Chamber and committees

I am very familiar with Christine Grahame’s leadership of the Health Committee in a past parliamentary session. I also note that Mr Carlaw, who is convener of the Citizen Participation and Public Petitions Committee, is in his place in the chamber. I have made the point before that that channel of dialogue and access to parliamentary justice is one of the strengths of this institution and we should be immensely proud of it. I know that Christine Grahame and her colleagues did a huge amount of work on a cross-party basis to advance the arguments for a public inquiry, and we should be proud of that work.

Christine Grahame is a distinguished lawyer and she knows that I cannot determine issues in relation to criminal charges and criminal justice. Those issues are for the proper authorities to consider in Scotland and the rest of the United Kingdom, and it is important that I leave them to exercise their independent functions without further comment in that respect.

Mr Sarwar is absolutely correct that we have reached this moment because of the tenacity and determination of campaigners. He is also correct that those individuals have had to, in Mr Sarwar’s words, go through the retelling of the unimaginable suffering that they have experienced month after month and year after year. The reason why I cited my personal experience of the issue is that it was literally one of the first constituency cases that came to me when I became an MP 27 years ago.

As we reflect on the 25-year anniversary of the Scottish Parliament, we should reflect collectively on the fact that, although it might have its imperfections, it created a platform, through the petitions committee process, that did not allow issues of this nature to be swept aside. It took tenacity from campaigners to continually come to press ministers to act and take matters forward, and this Government responded by establishing the Penrose inquiry, which, previously, reported on some of the issues. However, tribute must be paid to the Scottish Parliament for the way in which it has engaged substantially on the issue and helped to get us to where we are today.

Mr Sarwar asked me about the culture of organisations in which there is poor practice. I say to Mr Sarwar—and I said in my statement—that we cannot have cultures of that type in our public organisations. We have to be open about where there are failings. I give my commitment to the Parliament that I will do everything that I can to preside over an approach of that nature. Where that needs to be set out, it will be set out. I did that last week at First Minister’s question time, when I made it clear that I thought that a particular example of healthcare delivery was unacceptable. That is now being addressed, and that is how the Government will proceed. In that respect, the offer of support that Mr Sarwar has given in his statements today is welcome, and the Government will engage constructively on that basis.

The principal vehicle through which we have made that support available has been the Scottish infected blood support scheme. Although that is not a compensation scheme, it is a support scheme. There may well be some degree of interaction between the compensatory approach, as set out by the UK Government in the statement given by John Glen in the House of Commons today, and the operation of the Scottish infected blood support scheme.

We will, of course, take forward our engagement with the United Kingdom Government as part of the commitment in principle that I have given today to work collaboratively to take forward the delivery of support to individuals who have been affected.

In the aftermath of the Penrose inquiry, ministers put in place a number of steps to ensure that there was encouragement to individuals to come forward for testing. The offer of testing was available to people who had had blood transfusions, and a number of steps were taken through an awareness campaign involving GP practices, hospitals, dentists and libraries to encourage people to come forward for testing. A substantial number of people came forward for testing, but if people have not yet had a hepatitis C test and they think that they had a transfusion before September 1991, it is not too late for them to be tested. The risk of any blood donation being infected is still low, but individuals should speak to their GP practice about being tested if they feel that they should do so.

On Mr McArthur’s point, I am rather in the hands of the United Kingdom Government in respect of timescales for compensation payments. However, from listening to what John Glen has said today, I expect that the first payments will be made before the end of the year. I hope that that provides significant reassurance to Mr McArthur.

As I look through the recommendations from the inquiry, I see that a number of them relate to culture and practice in the health service in Scotland. I expect the Scottish NHS to consider and respond to those recommendations with care, and quickly. That is the point that I have been making about the importance of our having a culture that is open to challenge and is able to respond adequately to that.

In addition, specific points on aspects of clinical practice will perhaps require more detailed consideration. The clinicians whom we have identified to take forward that work will significantly advise the Government on that. Liam McArthur will be familiar with the approach that the Government takes, in that we rely on clinical input to make the appropriate judgments about how to handle such matters.

I understand the genuine concern that Mr Ross is expressing to Parliament today, and I take that very seriously. Mr Ross is correct that the report came out in 2018, but I point out that there has been a three-year period since then in which 24-hour emergency care arrangements were provided at Portree community hospital; however, they were not able to be sustained because of workforce challenges in the locality. I accept that that is not good enough, which is why the health secretary has spoken to NHS Highland to insist that those arrangements should be put in place.

There is of course a challenge in relation to some workforce issues, because of staff availability and issues in connection with housing availability. I say to Mr Ross that ambulance cover is available in Dunvegan, Portree, Kyle and, of course, at Broadford hospital. However, I do not in any way want to say that that is good enough.

Sir Lewis Ritchie’s recommendations must be implemented, and the health secretary has made that point directly and clearly to NHS Highland. It is a matter of fact that there was a three-year period in which those recommendations were in force, but they have not been able to be sustained because of workforce challenges.

I thank Evelyn Tweed for raising that important case. I have watched with incredible admiration the courage of Ros and Mark Dowey in talking about their beloved son, Murray. As the parent of a teenager, I cannot comprehend the scale of loss and the unimaginable suffering that they are experiencing, but I commend their bravery in raising awareness of the threat of sextortion, which has had such a terrible impact on their family.

The Government will continue to prioritise working closely with national and United Kingdom partners to protect children and young people from sexual abuse and exploitation through our membership of Police Scotland’s multi-agency group on preventing online child sexual abuse. In the coming weeks, ministers in the Government will meet the Ofcom board member for Scotland to discuss the implementation of the UK Government’s important online safety legislation, on which we, as a Government, have been deeply engaged. We must all take the efforts that we can to raise awareness of this important issue, to ensure that families and young people are supported to deal with the threats that now exist in our society.

I commend the bravery of Ros and Mark Dowey. They have my deepest sympathy for the loss that they have experienced, and the commitment of my Government to do all that we can to protect young people from crimes such as sextortion and the incalculable suffering that those crimes can inflict on families in our country.

That dialogue is essential, as is the dialogue with the ferries community board, and those will significantly shape the dialogue that the Government takes forward on those important questions. I give Jackie Dunbar the assurance that we will take the necessary time to ensure that all those issues are properly explored before final decisions are taken.

I am very much in favour of making sure that the expectations of communities are met in contract arrangements, and ministers will insist on that, so that we have a high-quality and reliable service for island communities. I am committed to ensuring that that is the case.

I will explore the point that Carol Mochan puts to me. The data that I have on immunisation uptake from Public Health Scotland, which was published on 26 March, indicates an increase in uptake in relation to some vaccinations but, from the information that I have, I do not think that that is specifically about pertussis. I will give Carol Mochan a specific answer, but generally, on immunisation, the uptake is moving in the right direction, which we all want to see. I will provide a specific answer on pertussis in the aftermath of First Minister’s questions.