Chamber and committees

Poor mental health is a serious public health challenge. Most of all, it can be very frightening and isolating for those who experience it.

The reality is that Scottish mental health services simply are not meeting existing levels of demand. Thousands of children and adults are on waiting lists, and thousands more are being rejected for mental health treatment after their initial referral. Furthermore, on the SNP’s watch, 1.5 million working days have been lost in the NHS due to mental illness since 2018.

There is a mental health crisis in Scotland. After 16 years at the helm, the SNP Government—along with its Green partners—must take full responsibility for the mismanagement of our mental health services.

Over the past year, I have been supporting a constituent in the north-east and her family whose horrendous story brings into sharp relief why the system must change.

After receiving successful treatment in a central belt mother and baby unit for postpartum psychosis, my constituent was sectioned in the Carseview centre in Tayside, where mental health services were so poor that they were subject to an independent inquiry by Dr David Strang.

The transition from perinatal mental health services to general adult services was abrupt and distressing. My constituent was separated from her children and her support system. She was very, very scared. She described the experience as being

“like living a nightmare; the whole experience just didn’t seem real.”

My constituent’s sister has been advocating on her behalf and has lodged a petition with the Scottish Parliament to improve maternal mental health services.

The Scottish Government must do better for women as they navigate motherhood. It is shocking that the mental health strategy mentions “women” only four times—and one of those is in a footnote. The strategy is gender blind, even though women are twice as likely to be diagnosed with anxiety as men.

The Scottish Conservatives believe that we need modern, efficient and local solutions for mental health care. For communities across Scotland and in the north-east, we want to see local delivery. I have raised the closure of the Mulberry unit for acute mental health care at Stracathro hospital numerous times with the Scottish Government. The unit closed because of insufficient staffing, which is a problem that we keep seeing in healthcare delivery in the north-east. Distressed and vulnerable patients in Angus now must travel many miles for mental health treatment. How can that be right?

I urge the Scottish Government to stop the platitudes and recycled policy pledges. It must get a grip on a crisis that is affecting thousands of people now and that will haunt thousands in the future if they do not get the care and treatment that they need.

That was my first question. Secondly, at the committee meeting on 2 May, there was significant confusion about the referral pathway, so I would like to clear up that issue today. What work is being done to ensure that health boards follow the same referral pathways when mesh is identified as a factor?

Thank you.

Thank you. I hope that we will monitor the situation closely.

[Inaudible.]—health boards to manage women with mesh complications?

I appreciate the acceptance that an 82-week wait is not acceptable, but what guidance is being given to health boards to manage women with mesh complications?

I am reminded of the woman who had to wait a year and a half for an urgent referral, so here is just a thought. Sometimes, GPs are unable to help women who require mesh removal. Would it be better for GPs to be able to refer directly to the CMSS, or is there another way to get through the seeming bottleneck?

I have two questions for you, minister. We have heard that one mesh-injured woman who has debilitating pain has been waiting for 82 weeks for an urgent referral. What guidance is being given to health boards to manage women who have mesh-related complications?

I thank Rachael Hamilton for bringing such an important topic to the chamber—for shining a light on an epidemic that is often hidden. Both Rachael Hamilton and I represent areas that have large remote and rural populations. More than half of the population of Aberdeenshire live in rural areas, compared with around 17 per cent of the population of the rest of Scotland.

However, mental health interventions have often been developed through the lens of urban populations, but what works in Glasgow will not necessarily work in Glenbervie. It is vital that policy makers recognise the unique nature of mental health in rural and farming communities, so that we can respond better. That is why advocacy by organisations such as NFU Scotland, the Farm Safety Foundation and the Countryside Alliance, as well as the work of academic institutions such as Robert Gordon University, which is in my region, are so important.

In the north-east, more than 22,000 people are employed in the food, drink and agriculture sectors. However, the awful reality is that suicide rates for agriculture workers are among the highest in the United Kingdom. Sadly, one farmer a week dies by suicide.

As we have heard, farmers often work in isolation. Loneliness frequently affects their mental health. Financial worries, especially given input-price inflation, can weigh heavily on their minds. The 2021 documentary “Unearthing Farming Lives”, which was conceived by several organisations in the north-east of Scotland, thoughtfully examines those issues.

The north-east has also suffered from the recent avian flu outbreak, which has resulted in the deaths of thousands of hens. That is a devastating loss for businesses.

In addition, although spring heralds the lambing and calving season, there are associated pressures and stresses for farmers. Livestock worrying, for example, can have a devastating impact on their mental health. Recently, there have been the horrendous cases of one dog mauling 17 lambs to death in Fife, and four lamb deaths in Moray.

As we have heard, farming can be both physically and psychologically tough.

I thank Emma Harper for raising that matter. Anything that can prevent livestock worrying is to be applauded. The behaviour of dog walkers is also important—they must keep dogs on leads at this time of year.

We must continue to break down the barriers, including loneliness, that might prevent farmers and the agricultural community from accessing help.

It is good that—as we have heard today—young farmers are doing a lot of good work. They are piloting the “Thrive” mental wellbeing app, which provides live access to qualified therapists who can give advice on many things, especially mental health. We need to look more closely at such initiatives.

I will make two final comments. Access to appropriate NHS services to support their mental health can be challenging for people who reside in rural and remote communities. We know that, sadly, there is a shortage of general practitioners and other clinicians in rural areas. The Scottish Government urgently needs to address that in order to prevent the collapse of rural healthcare.

It is good that Mairi Gougeon MSP is here to hear my next comment, because Angus mental health patients have also been badly let down by the closure in 2018 of the Mulberry unit at Stracathro hospital, which means that patients have had, and still have, to travel miles to a facility in Dundee where, as the Strang report has revealed, there are serious systemic issues with mental health services. Residents in Angus feel deeply let down by that decision.

I hope that the minister will address those points in her closing speech.