The campaign aims to achieve the following objectives among the target audience by the end of the campaign period:

• To deliver 40% prompted campaign recognition.
• To achieve 30% of campaign recognisers claiming to have taken any action as a result of seeing the campaign (including liking/sharing campaign content, talking about the campaign with friend, communicate with a child/teenager about health impact of vaping).
• To deliver an increase in the number of parents / carers who have spoken to their child about the risks of vaping in the last two months.

The Take Hold marketing campaign runs in paid-for-media from the 22 November 2023 until 7 January 2024.

The total budget for the Take Hold marketing campaign is £200,000.

The budget for the ‘Brush Up’ campaign to increase awareness of NHS dentistry reforms was £250,000.

To measure the effectiveness of the Take Hold Marketing campaign, the paid-for-media marketing campaign will be evaluated.

Pre and post campaign qualitative evaluation is conducted by an independent research company, with a representative sample of the target audience of parents, to measure changes in attitudes and behaviours on seeing and engaging with the campaign. In addition a short survey will be shared with schools to evaluate the use and effectiveness of materials provided to them.

Digital metrics will also be used to gauge the impact of the campaign, including but not limited to, numbers of visits to the NHS Inform vaping pages, visits to Parent Club vaping pages, numbers of click throughs from social media and digital advertising and numbers watching campaign digital videos through to completion.

The campaign is not targeting children and young people through radio and outdoor advertising. These channels, along with online news sites, digital and social media are being used to reach and engage the parental audience across Scotland.

To reach children and young people, we have engaged with schools, parents and third sector organisations who work directly with children and young people, equipping them with resources, information and tips (via NHS Inform and Parent Club) to prompt awareness of, and have informed discussions with their children and young people, on the dangers and consequences of vaping.

To reach the parental audience in Scotland, we worked with a procured Scottish Government roster media agency to identify the most effective media channels. In this instance, within the parameters of the identified budget, outdoor advertising, radio, online news sites and social media were recommended. These channels have allowed for creation of engaging content that encourages parents to click through to NHS Inform and Parent Club for information, advice and tips on having open, honest, informed conversations with their children and young people.

The Scottish Government awarded the Scottish HepatoPancreatoBiliary Network funding of £653,000 over two years to redesign the pancreatic and liver cancer pathways.

This pilot is the first of its kind across the UK. It aims to provide a nationally more efficient, standardised patient-centred pathway for people with pancreatic and liver cancers, with earlier diagnosis, referral and management decisions following a Realistic Medicine approach.

The funding comes to an end in March 2024 and an evaluation of the pilot’s achievements against these aims will be completed to inform decisions about future funding.

In the meantime, work continues to establish Rapid Cancer Diagnostic Services (RCDS) across NHS Scotland – interim evaluation shows that hepato-pancreato-biliary cancer is one of the most common cancers being diagnosed through the new fast-track diagnostic pathways. There are currently five RCDSs in Scotland.

There is a shortage of egg and sperm donors across the UK. The Scottish Government in partnership with NHS Scotland launched the national donor gamete campaign to help alleviate this shortage.

All licensed Assisted Conception Units (ACU’s) are required by law to offer gamete donors counselling, this is mandatory and is free of charge within NHS Scotland.

ACU’s must also give prospective donors sufficient, accessible and up to date information to enable them to make informed decisions about their donation and any consent they then provide.

All NHS Scotland gamete donations are altruistic, no compensation payments are provided and donations are made through a desire to help those people in Scotland who need help becoming parents.

There is nothing to suggest women from particular social and economic backgrounds would be more inclined to donate their eggs than another.