Contents
- Attendance
- Mental Health
- Targets
- Petition
Petition
NHS Centre for Integrative Care (PE1568)
The third item on the agenda is a petition that has been referred to the committee by the Public Petitions Committee. This is our first look at petition PE1568. I ask members for comments—including on how they wish to proceed with the petition.
We should keep the petition open. Other work is on-going on public consultation and due process around that; we await the outcomes of that work. It would also be helpful if the committee were to write to the Scottish Health Council for its views.
I have been impressed by the fervour with which the petition has been presented to Parliament: there is a demonstration outside at lunchtime. The supporters of the service are to be commended. We are listening.
We have all received a great deal of correspondence on the petition, and many of the centre’s patients feel that the in-patient component of treatment is invaluable and important for their recovery. Without it, the offering would not be the same. The centre helps people with chronic pain and chronic fatigue syndrome, so the issue of travel is important because the effort of getting there might negate the benefits that they receive. I agree that we should keep the petition open.
I would echo that. A huge amount of work has gone into the petition. I commend the group behind it for bringing it to the committee’s attention. Our writing to the Scottish Health Council to understand its approach would make a lot of sense; it will keep the petition live and we will take the matter from there.
I hope that we will invite the Scottish Health Council to speak to the committee, in due course.
All committee members have had correspondence, and a number of us have made representations to the health board and others. We all have personal views on the issue, but the committee agrees to keep the petition open and let the process take place. Thank you.
12:03 Meeting continued in private until 12:45.Previous
Targets