Chamber and committees

They are similar figures to those that I think we heard last week.

Mr Brown wants to come in. I know that our next section will be quite concise, so I am extending this question section by five or 10 minutes to accommodate Mr Brown’s response and then questions from Mr Rennie.

Thank you, Mr Brown. I will move on to questions from Mr Rennie.

I thank the witnesses very much for their responses and for allowing us to extend the session ever so slightly. Given how valuable your evidence has been, I did not want to cut things off too much.

Thank you, Mr Rennie. Does anyone else have any comments? It seems not.

Does the committee agree to take up Mr Rennie’s suggestion that we write to both Governments in an attempt to find a solution for such people?

Members indicated agreement.

Do members have any comments to make on SSI 2022/157? It appears that they do not, which is fine.

Does the committee agree that it does not wish to make any recommendations in relation to the instrument?

Members indicated agreement.

I am pleased to have brought to the chamber my first members’ business debate, which is on such an important topic for Scotland. Cardiovascular health has always interested me, and it becomes more relevant when it relates to us personally.

In my pre-parliamentary career, I worked closely with medical and surgical professionals in university teaching hospitals across the United Kingdom. One of the first surgeries that I observed was open-heart surgery in the Western infirmary in Glasgow. The surgeon was Mr Alan Kirk—he was young and dynamic and was looking to adapt his practice to do beating-heart surgery rather than on-pump bypasses, with their associated risks.

Much has changed surgically since then—not least the closure of the Western infirmary and the establishment of the West of Scotland regional heart and lung centre at the Golden Jubilee hospital. Perhaps the canny among members in the chamber might recognise the surgeon’s name, as Mr Kirk was in Parliament last week. He is now, with his colleague John Butler, a pioneer of robotic thoracic surgery. We need clinicians such as them to adopt new and innovative techniques that benefit patients and improve outcomes.

My dad is one of those who benefited from innovation. When he was told that he needed cardiac surgery, I know that the look on my face told my mum and dad how serious things were. I silently wanted to know that he would get an off-pump bypass; I did not want his heart to stop beating. He did get an off-pump coronary artery bypass graft, which was successful. Nearly 10 years on, he has not looked back, so I thank the team at NHS Lothian.

Before all such work comes years of research and investment and the blood, sweat and tears of those who carry out the research. Funding for clinical research in Scotland through the chief scientist office has remained stagnant for several years. When investment in clinical research is compared between the UK and Scotland, investment in Scotland equates to £12.79 per capita, as opposed to the £20.55 per capita spend in England.

The British Heart Foundation believes that the Scottish Government should increase funding to the chief scientist office in line with the per capita funding of the National Institute for Health and Care Research by the UK Government. If the Scottish Government were to utilise Barnett consequentials and its own budget to match per capita the planned NIHR funding increase to £2 billion, it could transform clinical research in Scotland by securing Scotland again as a world leader in medical research and bringing new and improved treatments and care to Scotland first.

Research could generate as much as £257 million for the economy every year and support 6,000 jobs across Scotland. There are also indirect and direct benefits for the national health service. For example, troponin tests are used on an individual’s admission to accident and emergency to test whether they have had a heart attack. The high-sensitivity troponin in the evaluation of patients with acute coronary syndrome trial—led by Professor Nicholas Mills, who is a British Heart Foundation professor of cardiology at the centre for cardiovascular science at the University of Edinburgh—looked at the use of a higher-sensitivity troponin test than was previously used. The reduction in time in hospital and the 50 per cent increase in discharges as a result of the new sensitive test could create huge cost savings for the NHS and reduce bed demand at a time when the NHS is under significant pressure.

Undertaking such clinical studies in Scotland is crucial to improving patient care and reducing inequalities in care. Investment in such research has the potential to support the Scottish budget through reducing overall costs in the NHS.

Other charities are raising similar concerns, as well as pointing out the benefits of increased investment. Stroke is Scotland’s leading cause of disability. About 10,000 people every year have a stroke, and 128,000 people in Scotland are living with the effects of a stroke. The Stroke Association is the only funder in Scotland of exclusively stroke research, with a current portfolio of £3.5 million. Investing in stroke research can generate savings for health and social care, as well as improving quality of life for stroke survivors and their families. In the UK, research investment per stroke patient is only £48 per year, in comparison with £241 per cancer patient and £118 per dementia patient. Given that stroke generates such a sizeable economic burden in Scotland, it requires greater priority in research funding and support.

Cancer Research UK is the largest independent funder of cancer research in the world. In 2020-21, it spent £421 million on new and on-going research in the UK into prevention, diagnosis and treatment. It has supported research into more than 200 types of cancer, with long-term investment to help to create a thriving network of research in 90 laboratories and institutions across the UK and to support the work of more than 4,000 scientists, doctors and nurses. Cancer Research UK has spent more than £188 million on research funding in Scotland over the past five years across seven universities, and it currently funds 100 PhD students, among other things.

It is not just direct health benefits that come from medical research; there are also benefits to the Scottish economy and to every individual who is impacted by the research. Not every project will result in a miracle cure, a wonder drug or a new approach, but I think that we can all agree that research saves lives.

Do members wish to make any comments?

There are no comments for you to respond to, minister. That seems to be straightforward.

Motion agreed to.

Agenda item 2 is the first evidence session in our colleges regionalisation inquiry. I welcome Audrey Cumberford, a commissioner with the Commission on the College of the Future, who joins us in the committee room; Professor Sir Peter Scott, the Commissioner for Fair Access, who joins us online; and Nora Senior, chair of the Enterprise and Skills Strategic Board, who also joins us online. Good morning to you all.

I begin with a bit of housekeeping. Our evidence session today is hybrid, and some witnesses and committee members are participating virtually. As those who are attending remotely will not be able to catch my eye, I ask them to put an R in the chat box when they wish to comment. The clerks will keep an eye on that and I will bring people in when I can.

I reassure you all that it is not necessary for every witness to respond to every question. If you have nothing to add on a particular question, that is fine. However, when you wish to speak, you can put an R in the chat function. As Audrey Cumberford is in the room, I will be able to bring her in if she catches my eye. I thank you all for your time today. Our session should last until around 11:45.

I will kick off. Yesterday, we had an announcement on the budget. What might the real-terms funding cuts that colleges are facing do to put at risk some of the benefits of regionalisation, and what might they mean to you? I will go to those who are joining us online first, if that is okay. Perhaps Professor Scott can start.

That is okay.