Chamber and committees

One of the challenges that I and my colleagues Finlay Carson and Colin Smyth have had is that Dumfries and Galloway is part of the south-east cancer network although nowhere in Dumfries and Galloway is in the east of Scotland. It is a challenge to look at that and to engage. The health board says that it is up to the Government and the Government says that it is up to the health board. We do not want to dictate how cancer care is provided, but we need people to have a choice of whether to have their radiotherapy in Edinburgh—which might be better—or Glasgow.

That is just one example. Folk fae Stranraer are not given a choice about making a 260-mile round trip. We are told that they are given a choice but we do not really have evidence of or feedback on that. I am interested in pursuing an advocacy approach, whether we do that through a commissioner or an agency, so that we can look at the challenges in rural health care.

The Parliament’s Health, Social Care and Sport Committee is undertaking an inquiry into health inequalities. Many of the issues that we have been talking about in this meeting are coming to light.

I am hearing from the other petitioners that there are challenges for remote and rural areas, whether we are talking about Caithness, Galloway or the Borders, and it would be great to be able to join up all the work that has been done and see how we can take it forward to address the needs of our people. I will stop there.

Rather than making a statement, I want to ask Dr Gordon Baird a question that might help us to understand why we should consider an agency to advocate for patients. If we were to have members on each health board that were rural, they might then become embedded in the culture of that health board, rather than having a voice with which to advocate. That is why I would support having an independent agency.

Dr Baird, I am interested in pursuing what you said about the rancour or confrontational issues. When I try to represent constituents in Dumfries and Galloway on health issues, it seems to be perceived as confrontational. That is the last thing that we need when we are trying to secure the best healthcare support as we emerge out of the pandemic. How would an agency that can advocate help to reduce the perceived confrontational stance of MSPs or anyone who is not engaging with a whistleblower? How would an agency help to support that?

I welcome the opportunity to speak in the debate about the creation of at least one new national park in Scotland. I will focus on the campaign for a national park in Dumfries and Galloway, the governance and structure of any proposed national park, and the exciting opportunity to create the right national park model.

Currently, there are limited statutory criteria in the National Parks (Scotland) Act 2000 for the selection of national parks. I note that the launch of the consultation to gain ideas on what Scotland’s new national park could encompass has received 102 submissions so far. I encourage members to take a look, as some of the responses and comments are very interesting.

In the designation of a new national park, there is an opportunity to look at what has worked well in relation to the two national parks that we already have. Lessons could be learned to enable us to design a better governance and regulatory system for a new national park in Scotland.

In Galloway, a new national park could provide an opportunity to promote and conserve some of Scotland’s magnificent landscapes, which we are fortunate to have across oor bonnie Galloway. A park could attract visitors and allow the south-west’s fragile rural economy to rebuild from the pandemic and thrive, while helping Scotland to tackle the biodiversity and climate emergency challenges.

However—I have been consistently clear about this—any new national park must not be created simply for the sake of it. The process must be done in co-operation with the communities that it is intended to serve, and it must not create further bureaucratic or restrictive approaches to issues such as planning, new development or the many new ideas that will support addressing biodiversity and climate issues.

The Galloway National Park Association has had conversations with almost 2,000 people at more than 100 meetings and events across Galloway. The findings from those conversations, along with the consultative work, are interesting.

Galloway needs to be on a par with the rest of Scotland in economic terms, and many respondents to the GNPA engagement felt that a national park had the potential to bring economic benefit to the region through increased tourism—that would definitely happen—job creation and international recognition.

Respondents felt that Galloway’s dispersed rural population presented additional challenges, but some, including hotel, bed and breakfast accommodation and outdoor activity providers, saw recognition as a national park as a potential catalyst for business development and expansion. Some also felt that a national park might be vital in providing opportunities for our region’s young people to consider taking up employment opportunities on their doorstep, instead of, as Colin Smyth has mentioned, leaving the region to pursue employment, as many currently do.

However, as Colin Smyth has said—the point is worth reiterating—there are already fantastic resources available across Galloway, such as the UNESCO Galloway and Southern Ayrshire Biosphere, 7stanes mountain biking, water sports at the Galloway Activity Centre at Loch Ken, the Galloway forest park, the dark sky park, and the many distilleries, breweries, museums and artistic venues.

Those resources allow people to explore the outdoors. The biosphere—for which I hope to host a reception here in Parliament in September—which is backed up by £1.9 million of Scottish Government funding, is already enhancing our natural environment and educating people on nature and the climate emergency. I have had direct feedback that those resources need to be built on, expanded and funded for the future.

I have been engaging with the NFU Scotland locally and nationally and with constituents who are not necessarily in favour of the proposal for a national park in Galloway or the Borders. One of the key reasons for that is that many are concerned that national park status in the area might create barriers to development in terms of planning and regenerative farming, and that it might present barriers to agricultural diversification or to the development of new income streams.

Through my engagement with the GNPA, I have expressed my concern over the potential bureaucracy that a national park could create when it comes to planning issues, board members’ monetary compensation, local democracy and decision making. For example, I am aware that there has been significant conflict in national parks, where planning decisions are subject to the national park board and not the local authority.

I also know of the challenges that renewable energy investors experience when they seek to bring development to national park areas—investment that could bring much-needed community benefit.

I will, if Mr Carson is quick.

Donald Cameron has said that farmers would welcome a national park, but does he agree that there has been a bit of a back-and-forward, as some members of NFU Scotland in Dumfries and Galloway are a wee bit sceptical until they get more information?

I know that Mr Carson has raised that issue in the chamber previously. That is one of the issues that there are concerns about. At the moment, planning remains with the local authority, which means that the community is widely consulted when such decisions are made.

I ask the minister, as some of the respondents to the consultation have done, to ensure that the Scottish Government remains open minded about the structure of any proposed national park. The Government will need to focus on protecting and enhancing the natural environment, while tackling the twin crises of the climate and biodiversity emergencies, and not on determining planning applications or becoming restrictive to local development.

Of course I agree that national parks can bring huge benefit, and wherever a national park is created, it must have the right model, and it must involve and gain the support of the local community.

I welcome the opportunity to speak in the debate, and I congratulate my friend and colleague Collette Stevenson on securing it. I thank my office manager, Scott McElvanney, for his assistance and research that helped me to prepare. It has been interesting to hear directly about the impact on Cole’s life, and about Lisa’s experience, and it is important that the debate is being held.

Just as synthetic drugs can help some conditions and not others, it is important to note that cannabis is not a one-size-fits-all line of treatment. In addition, when it comes to discussing the legalisation of cannabis, it is important that we make the distinction between recreational purposes and medical treatment. In legalised forms of medicinal cannabis, the benefits come from chemical elements in the plant. I absolutely recognise and agree with Rona Mackay about the stigma that is associated with that. It is important that we highlight the medicinal effects—not the THC effects that other people might seek.

The benefits are becoming more evident through proper clinical trials and research, both globally and at the University of Glasgow. The research suggests that the benefits of cannabis come from some of its compounds, which are cannabinoids such as cannabidiol—CBD. Interestingly, Hilltop Leaf Ltd, which is a private medicinal cannabis cultivation and extraction business that aims to provide a plant-based clinical treatment as an alternative to synthetic pharmaceuticals, has opened a site in Dumfries and Galloway with South of Scotland Enterprise funding, and is growing cannabis for medicinal research and use.

Those compounds can translate to multiple physical benefits. When I worked as a post-anaesthesia care nurse, pain management and pain relief were a critical part of my job, whether I was giving, intravenously, morphine, diamorphine or paracetamol. That was acute pain management. However, a lot of those drugs are also used in chronic pain management, so I was interested in the evidence from the various clinical trials, which has generally agreed that medicinal cannabis reduces pain, by altering pain pathways in the brain.

The evidence from the studies shows the benefits of cannabis-based drugs for patients with arthritis, fibromyalgia, endometriosis and migraine. In some instances, those drugs are reported to help to replace the long-term use of non-steroid anti-inflammatory drugs—NSAIDS—such as ibuprofen, which also have negative side effects. That means that CBD can help to reduce inflammation. Clinical trials have been carried out for patients who live with Crohn’s disease and irritable bowel syndrome and rheumatoid arthritis. In every one of those studies, cannabis-based medication decreased inflammation and led to increased independence, and greater wellbeing for patients—which we should absolutely support and pursue.

Due to the effects on the limbic system, research is being carried out—including, in Scotland, by the University of Glasgow—on the ability of cannabis-based medication to treat anxiety, epilepsy, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease, post-traumatic stress disorder and even Tourette’s syndrome, and insomnia. Clearly, there is a body of international evidence on the benefits of medicinal forms of cannabis, and we should be further exploring regulated forms of medicinal cannabis for prescription here in Scotland.

Following the changes to the misuse of drugs legislation in 2018, cannabis-based products can be prescribed in cases of special need. I am aware of three products: Epidiolex, Sativex and Nabilone. Epidiolex is recommended for prescription in Scotland, but we there have been difficulties from general practitioners about the way that the drugs can or cannot be prescribed.

The Royal College of General Practitioners says that it has been pressurised into prescribing unlicensed medicinal cannabis products.

That happens because patients with life-limiting conditions read social media posts about the benefits of medicinal cannabis products. The RCGP has shared its concerns about the lack of availability of medical cannabis products. I encourage the minister to support GPs by taking forward clinical guidance and by looking at the education that is available to patients and clinicians about those products.

I am conscious of time. I agree that medicinal cannabis compounds and products have many benefits and I encourage the Scottish Government to continue supporting clinical research into those products to improve the outcomes for folk whose health conditions are totally life-limiting.

Okay. Thanks.

I have a quick supplementary question about a rent deposit guarantee scheme that I have heard about and which is being used to support people going into private tenancies. In social housing, you get your accommodation and that is it, but, in private accommodation, there has to be a rental deposit. Will the rent deposit guarantee scheme help in Scotland more widely? Right now, I have knowledge of it working only in Dumfries and Galloway.

That has been one of my concerns as well, as I learn more about the issue. As part of the eating out, eating well framework, there will be an option for out-of-home menus not to have calories on them, for people who have concerns.

The eating disorder charity Beat has concerns about the matter, and the Scottish Government is working closely with it. I am sure that that will inform the evidence as we move forward. Is Beat one of the charities that is involved in developing the process?