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Across the Scottish Government, a range of staff have been or will be involved in independence work. We do not routinely record details of individual tasks carried out by civil servants, including the number of hours spent on research and compilation, as there is no business need to do this.

The Scottish Government has published the publication costs of the thirteen papers in the Building a New Scotland series, found at the following link: Building a New Scotland papers: costs - gov.scot

Preparatory work on additional material within the series has also been undertaken, adding £9,371.45. This brings the total spent on the publication of the BANS papers to £216,418.98.

The Scottish Government draft budget 2025-26 has been informed by planning forecasts provided by the Thrombectomy Advisory Group (TAG). Clinicians and third sector organisations, as well as NHS planning colleagues, are represented on the TAG and the information provided by them helps to inform decisions taken by the National Thrombectomy Programme Board.

Work is ongoing to establish how the £16 million funding announced in the Scottish budget, subject to parliamentary scrutiny, will be best used to maximise the number of patients able to benefit from thrombectomy.

The Scottish Government actively promotes cyber security. Our goal is to reduce the risk of cyber-attacks and protect against the unauthorised exploitation of systems, networks, and technologies. As the Scottish Health Competent Authority for health in Scotland we promote best practice, regulatory requirements, and global international standards for the improvement of cyber security practices.

Health Boards must individually go through the Network Information Systems Regulations audit lifecycle, demonstrating continual improvements against the Scottish Public Sector Cyber Resilience Framework to the Scottish Health Competent Authority.

The Scottish Government has also invested in the Cyber Centre of Excellence (CCoE). The CCoE empowers continuous improvements by focusing on key enablement pillars including Centralised Security, 24/7 Monitoring, Threat Hunting, Incident Response and Training & Awareness. It is complimented by the Scottish Cyber Coordination Centre which is a key partner to the CCoE, enhancing our national incident response capacity and capabilities.

The Scottish Government remains committed to the integration of digital services in Scotland’s health and social care systems. This work has been supported and progressed through the National Digital Platform (NDP). Since its creation, the NDP has made it easier for the public sector to collect and utilize data for improved integration. In addition, the federation of Microsoft 365 into NHS and Social Care services has allowed for improved joint working between health boards and local authorities.

Additionally, the Scottish Government intends to improve digital integration through a personalised digital health and social care service, the first phase of which will be launched in December 2025.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-33707 on 29 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/questions-and-answers.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-33707 on 29 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/questions-and-answers

The Scottish Government is committed to addressing patient concerns about data privacy in the sharing of medical records across healthcare providers. We provide clear guidance on privacy and confidentiality, promote robust information governance practices, and support the NHS and healthcare providers in implementing appropriate processes to safeguard patient data.

The responsibility for developing data sharing agreements and publishing privacy notices is down to each individual Board. However, NHS Inform provides patients with supportive information to ensure they have an understanding of the holistic approach to data privacy NHS Scotland take. This information can be found here https://www.nhsinform.scot/care-support-and-rights/health-rights/confidentiality-and-data-protection/how-the-nhs-handles-your-personal-health-information/.

In addition to the guidance on Inform, Privacy by design is at the core of the National Information Governance Programme, forming a key part of our Data Strategy to ensure that digital and data-driven practices are developed with privacy safeguards embedded from the outset.

The Scottish Government also engages regularly with patients, the ICO, and citizen interest groups to ensure data-sharing practices respect patients' rights and expectations

Health data is shared, typically in an aggregated and anonymised format, with trusted third parties through trusted research environments known as ‘Safe Havens’. These Safe Havens comprise of a national Safe Haven within Public Health Scotland and four regional Safe Havens associated with NHS Grampian, Greater Glasgow and Clyde, Lothian, and Tayside.

Safe Havens play a crucial role in protecting personal data, providing a secure space, and supporting the secure use of NHS data for researchers to access and analyse healthcare data without compromising individual privacy. Within Safe Havens researchers can work with anonymised or pseudonymised data, reducing the risk of re-identification of individuals. By implementing robust security measures and access controls, Safe Havens ensure that only authorised individuals can interact with the data, and that they can only access the level of data that is appropriate and proportionate.

The existing Scottish Government Records Management Health and Social Care Code of Practice (Scotland) 2024 has guidance on managing health records of people who identify as transgender. This links to guidance from the Medical and Dental Defence Union of Scotland, the General Medical Council and NHS National Services Scotland (NSS). It was recognised in 2020 that it was an area under development, and subsequently the Scottish Government's Chief Statistician issued guidance for public bodies on the collection of data on sex and gender in 2021. The Records Management Code of Practice for Health and Social Care 2024 incorporates the Chief Statistician's guidance along with feedback from stakeholders, providing further guidance to NHS Boards.

Neurology trainees are provided with training in immunology and virology. The curriculum for neurology training, published by the Joint Royal Colleges of Physicians Training Board, includes Capabilities in Practice (CiPs) on managing inflammatory and infectious disorders.

These CiPs make clear expectations upon neurology trainees regarding:

• understanding of the underlying anatomy and pathophysiology of inflammatory and infectious diseases of the nervous system, including the treatments and their side effects
• ability to select, request and interpret relevant investigations including serology, genetic testing, imaging of the brain and spine, neurophysiology, tissue culture and histology in order to diagnose and manage such disorders
• ability to work with other relevant clinicians both in treating and monitoring patients and in referring them to other disciplines as appropriate.

There is robust educational Governance through NHS Education Scotland (NES) for neurology training in Scotland. NES does not consider it necessary to require neurologists to be experts in either immunology or virology, but to be able to clinically assess, investigate and manage people with neuroimmunological conditions and neuroinfectious disease using an evidence-based approach.