The Scottish Government does not hold data for diagnostic waiting times and outcomes for younger people presenting with potential cancer symptoms.

Cancer waiting times data is collected by Public Health Scotland (PHS). The most up-to-date data was published in September 2025, and can be found on the PHS website: Cancer waiting times - 1 April to 30 June 2025 - Cancer waiting times - Publications - Public Health Scotland.

Data is collected for two cancer waiting times standards for individuals (aged 16 or older at the date of diagnosis) who have a newly diagnosed primary cancer. These are:

• a 31-day standard from decision to treat until first treatment, regardless of the route of referral.
• a 62-day standard from urgent referral with suspicion of cancer, including referrals from national cancer screening programmes, until first treatment.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-40646 on 1 October 0225 2025. 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.

I refer the member to the answers to questions S6W-40644 and S6W-40645 on 1 October 2025. 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.

The Scottish Government recognises the importance of early diagnosis of cancer or serious illness and would expect any patient presenting with potential symptoms to be assessed as quickly as possible.

The Scottish Referral Guidelines (SRG) for Suspected Cancer support primary care clinicians to identify those with symptoms suspicious of cancer and identify those who require urgent assessment by a specialist.

A clinical review of SRGs has been completed with updated guidance published on 6 August 2025. These include a nationally agreed non-specific symptoms referral criteria for the first time to support primary care to ensure that the right people are on the right pathway at the right time.

A new primary care cancer education platform – Gateway C – was launched in 2024 in NHS Scotland, funded by the Detect Cancer Earlier (DCE) Programme and supported by NHS Education for Scotland (NES).

Gateway C provides innovative and tailored information to support earlier cancer diagnosis efforts and enable effective decision-making. This free online platform is accessible to all primary care clinicians including pharmacists, dentists, and optometrists.

Further to this, we have continued to invest in our Rapid Cancer Diagnostic Services. They provide primary care with access to a new fast-track diagnostic pathway for people with non-specific symptoms suspicious of cancer, such as weight loss and fatigue. We opened another service in NHS Forth Valley in 2025, bringing our national total to six.

We have assessed the strong evidence that the earlier the stage cancer is diagnosed the better the outcomes are for those affected, irrespective of age, cancer type, race or any other protected characteristic.

This has informed our Earlier Cancer Diagnosis vision as part of the Cancer Strategy for Scotland 2023-2033 and initial three-year Action Plan for Scotland 2023 – 2026. The vision is to reduce later stage disease by 18 percentage points in 10 years’ time (2033), making clear our ambition to reduce inequalities in access to cancer care and improving outcomes for anyone diagnosed with cancer.

The Scottish Government recognises the importance of early diagnosis of cancer or serious illness and would expect any patient presenting with potential symptoms to be assessed as quickly as possible.

The Scottish Referral Guidelines (SRG) for Suspected Cancer support primary care clinicians to identify those with symptoms suspicious of cancer and identify those who require urgent assessment by a specialist.

A clinical review of SRGs has been completed with updated guidance published on 6 August 2025.

The Scottish Government does not know at this juncture what the rolling out of Jess’s Rule will require in terms of implementation either by GPs or NHS England. We will be in a position to consider the benefits of the rule when we know more.

However, the Scottish Government understands that the RCGP learning resource which supports “Jess’s Rule” is available to GPs who are members in Scotland as well as in England. We would encourage GPs to make use of this resource.

The Scottish Government does not know at this juncture, what the rolling out of Jess’s Rule will require in terms of implementation either by GPs or NHS England or what the impact will be for patients. We will monitor the implementation by NHS England.

Public bodies, including local authorities, are expected to comply with all relevant procurement legislative requirements. Public bodies are responsible for deciding their actions in individual cases.

In addition to following organisation-specific guidance, the Scottish Procurement Policy Handbook provides guidance on the rules and policies that apply to the procurement activities of public bodies in Scotland. Additional and more specific guidance and e-learning is available to public bodies in various forms such as via the Procurement Journey website, Sustainable Procurement Tools and various Scottish Procurement Policy Notes.

The Scottish Government reviews its guidance on an ongoing basis to ensure necessary and helpful updates are made as appropriate.

The Scottish Government continues to investigate the wide-ranging implications of aligning with the recast Urban Wastewater Treatment Directive on policy and legislation. This includes implications for the operation of storm overflows and the related guidance. I will provide further information to Parliament once this work has reached an appropriate stage.