Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government has not received correspondence with regards workforce retention issues in community optometry. Health Boards are legally responsible for the provision of community optometry services in their area. As such, we would advise the Member to contact relevant Health Boards (such as NHS Grampian) on this matter.

With regards data on the geographic distribution of community optometry practices, this information is not held centrally by the Scottish Government. We would advise the Member to contact Health Boards where appropriate for this data. With regards community optometry services, Health Boards are legally responsible for the provision of these in their area.

The funding model for community optometry services is entirely demand-led and directly funded by the Scottish Government. Patients are entitled to receive a community optometry service in whichever Health Board they choose.

Throughout NHS Scotland, patients who require urgent or emergency surgery will always be given clinical priority as determined by the clinicians involved in their treatment and care.

In the event that a patient requires transport to an appropriate facility for treatment, there are several resources available including the Scottish Ambulance Service’s patient transport service for scheduled care, or emergency ambulance for life threatening incidents. Scotland’s rural communities are also supported by air assets from the Scottish Ambulance Service (helicopters in Inverness and Glasgow), Scottish Charity Air Ambulance (helicopters in Aberdeen and Perth) and HM Coastguard helicopters based at Prestwick, Inverness, Stornoway and Sumburgh in Shetland.

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

Challenges in delivering healthcare vary across Scotland due to population needs, as a result there is not a one-size fits all solution.

Work is already underway to progress reforms to ensure long-term sustainability, reduce health inequalities, deliver services closer to home, further harness the benefits of digital technology, and improve population health outcomes in Scotland.

To support sustainability of acute health services within remote, rural and island communities, we have convened an NHS Board-led working group which is working to develop a framework for delivery of health services in rural and island areas and considering how best to deliver the right care in the right place.

This group will determine a framework for the delivery of sustainable care for our rural and island communities, supporting effective local decision making while allowing service design and delivery to be adapted to place-specific needs and circumstances.

The Scottish Government published our Cancer Strategy for Scotland 2023-2033 along with an initial three year Cancer Action Plan for Scotland 2023 – 2026 in June 2023. Over a 10-year period, our strategic aim is to improve cancer survival and provide excellent, equitably accessible care.

The strategy and plan have a focus on reducing inequities in access to cancer care and cancer outcomes. This means treatment and care will be equally good wherever anyone lives and whoever they are. Actions to tackle inequalities are incorporated into other ambitions in the action plan.

The Scottish Government is looking to improve our understanding of the experience of people with cancer living in rural and island communities. Examples include an independent evaluation of their access to cancer care services, and a research programme on rural healthcare funded by the Chief Scientist Office.

The Scottish Government is committed to developing a sustainable health and social care system that ensures people get the right care, at the right time, in the right place.

Our vision is for ‘a Scotland where people live longer, healthy and fulfilling lives.’ is supported by four key areas of work: improving population health, a focus on prevention and early intervention, providing quality services, and maximising access, all underpinned by a person-centred approach.

The majority of health boards across Scotland have all, or some of their constituent population in a rural area. Health Boards and Health and Social Care Partnerships take account of the diverse needs of their populations and plan their service provision according to that need.

Officials engage with Health Boards and HSCPs on a regular basis to review health outcomes.

The following table shows how much funding the Scottish Government allocated to NHS Education for Scotland for experiential learning for undergraduate Master of Pharmacy (MPharm) students in the years requested

I refer the member to the answer to the question S6W-33527 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