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

The number of ophthalmology trainees recorded as of July 28, 2025, and from 2015 has been provided in the following table.

Established in 2014, the National Eyecare Workstream was set up to influence and embed change in the way that eyecare services are delivered in Scotland. The workstream focuses on using capacity and capabilities differently within and across Primary and Secondary Care, drawing together the different strands of work that contribute to building a sustainable service.

Throughout its duration, the National Eyecare Workstream has supported extensive data collection and analysis of hospital eyecare services, including future capacity and demand for cataract surgery. In 2018, taking into account population growth and demographic change, demand for cataract surgery was forecast to grow by up to 47% to 2035.

More recently the Royal College of Ophthalmologists has projected an increase in demand of 25% in the next 10 years and 50% over the next 20 years.

The National Eyecare Workstream has been working with Health Boards to streamline each stage in the cataract pathway to ensure maximisation of all available resources across the country.

In May 2021, the National Eyecare Workstream commissioned the Centre for Sustainable Delivery (CfSD) to deliver a Short Life Working Group (SLWG) to focus on improving efficiency and productivity within cataract only theatre sessions in line with the latest guidance from the Royal College of Ophthalmologists. This SLWG has supported several new and innovative pathway developments, including high volume cataract surgery in ring-fenced sessions and delivering one cataract every 30 mins. In parallel with this, the National Eyecare Workstream is undertaking clinically-led peer reviews which supports new and efficient ways of working and shares best practices across the country across a number of ocular sub-specialties, including cataracts.

A number of ophthalmic surgeons are now undertaking immediate sequential bilateral cataract surgery to prevent patients having to travel twice for surgical intervention enabling both cataract surgeries to be performed on the same day, one after the other. In a number of Health Board areas, non-medical staff have been upskilled to pre-assess and list patients for cataract surgery freeing-up ophthalmologists’ time to undertake duties only they are qualified to do e.g. perform cataract surgery.

The National Eyecare Workstream has also undertaken a workforce review across the entirety of NHS eye care services in Scotland. This was required to support workforce and service planning, and to ensure ongoing workforce sustainability. The final report, published in 2023, is available here: https://www.nhscfsd.co.uk/media/pjwntap4/national-ophthalmic-workforce-review-may-2023.pdf

In addition, our National Treatment Centres (NTC) programme provides additional protected elective capacity and infrastructure to meet the needs of the aging population, which is projected to grow by 25-30% between 2015 - 2035. We have allocated an additional £2.6 million to National Treatment Centre (NTC) Highland to deliver thousands of additional orthopaedic and ophthalmic operations every year, with approximately 61% of the additional funding intended to support ophthalmic procedures.

This is part of our wider investment of £110 million to address long waits for planned care, which includes over £12 million funding for ophthalmology services.

A number of Health Boards also have additional cataract slots at Golden Jubilee National Hospital.

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.

Cataract surgery remains one of the most frequently performed surgical interventions across NHS Scotland. However, our health service has experienced unprecedented pressures over the past few years including the long-term impacts of the pandemic, seasonal and staffing pressures and unprecedented levels of inflation across the public sector. This has inevitably disrupted the NHS’s ability to carry out routine procedures, meaning longer waits for many patients.

The Scottish Government is committed to delivering reductions in waiting times, and has this year allocated an additional £12 million funding to NHS Boards for ophthalmology services.

There is an extensive programme of work already in progress to support NHS Boards to reduce waiting times for all planned care procedures, including cataract surgeries.

This year, we have allocated more than £110 million to health boards to help tackle the longest waits for procedures and operations and this includes an investment of more than £12 million for ophthalmology.

The Centre for Sustainable Delivery’s (CfSD) National Eyecare Workstream also works with Scottish Government to support optometrists in the care for patients with cataract. In January 2022, we commissioned CfSD to establish the Scottish National Cataract Short Life Working Group to address current challenges in cataract surgery in Scotland.

This multi-professional group co-developed an agreed set of principles for delivering higher volume cataract surgery in operating theatres on a sustainable basis and assist in future proofing cataract services.

This work has led to the publication of Improving the Delivery of Cataract Surgery in Scotland: a Blueprint for Success which can be accessed here: https://www.nhscfsd.co.uk/media/5sofmknr/cataract-surgery-blueprint-2022.pdf.

National Records of Scotland (NRS) collects, preserves and produces information about Scotland's people and history, and makes it available to inform current and future generations. The majority of NRS records are free to access for all. Most records are original and can only be viewed in the NRS Historical Search Room.

No specific financial assistance is available to volunteers and researchers who wish to access the records of patients who died while being treated at former psychiatric hospitals.

There is no centralised public record that provides the exact number of people buried in unmarked graves in Scotland. National Records Scotland (NRS) collects data on all deaths in Scotland, but it does not publish statistics specifically on unmarked graves.

The Scottish Government does not currently have any plans in place to remember former patients of historic asylums who were buried in unmarked graves. Details of any burial carried out in a burial ground by a burial authority are recorded in the statutory burial register so that the deceased are not forgotten.

As outlined in the Mental Health in Primary and Community Care Progress Report (Dec 2024), we remain committed to delivering increased mental health and wellbeing workforce capacity in general practice when it is feasible to do so. As the member will be aware, the Emergency Budget review meant that recruitment of additional roles was paused. We are prioritising investment to maintain mental health capacity in primary care through Action 15 of the Mental Health Strategy 2017-2027 and the Primary Care Improvement Fund.

The Mental Health in Primary and Community Care Progress Report also sets out what is needed to improve access to support, assessments and treatment from general practice. It contains a range of actions, including improving access to adult mental health treatment – expanding the NHS 24 Mental Health Hub, by December 2025, to provide access to digitally enabled psychological interventions and therapies for people who may benefit from early treatments.

This is in the context of wider support for general practice: the Scottish Government has already allocated over £1.3 billion to primary medical services this year with a further £56 million on course for pay rises and to provide new preventative services.

This follows an increase of £59.6 million last year to meet the Review Body on Doctors' and Dentists' Remuneration recommendations and to cover population growth as well as a further £13.6 million to help GP practices meet the costs of inflationary pressures and deliver local enhanced services.