Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government has confirmed that the replacement of the Edinburgh eye pavilion is a strategic priority, and the 2025-26 Budget provides the necessary funding to allow the development of the business case.

NHS Lothian has been asked to progress the business case and development of the design and timeline will form part of this work, which will take time. During an update to stakeholders in March, NHS Lothian advised an estimated timeline of 6 years.

It is usual for the business case process, construction and commissioning to take a number of years and there will be greater clarity on timeline once the business case process is complete.

The Minister for Public Health last met with Royal College of Ophthalmologists in July last year.

Scottish Government officials meet the College of Optometrists both bilaterally and as part of other groups/forums as and when required for policy development and implementation purposes. The next scheduled bilateral meeting with the College of Optometrists is on Friday 3 October 2025.

The number of ophthalmology trainees recorded as of July 28, 2025, and from 2015 has been provided in the following table.

I have met with all NHS Boards to discuss long waits across all planned care specialities including ophthalmology.

The Scottish Minsters are committed to the modernisation and improvement of the regulation of burial, cremation, and funeral services. The Burial and Cremation (Scotland) Act 2016 (the 2016 Act) provides for Ministers to make regulations in connection with burial, cremation and inspection; to issue Codes of practice; and to appoint independent Inspectors of burial, cremation and funeral directors.

Work remains ongoing towards full implementation of the Act, and in consultation with a range of stakeholders Ministers have already brought forward a number of regulations. In March of this year the Burial and Cremation (Inspection)(Scotland) Regulations 2025 came into force, providing Inspectors with powers of inspection and enforcement in relation to burial authorities, cremation authorities and funeral directors to ensure that such bodies comply with relevant requirements set out in the Act, the Funeral Director Code of Practice, the Cremation (Scotland) Regulations 2019, the Burial (Applications and Register) (Scotland) Regulations 2024 and the Burial (Management) (Scotland) Regulations 2025.

This inspection and enforcement regime will hold relevant bodies to account for compliance, through inspection against statutory requirements, and will provide clarity for relevant bodies and allow enforcement by Inspectors where non-compliance occurs. In addition, this will improve standards within the funeral sector in Scotland in order to protect the deceased and the public in Scotland.

We currently have a Senior Inspector of Burial, Cremation and Funeral Directors, whose main functions (including powers and duties) are set out in the Burial and Cremation (Scotland) Act 2016 Act (the 2016 Act) and regulations made under that Act. This includes the provision of an annual report detailing how they have exercised their functions as an Inspector.

The Scottish Government’s Cardiovascular Disease (CVD) Risk Factors programme aims to reduce avoidable CVD death by 20% in 20 years.

A key principle of the programme is the approach of proportional universalism, to reduce associated health inequalities and to extend cardiovascular disease prevention efforts to those we know are at highest risk and particularly underserved by existing models of care

Further information on the Scottish CVD Risk Factors Programme can be found at:

National cardiovascular disease (CVD) prevention and risk factors toolkit | Right Decisions

The CVD Risk Factors programme is part of a wider suite of work that sits with the Preventative and Proactive care (PPC) programme and is referenced in the Prevention section of the NHS Scotland Operational Improvement Plan published in March and in Scotland’s Population Health Framework 2025-2035, published in June, in the Equitable Healthcare section.

We will continue to work closely with our stakeholders and third sector organisations to implement positive change for people who experience a stroke.

The Scottish Government does not currently have any plans to publish a national ADHD strategy.

However, the Learning Disabilities, Autism and Neurodivergence (LDAN) Bill consulted on proposals to introduce a National Strategy for Learning Disabilities and Neurodivergence, supported by local strategies and/or local delivery plans and underpinned by Statutory Guidance. Proposals also included requirements for regular reviews of both national and local strategies, the involvement of lived experience in the development of these strategies and an accountability mechanism to measure effectiveness of strategies.

We have been committed to taking a human rights-based approach to this legislation. This means that the consultation was fully co-designed with people with lived experience via the Lived Experience Advisory Panel (LEAP).

The public consultation closed on 21 April 2024 and received nearly 900 responses during the four months that it was open. This demonstrates the relevance and importance of this legislation for the people of Scotland.

The Scottish Government is continuing work to develop the proposals for the LDAN Bill, and is committed to publishing draft provisions. As before, we will work in partnership with the LEAP members whose support has been invaluable, and the LEAP will be at the heart of our process. In addition, we will meet with individual organisations with an interest whenever that is helpful.

The Scottish Government does not currently have any plans to develop a standard post-diagnostic support pathway for ADHD. The National Neurodevelopmental Specification: Principles and Standards of Care for Children and Young People sets out the standards for all services to support children and young people with neurodevelopmental support needs, including ADHD. The Scottish Government is also working with the National Autism Implementation Team (NAIT) to develop national Adult Neurodevelopmental Pathways.

In addition, local authorities have duties under the Additional Support for Learning Act (Scotland) 2004 to identify, provide for and review the additional needs of their pupils. Under the Act an additional support need can arise for any reason and a diagnosis of ADHD is not required before support is put in place.

The Scottish Government is clear that support should be put in place to meet a child’s requirements when they need it. This includes community-based supports and where additional support is needed for learning. However, we recognise that in the case of ADHD, medication can be helpful, and a diagnosis is required to access this. We are working with Boards to ensure that children, young people and adults can access diagnostic services in a timely manner.

The Scottish Government does not currently have any plans to publish national service standards for ADHD assessment, treatment and support.

The National Neurodevelopmental Specification: Principles and Standards of Care for Children and Young People sets out the seven standards for all services to support children and young people with neurodevelopmental support needs, including ADHD.

The Specification takes a needs-based approach to providing neurodevelopmental support. It is underpinned by principles of GIRFEC and intended to be delivered by all children’s services partners through a multi-agency approach.

The Scottish Government does not hold this information centrally.

However, we acknowledge that work is needed to improve the quality of data on neurodevelopmental support and services, including a better understanding of current levels of need and the level of support people currently receive.

We are working with Health Boards and local authorities to improve our understanding of the available data, and how this could be used to support improvements for adults, children and families.