Chamber and committees

I do not mean to generalise, but my experience with health boards, particularly those with no such appeals processes, is that a determination is made and anyone who then tries to pursue any alternatives meets a blank wall. The absence of an appeals process in this case is a failing, because, with the example that Rhoda Grant has expressed an interest in, a subjective view seems to have been taken with regard to excluding this body, and that is that—even though it is, as Ms Grant seems to be saying, the body that local people are using to try to make these kinds of representations.

We will, in the first instance, try to get some idea of the timeline for the work on developing an appeals process, as we would not want that to be open ended.

I thank the petitioners for their contribution over a sustained period of time. Considerable progress has been made, and they can take a lot of congratulation and satisfaction from the fact that that is the case. As David Torrance has suggested, we will encourage the Scottish Government to continue to engage as the various projects progress.

Good morning and welcome to the seventh meeting in session?6?of the?Scottish Parliament’s Citizen Participation and?Public Petitions Committee. We will be considering two items: continued petitions and new petitions.

The first petition that we are considering, PE1662, on improving testing and treatment for Lyme disease and associated tick-borne diseases, is of long standing. It was lodged by Janey?Cringean?and Lorraine Murray on behalf of the Tick-borne Illness Campaign Scotland. It calls on the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scottish Government to improve testing and treatment for Lyme disease and associated tick-borne diseases by ensuring that medical professionals in Scotland are fully equipped to deal with the complexity of tick-borne infections.?

When the petition was last considered, in September, we agreed to seek an update from the Scottish Government?on the outcome of the round-table event that was due to be held to bring together clinicians, patient representatives and public health experts to discuss testing, treatment and the raising of awareness;? on any progress that had been made in establishing an infectious diseases managed clinical network; and on the steps that were being taken by the Scottish Government to?encourage?research into Lyme disease.

In its submission, the Scottish Government confirmed that?two?round-table events have taken place?and, as a result?of those, two sub-groups have been set up—on raising public awareness and? on the education of healthcare professionals. Both sub-groups have met in recent weeks.? Work to establish an infectious diseases managed clinical network has been?delayed?due to the Covid-19 pandemic.?On research, the Scottish Government?has agreed that it will work with?the Scottish Lyme disease and?tick-borne?infections laboratory at Raigmore hospital to consider potential improvements to testing methods and processes.?

Meanwhile, the petitioners suggest from their perspective that?the meetings that have been held so far have been promising but that more is needed.?Although they were involved in the round-table events and the sub-group on public awareness, they are not represented on the sub-group on the education of healthcare?professionals.?

The petitioners stress that a key aim of their petition is to improve?treatment for those who are chronically ill?with Lyme disease or another tick-borne disease, and they suggest that it is crucial to ensure that healthcare providers receive adequate training to help them recognise and treat such conditions.? ?They make a number of suggestions?for suitable training resources.? They suggest that the establishment of an infectious diseases?managed clinical network?is not a suitable?alternative to creating specialist treatment centres. They feel that, although there has been progress in a number of areas, certain elements of their petition have not been addressed.?

In passing, I mention the interest in the petition, over time, from our colleague Alexander Burnett, who held a members’ business debate on the topic.

It seems to me that a considerable amount has been achieved. I ask David Torrance to remind us newbies on the committee of the work that was undertaken last session on what is a long-standing petition.

The clerks tell me that we have not done that previously. As that is the case, it is a sensible suggestion.

We will investigate that.

Yes—that is a fair request.

Item 2 is consideration of new petitions. For those who are watching, and for petitioners who might be following proceedings, before we consider these petitions for the first time orally at the committee, we have sought the views of the Scottish Government, and in some instances other submissions have also been received, which allows us to have informed discussions ahead of consideration of the petitions.

The first new petition, PE1900, which has been lodged by Kevin John Lawson, calls on the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scottish Government to ensure that all detainees in police custody can access their prescribed medication, including methadone, in line with existing relevant operational procedures and guidance.

In its submission, the Scottish Government confirms strongly that it considers that

“fast and appropriate access to treatment including all forms of opiate substitution is important.”

It highlights its new national mission to reduce drug deaths and harms and the medication-assisted treatment standards that ministers are committed to embed by April 2022. The Government confirms that it has sought assurances from the Scottish health in custody network that opioid substitution therapy is being provided to people in custody across Scotland, and it goes on to state that once the medication-assisted treatment standards are fully embedded, it will monitor provision in the NHS Grampian area.

In his submission, the petitioner suggests that there is a contradiction between what official guidance states must happen to detainees in custody in relation to prescribed medication and what is actually happening. He asks that an inquiry is launched to look into the death in custody of detainees who, in the petitioner’s opinion, were

“medically triaged by unqualified police staff.”

Do colleagues have any comments?

I read the petition with a great deal of concern, but I then read the Scottish Government’s submission. It was a strong response that sought to assure us that the practice in place is to the contrary. The weakness in it is that no register is kept that can substantiate the fact, so we do not know how many requests for prescribed medications have been received, nor do we have confirmation of how those requests were dealt with.

Although I am reassured by the Scottish Government’s commitment that detainees should be able to access their medication, I am slightly unnerved by the fact that we are unable to demonstrate that that is the case. I wonder whether the absence of any formal record of requests received or prescriptions issued is entirely as it should be.

Do any colleagues have a view?

Fair enough. That seems sensible.

Is the committee happy with all of that?

Members indicated agreement.

I was not sure whether you were going to make the same point or a different one.

We will write to the Minister for Mental Wellbeing and Social Care to ask how the Scottish Government will address the specific concerns that were raised in the petitioner’s request, both in the short term and in the context of that forthcoming legislation. We will also write to the minister to ask how he intends to collect and disseminate examples of good practice of services that are available.