Chamber and committees

You will all be happy to know—as will the other witnesses who are waiting to be on our next panel—that we are nearly at the end of this session.

What are your views on the bill’s duty on public bodies to help to “facilitate the implementation of” the national park plans rather than just to “have regard to” the plans? How would that affect the operation of your public bodies?

Do you feel that much more emphasis needs to be put on collecting the high-quality data to be analysed, in order to help everybody to play their role across the public bodies responsible for monitoring the targets that will be set?

I have already asked my question, convener—oh, sorry. I have another one. It is my turn to be mistaken. I am sorry, convener.

With regard to enforcement of the targets, are you content with the framework in the bill for what happens if targets are not met? How will that interact with ESS’s existing powers in relation to Scottish ministers’ non-compliance with environmental law?

Could the aims and objectives of your own public body come into conflict with the national park plans? How would that be worked out if you had to help to implement a national park plan?

Would this committee, in whatever guise it takes in the next parliamentary session, also need to be alive to ensuring that the resourcing is reflected across the board, not just for you but for the other organisations that need to be doing this work?

Thank you.

The latest figures, which were published yesterday, show that a record 149 people in my health board area of NHS Ayrshire and Arran have been waiting more than a year to see a cardiologist. Will the minister reassure me and the around 13,000 people who are living with cardiovascular disease in my constituency that CVD will remain a priority for the Scottish Government, with a dedicated resource to support the improvement of cardiology services?

What more can the Scottish Government do to reinforce the message that people who visit beaches, such as those in my Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley constituency, must act responsibly and must not interfere or inappropriately interact with wild animals when they encounter them in and around our seas? Our beaches are very busy. I think that the issue must be tackled early, and in the school setting.

Will the member give way?

It is clear that we are facing significant challenges in how we support individuals with neurodevelopmental conditions in Scotland—challenges that demand not only honest recognition, but bold and compassionate action.

We are all acutely aware of the profound pressures on our mental health services. Those pressures were hugely intensified by the Covid-19 pandemic. Many individuals, such as my own loved one, became unable to mask their neurodiversities when the world went back to normal, and their whole lives were impacted. Believe me—total burnout and withdrawal from life for more than a year is horrendous.

Demand has risen sharply, not just for CAHMS but for adult services as well. More people are seeking answers, assessments and support for neurodevelopmental conditions such as autism and ADHD, and they are not wrong to expect timely, effective care. We as a Parliament cannot shy away from the fact that there are far too many people being left to wait, too many families struggling to keep their heads above water and too many GPs and educational settings bearing an unsustainable burden.

I fully recognise the distress that is caused by the current situation. I have heard from many constituents about the subject. I have heard from parents who are battling for a diagnosis and from adults who are coming to terms with a new understanding of themselves but who face years-long waiting lists for assessment and treatment—or, indeed, who have no way to get on to those waiting lists because they are closed to patients unless there is a demonstrable, co-occurring, severe and enduring mental health condition.

One of my constituents has lodged a petition with the Parliament, entitled “Improve access to ADHD diagnosis and treatment across Scotland”. Our constituents should not have to lodge petitions to get access to healthcare.

Despite my own child’s four-year wait for assessment, I consider my family to be lucky—unlike the family who came to see me in my office last Friday. They have a child who is experiencing acute mental distress, but despite being told that their child is most likely autistic, they have no way to seek assessment as their GP’s multiple referrals are being knocked back. They are pushed between services: the school is trying to support through decreasing attendance and a GP is recognising the mental distress that is being experienced, but a system that rejects all the evidence is saying that it is all down to their suspected, but as yet undiagnosed, neurodivergence. That is not acceptable. We cannot have a system that sees people’s mental health spiral down due to unmet neurodevelopmental needs, nor a system that requires such deterioration in order to access the pathway.

The Scottish Government has committed to delivering the national neurodevelopmental specification and we are all avidly watching to see its manifestation. The specification is vitally important because it aims to ensure that children and young people can access timely, co-ordinated support regardless of whether they have a formal diagnosis. I know that that is supposed to be what is happening now—it is a fundamental shift, from waiting to identify need to responding to it early and holistically.

We must also ensure that services in local areas are resourced, supported and trained to undertake that work. That is what was supposed to happen for my own family, but there was no support on the ground. It is one thing to say that no diagnosis is needed and another thing to have services responding to the real and urgent need that all our inboxes tell us is there and that requires it.

We cannot overlook the reality of the workforce pressures, the structural complexity of services or the trauma that delays can cause. We also cannot pretend that private diagnosis is a viable option for most families—and, when it is used, we need a transparent, clinically safe, shared care framework that allows for collaboration with NHS professionals, not the blanket refusals that we are all hearing about.

We cannot shy away from the scale of the challenge. I acknowledge that progress is being made in the background but it is yet to be felt on the ground by my constituents. Let us work together across the chamber with a cross-party summit being convened to ensure that every Scot—whether diagnosed or undiagnosed, child or adult—gets the support that they need to thrive.