland) Act 2004, there is a range of dispute resolution mechanisms available to them. These mechanisms include mediation, independent adjudication, and referral to the First-tier Tribunal for Scotland.

In addition to the previously announced £106 million investment to address long waits for planned care, the Government has committed a further £4 million to deliver extra dermatology activity. This will help to increase capacity for dermatology services and reduce long waits, and will primarily be focused on introducing additional workforce, extra clinics in evenings and weekends.

This will support a planned:

4,100 new outpatient appointments; and

1,500 ‘see and treat’ appointments.

This funding will also provide photo-triage of up to 8,300 digital images, allowing clinicians to triage, diagnose and assess some skin conditions, leading to a better and quicker service for patients.

This builds on our investment of £1.8m for our national digital dermatology programme which helps reduce long waits for outpatient appointments in dermatology.

All Territorial Boards can now provide their GPs with access to the new Digital Dermatology Pathway. Supplier data suggests that as of Friday 18th July, 627 GP practices (71%) across 13 Territorial Boards have access to the pathway, of which 423 have used this to capture images as part of a referral to secondary care. The remaining Territorial Board has an existing pathway in place.

Healthcare Improvement Scotland (HIS) recently reviewed and published an updated version of A national framework for reviewing and learning from adverse events in NHS Scotland in February this year. The revised framework includes an updated shareable learning template which NHS Health Boards should complete following a Significant Adverse Event Review (SAER). These summaries, which will support local and national learning, will be published on an online community of practice for NHS staff which HIS will launch later this year.

The framework is clear that those people directly affected by a significant adverse event should have the opportunity to be involved in the review process and should be made fully aware of the circumstances surrounding the event. This includes sharing the final report with the individual concerned, or their family in the event of a death.

The Scottish Government does not require NHS Health Boards to publish SAER reports more widely. It is the responsibility of the Health Boards to consider relevant legislation and guidance when releasing or publishing information.

Scottish Government officials meet with Healthcare Improvement Scotland on a regular basis to discuss the ongoing work surrounding adverse events. The most recent meeting took place on Monday 21 July.

There are currently no plans for a Ministerial statement on vaccination.