Chamber and committees

It hardly seems like a year since many of us attended our local remembrance Sunday events as newly elected constituency and regional MSPs to remember our armed services personnel. Who would have thought that, as we entered this year’s national period of remembrance, we would be watching the unfolding illegal invasion of Ukraine?

Reading the daily intelligence updates from the MOD has become part of my routine: narrative and images of the devastation caused, the humanitarian effort and the absolute resolve of the Ukrainian population to win back their territory. At this time of year, the daily updates appear against the backdrop of remembrance, when we pay tribute to the ultimate sacrifice of those individuals from Scotland, the UK, the Commonwealth and allied nations who gave their lives in order to ensure the freedom and peace that we enjoy today.

The imagery captured on social media is a far cry from the photos that I expect many of us have tucked away of family members who saw active service in conflict or in peacekeeping roles across the world—photos like the one that I recently found of my Uncle Adam, who endured the claustrophobic environment of a Royal Navy minesweeper during world war two. As my son described him, he seemed to be smiling in the face of fear. It is no surprise that he returned to civilian life traumatised and suffering from what we now recognise as post-traumatic stress disorder, which went unrecognised and untreated for the rest of his life.

Thankfully we are in a very different place today. Many veterans leave our armed forces with a positive experience and highly transferable skills. However, many experience a more difficult return to civilian life, and the work of veterans charities in Scotland—Erskine, Poppyscotland, Veterans Scotland and many others—is key to ensuring that there is practical support and help in the right place, at the right time.

I am pleased that the Scottish Government commitment to charities and other bodies continues. I particularly welcome the establishment of the Scottish Veterans Care Network, to ensure parity of access to specialist services, and the continued funding for Combat Stress, ensuring that support for veterans who are experiencing compromised mental health continues.

Over the years, the north-east has seen a cohort of veterans take their skill sets into the energy sector. However, it can be difficult for them to navigate into the sector. Therefore, I welcome the revamped veterans employability strategic group, which I hope will support employment opportunities for service leavers such as those seeking to move into our growing renewables sector.

I particularly welcome the commitment in the refreshed strategy for our veterans to support and better understand the veteran population coming into the criminal justice system—frequently a highly vulnerable group with enduring and complex needs.

The on-going cost of living crisis is hitting those who are least able to afford increased energy and food bills the hardest. I am very grateful to all the people working and volunteering in my constituency of Aberdeen South and North Kincardine for their work in supporting our veteran community, providing practical and emotional support across a range of projects, initiatives and services. The support that is provided by the Scottish veterans fund will be crucial in ensuring that many of those local projects can continue to provide vital community support to our veterans and their families during this period of uncertainty and worry for many.

To conclude, at this time of remembrance, I offer my deep gratitude to all our military personnel—those lost in conflict, those still serving and those now returned to our communities—for their sacrifice, commitment and selflessness.

I thank Carol Mochan for bringing the debate to mark allied health professions day to the chamber. It is, sadly, slightly delayed but nonetheless highlights the vital role that our allied health professionals play in health, social care, education and the voluntary sector, their tireless commitment during the Covid-19 pandemic and the positive impact that they have on peoples’ lives—I think of my experience of the compassionate response of occupational therapists to my elderly father after he fell through a glass door and ended up completely losing his confidence, and I remember the radiographers who x-rayed my son’s broken arm, on three occasions, at the Royal Aberdeen children’s hospital and the physiotherapists who patiently supported my brother-in-law as he learned to walk again after a life-threatening stroke.

We know that people are emerging from the Covid-19 pandemic with increasingly complex health needs. The rehabilitation framework and the once-for-Scotland approach recognise the demand that is associated with pre-existing long-term health conditions and the needs of people living with those long-term effects of Covid-19. It is also important to acknowledge other pressures such as staffing and recruitment challenges, our ageing population, climate change and, of course, the health inequalities that were starkly brought into focus by the recent University of Glasgow report linking austerity measures with excess deaths in Great Britain. However, today is about recognition and appreciation of the contribution that is made by a skilled, experienced and committed allied healthcare workforce.

I welcome the additional funding for psychological therapies and interventions, the launch of the national conversation to improve support for people with dementia and their carers and this week’s announcement of £37 million of Scottish Government funding over the next four years to help future-proof our NHS against rising demand.

There is no doubt that we are experiencing radical changes in the delivery of healthcare, which mean that the knowledge and skills that are required by allied health professionals have changed, too. I will cite an example of a small-scale but innovative approach that supports students in their practice-based learning.

The school of health sciences at Robert Gordon University has been leading a contemporary, community-based education opportunity that brings tangible benefit to older people in the most deprived areas in my constituency of Aberdeen South and North Kincardine. The Thursday physio drop-in is a weekly, student led physiotherapy clinic, comprising an over-55s exercise class along with advice on mobility, posture and strength, all followed by a cup of tea in a familiar setting within walking distance of people’s homes.

Building on that, a new student-led law clinic, recently launched in a busy GP practice in my constituency, will offer law students the opportunity to gain experience through providing free legal advice to people on low incomes. Barriers to health and wellbeing are complex: housing, finance and negotiating consumer rights are all barriers to the basic requirements of a healthy life—our best life. A first in Scotland, the community law clinic connects justice and allied healthcare to tackle the root causes of issues that contribute to poor mental and physical health, which is particularly relevant during the on-going cost of living crisis. I commend Hannah Moneagle from Robert Gordon University, Dr Adrian Crofton, lead clinician at the Torry medical practice, and all those involved in establishing that truly multidisciplinary project.

I commend all our allied health professionals for their commitment and resilience and for their contribution to making life better for us all, and again thank Carol Mochan for bringing this important debate to the chamber.

Before we move on to other areas of questioning, I will stay with Mr Logue and pick up on Mr McQueen’s point that the bulk of the budget is taken up with staff costs. I assume that the position is similar in the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service. I am interested in the options or scenarios that you are looking at in the budget, however difficult they may be. Are there implications of maintaining staff costs but having to adjust things such as recruitment, or having a pay freeze or that type of scenario?

That brings us to the end of the session, so many thanks for your attendance this morning. If there are any other issues that members want to raise, we will follow those up in writing.

We will have a short suspension to allow our witnesses to leave.

I was quite heartened to read that it sounds as though the release process has improved. However, as the Wise Group articulates in its letter, the difficulties outwith prison gates seem to be the challenge and, as you have all articulated, access to GPs is an issue.

I am aware through contact with NHS Grampian in my constituency role that there is an endeavour to encourage the general public to embrace new ways of working in terms of their not necessarily always requiring to see a GP for a health concern. There are other options, such as nurse practitioners, that the public can be signposted to and can access. In the context of this issue, might that be considered so that people who are vulnerable, have addiction issues and are on release from prison can similarly be signposted elsewhere?

On that note, as per the recommendation in the committee paper, should we write to NHS Scotland? We could copy the Wise Group’s letter to it and raise some of the concerns that we have discussed this morning.

Absolutely. We could perhaps also keep Angela Constance, the Minister for Drugs Policy, informed as well.

Do members agree to that approach and to share the information with relevant committees?

Members indicated agreement.

That completes our public business for today. Our next meeting will be on Wednesday 9 November, when we will continue taking evidence as part of our pre-budget scrutiny process.

Thanks very much.

Thank you very much.

I would like to come back to a comment that you made in your opening remarks, Ms Medhurst. It relates to the growing proportion of the prison population who are vulnerable in terms of age, complex medical and personal care needs and so on. I am interested to hear more about what the likely impact of that might be on that group of prisoners in terms of resourcing the necessary staff, training, case management and trauma-informed approaches. I am interested in a bit more commentary on the implications of pressure in that regard.