Chamber and committees

That was useful.

The complaints landscape is already quite cluttered, so adding a new complaints process will have practical implications. I have said all along that the devil will be in the bill’s implementation. Do you think that having an extra complaints body would cause issues? Is it more a case of replicating the work that you mentioned about how different bodies work together to make sure that complaints are resolved and that people feel supported, or are we reaching a critical mass with regard to the number of bodies for people to complain to, whereby the process is becoming so complicated that it is impenetrable?

Thank you—that was useful.

I will return to the idea of advocacy, which is mentioned in the bill. In your opinion, should the part about complaints be changed in order to better integrate advocacy, or should the sections of the bill that deal with advocacy be changed to better reflect expectations about how people will be helped to navigate the process? We have heard from a lot of people that the provision of information is an important part of the advocacy role and that it gives people the tools that they need to navigate what is, as you have shown, a complicated system.

Absolutely—the culture aspect with regard to complaints is important. I suppose that there is only so much that the bill can do to get us to where we want to be on that. Other colleagues might want to cover that point.

Yes—that would be really helpful.

I will go a wee bit further into that. The charter of rights and responsibilities is in the bill, but—as you rightly said—we need to ensure that it has some real effect. Which bodies should have responsibilities within that? Should that be made explicit in the bill in order to help people to see where the responsibilities flow and to whom they should speak? Should we demystify the structures for the people who access social care?

We have heard from some people that, if social care was operating at the level that we would wish for—if there was no delayed discharge and nobody was waiting for assessment—provision of advocacy and information might not be needed. Will you outline why the right to advocacy and information is so integral to ensuring that people’s right to social care support can be realised?

That is great—thank you.

September marks fetal alcohol spectrum disorder awareness month, and I am grateful to my friend Rona Mackay for securing this important debate. Since 1999, 9 September has been international FASD day. The ninth day of the ninth month signifies that abstaining from alcohol for the nine months of pregnancy can help to ensure that babies will not be born with FASD.

Fetal alcohol spectrum disorder is not the only outcome of drinking alcohol in pregnancy—doing so also increases the risk of miscarriage, premature birth, stillbirth and sudden infant death syndrome. The figures from the Scottish FASD strategy group show that, on average, of pregnancies in which the baby is exposed to alcohol in Scotland, 15 per cent involve high and frequent consumption. The figures show that the United Kingdom experiences the fourth-highest prenatal alcohol exposure of anywhere in the world. In Scotland, around 3 to 5 per cent of the population is estimated to have FASD, in contrast to an estimated 0.8 per cent globally. That underscores the scale of the work that needs to be done.

We have heard from members across the chamber about the impact of FASD on individuals. That has been covered well, so I will not repeat the remarks that have been made. However, earlier in the session, I had the pleasure, as I am sure many colleagues had, of speaking to people who have been diagnosed with FASD, when they held an exhibition in the Parliament. Many spoke of the stigma that they felt as a result of a health condition that was not of their own making. Some spoke passionately about how they used their experience to educate other people about the challenges that they face when it comes to their health and the challenges and barriers that affect them in relation to other services.

One issue that was highlighted was that people with FASD are often diagnosed with other neurodevelopmental conditions and therefore receive the wrong treatment and support. It is therefore important, as Rona Mackay said, that clinicians get the right training to appropriately diagnose those who present looking for help.

I take the opportunity to highlight some of the incredible work that is being done in my region to support those with FASD. The North Lanarkshire Alcohol and Drug Partnership provides face-to-face training for professionals and parents and carers, peer support so that people can share experience, and family events and meet-ups to support families and those who are diagnosed with FASD.

In Falkirk and across the Forth Valley NHS Board area, Scottish Families Affected by Drugs and Alcohol offers remarkable support to those who are affected by FASD conditions. The Forth Valley family support team schedules sessions that last around an hour. It travels across Forth Valley and frequently uses rooms in libraries, community centres and treatment services to meet family members, thereby taking support to those who need it. That is in addition to the work of an incredible array of third sector organisations and charities that work around the clock to deliver support in both health board areas that span the Central Scotland region and, indeed, more broadly across Scotland.

We must continue our efforts to prevent fetal alcohol spectrum disorder and to treat addiction issues with the urgency that they require. That is why we cannot forget that FASD often exacerbates existing forms of poverty and deprivation. As a result, we must work in tandem to continue to raise awareness of the risks of drinking during pregnancy, redouble our efforts to reduce the overall population’s consumption of alcohol and ensure that people who are affected by FASD are identified and supported appropriately and adequately in a timely manner. That can happen only if we are able to ensure that the national neurodevelopmental assessment pathway is adequately resourced to allow early identification of and appropriate support for people with FASD.

I also believe that we must consider the lived experience of pregnant women and enhance pathways for them to obtain support. Many challenges exist in our most deprived areas, which, along with a lack of awareness and understanding of FASD, are particularly problematic. We must ensure that our most vulnerable people receive an extensive range of support and assessment.

I am intervening partly to give the minister a minute to take a wee sip of water, but in the light of some of the other discussion that we have had during the debate, does the minister support greater education for clinicians and those working with young people to help identify FASD at the earliest possible opportunity and to raise awareness of some of the symptoms, so that we can see an end to those diagnosed with the wrong neurodevelopmental condition?

Will the minister give way?

It answers my question to a certain extent. What I am looking for is similar to what John Mason was asking about earlier with regard to how we drive cultural change. Some of that is structural—who is on the board and so on—but it is also about the approach to engaging with learners and teachers.

I accept that there is provision for a learner interest committee, but that will be quite small compared with the spread of learners across Scotland. How can the board and other bodies within qualifications Scotland be made more accessible and welcoming to learners and teachers to ensure that on-going feedback can be taken forward?