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The Scottish Government funds the National Autism Implementation Team (NAIT), which is currently supporting NHS Boards to develop, enhance and redesign existing local adult neurodevelopmental services. We continue scope the work required to improve Adult Neurodevelopmental Pathways nationally, understanding that a stepped care model is needed to reduce waiting times for adult neurodevelopmental assessments and ensure a consistent approach to them across Scotland.

We continue to fund NHS Education for Scotland and NAIT to deliver professional learning on neurodevelopmental conditions. Training is offered at informed, enhanced, specialist, and expert levels, with strong uptake across all tiers.

I refer the Member to the answer to question S6W-40018 on 8 September 2025, which outlines work that the Scottish Government is doing with all Health Boards, including NHS Lanarkshire. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at /chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers

The Scottish Government does not currently have plans to establish a national framework for shared care. However, we are engaging with the Royal College of GPs (Scotland) to understand the current issues around shared care agreements for patients with ADHD.

Officials have also written to all health boards seeking clarification on what neurodevelopmental assessment and support they currently have in place for adults, this included a question on local protocol for patients with a private diagnosis. We are currently collating and considering this information.

The Scottish Government instructed NHS Territorial Health Boards to outline their governance, reporting and management processes through a Local Assurance Framework in 2024, as well as, requiring the inclusion of audiology in their 2025-26 Annual Delivery Plans.

Decisions regarding accessibility policy and planning of this nature are made by individual Health Boards based on local priorities and needs. Boards are expected to assess the impact of their policies and functions on people with protected characteristics and equality groups in line with statutory requirements.

A programme of work to address recommendations of the Independent Review of Audiology Services in Scotland has now concluded and each of the 55 recommendations updated.

In line with agreed governance structures processes, all NHS Territorial Health Boards have established Local Improvement Plans for 2023-24 and were instructed by Scottish Government to outline their governance, reporting and management processes through a Local Assurance Framework in 2024, as well as, requiring the inclusion of audiology in their 2025-26 Annual Delivery Plans.

It would be for NHS Lanarkshire to make the decision to publish these plans.

As part of our strategic approach to healthcare science, the Scottish Government is actively undertaking work to ensure healthcare science professions, including audiology, are included as part of wider work on reform and renewal of NHS Scotland.

This sits hand in hand with activity which will enable us to be able to map our scientific workforce in NHS Scotland more accurately, strengthening capacity, training and recruitment pipelines for audiologists, and supporting better workforce planning for the future.

The Scottish Government instructed NHS Territorial Health Boards to outline their governance, reporting and management processes through a Local Assurance Framework in 2024, as well as, requiring the inclusion of audiology in their 2025-26 Annual Delivery Plans.

Decisions regarding accessibility policy and planning of this nature are made by individual Health Boards based on local priorities and needs. Boards are expected to assess the impact of their policies and functions on people with protected characteristics and equality groups in line with statutory requirements.

The Scottish Government has commissioned NHS Education for Scotland (NES) to undertake work which maps the skills and competencies required at each level of practice for all disciplines within the healthcare science profession, including audiology as a clinical priority area.

This sits hand in hand with activity which will enable us to be able to map our scientific workforce in across all NHS Territorial Health Boards, including NHS Lanarkshire, more accurately, strengthening capacity, training and recruitment pipelines for audiologists, and supporting better workforce planning for the future.

The Scottish Government has committed funding to all territorial Health Boards to undertake Improving Quality in Physiological Services (IQIPS) benchmarking throughout the current financial year.

An executive lead group for audiology has been reestablished, with representation from each NHS Territorial Health Board to consider the outputs and next steps of this work, which will conclude within the current financial year.

The Scottish Government expects NHS Boards to meet the needs of couples who are eligible for NHS fertility treatment and require donor gametes (eggs and sperm) for that treatment. We have always been clear that couples who are eligible for NHS fertility treatment should not pay for any aspect of their treatment, and this includes the purchase and use of donor gametes.