Chamber and committees

As at April, for outpatient appointments the median waiting time between referral and appointment is 236 days. The longest waiting time is 448 days.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-17503 on 15 May 2023. 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 recently advertised for an Optometric Advisor position. Following a competitive recruitment exercise no offer of appointment was made. The Government remains committed to filling this post as a priority and is currently exploring options to achieving this.

Scottish Government officials are in the process of providing advice to the new Ministerial team on community eyecare services work, including these short life working groups, and will update stakeholders immediately following the completion of this process.

As set out in the answer to S6W-17550 on 12 May 2023, officials are in the process of providing advice to Scottish Ministers on community eyecare services work, including the unique challenges of providing these services in remote and rural areas and domiciliary settings.

In addition, as part of the continuous review of service provision, the Scottish Government recently worked with stakeholders to undertake a separate report into supporting the sustainability of community eyecare services in remote and rural 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

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-17222 on 4 May 2023. 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 .

As noted in response to S6W-08055 on 10 May 2022, the concept of elder abuse is very broad. Whilst there is no legal definition of elder abuse, the World Health Organisation has defined it as ‘a single or repeated act, or lack of appropriate action, occurring within any relationship where there is an expectation of trust, which causes harm or distress to an older person' ( Elder abuse (who.int) ). The Adult Support and Protection (Scotland) Act 2007 is designed to protect people; aged 16 years and over who are unable to safeguard their own well-being, property, rights or other interests; are at risk of harm; and, because they are affected by disability, mental disorder, illness or physical or mental infirmity, are more vulnerable to being harmed than adults who are not so affected.

While the Scottish Government doesn’t hold information on elder abuse, specifically, it does hold information on adults at risk of harm (or who have been harmed) by age; where an Adult Support and Protection investigation commenced. The figures, along with many data quality issues explained, were published on our website on 9 th May 2023. The release indicated that, in 2021/22, about 40% of those subject to an ASP investigation were over the age of 75 (15% were men and 25% were women). These figures are national estimates due to differing local processes.

In addition, there are a number of data developments aimed at strengthening the information available, including:

• The Scottish Government has developed an improvement plan for adult support and protection which includes reviewing current ASP data to develop more robust, meaningful and comparable data. The review and development of an ASP minimum dataset is being taken forward by The Institute for Research and Innovation in Social Services (IRISS). The minimum dataset will provide a clearer picture of Adult Support and Protection in Scotland.
• The Official Statistics on police recorded crime and criminal proceedings do not include details on whether the victim was an older person, or their relationship to the perpetrator. However, the new crime system will allow crime stats by victim age, therefore a measure of recorded crimes against older people.
• The Scottish Crime and Justice Survey are developing a new Fraud and Computer Misuse module. This module will help estimate the prevalence of victimisation from these crimes in Scotland for the first time and will allow for a breakdown by age. These new questions will be included in the 2023/24 survey due to go into the field this summer. Users will be kept informed as to when the first results from these questions will be published.
• The Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act, once in force, will require information about police recorded hate crime and convictions data to be published annually, and with greater detail where known. The Act will – for the first time – introduce new protections against offences aggravated by prejudice towards a person’s age.

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

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-17450 on 11 May 2023. 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 funds for drug and alcohol programmes and services through a range of channels.

• In 2021-22 the total annual budget for drugs and alcohol was around £140 million, increasing slightly in 2022-23 to £141.9 million.

NHS Scotland patients requiring transvaginal mesh removal surgery may opt either to have that surgery carried out by the specialist service provided by NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, by an NHS England specialist centre, or by one of two independent providers. 23 removal surgeries were carried out by the Glasgow specialist service in 2020-21, 23 in 2021-22, and 34 in 2022-23. Meanwhile, as noted in response to S6W-17504 on 11 May 2023, 13 women have had removal surgery carried out by one of the two independent providers. None have opted for referral to an NHS England centre. 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 .