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Ministerial engagements (including official visits), overseas travel, car journeys, domestic travel and gifts received are published on the Scottish Government website at: in line with the terms of the Scottish Ministerial Code.

The Scottish Government remains committed to delivering Anne’s Law which will support the rights of people living in adult care homes to connect with their loved ones.

At Stage 1 of the National Care Service (Scotland) Bill, evidence was heard from seven committees and many individuals and representatives on a wide range of topics. An extension will allow the Scottish Parliament and the Scottish Government the necessary time to consider all of the evidence to best inform the development of Anne’s Law and the Bill.

Meantime, the Scottish Government has already utilised existing powers to adopt the core foundations of Anne’s Law through the development of two new introduced in April 2022.

The new Standards established that people living in care homes should have the right to see someone who is important to them, even during an outbreak and be able to name a person or persons who can directly participate in meeting their care needs. The Care Inspectorate now refer to these Standards when registering, inspecting and supporting care homes.

In addition Public Health Scotland COVID now reflects that three named visitors can visit a resident, one per day, in the event of an outbreak, and essential visiting for end-of-life care and distress should always be supported, regardless of the circumstances.

The strengthened Public Health guidance and the new Standards have helped to minimise disruption to visiting, with 99% of adult care homes reporting that they are supporting indoor visiting.

During the extension to Stage 1 of the National Care Service (Scotland) Bill the Scottish Government will continue to work with care home providers, relatives and organisations to develop the detail of Anne’s Law and prepare for its implementation.

The Scottish Government does not hold this information centrally.

sport scotland will write directly to Tess White MSP to provide the information requested.

The Scottish Government has received no reports of shortages or problems with production of radionuclide leading to delays in scans for prostate patients.

The mean and median gender pay gaps in Core Scottish Government is detailed in the following table:

The Scottish Government is considering the options in relation to collecting data on secondary breast cancer in Scotland, taking consideration of clinical time required and how it can be used to improve services.

The National Cancer Quality Steering group have overseen the development of a newly proposed Quality Performance Indicator on ‘Recurrence Following Breast Cancer Treatment’ in 2022.

Further to this, the Scottish Government continues its dialogue with Public Health Scotland, NHS England and the Healthcare Quality Improvement Partnership alongside breast cancer specialists and the charity Breast Cancer Now regarding data collection for secondary breast cancer.

The Scottish Government has committed to providing a full breakdown of the implementation of Medication Assistant Treatment (MAT) standards in June 2023.

The Minister for Drugs and Alcohol Policy will update Parliament on progress in June and this will coincide with the publication of the 2022-2023 implementation update which will be produced by Public Health Scotland. The data published will be broken down by each local authority implementation area, detailing the progress each area has made on all MAT standards since the 2021-22 Benchmarking Report on Implementation which was published in June 2022.

The Scottish Government provides an annual allocation to Health Boards to meet the costs of providing general medical services either through contracting with GP practices or directly by Health Boards. NHS Grampian will continue to receive an appropriate level of funding based on the practice’s registered patients.

Aberdeenshire Health & Social Care Partnership and NHS Grampian are keeping my officials abreast of developments.

Professor Anna Glasier OBE was appointed as the first for Scotland on 26 January 2023.

Professor Glasier has been contracted to work four days a month, with her tenure coming to an end in June 2024.

Professor Glasier recently published her first Women’s Health Champion update blog which can be found here:

The includes a medium-term action to “ensure women are properly supported around the time of menopause to assess their future risk of osteoporosis and fractures and given appropriate lifestyle advice” and action is being taken to progress this work.

On 5 th April, Professor Anna Glasier, the Women’s Health Champion, met with the Royal Osteoporosis Society to discuss the higher risk of osteoporosis for women and the impact that this has on their health outcomes in later life.

In addition, accessible information has been made available to women via the on the NHS Inform Women’s Health Platform. The resource highlights that women who have been through menopause are at an increased risk of developing osteoporosis as a result of the lower level of oestrogen in the body and provides advice on what women can do to reduce their chances of developing osteoporosis. Information is included on lifestyle changes like exercise and nutrition to improve bone health as well as advice on Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT).

The Scottish Government has also commissioned NHS Education for Scotland (NES) to create a bespoke training package and framework focussed on menopause and menstrual health for GPs and others working in Primary Care. This package will take a life course approach, including ensuring healthcare professionals are able to support women in being aware of the risk of osteoporosis around the time of menopause – and what can help.