 The next item of business is a member's business debate on motion 7369, in the name of Stuart McMillan, on national eye health week 2017, and the threat to vision posed by diabetic retinopathy. The debate will be concluded without any questions being put, and I would ask those who wish to contribute to press the request-to-speak buttons now. I call on Stuart McMillan to open the debate around seven minutes, please. First, I thank members for signing the motion and for those who will take part this afternoon. I am aware that there are some members of RNIB Scotland to be in the chamber this afternoon in the gallery. I want to thank you certainly for signing over this particular debate this afternoon. As a convener of the cross-party group on visual impairment, I welcome the opportunity that National Eye Health Week provides to remind members in the chamber and people across Scotland of the importance of looking after their eye health. Since 2006, everyone in Scotland has been entitled to a free eye health check every two years, as well as picking up on treatable eye conditions such as diabetic retinopathy and cataracts that can also spot the early signs of heart disease and brain tumours. Free eye checks are therefore an opportunity that is actually too good to miss. They can, and have prevented sight loss in Scots with quick treatment of eye conditions picked up by those tests, slowing sight deterioration and also sometimes preventing it altogether. That is particularly important for diabetics. Diabetics are entitled to a free yearly eye check that can pick up the early signs of diabetic retinopathy, the leading cause of sight loss in working-age adults in Scotland. It is caused by consistently high blood sugar levels and damaging blood vessels in the back of the eyes. By the time that damage has affected a diabetic vision, retinopathy is already at an advanced stage. Eye health checks are vital to picking up on the early signs of retinopathy so that it can be treated before it becomes so advanced that it affects vision. Those free yearly eye checks can be both sight-saving and sight-preserving for the 291,000 people in Scotland living with diabetes. That is one of the reasons why I am glad that this motion was chosen for debate today. It is important to raise awareness of those free eye health checks among the general population and the diabetic community. I hope that this debate will go some way towards doing that. I commend the work of Diabetes Scotland and RNIB Scotland, whose joint campaign video work this week highlights the effects that diabetic retinopathy can have on a person's vision, and, more important, promote those free eye health checks. 42,000 diabetics missed their eye screening in the past 15 months, missing out on the vital opportunity to check that their eyes are healthy and that they do not need vision-saving treatment. I hope that the video also encourages more people to attend their annual eye screening and get their eye health check undertaken. I recommend that members in the chamber check the video out for themselves to get an idea of what it would be like if their vision was impaired. I know that the Government is committed to raising awareness of the importance of eye health checks and has set a self-imposed target of running localised campaigns, particularly among communities whose take-up is the lowest, to ensure that everyone from my constituency in Greenberg and Inverclyde to the Grampians know all their entitlement and are in the position to take advantage of it. The community eye care review that was commissioned by the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Sport last year has produced great work in evaluating community eye care services across Scotland and providing a list of recommendations for the Government that would raise the quality of eye care to an even higher standard and also take eye care to everyone in Scotland. The cross-party group on visual impairment was pleased to hear from representatives of the review that explained their findings and recommendations that would be keen to hear about further updates on that from the Government. I would also appreciate if the Cabinet Secretary could provide the chamber with an update on the progress of the objective to promote the importance of eye health checks so far, as I cited in the community eye care review recommendations and also to update us on what plans the Government has to continue pursuing the objective over year 2 of this parliamentary session. Since eye checks were made free in 2006, there has been a 29 per cent rise and uptake of eye health checks. This is a great achievement but there is still scope to do more and uptake is still low in the worst-off communities in Scotland and in ethnic communities where sight loss is genetically more prevalent. One in 10 people from the BME communities over the age of 65 will experience serious sight loss. People from black and Asian ethnic groups have a higher risk of developing eye conditions such as diabetic retinopathy and glaucoma due to the causes of those conditions being genetically more prevalent and are more often likely to go blind after diagnosis. It is particularly important for higher risk groups to take advantage of the free eye health checks, but recent studies such as the improving access to optometry services for people at risk or preventable sight loss conducted in 2014 have shown that those groups are less likely to get their eyes checked. We need to find out why that is the case and address the causes. The Government has the responsibility to put a focus on raising awareness of free eye health checks among those groups, and there is precedent for that. In 2015, the Welsh Government made eye health checks free for people from BME communities, recognising the need to raise awareness among those groups. In Scotland, of course, we have universal free eye health checks. However, the issue remains that those groups are less likely to take up their entitlement and need special government attention. As a country, we must do more to support hard-to-reach communities and communities from a diverse background. We cannot rest on our laurels, but we must also focus on ensuring that avoidable sight loss is prevented. There are some good examples of working with diverse communities. For instance, R&B's Scotland diversity and sight team does important work in that area. Indeed, they are attending the Muslim Council of Scotland's meeting this Saturday, specifically talking to people from BME communities about the higher risk that they have of developing eye conditions and the importance of taking up the eye check. We would also encourage the Government to target campaigns to those hard-to-reach groups as recommended by the community eye care review and to monitor the results of those campaigns to ensure that there is continuous improvement. Sight is the sense that people fear most if they were to lose. As a Government, we can aid the prevention of sight loss, and we must aid the prevention of sight loss. Raising awareness of free eye health checks generally goes some way to helping to prevent sight loss, but we must also ensure that groups such as diabetics and people from the BME communities that are at a particularly high risk of developing eye conditions are given special focus by the Government in that area. I look forward to the cabinet secretary's update on the progress that has been made on the recommendations that have been put forward by the community eye care review, specifically relating to the localised campaigns and what plans are in place to build on the progress. I certainly hope that the debate helps to raise awareness of the importance of getting eyes checked and within the general population, but more specifically in the diabetic community and also looking forward to hearing fellow members' contributions in the chamber this afternoon. We move to the open debate and speeches of around four minutes. Please, Miles Briggs, to be followed by David Stewart. I would like to start by congratulating Stuart McMillan on securing today's important debate during this year's national eye health week and acknowledging the good work that he has been doing over many years in raising eye health issues in this Parliament. I also thank the organisations that have provided briefings ahead of today's debate. I commend Diabetes Scotland and RNIB Scotland for the joint action that they are taking to raise awareness of diabetic retinopathy. Last night, I caught one of the adverts on channel 4 around this campaign. I think that it was incredibly hard-hitting to see the impact of different versions of sight loss. I think that campaigns like that really do, for those of us who have not experienced sight loss, present an opportunity to see just the impact that it has on people's lives. It is right that there is a real focus on what is the most common cause of vision loss amongst people with diabetes and the leading cause of visual impairment and blindness among all working-age adults. With more than 290,000 Scots currently living with diabetes and with that number predicted to continue to grow in the years ahead, we will all agree that tackling diabetic retinopathy and reducing its impact must be a key health priority, as well as addressing factors such as diet, obesity and physical activity levels, which are linked to the increasing prevalence of type 2 diabetes in Scotland. Strach Macmillan has already identified that diabetic retinopathy early diagnosis can lead to treatment that can prevent or reduce sight loss, so encouraging every person from 12 who has diabetes to either take up an annual screening appointment is very vital to help to address that. The condition often has no symptoms until it is well advanced, so the importance of annual screening cannot be overstated. I think that it is hugely concerning and has already been raised that 42,000 people with diabetes in Scotland do not have a record of attending a retinopathy screening appointment over the last 15 months. Clearly more action is needed to increase screening uptake rates, and I urge friends and family members of people with diabetes to encourage them to attend the screening and to help to remind them of the importance of this annual check. We should also continue to get the message across that the screening for diabetic retinopathy is different to the eye test, which we would get from anopticians. I welcome some of the work that has already been taking place on this to look at innovative ways that the Scottish Government can improve uptake in screening and look at certain communities and the information that is already provided and how that can be advanced. In addition, we must emphasise that anyone with diabetes who believes that they are not being invited to attend screening and who believes that they have missed an invitation in a particularly lear should not hesitate to speak to their GP or local diabetes healthcare team about that. I welcome the powerful online and cinema commercials that have been based on the message How Do You See Scotland, which is being shown at the moment. I would like to commend Brian Cox both for his support of this ad and for publicly talking about his own experiences of diabetes, which I think is incredibly important. I know that members of this Parliament have done that, and I think that that is something that can only help in trying to address some of the issues. This has generated significant media coverage in recent days, and I hope that this campaign will help to raise awareness of this important issue. To conclude, Deputy Presiding Officer, I again welcome this debate in National Eye Health Week 2017. I am pleased to join Stuart McMillan and other members in welcoming the combined work of Diabetes Scotland and RNIB Scotland. I wish the campaign every success and hope that we can see an increase in the number of people with diabetes taking part in the screening programme each year and a corresponding reduction, above all, in the preventable sight loss and visual impairment caused by diabetic retinopathy, which can have such a devastating impact on someone's life and wellbeing. David Stewart, followed by Emma Harper. Thank you, Presiding Officer, and could I also congratulate Stuart McMillan on securing the debate this afternoon? As co-convener of the cross-party group on diabetes, let me tell you about the hidden epidemic in Scotland. 291,000 people in Scotland are diagnosed with diabetes. 49,000 people have the condition but are undiagnosed, and 620,000 people in Scotland are at high risk of developing type 2 diabetes. That means that nearly a million people in Scotland are directly affected by diabetes through having it or at risk of developing it. That means that scores of parliamentary staff today have diabetes without knowing it, perhaps an MSP or two, a dozen MSP assistants and a clutch of those in the gallery today. It is a true Scottish epidemic. Diabetes is the main cause of blindness for those of working age, and that is why I congratulate Diabetes Scotland and NNIB Scotland on their campaign, marking national eye health week 2017. A campaign that, as we have heard, highlights the threat to vision pose by diabetic retinopathy. I am on with it, Presiding Officer, could I congratulate Jane Clare Judson, who is the chief executive of Diabetes Scotland, on the work that she carries out as she is leaving Diabetes Scotland on the next few weeks to a new post. Diabetes is a true Scottish epidemic. Two and a half times more people have diabetes than all cancers combined. It is a true Scottish epidemic of health inequality for children in areas of deprivation are more at risk of obesity, a severe risk factor for type 2 diabetes. What is diabetic retinopathy and why is it so important? As we have heard, 42,000 people with diabetes have no record of attending as screening in the last 15 months. It is part of essential diabetes care, and everyone over 12 who is living with diabetes should attend annual retinopathy screening. As we have heard, that is not the same at its normal eye examinations at opticians. Regular screening is vital to pick up early signs. We have heard an idea with the points made that diabetic retinopathy often has no symptoms until it is well advanced. The 42,000 Scots with diabetes who have no record of recent screening are putting their sight at risk. The How Do You See Scotland campaign will help to raise awareness of the issue and will hopefully encourage more people to attend their screening appointments. As with many aspects of health delivery in Scotland, there is a postcode lottery. Non-attendance at retinopathy screening is only 8 per cent in Dumfries and Galloway, but nearly 20 per cent in my patch in the Highland health board area, and nearly 21 per cent in Lanarkshire and Greater Glasgow and Clyde. Diabetes is a ticking time bomb, and it is the fastest growing health crisis of our time. More people have the serious health condition of diabetes more than dementia and cancer combined. As the health cabinet secretary will know, NHS Scotland spends over £1 billion annually on diabetes, but by providing the knowledge, the skills and the tools to support people to live well with their diabetes, we can reduce diabetic complications. That will improve the quality of life for people living with the disease. It will lead to long-term cost savings with fewer people requiring treatment to admissions to hospital and surgery, and everyone, irrespective of where they live in Scotland, has the right to this treatment. Briefly, Presiding Officer, as time is short, a few years ago I was proud to address the first ever global diabetes forum of parliamentary champions for diabetes in Melbourne. It was an unusual audience with nearly 100 national champions from far afield as Russia, Nigeria and Canada. We signed the Melbourne Declaration, which committed parliaments across the globe to ensure the political agenda as a higher emphasis on preventative work, early diagnoses and access to adequate care. I said in my speech in Melbourne that I was proud to come from nation with a strong record in innovation and discovery. Scots like Fleming, Watt and Bell led the way in discovery and international collaboration is the way forward. Finally, Presiding Officer, members will be aware that it was in 1922 that Professor John McLeod from Aberdeen, working with two outstanding scientists, Bunting and Best, discovered insulin. Before that date, type 1 diabetes was a death sentence in Scotland. In conclusion, we have a great opportunity to raise the bar in healthcare. I congratulate again Stuart McMillan on his timely motion allowing us to focus on the threats posed by diabetic retinopathy and to raise the importance of having regular eye-screwning across every health board in Scotland. Emma Harper, followed by Alexander Burnett. Thank you Presiding Officer. First, I would like to remind members that I am a registered nurse and I am a co-convener of the diabetes cross-party group here in Holyrood. I congratulate my colleague Stuart McMillan MSP for securing this debate as part of National Eye Health Week. Diabetes UK funded a programme in 1986 to take retinal photography screening out to people with diabetes, and the Scottish Diabetic Retinopathy screening programme was started in 2003, collecting together what had been carried out before. According to the latest statistics from Scottish Diabetes survey, there are almost 260,000 people with type 2 diabetes living in Scotland today, and everyone under the age of 12 with type 1 or type 2 diabetes should be screened, but around 42,076 were not screened last year. Screening takes less than 10 minutes, and it is required annually. That is great news. My sister Marina Forbes is a clinical ophthalmic nurse specialist, and she informs me that people with diabetes who take up the offer of screening now have the same potential of maintaining the same eye health as those without diabetes, and 30 per cent of her clinic visits are made by those folks with diabetes. Many may have had diabetes for 10 years prior to even a diagnosis of their diabetes or type 2. The goal of the screening programme is to recognise problems and use the data from subsequent retinal photographs to track whether there is a deterioration in the vascular structures and macula. Early detection leads to early treatment and promotes visual health and keeps folk independent and able to remain in their homes longer. Diabetic retinopathy is the leading cause of preventable sight loss in working-age adults across Scotland, and there are various types. Background retinopathy is the earliest visible change to the retina, where the tiny wee blood vessels become blocked and are at risk of microaneurism or hemorrhage. Maculopathy occurs in the most important area of the retina, the macula, which provides our central, detailed vision. Proliferative retinopathy occurs when retinal hypoxia, which is low oxygen supply, allows new immature blood vessels to develop, and those immature blood vessels leak fluid and that damages the vision. There are various treatments available depending on the severity of the condition. Laser treatment or photocoagulation was commonly used prior to the advent of the injection of anti-vascular endothelial growth factor injections into the vitreous of the eye. The anti-vascular endothelial growth factor, or anti-veg F, halt the production of extra protein and, in turn, the growth of new blood vessels. Laser treatment revolutionised retinopathy treatment in the past, as it was the only effective treatment, but the anti-veg F treatment has superseded that and is a great method of treatment. Together with effective screening and good blood glucose control and good blood pressure control as well, it can successfully maintain vision. Good news for NHS Dumfries and Galloway is that the actual numbers attending screening are really high and, thank you to my colleague Dave Stewart for mentioning that. My message is that what is happening within your eyes, which can be overtly symptomatic, could also be happening to the tiny wee vessels of your feet, your heart and your kidneys. The microvascular damage can alert health professionals and direct further action so that the other vessels and organs can be monitored and protected as well. Once again, I congratulate Stuart McMillan on securing this debate today and congratulate Diabetes Scotland and the RNIB for their campaign to mark national eye health week. It is important that everyone recognises the benefits of attending regular eye screening services that are available to them because it can save your vision. I am one of those type 1 diabetics at risk. I had my retinae photographed a couple of weeks ago as part of my eye screening programme, so I would like to just say that my eyes, my retinae, they are doing fine. I think that the official report will appreciate your speech with the spellings in it, Ms Harper. I thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer, and I join my fellow members in congratulating Stuart McMillan on bringing this important debate on national eye health week to the chamber today. I would also like to join my fellow members in commending Diabetes UK and RNIB Scotland for joining forces in their How Do You See Scotland campaign to raise awareness of the diabetic retinopathy and the importance of screening. It is great to see those two great charities combined to tackle this condition, caused by complications of diabetes, typically through high blood sugar levels, damaging the back of the eye. But to constituents across Scotland watching our debate today, they might have some questions. Questions, I trust having read the briefings, I am now better equipped to answer. I would like to use this opportunity to rhetorically answer three questions so that they too can be better informed. Am I at risk? NHS Scotland advises that everyone with diabetes, who is 12 years old or over, goes for eye screening once a year. The How Do You See Scotland campaign has found that 15 per cent of those eligible for this screening have not been attending in the previous 15 months. If you are one of those people, I would urge you to get yourself an appointment so that you have the opportunity to tackle this condition early. How can I reduce my risk of diabetic retinopathy? Firstly, attend your screening appointments. Those are different to your eye test at the opticians, as they are specifically taking pictures at the back of your eye to assess if there is any damage to the blood vessels. Again, NHS Scotland advises you to control your blood sugar, pressure and cholesterol levels and take your diabetes medication as prescribed. I am sure that the majority of those with diabetes will be all too aware of the importance of this, but we must raise awareness to remind those at risk. Can diabetic retinopathy be treated? Sadly, there is no cure for diabetic retinopathy. However, there are treatment options. There are three different stages, background, maculopathy and proliferative retinopathy. All three have different options, ranging from regular monitoring of blood vessels to laser treatment. We are told that at all stages, managing your diabetes is crucial. Having control of your diabetes can prevent conditions such as those from developing at all. However, in the more advanced stages of affected vision, taking control can stop the condition getting worse. I am already aware of the great work that RNIB already do for people across Scotland. One of my former members of staff has benefited from their work and earlier this year ran the London Marathon to raise funds for them. However, I would like to note my personal thanks to both RNIB and Diabetes UK for the constant support that they provide to patients, families, communities and elected officials in informing us of important health issues that can affect us in so many ways. The last open debate contribution is from Colin Smyth. Thank you, Presiding Officer. Can I begin by echoing the comments of others and thanking Stuart at a fellow member of the cross-party group on visual impairment for lodging his motion and providing members with the opportunity to congratulate and thank Diabetes Scotland and RNIB for their campaign to mark national eye health week by highlighting the threat to vision posed by diabetic retinopathy. Some members will have seen that the excellent campaign film Diabetes Scotland at RNIB has shown in cinemas and online. It is a powerful film, but it hits home the importance of getting your eyes checked to avoid where possible sight loss. As world health assembly figures show, sight loss is available in 50 per cent of cases, in particular if sight problems are detected at an early stage. We cannot underestimate the massive impact loss of vision has on a person's life. It can drastically affect their confidence, their self-esteem and their mental health. We therefore all have a role to play in doing what we can to promote early detection of sight problems. It is more than a decade since the introduction of free health checks by my Labour colleague Lewis MacDonald, who was a responsible minister at the time. That move brought about a step change in the eye health care pathway in Scotland and, since then, the number of eye examinations has increased significantly. However, we cannot be complacent. We know that the number of people with sight loss is set to double by 2030. That is why, like Stuart McMillan, I very much welcome the findings of the community eye care review. The review sets out important recommendations and I will best achieve a higher uptake of eye health checks, and it highlights how to do more with less by providing a quality service to all areas of Scotland, including the creation of a national list of optometrists and dispensing opticians, to improve service planning and reduce duplication, and to make some eye services that are usually provided in hospitals, such as follow-up cataract surgery appointments, available more locally. However, as we have heard in a debate and are highlighted by Diabetes Scotland and RNIB's campaign, one of the factors contributing to the rise in sight loss is the increase in the number of people diagnosed with diabetes in Scotland. As members know, a key part of controlling diabetes is monitoring blood sugar levels as it guides what a person eats and often how much insulin they take. At the moment, people with type 1 diabetes typically self-monitor their blood glucose level by using it at a finger prick, often around a dozen times a day and indeed often during the night. Now, as I found out when I attended the recent visit to Curcubri by members of the petitions committee, including Angus MacDonald, who was in the chamber earlier, stabbing your finger with a needle is not exactly a pleasant experience, and I only had to do it once on that particular visit. Children, often as young as three, have to do that a dozen or more times a day every day. During the visit, I had the pleasure of meeting local mums Shanaid Anderson and Emily Ross, whose daughters Macy and Robin have type 1 diabetes. The highlighted alternative to the painful and distressing process of finger pricking is continuous glucose monitoring, where a small sensor is placed under the skin to check glucose levels. It allows more frequent readings of glucose levels, allowing the fine-tuning of glucose levels and treatment and reduces the need for painful finger pricking. However, it is not currently available on prescription, so I therefore urge the Government to seriously consider the case being made by mums like Shanaid and Emily and, more important, their daughters Macy and Robin and the many others across Scotland and make the monitoring available on prescription. The Government has a duty to support the best possible care for those with diabetes and to raise awareness of the risk consistently high blood sugar poses to their vision, including the importance of attending their annual eye checks. That fits perfectly with the Scottish Government's 2020 vision strategy, which puts an emphasis on prevention and anticipation in health and social care. However, in order to anticipate which areas are likely to have a bigger increase in sight loss, we need to know how many people have sight loss currently and the rate at which sight loss is rising. I definitely ask the cabinet secretary if she can tell us when figures for the number of blind and partially sighted people registered per local authority will be published. In the past, those figures were reported annually and the return to this reporting would be invaluable. Presiding Officer, I conclude once again to congratulate Stuart McMillan on his motion. I hope that today's debate will result in an increased focus on how we can best promote the prevention of sight loss, including improved management of diabetes, and by carrying out the recommendation set out in the community eye care review. I call Shona Robison to respond to the debate. Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. I also congratulate Stuart McMillan on securing that important debate. I also join with Miles Briggs in paying tribute to Brian Cox and his support for the How Do You See Scotland campaign. It is a very powerful campaign indeed. I also welcome Diabetes Scotland and the RNIB's campaign to raise awareness of diabetes retinopathy and encourage attendance of screening appointments as the number of members have. This is an important initiative during iHealth week. Campaigns such as this one are crucial for highlighting the on-going importance of attending regular eye screening appointments as well as all other diabetes health checks. Regrettably, diabetic retinopathy remains the leading cause of preventable sight loss among people of working age in Scotland. The posters in the film of the campaign are clearly showing how damaging and devastating retinopathy is. Far too many people only have an eye test when they experience a problem with their eyes or their vision, which may be too late. That is a tragic and avoidable fact when one considers that current screening techniques are capable of detecting referable retinopathy at a stage where, with proper treatment, the probability of preserving vision is high. At the end of 2016, in Scotland we had 291,981 people diagnosed with diabetes of all types. That represents 5.4 per cent of the population. We know that on top of the life-changing effect of diabetes, indirect costs associated with poor management are very high. Diabetes is an important issue to tackle at any time, but when we have such financial pressures on the NHS, it becomes even more pressing to ensure that we are doing everything that we can to address avoidable complications of diabetes, which is why the Scottish Government considers driving continuous improvement in retinopathy screening practice to be an important priority. Scotland has a world-renowned diabetes retinopathy screening programme, and I would like to thank the DRS Collaborative, which oversees the performance of the programme. 84.1 per cent of people eligible had their eyes screened by the diabetic retinopathy screening service in the previous 15 months. 220,893 people had their eyes screened in 2016 more than ever before, but we must not be complacent and we would seek to have even more eligible patients being screened for early signs of diabetes retinopathy. Yes, of course. David Stewart. I thank the cabinet secretary for giving away. Would the cabinet secretary have a look at the issues around the postcode lottery in screening, and the points that I made earlier about confusing alleyway have only been 8 per cent, but a highland of 22 per cent of people are not turning up for retinopathy. Is there a real issue across the health boards on this issue? Shona Robison. Yes, I will do that. I was going to come on to that. I will do that. The other issue that David Stewart mentioned, of course, was the health inequalities dimension to that. There is the Scottish Diabetes Group, which oversees co-ordinates and reviews the implementation of the improvement plan, is working to establish an inequality group in order to deliver the priority on equality of access. I am very happy to keep the member informed about that, but it is about driving improvement and dealing with some of those issues around the difference in attendance, particularly where there is a health inequalities dimension. I am so happy to keep you informed about that. NHS Scotland has recently invested in a replacement IT system for the screening programme, which was successfully implemented across Scotland earlier this year. The system is now being used across all health boards to screen on average 1,000 people with diabetes per working day. That system maintains and supports our commitment to people with diabetes, providing the best possible care now and for the years ahead. Members may be aware that the DRS standards were revised in 2016 by Health Improvement Scotland to support staff and ensure that the highest standards of screening are achieved. Each standard also details what people, patients and representatives in the public can expect of those services, and two of the new standards relate to protocols for referral and treatment. Of course, ophthalmologists play a crucial part in the pathway of delivering high-quality eye care for people with diabetes. In the spring, I welcomed the publication of the national ophthalmology workstream, which demonstrates the benefits of close working between local clinicians, managers and the Scottish Government. The report identifies solutions to improve the flow of patients through hospital ophthalmology services. That will be done by adopting new methods of working using modern technology and making use of the entire workforce, such as upskilling the non-medical workforce, such as nurses to deliver the anti-veg F injections and optometrists to review lower-risk patients to ensure that all patients get the timely hospital eye care that they need. Going back to the main theme of the motion retinopathy screening is one of the nine healthcare checks that people with diabetes should have. And only a few months ago, we ran a poster campaign in community pharmacies to encourage people to make sure that they get all of their healthcare checks to better manage their condition and to help them live a longer, healthier life. We also need to ensure that people living with diabetes have the tools and skills to manage their diabetes well, to prevent and reduce the risk of developing complications, which, of course, can have a significant impact on the quality of their life. That includes access to appropriate technology and support to treatment and lifestyle management. Access to My Diabetes My Way is an award-winning resource that enables people to see and check their clinical results and health information. It provides a wide range of advice and has demonstrated its value in helping people who use it to improve their blood glucose control. We recently allocated additional funding to support not only the increase in the provision of insulin pumps for adults, but, importantly, as Colin Smyth mentioned, continuous glucose monitoring for those with the greatest clinical need and who will benefit most from this important technology. A newly formed expert group is leading work on the prevention framework, which focuses on supporting NHS boards in helping people to reduce the risk of complications and identifying people at high risk of type 2 diabetes and taking action to reduce the risk of developing the condition, including lifestyle changes. It is recognised that many of the long-term conditions, including type 2 diabetes, are related to lifestyle factors such as obesity, lack of exercise, smoking, excessive alcohol intake and poor diet, and the health inequalities that I mentioned earlier. In our programme for government, we have already set out that we will consult this year on a range of actions to deliver a new approach to diet and healthy weight management. There are no simple solutions for addressing diabetes, but Governments, patients and indeed wider society all have a role to play as indeed the members of this Parliament. Together, we can build on the real tangible progress that has already made towards preventing the complication of all types of diabetes and improving the quality of life for the tens of thousands of people living with this condition in Scotland. That concludes the debate, and this meeting is suspended until half past 2.