Forensic Medical Services (Victims of Sexual Offences) Bill - Stage 1 debate

Briefing from RCN Scotland for the Stage 1 debate for the Forensic Medical Services (Victims of Sexual Offences) Bill.

RCN Scotland welcomes the Bill which will increase equity of access to healthcare services for people who have been hurt by rape and sexual crime. However, access to self-referral services should be available to those over 16 years old and the Bill should better reflect the reality that significant numbers of children are the victims of sexual crime. Future workforce planning will be central to the success of the self-referral model and the RCN has been at the forefront of the project to develop the role of nurse sexual offence examiners to enable them to undertake forensic medical examinations and give evidence in court. Providing expert nurses to undertake this work will improve access and support the provision of trauma informed and person-centred care.