 I remind members of the Covid-related measures that are in place and that face coverings should be worn when moving around the chamber and across the Holyrood campus. The final item of business is a member's business debate on motion 792, in the name of Stuart McMillan, on national eye health week 2021. The debate will be concluded without any questions being put, and, with those members who wish to speak in the debate, please press the request to speak buttons now. I call on Stuart McMillan to open the debate up to seven minutes, please, Mr McMillan. Thank you very much, Presiding Officer. I'm delighted to secure this important member's debate, and I want to thank the many MSPs across the chamber who have signed the motion. I also want to thank all those organisations who have provided briefings for the debate, RNNB Scotland, Sight Scotland, Optometry Scotland and the RPP group. As convener of the cross-party group on universal impairment, I every year try to highlight the importance of national eye health week, to raise awareness of the importance of looking after our eye health, but I don't just do it in one week a year. I do talk to constituents and do raise the issue throughout the year also. Since 2006, people in Scotland have been able to attend a free eye health check every two years, and it's vital that we all make use of that service, even if we think that our eyesight is fine. That's because eye examinations not only help to detect changes to the eyes before they affect vision, but they can pick up on other health conditions such as high blood pressure, raised cholesterol, diabetes and increased risk of stroke. Going for your free eye examination every two years isn't just important for your eye health, but it's also important for your overall health. Covid-19 has made us all pay more attention to our physical and mental health, but worryingly there were 4.3 million fewer eye appointments during the pandemic. That is very much understandable, but concerning at the same time. Covid-19 has also resulted in increased waiting times for appointments, with many postponed understandably once again due to the lockdown. The longer patients wait to receive treatment, the more serious their eye condition is likely to become, which can also result in further deterioration of vision. Vital eye care has, however, been available throughout the pandemic at emergency eye care treatment centres and through virtual appointments. Once restrictions were eased, optometrists offered routine eye health checks with measures in place to minimise the risk of spreading Covid-19. At present, there are around 178,000 people in Scotland with sight loss, including almost 3,000 people in my constituency. That national figure is expected to double over the next 20 years. The most common cause of sight loss is age-related macular degeneration, but people of all ages can experience sight loss and with the most common cause among working-age people being diabetic retinopathy. According to the RPP group in Scotland, glaucoma affects approximately 10 per cent of those over the age of 75, or around 47,000 Scots, and it only becomes more common and severe with increasing age. Glaucoma is also responsible for approximately 10 per cent of UK blindness registrations. Considering that 50 per cent of sight loss is avoidable, I cannot stress enough the importance of using the free eye examinations. I did this again this summer and the experience was excellent once again. My message to Scotland is very simple. Now that the restrictions have eased greatly and optometrists are open for business, please pay that visit. Another way we can reduce our chance of developing sight loss and improving our overall health too is to quit smoking. I have never smoked, but I know that people who have both successfully quit, as well as others who have struggled to quit. Research shows that smokers are twice as likely to become officially impaired compared to non-smokers. As a chemicals in the cigarettes can affect the lenses and blood vessels in the eyes. Wearing sunglasses is also important to protecting your vision. Although sometimes we may have a joke about the Scottish weather in the Scottish summer, it does not need to be scorching hot and sunny for ultraviolet light to harm your cornea retina in lenses. Eating a well-balanced diet is also important as a diet rich in vitamins can preserve your eye health for longer. National Eye Health Week is also about recognising the issues that are facing people who are already living with sight loss, and for them the last 18 months have been additionally challenging. Sight Scotland asks over 400 people for their views on how they were impacted by coronavirus restrictions. The main findings show that 70 per cent said that their sight loss had made lockdown an even harder experience, and 43 per cent said that they were still not confident about going back into society with social distancing requirements in place. How we emerge from the pandemic and what our recovery looks like has to be mindful of people living with sight loss. Additional outdoor seating and reconfiguration of public spaces and payments is of course welcome, but we have to consider how that affects visually impaired people. Those adaptations should seek to improve accessibility for everyone. They should not make navigating payments paths or parks more difficult for people who are visually impaired. That is an issue that has come up in the cross-party current visual impairment in the past, which Miles Briggs is very much aware of. It is also important that we improve support and services available to people living with sight loss, as the latest research carried out once again by Sight Scotland showed that 55 per cent of participants said that they had not enough information about where they could find support after their diagnosis, and 83 per cent said that it was important to provide more support for family members and carers. In addition to that, 58 per cent said that they had not been made aware of financial support available to them. Therefore, welcome at Sight Scotland's new national support line, launched today by the minister for visually impaired people to access advice and talk through concerns. That number is 0800 024 8973. The Sight Scotland support line is part of Sight Scotland's new family wellbeing service, which aims to reach everyone living with sight loss across Scotland. It is free and open nine in the morning to 5pm Monday to Friday, and a person can get in touch by telephone, email or by requesting a call back from an adviser. RNIB Scotland offers advice and support by phoning its help line on 030 123 99 99, and it can even ask a lexer to call its help line without needing to touch your phone. It also has various other services and resources to help to rebuild any lost confidence. I am sorry that I cannot attend the optometry Scotland webinar tomorrow, entitled Future of Community Eye Care in Scotland, as I will be attending a funeral of a former MSP Bruce McPhee. However, I encourage MSPs and their staff to log on and engage in that. I know that Optometry Scotland works very well with the Scottish Government and I encourage that engagement to continue. Sight is the sense that most people say they fear losing the most. Taking care of your vision is a key, and it is very much key to prevention. With that, I want to thank everyone once again for signing the motion, so we can have the debate and certainly look forward to other contributions from colleagues. I welcome the opportunity to speak in the national eye health week and congratulate my colleague Stuart McMillan on securing it. Eye sight is one of the most important senses. 80 per cent of what we perceive comes through our sense of sight. This week, the national eye health week has been established to communicate the importance of good eye health, and it rightly encourages people from every walk of life to take better care of their eyes and have regular sight tests. There are five key areas to protecting and promoting good eye health, and Stuart McMillan has covered in more detail than perhaps I will in my time, but it is worth reiterating that healthy diet is really important, because studies show that what we eat can affect our vision. Antioxidants can help to prevent retinal damage, and one antioxidant that is hugely beneficial is lutein. Exercise is important. Lack of exercise contributes significantly to several eye conditions, particularly among people aged over 60 and over. Reduced alcohol is an interesting one, because excessive alcohol consumption can lead to serious health conditions, which can have a detrimental effect on eye health. Stopping smoking after ageing is the biggest factor for developing macular degeneration. My younger sister, Buffy, is an ophthalmic nurse specialist. She specialises in glaucoma care, and she keeps me and her patients right with her expert knowledge. It will be interesting to hear from her later on what she thinks of the debate, because I know that she is watching tonight. Optometrists play a crucial role in our community. However, as with all health professions, they have been particularly hard-hit by the pandemic. Over the course of the pandemic, I engaged with Optometry Scotland under the negative impact that the pandemic has had on Optometry Scotland with eight months of no face-to-face appointments. Sight Scotland has carried out research where they spoke to people with visual impairment, and those close to them in Scotland since lockdown. I thank Sight Scotland for their briefing ahead of the debate. The report highlighted that 70 per cent of people said that their sight loss has made lockdown a worse experience. 50 per cent would not be confident about offering support to someone with visual impairment, and a large number of people were unable to attend their optometrists and therefore attended hospital instead. I recognise the impact that Covid has had on Optometry services and encourage the Scottish Government to ensure that they are supported in the upcoming budget. We have heard that, potentially, the optometrists are looking for a 3 per cent fee increase that has been required or requested by Optometry Scotland. In 2016-17 alone, community eye care in Scotland saved the NHS £71 million through carrying out £1.8 million primary care or primary eye examinations. Importantly, the community optometry services in 2016-17 stopped over 370,000 people from attending hospital for eye issues. In 2019, I went along to see for myself the very positive impact that community optometry can have when I visited Stranraer Speck Savers, where I met the chair of Optometry Scotland, Dave Quigley, prescribing optometrists Elaine Hawthorne and the communications officer, Ross Stevens. During the visit, I was able to hear directly about how, as well as identifying any specific issues with sight that an eye check, which is free in Scotland, can help to identify conditions such as diabetes, high blood pressure arthritis and even signs of dementia. I was able to hear about the benefits of having a 3D eye scan done, which can allow the optometrists to have a greater picture of the eye and therefore be able to pick up any developing issues early, preventing late diagnosis and the need for secondary acute care. One interesting thing that was highlighted is that the optometrists are not recognised as allied health professionals, but they are saying that that would help them to be better at working in partnership with the national health service. One thing that I would ask the minister to consider is whether allied health professionals would be added to the list as optometry personnel would be part of that. Thank you, Presiding Officer. I realise the time is on. I want to again welcome the debate and thank Optometry Scotland for all that they do. I encourage everyone to regularly have their sight checked. I now call on Miles Briggs up to four minutes, please, Mr Briggs. Thank you, Presiding Officer. I thank Stuart McMillan for bringing forward this important debate this evening, but more importantly, for all the work that he does in this Parliament campaigning on eye health issues, it is really important that we recognise that as well. The national eye health week is an excellent opportunity to highlight the importance of good eye health. I also start by paying tribute to Sight Scotland and R&IB, as members already have, for their useful briefings ahead of this evening's debate. Both charities do exceptional work on supporting blind and partially sighted people across Scotland. In the Edinburgh event news today, I noted Edinburgh OAP Charlie Burns, who is 83, and his daughter Gail Burns praised Sight Scotland for their new national support line. Charlie is being diagnosed with macular degeneration at the most common cause of sight loss, but Gail got in touch with Sight Scotland to ask for what support would be available to both Charlie and herself and said that it has made a huge difference to have that support at an early stage after her dad's diagnosis. The experience of Charlie and Gail reinforces recent findings by Sight Scotland, where 83 per cent of participants said that it was important to provide more support to family members and carers, and 87 per cent said that support with the emotional impact of sight loss was so important. We are facing huge challenges in preventing sight loss across Scotland. There are currently 178,000 people in Scotland who have sight loss, with that number expected to double over the next 20 years. The pandemic has clearly had a negative impact on eye health, with fewer eye checks being carried out, but that is over the past year and a half. In my region, for example, in Edinburgh, low-diam patients are experiencing extremely long waits for ophthalmology services. All that combined presents a number of concerns that I hope that the debate can bring to ministers' attention. I also noticed ahead of the debate that there has been a significant call to ministers by the sector to look at a proper long-term funding settlement. Optometry Scotland had asked for a minimum budget increase of 3 per cent annually in real terms on fees and for the Scottish Government to also agree an annual process around reviewing and negotiating eye care examination fees. I hope that something that the minister can touch upon when she is closing the debate on how we can make sure that services recover post-pandemic and that as many people as possible are going to be able to access eye health services across Scotland. On a separate note, at the end of the last session, SNP ministers had announced that they were also withdrawing funding for a replacement Princess Alexandria at Hypervillian. Throughout the past year, I, along with other colleagues—I see Sarah Boyack in the chamber still as well—have campaigned to make sure that we did see a U-turn on that from ministers. It is also an important opportunity to highlight the need of Edinburgh and the Lothians for information to be brought forward on when we will see that long-term new hospital replacement brought forward. I also appreciate whether or not ministers could align a timetable and timescale for that replacement hospital and whether or not ministers have also looked at the need specifically for maintenance for the old eye pavilion here in the capital, which is no longer fit for purpose and which already is demonstrating significant challenges, including old lifts that are often out of use. To conclude, Deputy Presiding Officer, because I know that time is tight, can I put on my record, like others have already, a huge thank to opticians across Scotland and healthcare professionals who continue to provide eye health checks during the pandemic? Most importantly, can I fully support the call by Stuart McMillan, and up Tomasherys Scotland and RNIB Scotland to encourage people who have not had an examination over the last two years to now return to practices to get their eye health checked? I also want to start by congratulating Stuart McMillan for the work that he does and for securing this excellent debate tonight. For the praises rightly given to RNIB Scotland, Optometry Scotland, and I also want to thank Site Scotland for the fantastic work that it is doing across the country. I am keen to support eye health for my constituents in the Lothians, whether it is at the very local level, whether it is getting access to emergency services. Over the past year, as Miles Briggs has said, it has really been brought to the forefront by firstly the cancellation of the new eye pavilion, and then the very welcome U-turn of a commitment that we will get that eye pavilion. However, as Miles Briggs has said, it is five years off, even though there is a huge amount of work that has been done for it by the NHS Lothian. Stuart McMillan's motion rightly highlights how vital it is for people to book their eye check every two years. It is free, and I think that the impact that the pandemic has had has made many people not do that. It is understandable that people are nervous about going back to clinical settings. The briefing that we had from RNIB Scotland outlined just some of the fantastic steps clinicians are making so that it is a safe service, so that people do not need to be worried and that they can get their eyes checked. The work that is being done by optometrists, which was highlighted by Emma Harper and Miles Briggs, was very important during the pandemic, but crucially going forward. I also hope that the minister will say what response she is going to give to the request from Optometry Scotland for a fee increase this year, but also an agreement about fees being reviewed going forward so that they can plan ahead. As Miles Briggs has said, the announcement about the new eye pavilion in Edinburgh really lifted people's spirits. It was a welcomed U-turn. It took a lot of campaigning to get there. It came up at a lot of hustings before the election, but I think that the other thing that really struck me was the series of articles by the evening news in Edinburgh that told about people's real life experiences, how important all of our eye services are, whether it is at the community level, whether it is going to the eye pavilion, but also just the emergency experience that people had, where, literally, their eyes were saved in a matter of minutes and the access to that clinical expertise and the excellence. I know from personal experience that the very long-hours staff do, the 24-hour service, even through the pandemic, that has been absolutely fantastic and we need to thank those staff. Let's see that we get the rapid progress on the new eye hospital. As we have said, a lot of work has been done by NHS Lothian already on the project. A key thing is thinking about the community services that sit alongside that emergency treatment, not just getting your eye checked, but making sure that people follow up and making sure that any diagnosis is followed up. I really want to thank the awareness-raising work that has been done right across the NHS and third sector organisations to make sure that we see improved eye health outcomes for people across Scotland. I think that that is what this debate is all about. I also want to urge everyone to book an eye check-up and then book another one in two years' time. It is not a one-off and it is a free, accessible service and it is vital for everybody's health and wellbeing. I want to thank the Presiding Officer for our understanding that I will not be able to stay for the whole of this debate, but it is great to be here. I think that the energy and enthusiasm for everybody for that service is really important for us all to agree on tonight. I thank Stuart McMillan for tabling his motion on national health week. I have the pleasure of being a member of the cross-party group on visual impairment of which Stuart is the long-standing convener and I was pleased to see that it will continue to have a large active membership in this new parliamentary term after attending the AGM earlier this month. Presiding Officer, I want to take the opportunity of national eye health week to say thank you to all those who look after our eye health, to our optometrists, our opticians and everyone who helps us to take care of our vision. Key to that care are those eye health checks that are local optometry practice. Since Labour introduced free eye health checks in 2006, anyone in Scotland can book an eye check-up every two years at no expense and I would strongly encourage everyone to do so, because we can have an eye condition frankly without knowing it, conditions such as glaucoma and diabetic retinopathy affect the eyes before they affect the vision. Whilst the changes in those conditions initially cause aren't always noticeable, they can be picked up by an optometrist and eye health check. They can then be treated before the affect site slowing the progression of that condition. Eye checks can also be crucial in picking up conditions before they get worse. I want to very briefly share my own experience. I noticed what appeared to be a few floating objects in my eye in a little flash of light. I didn't think much of it, but I popped into my local spec savers, although of course other brands are available. I described my condition and asked for advice. I was seen straight away, I was diagnosed with a torn retina very quickly. I was referred to the hospital that day to see the on-call opnothologist and the next morning they carried out the laser treatment to repair that tear. Had I not had that prompt service, that tear could easily have become very quickly a detached retina and affected my vision permanently. As Stuart McMillan highlighted, as well as picking up conditions, eye checks can also detect general health conditions such as diabetes, high blood pressure and heart disease. The ability to pick up on both eye and general conditions through those checks makes eye health checks one of the most vital forms of preventative medicine. Like all health services, optometry practices have had to adapt to the pandemic to create a Covid-secure environment and minimise the risk of transmission of infection. They have done so superbly and their constituents can be assured that it is safe to attend their local optometry practice. Despite that safe environment, it has been worrying to hear in the debate that there has been a significant reduction in the number of people choosing to attend eye health checks over the past 18 months. As a result, fewer eye conditions will have been picked up while still at the early stages, which means that more people will have been diagnosed with more advanced eye conditions. We need to keep high light on the importance of those routine eye health checks. If someone is diagnosed with a more advanced condition, it is vital that they do not face that diagnosis without support. Being diagnosed with an eye condition can leave people feeling shocked, saddened and scared about their future. They have worries about whether they will retain their employment and be able to pay the bills and continue to take part in the things that they love. That can be deeply overwhelming. However, it does not have to be like that. We know that, with proper support, people, even with the most complex eye conditions, can often continue to maintain financial stability in their jobs and be eligible for payments to cover the increased cost of living independently and continue to do the things that they love. A key group of people who provide support to help those who do that are eye clinic liaison officers. Based on eye clinics, they discuss the impact that eye conditions have on the patient's life with them, listen to any fears or worries that they have, answer questions that they may not have had at the time that they were given a diagnosis. They can also advise on services from rehabilitation to financial support and the benefits of registering as sight impaired or severely impaired. That support can be both emotional and practical, making it easier for people to get used to how they are going to live with sight loss. In this national health week, I want to thank all our ECLOs, our opnothologists, our optometrists who have continued to work through the pandemic to detect, treat and help people with eye condition. In fact, everyone of our health workers who have done so. I also want to thank all those charities and groups who support for people living with visual impairment from RNIB to sight Scotland for the extraordinary work that they do. They really have made a difference to so many people's lives. I now call on Maria Todd Minister to wind up the debate up to seven minutes. I have listened with great interest to the debate this evening. I want to add my thanks to Stuart McMillan for giving us this opportunity to mark national eye health week, and to discuss eye health and eye care services in Scotland. I would also like to thank Goss Grick, pettinger and optometrists who are doing well practice. I had the pleasure of visiting on Monday, and I visited sight Scotland this morning to help to launch their new national support line for visually impaired people and their families. It is a pleasure to hear my colleague Miles Briggs mention Charlie and his daughter Gail who I met this morning. Gail spoke so eloquently about the support that sight Scotland gave them when Charlie first developed visual impairment, and she talked about telephoning that helpline and it being like a warm blanket wrapped around her. Wonderful to hear such a glowing report of a service. I am sure that we can all agree that general ophthalmic services is one of the many NHS success stories in Scotland. I can assure members that remuneration for the service and the system for reviewing such remuneration is under active consideration, and I am absolutely confident that we will reach a mutually agreeable solution. The introduction in 2006 of three universal NHS funded eye examination sets Scotland apart from the rest of the UK. This Government is committed to maintaining this policy for the first time. Everyone in Scotland, regardless of their personal situation, had access to an eye examination free of charge. A regular eye examination in Scotland provides a full health check of a patient's eyes, as well as a normal sight test. As others have said, that helps to detect early signs of sight-threatening conditions, as well as other serious health conditions. Unlike the rest of the UK, patients in Scotland can also be seen by an optometrist for free as often as it is considered clinically necessary in between the regular eye examinations, and that supports the on-going care of patients, allowing referrals to the hospital eye service to be refined and for patients to be monitored. It also allows emergency eye problems to be seen in the community and treated or appropriately referred, as Colin Smyth outlined. Optometrists in Scotland are the first port of call for any eye problem, with the majority of GPs and other healthcare professionals signposting patients to their local optometrists. That has helped to reduce the burden on GPs and hospital services. Pre-Covid Scotland had nearly 50 per cent fewer new hospital eye service outpatient appointments than in England. That service is enhanced by the increasing number of optometrists who have undergone further training to become independent prescribers, and, thus, are able to issue NHS prescriptions for eye problems. Over 350 community optometrists are now fully trained independent prescribers, a quarter of the workforce in Scotland, and more than one third of all IP optometrists in the UK. I believe that we should continue to grow that number. Despite those successes, it is important that we do more to promote eye health and having a regular eye examination. The Scottish Government will continue to work with others to do that through a number of different ways. Firstly, we launched recently EyesScot, Eyes.Scot Scotland's new national website for information about eye health and eye care services. Eyes.Scot is the first website of its kind in the UK and supports public and professionals by providing easy access to information about how best to look after our eyes and vision. Secondly, we will ensure that national initiatives such as the right care, right place winter campaign continue to promote the importance of having a regular eye examination and contacting an optometrist as the first port of call for eye problems. Thirdly, we will work with the national Scottish eye care for everyone, the C group, to run targeted awareness raising campaigns among specific patient groups where take-up of eye examinations is lower, including those living in more disadvantaged communities. The Scottish Government remains committed to ensuring that Scotland's eye care services remains world-class. That is why we have set out ambitious but achievable plans in our NHS recovery plan and programme for government to manage more patients in the community and closer to their homes. I want to take the opportunity to briefly set out some of those in more detail. Firstly, from April 23, we will begin to roll out a national low vision service for visually impaired people, provided in the community by accredited community optometrists and dispensing opticians. That will standardise low vision services across Scotland, improving access and reducing waiting times, particularly in areas where the service is currently provided in hospitals. The physical and mental wellbeing of visually impaired people will be improved, helping to maintain their independence, reducing isolation and the need for other support services. Secondly, this year, we will pilot a new community glaucoma service when fully rolled out. Approximately 20,000 lower-risk glaucoma patients will be discharged from hospital and managed in the community by accredited IP community optometrists. Thirdly, from next summer, we will support IP optometrists to manage more anterior or front eye conditions in the community. That will help to reduce the burden on GPs and in hospitals. As well as those new services, the Scottish Government will continue to provide significant investment in new digital technologies such as teleophthalmology equipment and a once for Scotland electronic patient record to support two-way communication between community optometrists and hospital ophthalmologists. The EPR in particular is an absolute game changer that will ensure regional and national working across Scotland, ensuring that a patient's optical record is shared across the primary and secondary care interface. That will prevent duplication of effort to provide robust outcome data, ensure that ophthalmologists can provide meaningful feedback to optometrists and support more patients being managed in the community. On the eye pavilion, as was raised by Miles Briggs, construction is due to be complete in 2026. I want to finish by putting on record this Government's sincere thanks to our eye care professionals and third sector organisations. Your outstanding dedication, commitment and professionalism has ensured that patients have continued to be safely managed and supported right through the pandemic and will ensure that we continue to be able to deliver for the people in Scotland.