Status of all recommendations

The Scottish Government should work with relevant stakeholders and professional bodies, including NHS Scotland, Police Scotland and the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service to develop self-referral services for the victims of sexual crime. This should clarify the legal position for obtaining and retaining forensic samples in the absence of a report to the police and support formal guidance for NHS Boards and Police Scotland.

The Scottish Government should work with NHS Scotland to ensure that the existing healthcare ICT system (ADASTRA) is being used consistently for collating information on the volume and nature of forensic medical examinations across Scotland. This will inform future policy and decision making, including resourcing.

Police Scotland should work with the Scottish Police Authority and NHS Scotland to introduce standard operating procedures for the forensic cleaning of police premises which continue to be used for medical examinations. These should comply with current guidance.

Police Scotland should work with NHS Scotland to ensure suspected perpetrators of sexual abuse who are under 16 years old are not forensically examined within police custody facilities. The Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 2016 defines a child as being a person under the age of 18 and consideration should be given to how this affects the treatment of child suspects in the context of- forensic medical examinations.