Chamber and committees

As of September 2026, 71 GP practices across Scotland are registered under the General Practice Armed Forces and Veterans Recognition Scheme so far. Whilst GPs operate independently and registration rates have increased in the past year, we clearly have more work to do to increase participation.

The Scottish Government continues to promote the scheme through engagement with NHS Boards, GP practices, the Ministry of Defence, Veterans Scotland and the Royal College of General Practitioners Scotland. Training resources remain available to all practice staff through NHS Education for Scotland's TURAS platform to help improve awareness of the health needs of veterans and Armed Forces families.

In addition, the Scottish Government has invested in Veterans Scotland during 2026-27 to deliver a dedicated GP Recognition Acceleration Scheme. As part of this work, a national GP Advocate has been appointed to promote the scheme directly with practices and primary care leaders, with the aim of increasing registrations and expanding the scheme's reach across Scotland.

On 1 September 2026, as part of the Programme for Government, the First Minister announced the Scottish Government’s intention to simplify the NHS by replacing the current 14 territorial Health Boards with two Strategic Health Boards and build on planned reforms to further reduce the number of special Health Boards.

We will set out a transparent approach to fair and equitable recruitment in due course, in line with existing NHS Scotland policies which have been agreed in partnership with trade unions.

The Scottish Government is currently processing a request for this information under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002. The response will set out any information held that can be disclosed, subject to the provisions and exemptions contained within the Act. To ensure consistency and compliance with statutory obligations, it would not be appropriate to provide a detailed response to this Parliamentary Question in advance of the FOI process being completed.

The final amount spent on working together towards a LDAN Bill - current proposals for potential Bill provisions' published in March 2026 was £7,203.01.

The Open Market Shared Equity Scheme (OMSE), which is a part of LIFT, is a demand led scheme which provides support for first time buyers and priority access groups, including veterans who have left the armed forces within the past two years, to purchase a property on the open market.

The administering agent for OMSE, Link Housing, market the scheme on behalf of the Scottish Government. Marketing was paused while the scheme was closed during 2024-25 and the end of 2025-26.

An insert on OMSE was included in Pathfinder magazine (Armed Forces resettlement magazine) for the reopening in June 2025 and another is planned for October’s edition.

More information on OMSE is also available on the Scottish Government’s help to buy your home website (Open Market Shared Equity scheme - mygov.scot) as well as the UK Government’s finding a civilian home as a veteran website (https://www.gov.uk/guidance/finding-a-civilian-home-as-a-veteran).

The Young Patient Family Fund (YPFF) is designed to support the families of all babies, children and young people under age 18 who require inpatient care in Scotland. There are no plans to expand eligibility of the YPFF at this time.

In the last two years, the Scottish Government has provided over £3.1m per year in financial support to eligible families under this scheme.

In addition to support available under the YPFF, financial support for travel to hospital appointments is available through the patient travel expenses reimbursement schemes. Under these schemes, patients and authorised escorts can reclaim reasonable travel costs associated with attending a hospital appointment, in line with eligibility criteria and medical requirements.

Scotland follows the advice of the UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC), the independent expert body that advises all four UK nations on screening programmes.

On 28 May 2026, the UK NSC recommended that prostate screening should be offered to men aged 45 to 61 who have both a confirmed BRCA2 gene variant and a family history of breast, ovarian, pancreatic or prostate cancer. We have accepted this recommendation and are strengthening existing high-risk surveillance pathways for prostate cancer, which already enable eligible men to access testing in line with the UK NSC's recommendation. The recently established Prostate Screening Working Group are also considering what is required to develop a nationally managed prostate screening programme.

After closely examining the existing evidence around screening men with the BRCA1 variant, or men with a BRCA2 variant without a family history of associated cancers, the UK NSC currently does not recommend prostate screening for these groups. It has found that there is not yet a suitably accurate test for a national screening programme of asymptomatic men, and there is currently insufficient evidence that the benefits of screening outweigh the risks for other higher risk groups.

However the UK NSC is monitoring emerging evidence closely and will consider whether new evidence supports expanding their recommended eligibility criteria for prostate cancer screening. In recognition that the UK NSC may expand their recommendation in the future, we are exploring what would be required to extend prostate cancer screening to other groups. Should they recommend screening all men with a BRCA1 or 2 variant, we would work with the NHS to take that forward in Scotland.

Scotland follows the advice of the UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC), the independent expert body that advises all four UK nations on screening programmes.

The UK NSC currently does not recommend prostate screening for the general population of men over the age of 50. It has found that there is not yet a suitably accurate test for a national screening programme of asymptomatic men, and there is currently insufficient evidence that the benefits of screening outweigh the risks.

The UK NSC is monitoring ongoing studies and emerging evidence closely and will consider whether new evidence supports expanding their recommended eligibility criteria for prostate cancer screening. Should they recommend screening the general male population aged 50 and over, we will work with the NHS to take that forward in Scotland.

Scotland follows the advice of the UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC), the independent expert body that advises all four UK nations on screening programmes.

On 28 May 2026, the UK NSC recommended that prostate screening should be offered to men aged 45 to 61 who have both a confirmed BRCA2 gene variant and a family history of breast, ovarian, pancreatic or prostate cancer. We have accepted this recommendation.

The UK NSC currently does not recommend prostate screening for other groups of men. It has found that there is not yet a suitably accurate test for a national screening programme of asymptomatic men, and there is currently insufficient evidence that the benefits of screening outweigh the risks for other groups of men.

However, ongoing research studies, such as TRANSFORM, will provide new evidence about screening other potentially higher-risk groups and different screening methods. The UK NSC is monitoring emerging evidence closely and will consider whether it supports expanding their current recommendation. The Scottish Government and NHS partners are exploring what would be required to extend prostate cancer screening to other groups should the UK NSC expand its recommendation.

The Scottish Government has not undertaken a formal assessment of the accessibility and suitability of the Young Patients Family Fund (YPFF).

However, ongoing assessment of accessibility is in place. For example, the YPFF claim form and Terms and Conditions have been translated into a range of languages to support families who may find it challenging to access information in English. Translated document are available here.

Information leaflets are available across all Health Boards, and staff are encouraged to ensure that eligible families are made aware of the support available.