Seòmar agus comataidhean

We are awaiting the results of the long-term conditions framework consultation, but we must also recognise that we need to go further on the preventative side. That is exactly where the Scottish Government has been increasing its investment in health.

I absolutely recognise the points that Carol Mochan made about inequalities and ensuring that people from all areas of Scotland get the right support. That is why we are increasing the number of general practitioner appointments that are available. We have also been working closely with the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities on a population health framework that is absolutely focused on prevention.

I have set out the long-term conditions framework in a way that recognises that every condition can benefit from learning from others and that there will be certain golden threads that run through all conditions.

As I said in two previous responses, if there are certain areas of the strategy that require specific strategies—similar to our 10-year cancer strategy, which focuses on certain cancers—that will certainly be considered.

The Scottish Government’s ambition is for a Scotland where women enjoy the best possible health throughout their lives. Premenstrual dysphoric disorder—or PMDD—and its impact on mental health is recognised in the women’s health plan.

Our mental health and wellbeing strategy lays out our vision for improving mental health so that anyone who needs help can get the right help in the right place at the right time. We expect that mental health care and treatment will be delivered in a person-centred manner to meet the needs of each individual, including those who are affected by PMDD.

The Scottish Government carried out engagement and consultation with a wide range of stakeholders during the development of the long-term conditions framework consultation.

That included a heart disease lived experience focus group, a third sector event—attended by heart disease organisations—and a meeting with the heart disease clinical leads. There have also been ministerial meetings with British Heart Foundation Scotland and Chest Heart & Stroke Scotland.

The consultation is now live, and I encourage clinicians, health professionals, those in the third sector and people with lived experience to respond.

I, too, thank Sharon Dowey for lodging the motion. I welcome the opportunity to conclude the debate. I also thank everybody for the tone of their contributions—clearly, the topic is something on which we all agree.

I note Roz McCall’s comments about the connections between sight and hearing loss and dementia. Although dementia does not sit in my portfolio, I know that Maree Todd will be very interested in the conversations and the points that were raised.

From personal experience, I recognise the importance of supporting people who live with dementia with their hearing so that they avoid loneliness, as many have commented. I reiterate the Scottish Government’s commitment to improvements in the way that audiology services are delivered. The publication of the report “Independent Review of Audiology Services in Scotland” highlighted real failings in the way that care was delivered in Scotland, but it also recognised opportunities to build on the services to give real improvements to those who use them.

As Sharon Dowey and others have pointed out, the number of adults in Scotland with age-related hearing loss is growing. Almost one in six of the population experiences some form of hearing loss. It is right that we should provide those patients with a clinical service that meets their needs—not only to diagnose their condition quickly and efficiently but to manage that condition and lessen the impacts of social isolation and loneliness. I, too, will attend the cross-party group meeting tonight.

I was struck by Christine Grahame’s comments on stigma and the differences in the way that we treat sight and hearing. I will take that away for when I speak to my officials again; I had a conversation with them this afternoon about the Scottish Government’s work on audiology more widely.

Christine Grahame has raised an important point. While she was speaking, I was thinking about the difference. My father wore glasses from a very young age and could only have the NHS-style ones; now, however, there are so many different styles that people can get. There is possibly the same stigma about the size of hearing aids, as opposed to the much smaller ones that are currently available. That was a really important point, which was well made.

As with many of our clinical services, waiting times are increasing, and patients cannot access them as quickly as we would like. However, the 2025-26 budget provides record funding of £21 billion for health and social care, and health boards are receiving an additional £200 million to reduce waiting lists and support the reduction of delayed discharges. I hope that that funding will be a welcome addition to health boards, and it should build on the work that they have already been doing to address waiting times by reducing their failed-to-attend rates through patient-focused bookings.

References have also been made to the Scottish National Party manifesto commitment to bolster community audiology provision to help to free up capacity in our acute sector. The Scottish Government remains committed to that vision. We are all familiar with the manifold benefits that increasing community provision brings, both in reducing the cost of services and in supporting patients to receive care when they need it, without the constraints of waiting times, as members have referenced with regard to optician services.

I agree that it is important that third sector clinicians and people living with heart conditions are properly consulted. The long-term conditions framework will focus on ensuring equitable and sustainable access to the services that all people with long-term conditions need, while still allowing for targeted action on condition-specific care and support where necessary. That is exactly the message that I passed on to British Heart Foundation Scotland and Chest Heart & Stroke Scotland.

I agree that we need to continue our approach, and that is exactly the way that I will continue working as we gather information from the consultation.

I thank Clare Adamson for raising the topic in the chamber. We know that work is still to be done to address the stigma and lack of understanding that surrounds menstrual health, including PMDD. Through our women’s health plan, we have already undertaken steps to raise awareness and support better understanding of PMDD among healthcare professionals, by commissioning NHS education for Scotland to create training on menstrual health, which includes PMDD.

Our NHS Inform women’s health platform provides women and girls with access to information on menstrual health and PMDD. I was not able to meet the researchers, but some of the women’s health team did. We are considering Dr Matthews’ findings as we develop the next phase of the women’s health plan.

Our 2025-26 budget provides record funding of £21 billion for health and social care, and national health service boards are receiving an additional £200 million to reduce waiting lists and to help support reduction of delayed discharge.

With that funding, we will deliver more than 150,000 extra appointments and procedures across a number of specialities in the coming year, which will ensure that people receive the care that they need as quickly as possible. Ear, nose and throat services will be an important part of that work, to which more than £9 million of the funding will be allocated. That will increase the number of new out-patient appointments that are available in 2025-26 and will ensure that patients receive the treatment that they require.

Pam Gosal is absolutely right—that is not the right way to support people who are living with hearing loss. They should not have to wait so long. If Ms Gosal would like to write to me directly about the situation, I would be happy to look into it. We remain absolutely committed to our vision of an integrated community-based hearing service in Scotland.