Chamber and committees

A substantial number of people will be involved in Government decision-making processes. What engagement has been undertaken with civil servants to ensure that their views inform robust decision-making processes?

I will take an intervention from the minister.

“Rural & Islands Housing Action Plan” contains a wide range of examples of how rural and island housing has been created and delivered. The diverse and innovative approach should be welcomed.

I want to focus on the unique rural housing challenges that are experienced in communities across Dumfries and Galloway and the Scottish Borders. We have many opportunities to make a difference in improving rural housing and in encouraging people to move to our rural areas, to address depopulation and to keep our rural communities alive and thriving. Such possibilities include incentivising housing development on brownfield, vacant, abandoned and derelict sites, and exploring alternative types of housing to meet the needs of our areas.

Marie Curie’s briefing ahead of the debate was useful in highlighting that accessible housing and adaptations to housing need to be made more quickly, especially for terminally ill people. I thank Marie Curie for that briefing.

Mark Griffin spoke about population decline, which is a real threat to the sustainability of many of Scotland’s rural communities. The lack of good-quality, affordable rural housing is a key concern. It is crucial that we acknowledge that the Scottish Government alone cannot tackle the critical challenges of depopulation. National and local government and the third, community and private sectors all have a role to play if we are to tackle depopulation collectively.

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to support the recruitment of police officers in Dumfries and Galloway and the Scottish Borders. (S6O-02629)

I understand that V division in Dumfries and Galloway is struggling to meet the demands of its large rural region with the current number of officers. As the cabinet secretary will know, Police Scotland relies on officers and staff doing more overtime to keep the service operating and to keep people safe. In addition, V division has raised concern with me about a lack of experienced officers coming into the region. What specific action is being taken to recruit police officers to rural areas such as Dumfries and Galloway as a priority?

I am sure that the First Minister will have seen the “No Life Half Lived” report from Chest Heart & Stroke Scotland, which makes a number of recommendations to enable the one in five people in Scotland who live with chest, heart and stroke conditions, including in my South Scotland region, to access to rehabilitation and support. For transparency, I co-convene a number of health-related cross-party groups, including the cross-party group on lung health. Will the First Minister outline how the recommendations in the report align with the Scottish Government’s stroke improvement plan?

Will the member give way?

I thank Clare Adamson for her intervention. That aspect is important, in my experience. I have looked after children who have had stomas created, and it is important that we highlight the associated stigma.

I will pick up on Edward Mountain’s point about disabled toilets in the Parliament. In the toilets on the fourth floor, where my office is, there was a table during Covid, but now it is not there. It would be really simple to return a table there, while the Parliament is working on the shelf issue. I absolutely support the ask that Edward Mountain has made in the chamber this evening.

I will pick up on the point about bowel screening. It is now quicker and easier to do, with one wee small sample to send instead of the three samples that were previously required. I know that people who are diagnosed with bowel cancer early are 14 times more likely to survive it.

Bowel cancer is one of the main reasons why stomas are created in the first place. The screening test is offered to people who are aged between 50 and 74. I was interested to read that the latest screening uptake statistics for Dumfries and Galloway and the Scottish Borders are as follows. A total of 60,677 people in D and G were invited for their screening test, and 38,070 were screened. That was an uptake of 62.7 per cent, which has gone up from previous years in which uptake has been noted. For the same period in the Scottish Borders, 47,389 people were invited for screening, and 30,944 sent in their samples. The Borders uptake, at 65.3 per cent, is therefore slightly better than the uptake in D and G, so there is a wee bit of competition there. Those are good figures, but we need to improve them.

The fact that we are discussing this issue in the chamber today and raising awareness about the importance of screening is really important.

Carol Mochan should be commended for encouraging folk into nursing—I say that as someone who was a nurse for 30 years before coming here. Through the comprehensive holistic care that they deliver, stoma care nurse specialists are central to enabling people to have good lives. Does the member agree that that message is part of what we need to send in order to encourage people into nursing?

Sure. Obviously, work needs to be done to continue to raise awareness of the importance of screening, and we are helping by talking about it today. I am sure that work will be taken forward to continue to raise awareness of the importance of not only screening for bowel cancer but other screening that we do.

Finally, I want to mention the stoma care nurse specialists, because if we didnae have them, it would be challenging for people to find out about certain things. For example, Edward Mountain described the black marker on his abdomen—I have seen that being done for people. Sometimes, I can see that patients are well informed about it, but, at other times, they need really good support and information. The stoma nurse network in Scotland should be valued and supported, because those nurses do a phenomenal job.

In closing, I thank Edward Mountain again for his courage in bringing the debate to the chamber. All the people who work in stoma services should be recognised for doing a fantastic job, and I encourage everyone who is eligible to ensure that they take up their screening invite.