Chamber and committees

We have already invested £30 million to reduce waiting lists that built up throughout the pandemic. This funding is being targeted at a series of national and local plans to reduce backlogs by maximising the use of local and national resources across Scotland. As part of this, we have allocated additional funding to Gynaecology services which we expect to deliver around 3,500 new outpatient appointments.

The Budget we set out on 4 December 2024 will throw the weight of the government behind performance improvements with almost £200 million to reduce waiting lists and help support reduction of delayed discharge. By March 2026, we expect no one to be waiting longer than 12 months for a new outpatient, inpatient treatment or day case treatment.

With regards to the average wait times across all boards compared with waiting times in rural areas such as Aberdeenshire, this information requested is not held centrally by the Scottish Government the member may wish to contact NHS Grampian directly for information.

The Scottish Government does not hold this information. Operational decisions on matters such as this are for Police Scotland with oversight from the Scottish Police Authority. You may wish to contact them directly.

This information is not held centrally by the Scottish Government. We would advise the Member to contact relevant Health Boards for this data.

As well as a sight test, a routine NHS eye examination in Scotland provides a comprehensive eye health assessment, tailored to meet the needs of the patient. This helps with early detection of a range of sight-threatening conditions and some general medical conditions.

Where the optometrist suspects the patient has a sight-threatening condition, where clinically appropriate they will refer the patient to the hospital eye services. Data on such referrals can be found in the Public Health Scotland report referred to in answer to question S6W-33638 on 27 January 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

All referrals to the hospital eye service from community optometry are electronic and enable the attachment of retinal images and other examination results to aid the triaging of the patients. In addition, since the initial onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Scottish Government has facilitated the use of technology to support remote consultations under General Ophthalmic Services which is likely to be of particular benefit to patients living in rural areas. The cloud-based national Electronic Patient Record is also being used by community optometrists providing the Community Glaucoma Service - an important technological initiative supporting safe and high quality care.

Through the National Centre for Remote and Rural Health and Care, housed within NHS Education for Scotland, the Scottish Government are supporting the health workforce in rural and island areas.

A detailed programme of monthly rural specific training sessions are being delivered for multi-disciplinary rural practitioners online to ensure access for the widest group of rural practitioners across Scotland.

New rural specific training programmes are being developed and delivered to support the specific needs of the remote and rural Primary Care and community services workforce. Current programmes of work include focused support and training for remote and rural dispensing practices, new resources being developed to support Primary Care professionals to become trainers within the community and Primary Care Practice settings for Advanced Nurse, Pharmacy, and Practice Nurse Practitioners.

I refer the member to the answer to the question S6W-33681 on 27 January 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

There are therefore no financial barriers to receiving optometry services.

I refer the member to the answer to the question S6W-33695 on 27 January 2025.

In addition, the Scottish Government has not received correspondence with regards access to community optometry services for children living in rural and remote areas.

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

This year we invested £30m which is driving targeted action to address the longest delays. This will see around 24,000 New Outpatient Appointments and Inpatient/ Day-Case procedures as well as over 40,000 diagnostic procedures. The funding has included diagnostic services in NHS Grampian, NHS Shetland and NHS Orkney.

Teams within General Practice, local community pharmacies and optometry practices frequently work together to support their patients. Other primary care providers can and do refer patients to community optometry services. Community optometry is the accepted first point of contact for any eye related issues.