The Scottish Parliament

Question reference: S7W-03861

Asked by: Adam Harley, MSP for Strathkelvin and Bearsden, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 01 October 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 29 October 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the interoperability of IT systems used across neonatal services in NHS Scotland, and what action it will take in response to Recommendation 5 of the Thirlwall Inquiry regarding the harmonisation of digital systems.

Question reference: S7W-03887

Asked by: Adam Harley, MSP for Strathkelvin and Bearsden, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 01 October 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 29 October 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, regarding speech and language therapy, whether it has any plans to review current treatment approaches, and what understanding it has of the benefits of one-to-one block therapy sessions delivered in Canada.

Question reference: S7W-03867

Asked by: Adam Harley, MSP for Strathkelvin and Bearsden, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 01 October 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 29 October 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of Recommendation 11 of the Thirlwall Inquiry regarding the scrutiny of neonatal deaths, and whether it will review the equivalent arrangements in Scotland to ensure that possible harm and safeguarding concerns are explicitly considered following every neonatal death.

Question reference: S7W-03775

Asked by: Adam Harley, MSP for Strathkelvin and Bearsden, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 29 September 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 27 October 2026

To ask the Scottish Government how many resident doctors and dentists whose normal incremental date falls in December moved up (a) one and (b) two pay points in December 2025, broken down by NHS board.

Question reference: S7W-03773

Asked by: Adam Harley, MSP for Strathkelvin and Bearsden, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 29 September 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 27 October 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what representations it has received from the BMA Scottish Resident Doctors Committee regarding the application of the 2025-27 resident doctors' pay agreement to doctors with incremental dates in December 2026 and to dual-qualified doctors and dentists with pay protection, and what its response has been.

Question reference: S7W-03774

Asked by: Adam Harley, MSP for Strathkelvin and Bearsden, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 29 September 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 27 October 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S7W-03432 by Angela Constance on 29 September 2026, what guidance it has issued to NHS boards on applying the additional pay point progression from 1 December 2025 under NHS Circular PCS(DD)2025/1 (Addendum 2 – Residents) to resident doctors and dentists whose normal incremental date falls in December, and whether it will publish this guidance.

Question reference: S7W-03432

Asked by: Adam Harley, MSP for Strathkelvin and Bearsden, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 18 September 2026
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 29 September 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether, under NHS Circular PCS(DD) 2025/1 Addendum 2, NHS boards should be permitted to apply administrative arrangements that financially disadvantage resident doctors whose progression does not align with the standard August progression timetable.

NHS Scotland Boards have implemented the NHS Circular PCS(DD) 2025/1 Addendum 2 in accordance with the pay agreement.

The 2-year pay agreement was accepted by the BMA Scottish Resident Doctors Committee following a successful ballot of its membership.

The agreement included specific implementation dates for pay uplifts and contractual investment. These implementation arrangements have been applied by NHS Scotland Boards as set out in the agreement.

Question reference: S7W-03235

Asked by: Adam Harley, MSP for Strathkelvin and Bearsden, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 14 September 2026
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 28 September 2026

To ask the Scottish Government how local accountability for NHS services will be maintained under the proposed structure of two strategic NHS boards, and what arrangements there will be for decision-making at a local level.

On the 1 September, 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 remain fully committed to partnership working and will work closely with trade unions throughout this process to ensure the voices of those who deliver our services are heard.

Robust local, regional and national governance arrangements will be established to support both the transition and the longer-term model. We will ensure detailed impact assessments will be undertaken as part of the programme's next phase. Equality, fairness and reducing health inequalities will be fundamental considerations in the design of the reforms. The intention is that structural reform will align organisational arrangements with the way many services, staff and patients are already working across East and West Scotland, as a result of the sub-national planning structures.

Question reference: S7W-02714

Asked by: Adam Harley, MSP for Strathkelvin and Bearsden, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 August 2026
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 21 September 2026

To ask the Scottish Government when it will publish its new national plan for hospital flow and whether the plan will include structural changes to the NHS and NHS boards.

The Scottish Government published the Health and Care Improving Flow Plan 2026-2031 on 31 August, delivering our commitment to publish a National Flow Plan within the first 100 days of this administration.

The Plan sets out our ambition for one connected system, simple routes to care, ensuring every person receives the most appropriate response as quickly as possible. It outlines action to improve navigation into care, expand home and community-based services, strengthen discharge arrangements, improve acute hospital flow, and tackle overcrowding and corridor care

The Plan has been developed jointly with Scotland East and Scotland West Sub-National Planning Committees and informed through engagement with NHS Boards, Health and Social Care Partnerships, clinicians, national agencies, care providers and other partners. Detailed operational implementation arrangements an collaboration with partners will continue to be developed following publication. Through delivery of this Plan we will improve access to care, support more care closer to home, reduce delays and improve outcomes for people across Scotland.

The Health and Care Improving Flow Plan does not set out proposals for structural reform of NHS Boards. Separate proposals for NHS structural reform were announced in the Programme for Government on 1 September 2026.

Question reference: S7W-03225

Asked by: Adam Harley, MSP for Strathkelvin and Bearsden, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 14 September 2026
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 21 September 2026

To ask the Scottish Government how, and by when, it will communicate with NHS staff whose employment might be affected by the proposed replacement of the 14 territorial NHS boards with two strategic NHS boards.

On the 1 September, 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.

This work will be done with the workforce, not to the workforce. We remain fully committed to partnership working and will work closely with trade unions throughout this process.

For NHS staff the principal change will, in due course, be the transfer of their employment from their current Board to one of the new NHS Boards.

Staff in NHS Scotland continue to receive the best reward package in the UK, and pay, terms and conditions will remain the same, all underpinned by the Scottish Government’s Fair Work principles, and our ongoing commitment to no compulsory redundancies.

Any future workforce changes will be done in full partnership with NHS Trade Unions in a structured and managed way, in line with existing NHS Scotland policies which have been agreed in partnership with trade unions.

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Question reference: S7W-03861

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Question reference: S7W-03887

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Question reference: S7W-03867

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Question reference: S7W-03775

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Question reference: S7W-03773

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Question reference: S7W-03774

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Question reference: S7W-03432

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Question reference: S7W-03235

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Question reference: S7W-02714

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Question reference: S7W-03225

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