Questions and answers

Question reference: S6W-33803

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 3 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-32175 by Jenni Minto on 23 December 2024, what proactive steps are being taken to ensure that women with endometriosis receive timely fertility advice, rather than waiting until conception difficulties arise; what percentage of women currently diagnosed with endometriosis have been referred to fertility specialists, and what the current average waiting time is for referrals to these services.

Data regarding post-diagnosis referral to fertility services is not held by the Scottish Government.

As set out in the Endometriosis Care Pathway for NHS Scotland, clinicians should consider women’s individual needs in order to determine treatment, for example symptoms, aspects of daily living and whether fertility is a priority for that individual. The Pathway notes that discussions regarding fertility should happen in the first presentation and that management and long-term impact including fertility should be discussed during initial assessment.

Question reference: S6W-33809

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 3 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-32162 by Jenni Minto on 23 December 2024, what steps it is taking to improve the early identification of endometriosis symptoms by primary care providers, in order to reduce any reliance on A&E visits.

The Endometriosis Care Pathway for NHS Scotland supports healthcare professionals to provide a holistic approach and timely care for those with endometriosis and endometriosis-like symptoms.

The pathway is clear and advises healthcare professionals to suspect endometriosis in women who present with one or more symptom (including in young women aged 16 and under).

Clinicians are advised to assess women’s individual information and support needs and take into account their circumstances, symptoms, priorities, desire for fertility, aspects of daily living, work and study, cultural background, and their physical, psychosexual and emotional needs.

All NHS Boards should be taking steps to implement the pathway.

To support health care professionals to improve their knowledge and understanding of endometriosis, NHS Education for Scotland (NES) has launched an e-learning module on menstrual health available on Turas Learn. It is open access to anyone working in NHS Scotland and in particular aimed at those working in primary care.

Further training resources have also been provided through the Women’s Health Masterclass on endometriosis which provided information on diagnosis, treatment and current research on endometriosis, raising awareness of the Pathway with attendees. The resources from this event are also available on Turas Learn.

Additionally, we are have funded the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) to develop new training resources on endometriosis for members, which will be available in the coming months.

Question reference: S6W-33798

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 31 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-32178 by Tom Arthur on 19 December 2024, what percentage of employers in Scotland have adopted the Menopause and Menstrual Health Workplace Policy, and what specific action it is taking to ensure that self-employed women with endometriosis are not excluded from workplace support initiatives.

The Menopause and Menstrual Health Workplace Policy, launched on 31 October 2023, is for NHS Scotland. There are 22 NHS Scotland Boards, who have all adopted this policy (each being separate employers). There are 124,032.8 whole time equivalent (WTE) female staff working across NHS Scotland and women represent 77.1% of the NHS Scotland workforce as of September 2024.

The policy has supporting resources, including line managers, workplace adjustment guides, and signposting to more information on symptoms and conditions including endometriosis. These are intended for use more widely across a variety of employment sectors and are available on the National Wellbeing Hub, which is accessible to the public and self-employed women.

For self-employed women workplace support via income replacement benefits such as Employment and Support Allowance and Universal Credit, which provide financial support to people of working age who are unable to work due to illness, are fully reserved to the UK Government. However, our Adult Disability Payment provides financial support to recognise the additional costs of living with a disability or long-term health condition.

The health and wellbeing of women at work is a key element of fair work and we know that lack of support for women experiencing menstrual or reproductive health conditions can have a detrimental impact on their employment.

Our Fair Work First Guidance provides good practice examples for supporting women and allowing them to maintain their careers. For example, access to flexible working is of vital benefit to workers who may need to balance work with managing health conditions. Asking employers to offer flexible working from day one of employment has been a principle of Fair Work First since October 2021.

Question reference: S6W-33799

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 31 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answers to questions S6W-32184 and S6W-32185 by Jenni Minto on 23 December 2024, how many young people engaged with the campaign; what measurable outcomes were achieved, and what steps have been taken to ensure that menstrual health, including endometriosis, is integrated into the school curriculum as part of standard health education.

A campaign report evaluating the campaign on Endometriosis for young people in Scotland was provided by Young Scot in April 2023 which measured young people’s engagement with the campaign.

High engagement was achieved across the campaign webpages through social media and paid marketing:

2.3 million impressions which is the number of times a user sees a piece of content, regardless of whether they interact with it;
56,000 social media engagements which represents number of people interacting with the social media accounts and content; and
84,000 video views which reflects the number of times the video content was watched.

With regard to ensuring menstrual health, including endometriosis is included in the school curriculum, I refer the member to the answer to questions S6W-30034, on 3 October 2024, and S6W-32189, on 23 December 2024. 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/written-questions-and-answers

Question reference: S6W-33378

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 16 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 28 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the expansion of guidance on breast screening protocols by risk category in 2023, and as set out in the Scottish Cancer Network's Breast Cancer Clinical Management Pathway, what support has been provided to NHS boards to provide screening to women aged 25 to 30 who are identified as very high risk, as per the updated guidance.

The Familial Breast Cancer pathway which is hosted by the Scottish Cancer Network’s Clinical Management Pathway website is a consensus document which is not a rigid constraint on clinical practice, but a concept of good practice against which the needs of the individual patient can be considered by health care professionals.

Surveillance for high-risk breast cancer is the responsibility of NHS Health Boards and are managed locally by health care professionals. The inclusion of a treatment or approach within a consensus document is not a guarantee of immediate access.

Question reference: S6W-33379

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 16 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 24 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how it is monitoring NHS boards' adherence to the Scottish Cancer Network's Breast Cancer Clinical Management Pathway guidance on breast screening protocols by risk category, following the update to the guidance in 2023.

The Scottish Government does not specifically monitor the individual use of the familial breast cancer consensus document’s ‘framework for undertaking germline genetic testing and risk assessment for breast cancer’ which is hosted on the Scottish Cancer Network website. For other formally approved Clinical Management Pathways, assurance is sought via the NHS Boards’ Annual Delivery Plan review process.

Question reference: S6O-04281

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 January 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 30 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government when it last met with Borders College.

Question reference: S6O-04246

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 January 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 23 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the report, Economic Impacts of Short-term Lets in Scotland, specifically in relation to the Scottish Borders.

Question reference: S6W-32188

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 December 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 8 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what specific measures are being taken to train teachers in recognising any impact of endometriosis on students’ (a) attendance and (b) academic performance.

I recognise that endometriosis is a painful and long-term condition, which may result in young people being absent from school for a prolonged period. As acknowledged in our national guidance on attendance, ‘Included, Engaged and Involved Part 1,’ there are links between poor attendance and attainment. It is therefore important that education authorities provide appropriate support to meet the educational needs of children or young people where endometriosis is impacting on their attendance.

Teachers are not medical professionals and therefore cannot be expected to have a detailed knowledge of all medical conditions that might affect children and young people. Training requirements should instead be planned for and driven by the individual needs of children and young people in the schools in the area. Similarly, it would not be possible for our guidance to provide detailed information for every medical condition which might cause a healthcare need in schools. For this reason our guidance on ‘Supporting children and young people with healthcare needs in schools’ does not make reference to specific health conditions such as endometriosis. If a child and young person is diagnosed with a longer term condition or develops healthcare support needs, it is normally the role of parents/carers to notify the school that they require the school's input to support their child's needs. Our guidance recommends that if a young person were to be diagnosed with any health condition which might affect their schooling, they and their parent or carer should seek a meeting with the school at the earliest opportunity to discuss their potential additional support needs. This will enable appropriate information about their healthcare needs, including impacts associated medication to be shared and enable the consideration of an individualised healthcare plan.

Where endometriosis results in a young person being absent from school for a prolonged period, the Education (Scotland) Act 1980 requires that education authorities make special arrangements for pupils to receive education elsewhere than at an educational establishment. Alternative arrangements for education will depend upon the young person’s individual circumstances; however it could be provided, for example, at home or in a hospital setting.

Question reference: S6W-32181

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 December 2024
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 7 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to provide support for self-employed women with endometriosis, including access to financial assistance during periods of illness.

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