Health and Community Care Committee, 18 Mar 2003

Meeting date: Tuesday, March 18, 2003

Official Report 99KB pdf

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Petitions

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Greater Glasgow NHS Board (Consultation) (PE453)<br />Fife NHS Board<br />(Right for Fife Business Plan) (PE498 and PE499)

Item 3 is on petitions about national health service consultations. Members will recall that we took evidence from witnesses on changes in the national health service in Fife and Glasgow. Members have copies of letters from Malcolm Chisholm—the Minister for Health and Community Care—the Dunfermline Press Group and Letitia Murphy.

The committee must decide what to do with the petitions at this stage. We may either take no further action on the petitions, or we may correspond further with the petitioners, the Executive or any other person. However, the fact is that we would not get responses before Parliament's dissolution. We could also refer the petitions back to the Public Petitions Committee with a recommendation that the petitions be reallocated to our successor committee.

We have been considering the petitions for a considerable time; away back, we appointed a reporter on the situation in the Greater Glasgow NHS Board. We must acknowledge that the Scottish Executive has moved significantly on the issue; the minister's letter details the lengths to which his department has gone to address the issues that the petitions raise. I move that we take no further action on the petitions and that we consider the matter closed.

This is an unusual situation in that I would recommend a different course of action if Parliament were not dissolving soon. However, I seek clarification on whether the petitioners have been given a copy of the minister's eight-page letter.

They have.

Have the petitioners from Fife been given a copy of the 11 March submission to Fife NHS Board, which was a comprehensive report?

We are not sure, but we do not think that the Fife petitioners received a copy of that report.

I am minded to support what Margaret Jamieson suggests, but only if the petitioners are given full and up-to-date information. If the petitioners remain dissatisfied, they could lodge another petition in the next Parliament. I do not think that we should judge whether a petitioner should be satisfied with the ministerial response, neither can we judge whether the petitioners should be satisfied with what Fife NHS Board has done. We must give the petitioners information about the health board's position and let the petitioners judge that.

Mary Scanlon has made the point—a good one—that I intended to make. At this stage, I think that what Margaret Jamieson moved is the only sensible action that the committee can take.

Is it agreed that we bring the matter of the petitions to a close at this stage?

Members indicated agreement.

We will also clarify Mary Scanlon's point about the 11 March submission.

That concludes the public part of the meeting.

Meeting continued in private until 14:47.