Chamber and committees

I thank Stephen Kerr for that intervention. I am also a member of the Health, Social Care and Sport Committee, and a nurse, and a lot of my work as a former co-convener of the cross-party group on mental health has dealt with the parity that is needed. A lot of work is going on. I support what Stephen Kerr asks for, but I know that a lot of work is under way right now, especially in the work that I am doing in the Parliament.

Less accessibility to key services such as childcare, broadband and transport links can also be a challenge. The limit to opportunities to earn adequate income, in comparison with those in urban areas, is part of the issue. I am conscious of time, Presiding Officer, but I am aware from my own casework that many issues need to be supported.

I also want to give a nod to former MSP Jim Hume and to Kira McDiarmid, from Change Mental Health, whom I welcome to the gallery.

There is so much other work that I could talk about as well. RSABI has already been highlighted. It is another fantastic charity that operates to support those in our agricultural communities.

Mental health is everyone’s business, and we must collectively work to tackle it in all our areas, including our rural areas.

The cabinet secretary will be aware that NHS Inform uses the apps and web information SilverCloud, Daylight and Sleepio. Does she agree that raising awareness of the work that is already under way can help with early interventions?

Good morning to you all.

Jill Barber just mentioned sea lice. I am interested in sea lice interactions with the wild salmon population. I have loads of pages open here, because a lot of work is being done by the North Atlantic Salmon Conservation Organization. The document that I have in front of me is a Government document that talks about the impacts of lice from fish farms on wild Scottish sea trout and salmon. There is lots of scientific information here about the impacts of sea lice on sea trout and wild salmon. Lots of modelling has been done, as well as observational and experimental studies. It is quite comprehensive, and work is being taken forward to look at the impacts of sea lice on wild salmon.

I am interested in hearing about what progress has been made to look at how we manage the impact of farmed salmon lice on the wild salmon population.

There are no salmon farms in Dumfries and Galloway, but a lot of work is being done to look at how wild salmon move. Galloway Fisheries Trust is one of the groups that are doing a lot of really good research. The same applies to the River Tweed. Is that part of the engagement with local groups and local people that you are talking about?using their research and evidence to help to inform how we can address the issue of sea lice on wild salmon?

You talked about the 12 pressures. Lots of variables can impact the health of farmed salmon and wild salmon, such as water temperature and algae blooms. There is no one solution to how we can address the issue of sea lice on wild salmon. In relation to the framework, does further work need to be done to strengthen any regulations?

My questions have been covered, convener.

I am not here as often as Karen Adam is, so I would like to clarify: do we need a minister or do we need an official, if it is really just to clarify the information so that we can proceed and make a better-informed decision?

The cabinet secretary has commented on ScotGEM a couple of times. Does he recognise the positive feedback that I have had from NHS Dumfries and Galloway regarding the programme, which is unique to Scotland?

As a member of the Health, Social Care and Sport Committee, I am pleased to speak in this debate on stage 1 of the Patient Safety Commissioner for Scotland Bill, and I remind Parliament that I am a registered nurse with a current Nursing and Midwifery Council registration.

As colleagues have said, the bill was introduced in response to the recommendations of the Cumberlege review. It is a direct response to patient-led campaigns on use of the hormonal pregnancy test Primodos, sodium valproate in pregnancy and transvaginal surgical mesh. Each of those products is associated with significant patient harms and injury, and one of the main findings of the Cumberlege review was that patients were not being listened to.

We took direct evidence at committee from Charlie Bethune, whom I subsequently met, as he is a constituent of mine. He and his wife Lesley have championed the cause of children who have been impacted on by the anti-epilepsy medication sodium valproate, because of the impact that it had on their adopted daughter. Many others have been affected—the number across the UK is estimated to be 20,000.

As colleagues have said, a patient safety commissioner should be created to listen to and amplify the voices of patients, in order to drive systemic improvements in care, with a focus on medicines and medical devices. The patient safety commissioner, or PSC, will be an independent champion for everyone who receives healthcare, and will work alongside healthcare bodies such as NHS Education for Scotland and Healthcare Improvement Scotland. The Scottish Government places high importance on the patient voice and the patient experience.

During the committee’s stage 1 scrutiny, many of the questions were on the remit of the PSC, because the proposed remit is wider than that of the Patient Safety Commissioner for England. The remit of the commissioner will include bringing together patient feedback and safety data that is shared by NHS boards and Healthcare Improvement Scotland, in order to identify concerns and recommend actions.

The commissioner will also, where necessary, lead formal investigations into potential systemic safety issues, with powers to require that information be shared in order to ensure that every investigation is fully informed.

I believe that the remit of the PSC is directly relevant to issues in Dumfries and Galloway, in my South Scotland region, that I have been raising as a result of my work with constituents. I believe that the PSC could play a part in specific aspects, including a focus on cancer treatment and cancer pathways, and travel reimbursement.

Geographically, Dumfries and Galloway is in the south-west of Scotland, but it is aligned with the south-east Scotland cancer network. Nowhere in D and G are people closer to services in Edinburgh than they are to services in Glasgow. In many cases—particularly for people in Stranraer and Wigtownshire—a trip to Edinburgh can mean a 260-mile round trip for treatment. Constituents have been campaigning about unnecessary travel for more than 20 years now, and I know from my engagement with constituents that the trip can often exacerbate already poor health and cause more anxiety and unnecessary stress. Perhaps a patient safety commissioner will help to amplify the voices of my constituents in order to address that.

In addition, patients in D and G are means tested for reimbursement for journeys of more than 30 miles for medical appointments, despite the fact that people who live in other similarly rural parts of Scotland are not. Other travel reimbursement schemes exist in the Highlands and Islands, for instance.

I know that those issues are not overtly safety related, but, considering the specific issues and the evidence that has been presented that care and compassion should also be taken into account, they are worth noting. I therefore seek assurances from the minister that a future commissioner will consider the issues that I have just highlighted, in order to pursue real change.

I welcome the minister’s response to the committee report that was issued this morning. In particular, I welcome the minister’s agreement with our committee’s recommendation

“that the wording in Section 16(4)(c) ... should be amended to specify that”

members of the proposed advisory group who represent patients

“must actively demonstrate a commitment to representing the voice of patients, rather than simply appearing to the Patient Safety Commissioner to be representative of patients.”

That is an important recommendation, because it ensures that those who are receiving care are being represented by someone who has an acute understanding of the impact of their circumstances and who is committed to improving processes in the future. I therefore welcome that appointments to the advisory group will be the subject of oversight by the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body, which will function as an external check on their appropriateness.

It is clear that the bill will make sure that the voices of people who are using health services are heard and that their concerns are acted on, with the creation of a champion who is independent of the NHS and of Government and who will focus on the safety of people who are receiving healthcare in Scotland. It is vitally important that patients have a voice and a place to turn to if they have safety concerns, and the bill will help to ensure that that happens.

I look forward to continued scrutiny of the bill as we move forward to stage 2. Brian Whittle’s retelling of the experience of Fraser and June at University hospital Crosshouse was a powerful statement of the need for a patient safety commissioner, so I welcome his comments today.

In closing, I welcome the minister’s comment that the PSC “will work collaboratively with” healthcare bodies, and I thank all those, including the many people who have demonstrated great courage, who have helped us to get to this point today. I, too, support the general principles of the bill.

Does the member agree that Dr Gordon Baird has been working on that issue for 20 years?