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 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.

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

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-39413 on 6 August 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 is responsible for setting the overall policy direction of health services, and for working with and funding NHS Boards and local authorities to ensure they plan and deliver appropriate local services. However, it is the responsibility of local Health Boards and Health and Social Care Partnerships (HSCPs) to put in place services to meet local needs, including assessment and access to treatment and support for ADHD.

Health Boards and HSCPs are accountable for the delivery of their services locally. The Patient Rights (Scotland) Act 2011 and supporting legislation, provides a specific right for people to make complaints, raise concerns, make comments and give feedback. The Act also places a duty on NHS Boards to thoroughly investigate and respond to any concerns raised, to take improvement actions where appropriate and to share learning from feedback received. When a person has concerns about their treatment or care, this should be addressed at a local level through the NHS complaints handling procedure. When that is not possible, the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman (SPSO) is the second and final stage in the complaints process.

Scottish Government officials also engage regularly with Health Boards and HSCPs to discuss the delivery of services.

I recognise that there has been a significant increase in children and adults seeking ADHD assessments across Scotland, and that this is creating challenges for a range of services.

The Scottish Government is working with the National Autism Implementation Team (NAIT) to develop national Adult Neurodevelopmental Pathways, building on the pilots we funded in four NHS Board areas and the subsequent learning and recommendations.

We are also continuing to work with NHS Health Boards, including NHS Ayrshire and Arran, and local authorities to support implementation of the National Neurodevelopmental Specification for Children and Young People. We have recently undertaken a review of the implementation of the Specification and established a new Neurodevelopment Taskforce to drive forward identified recommendations.

In addition to investment through Health Boards, we will also be providing £500,000 additional funding in 2025-26 to improve access to neurodevelopmental support for children and young people, including for ADHD assessments. This is in addition to £250,000 provided in 2024-25, which funded a range of individual projects to improve neurodevelopmental assessment and support for children and young people, including projects that support ADHD diagnosis.

The Scottish Government has directly allocated £123.5 million to NHS Boards and IJBs for the Enhanced Mental Health Outcomes Framework in 2025-26. This provides a single, flexible funding stream to support continued improvements and better outcomes across a range of mental health and psychological services in line with the Mental Health and Wellbeing Strategy. This includes funding for adult and child neurodevelopmental services, including services providing ADHD assessments.

In addition to investment through Health Boards, we will also be providing £500,000 additional funding in 2025-26 to improve access to neurodevelopmental support for children and young people, including for ADHD assessments. This is in addition to £250,000 of funding in 2024-25 to improve neurodevelopmental assessment and support for children and young people, including improving access to ADHD assessments.

The Scottish Government engages regularly with all health boards regarding their provision of support for neurodivergent people, including those with ADHD.

We are working closely with Health Boards and local authorities towards implementing the National Neurodevelopmental Specification for Children and Young People in full. The Scottish Government is also working with the National Autism Implementation Team (NAIT) to develop national Adult Neurodevelopmental Pathways.

We acknowledge that work is needed to improve the quality of data that we have on neurodevelopmental support and services, including for ADHD. We are continuing to work with Health Boards and local authorities to improve our understanding of what data is available, and how this could be used to support improvements.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-39413 on 6 August 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 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 Scottish Government does not currently have any plans to publish specific minimum standards for ADHD post-diagnostic support.