The Official Report is a written record of public meetings of the Parliament and committees.
The Official Report search offers lots of different ways to find the information you’re looking for. The search is used as a professional tool by researchers and third-party organisations. It is also used by members of the public who may have less parliamentary awareness. This means it needs to provide the ability to run complex searches, and the ability to browse reports or perform a simple keyword search.
The web version of the Official Report has three different views:
Depending on the kind of search you want to do, one of these views will be the best option. The default view is to show the report for each meeting of Parliament or a committee. For a simple keyword search, the results will be shown by item of business.
When you choose to search by a particular MSP, the results returned will show each spoken contribution in Parliament or a committee, ordered by date with the most recent contributions first. This will usually return a lot of results, but you can refine your search by keyword, date and/or by meeting (committee or Chamber business).
We’ve chosen to display the entirety of each MSP’s contribution in the search results. This is intended to reduce the number of times that users need to click into an actual report to get the information that they’re looking for, but in some cases it can lead to very short contributions (“Yes.”) or very long ones (Ministerial statements, for example.) We’ll keep this under review and get feedback from users on whether this approach best meets their needs.
There are two types of keyword search:
If you select an MSP’s name from the dropdown menu, and add a phrase in quotation marks to the keyword field, then the search will return only examples of when the MSP said those exact words. You can further refine this search by adding a date range or selecting a particular committee or Meeting of the Parliament.
It’s also possible to run basic Boolean searches. For example:
There are two ways of searching by date.
You can either use the Start date and End date options to run a search across a particular date range. For example, you may know that a particular subject was discussed at some point in the last few weeks and choose a date range to reflect that.
Alternatively, you can use one of the pre-defined date ranges under “Select a time period”. These are:
If you search by an individual session, the list of MSPs and committees will automatically update to show only the MSPs and committees which were current during that session. For example, if you select Session 1 you will be show a list of MSPs and committees from Session 1.
If you add a custom date range which crosses more than one session of Parliament, the lists of MSPs and committees will update to show the information that was current at that time.
All Official Reports of meetings in the Debating Chamber of the Scottish Parliament.
All Official Reports of public meetings of committees.
Displaying 430 contributions
COVID-19 Recovery Committee
Meeting date: 23 March 2023
Humza Yousaf
Obviously, we are involved in the strategic network, and I might ask some of my officials to come in and add some detail. The model is one that is used for trauma networks; it is well known and well tested, and it has had some very positive outcomes.
In essence, the network brings together key partners—clinical experts, those who are delivering local services and those with lived experience. We can provide more detail on some of the action that has been taken with health boards to create referral pathways, particularly rehabilitative pathways, which we know are working well in some health board areas but which, in others, clearly need more work. As I have said, one of the core issues reported by those in primary care is that they do not have information on where to refer people, and that is why the development of the implementation support note has been really important. A load of key actions has come out of the national strategic network, with more actions to come, but its value lies in bringing those three key partners together to improve services for those who have long Covid.
I do not know whether any of my colleagues want to come in on the topic of strategic networks. Chris Doyle is probably best placed to do so, given his team’s closer involvement.
COVID-19 Recovery Committee
Meeting date: 23 March 2023
Humza Yousaf
Thanks for that question. You are absolutely right to ask about this. We were always concerned that apathy and vaccine fatigue might kick in among certain cohorts, but it is really important to note that, as the data shows, there has not been such fatigue among others. For example, there is still a good level of uptake from those in our older population and those in residence in care homes. That said, we have seen some drop-off in the 50 to 64 age group, for example.
We had some concerns about the uptake in relation to social care staff, so we put a lot of effort into working with the likes of Scottish Care and others to see whether we could boost those numbers. It is worth saying that our uptake rates for autumn and winter vaccines are still the highest in the United Kingdom, which is a positive, and we continue to work on a four-nations basis to see what we can do in a co-ordinated way.
As you will know, we also had in the past year the Covid sense campaign, which reminded people of good behaviours and what to do if they had Covid symptoms—it highlighted good hygiene, ventilation and so on—and it will continue to make the case for vaccine uptake. Indeed, it will be an important piece of work for us, given that the immediate impacts of Covid are not so evident, now that they are not in our news 24/7. Ultimately, if we can reduce the numbers of people suffering from Covid, we will hopefully reduce the numbers of people impacted by long Covid.
That said, I could not agree more with the premise of your question, which is that we should be doing everything in our gift to increase vaccination rates.
COVID-19 Recovery Committee
Meeting date: 23 March 2023
Humza Yousaf
I do not want a two-tier system. We have heard about that in other areas of the health service where, for example, people have waited for elective care. I will not rehearse the reasons why we are in the position that we are in and why people have felt that they have had to go private. That is not what I want. As the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care, I want everybody to be able to access NHS services.
I go back to what I said in my opening remarks. The science around the treatment and the symptoms of long Covid is still in its infancy—I think that everybody around the table would accept that. There is no one treatment that we can give, although a number of treatments can help with some of the symptoms. However, I have heard far too often from long Covid sufferers that, when they go to primary care or their GP, they are passed from pillar to post and there is no single point of access. I think that I can safely say that the majority of the health boards—or a significant number of them—are using the funding that we have given to them to create a single point of access so that an individual is not passed from pillar to post.
To answer your question, of course I do not want people to feel that their only option is to go private. That is why we need to improve the services that we have.
COVID-19 Recovery Committee
Meeting date: 23 March 2023
Humza Yousaf
Yes, I accept that. Every single one of the health and social care consequentials that come our way is spent on health and social care. That has been a commitment of this Government for a number of years now. I will look to see where we can possibly increase our funding for long Covid specifically.
However, I go back to the point that I made to Jackie Baillie a moment ago, which is that our front-line spending for health per head is higher than it is in other parts of the UK. Yes, the long Covid support fund is important to increase and supplement some of the on-going work, but it is just that—supplementary or complementary to the funding that health boards are already spending. That is not just in Lanarkshire, which is the example that I have given, but throughout the country.
In my role, I am more than happy to explore that, and I am certain that whoever is in this role after me will look to explore whether that funding can be increased.
COVID-19 Recovery Committee
Meeting date: 23 March 2023
Humza Yousaf
I agree with your description that some of the most harrowing testimony has been from young children. It is worth paying particular tribute to Helen Goss, who I suspect is known by most people here for what she does with Long Covid Kids Scotland. She is a force of nature. As well as dealing with her own personal circumstances, she has helped a lot of families of children and young people who are suffering the effects of long Covid. I pay particular tribute to the work that she does. She would be the first to say that we have further work to do in that area.
To answer your question directly, for children and young people with symptoms of long Covid, assessment and initial investigation are still provided by the primary care team. Primary care clinicians can, of course, then refer them to occupational health or physiotherapy for further advice or support. I have referred a couple of times to the implementation support note that is there for GPs, which has information on the referral pathways and the other support that exists. That was developed in consultation with the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health. It sets out that, where self-management, for example, is not effective, and there is a significant impact on the young person or child’s education or quality of life, they should be referred to general paediatric services for investigation.
The £10 million of funding that we have made available to NHS boards, which I have referenced numerous times already, is also intended to strengthen services for young people with long Covid. One example of that, which I think I mentioned in the letter that I sent to the committee, is NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde’s recruitment of additional paediatric occupational therapist support for young people, children and their families.
Finally, I will also mention the national strategic network, which I have referenced a couple of times during this session. It is progressing a dedicated workstream that brings together clinical experts and people with lived experience to identify needs and priority actions that are specifically for children and young people.
COVID-19 Recovery Committee
Meeting date: 23 March 2023
Humza Yousaf
That is a really good question. We have learned a lot from the vaccine programme; we have had to really understand where uptake has been lower and what we can do to respond to that—for example, by putting mobile clinics in areas of higher deprivation, and in mosques, gurdwaras and temples. We have to take the learning from the vaccine programme and make sure that it goes right across the various parts of health and social care. The UK-level survey data indicated that what John Mason said is absolutely right, which is that prevalence of self-reported long Covid is greatest among people who are aged 35 to 69 years, who are female, who live in more deprived areas and who work in social care. That goes back to Jackie Baillie’s point, as well.
We know that the data exists, and I guarantee to John Mason that what we are doing in health and social care is often focused on areas where there are issues of accessibility and lower take-up. That is something that we have learned very well from the vaccination programme, so we are making sure that it is embedded right across our health and social care approaches.
COVID-19 Recovery Committee
Meeting date: 23 March 2023
Humza Yousaf
We have to do our best to use the data that we have. For example, the World Health Organization commissioned a study—which a certain John Mason will know about—that showed that the vaccination programme saved well over 20,000 lives in Scotland. Given the recent autumn and winter booster vaccination programme, I am certain that that number has gone up. We need to rely on data and evidence and try to counter some of the misinformation. I am afraid that there are some people whom we will almost never be able to convince, but we can convince the vast majority, and that work will continue to rely on the strong evidence base for the vaccination programme.
We should also use as many different people as possible in society to get the message out. People might not trust politicians—shock, horror!—but we should make sure that we empower clinicians, as well as the people who have benefited from the vaccine, to speak about the benefits. Of course, all of us should make sure that we speak about the benefits of the vaccine and vaccination programme, as well.
COVID-19 Recovery Committee
Meeting date: 23 March 2023
Humza Yousaf
We should be able to get those figures to you. Forgive me—I do not have them at my fingertips, right now. If I am able to give them, I will be happy to share them with you, convener, for sharing with the rest of the committee. I think that that should be possible but, if you do not mind, I will take that off the table and see what we can provide.
COVID-19 Recovery Committee
Meeting date: 23 March 2023
Humza Yousaf
Thank you very much, convener, and good morning to you and to committee members.
I want to start exactly as you did, convener, and offer my condolences to people who lost loved ones over the course of the pandemic and who are continuing to do so. I would also reflect, as we will in the course of this conversation, that many who first contracted Covid suffer to this day from its long-term debilitating effects.
I am grateful for the opportunity to appear before the committee to discuss the impacts of long Covid and to provide information on the steps that we are taking to support the health and wellbeing of people with the condition. As committee members know, long Covid is a term that encapsulates a wide range of more than 200 different symptoms, which vary highly between people.
At present, the underlying causes are poorly understood. What is well understood, however, is that for the adults, children and young people most severely affected, the symptoms are having a significant impact on everything from their physical and mental health through to their education and employment. Indeed, I have heard as much myself in my meetings with people with long Covid and from those in our national health service who support them. For those who are severely affected, life can be extremely challenging.
Around the world, science has begun the work of trying to find not just an explanation but treatments for long Covid. That science is still in its early stages, and proven, safe, evidence-based treatments are still in their infancy. Scotland is contributing to that worldwide research effort and, in the meantime, we are taking steps to test new ways to support people. We know that, as we evolve our understanding of the disease, the current lack of effective treatments can, understandably, contribute to distress, and we understand the need for supportive care that recognises the challenges faced by people who are living with those symptoms.
At the moment, the clinical guidance recommends the provision of treatment for people’s specific symptoms, where possible, or a rehabilitative approach to help people manage the impacts of their symptoms on their day-to-day lives. That care and that support are being provided through the full range of services delivered across our NHS. People can access general practitioner assessment in a setting close to their home, and GPs can then make referrals to community rehabilitation services or secondary care pathways such as respiratory care or cardiology, where appropriate. Those individual services are best placed to investigate and support people who have as a result of long Covid symptoms that might require support.
09:45That said, I know that people’s experiences of accessing and navigating support can be challenging. There is certainly room for improvement—there will be no challenge to that premise from me. That is why we are committed to investing £10 million in a long Covid support fund and have made an initial £3 million available from the fund this year. Rather than mandate one specific model, we are supporting NHS boards to innovate and plan based on local needs and infrastructure. The long Covid support fund is targeted additional resource for NHS boards to increase the capacity of existing services, to develop them into more clearly defined pathways and to provide a more co-ordinated experience for those accessing support. We have heard time and again from long Covid sufferers that that is what is needed. The approaches being tested include looking at ways of achieving those outcomes through having a single point of access for assessment and co-ordinated support from services, including physiotherapy and occupational therapy.
Along with our support for the initiatives that are under way in boards, the Scottish Government has delivered a clinical guideline implementation support note to help GPs effectively assess and refer people with long Covid. We have a dedicated microsite on NHS Inform that contains key information and sources of support for people with long Covid; we have launched a marketing campaign to increase awareness of the condition; and we have allocated funding of £2.5 million for nine Scottish-led research projects to better understand it. As the committee knows, we have also established a national strategic network, which brings together people with lived experience, clinical experts and those working on local service responses.
Long Covid is undoubtedly a considerable challenge. There is still much to do and learn, and there are improvements to be made, but we have an opportunity for our healthcare system to adapt and learn based on the best evidence available.
I very much welcome the committee’s inquiry on the issue and the opportunity to discuss it and to take questions from members.