Chamber and committees

As we have heard, more than 90,000 people in Scotland live with dementia, and the figure is due to rise by 50 per cent in the next 15 years. We need to establish now how we will continue to support people, and we need to plan how to staff services to ensure that we have an appropriately qualified workforce in the coming years.

It is helpful for people to know who is at increased risk before they experience symptoms of dementia. Many people will have seen news articles about the actor Chris Hemsworth, who, after being tested as part of a show that he was taking part in, discovered a genetic factor that puts him at as much as 10 times the normal risk of developing dementia. He has spoken about how that has changed his outlook on his career. His honesty and reflections on the risks to him have undoubtedly helped in raising awareness of the condition. We need more awareness raising, and I will touch on that later if I have time.

I am not saying that genetically testing everyone is the way forward, but we need more research. It is hugely important that we support further work on who might be at greater risk of certain kinds of dementia. Once someone has been diagnosed, it is important that we offer person-centred support. Age Scotland’s briefing raises the issue of post-diagnostic support and the varied take-up of that offer. Scotland guarantees a year of post-diagnostic support to anyone who receives a diagnosis of dementia, but fewer than half of those who were diagnosed in 2019-20 received that support. Notwithstanding the pandemic, it would be interesting to understand why that was and to tackle that issue. We also need to ensure that those who are caring for or supporting someone with a diagnosis are adequately supported. These are life-changing diagnoses, and the path is different for everyone.

In that context, peer support could be of high value to those who need it. Many of the organisations that have sent briefings have called for that. I will highlight a few examples of successful projects in my region. As we all know, doctors are prescribing time in the outdoors and in gardens to alleviate the mental health problems caused by ill-health, isolation, anxiety and loneliness. The effects are no different for those with a diagnosis of dementia. In 2015, the dementia garden at Airbles Road in Motherwell was developed as a specialist garden for people in the community who have memory issues. The weekly gardening groups facilitate health and wellbeing benefits for hospital in-patients, out-patients and community volunteers, many of whom face the greatest risk of health and mental health inequalities. The dementia garden has been a lifeline during a difficult few years, as it has given participants the opportunity to do some gardening, thus improving their mental health.

Motherwell Football Club Community Trust and the Falkirk Foundation take part in the popular football memories project. The project, which was pioneered by Alzheimer’s Scotland, enables groups of people with dementia to come along and enjoy reminiscing about old games, old players and any other fond memories and interests in football, while their carer can either join in or enjoy a cup of tea and a blether with other carers. There are now more than 100 community-based football reminiscence groups in Scotland.

Public awareness of dementia and the ways in which it presents would benefit many of those who are on the dementia journey. Recently, I have heard from many people who have dementia or other illnesses and who feel that they are less able to participate in everyday society or do something as simple as take the bus, because of others’ attitudes. People with communication issues might not be given time to respond, and other people are judged on their outward appearance when it comes to whether they should be able to sit in accessible seats. Those are just some of the examples of everyday barriers.

We need to be more tolerant and make people aware of the potential issues that some people face. I hope that the minister will consider an awareness-raising campaign to make people more aware of the condition and, I hope, combat some of the issues that people face. We have an obligation to ensure that people with dementia have the tools to live well and that their families have support to deal with whatever comes their way.

In recent years, Scotland has shown real climate leadership on the global stage. I am proud that the Scottish Government is currently consulting on a position that would see a presumption against exploration for yet more oil and gas in the North Sea while taking real action to build more solar, wind and marine renewables. That action must add up to a plan that delivers on our climate commitments and delivers a just transition for our communities. Does the First Minister agree that Scotland’s new climate plan will be one of the most important plans that this Government will ever produce, and will she join me in calling on all parties to rise to the challenge, come together and take the climate emergency seriously?

To ask the First Minister whether the Scottish Government will provide an update on how it is responding to the Climate Change Committee’s report on progress in reducing emissions in Scotland. (S6F-01844)

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the steps that it is taking to improve the management of inshore fisheries, in light of the reported increasing pressures on fishers and fish stocks in Scotland’s coastal regions. (S6O-01904)

It is heartening to note the commitment to place the fisheries management and conservation group—FMAC—on a more strategic footing. Given the importance of the inshore region for livelihoods and biodiversity, what plans does the Scottish Government have to develop ecosystem-based inshore fisheries management plans, including spatial or temporal management measures, to help to achieve our legal duty of managing our seas to good environmental status? What are the timescales for that work?

My comment is not specifically on this petition; it is on the others.

Dr Williams, how can the patient safety commissioner for Scotland complement the work of the Patient Safety Commissioner for England and the MHRA, and how will the commissioner interact with the work of clinicians up here?

Is there potential for conflict in the relationship, particularly given the overlap between the oversight roles of the two commissioners and the interaction with the MHRA?

On the back of what Tess White has just said, I think that a wider inquiry into rural healthcare services is really important, but I propose that we defer a decision on the petition because of the current work that is being done. The best start north review is based on maternity services in particular, and the minister, Maree Todd, has other pieces of work that are looking at wider issues, including abortion care and other women’s health needs. The other pieces of work that are being done could be lost in a wider inquiry. If those things develop, we might want to take evidence on them, and other issues could arise.

Given that those other pieces of work are still on-going, particularly the best start north review, I propose that we defer a decision on the petition so that we can pick it up again if there are other things going on.

Are there any areas relating to medicines and medical devices that you would like to be included in the remit of the patient safety commissioner that are not covered by the bill?