Chamber and committees

It is obvious that everybody needs to collaborate and work together, and the utmost safety of any policy is crucial. I am curious to know whether the Northern Ireland protocol will have an impact. Under the EU-UK withdrawal agreement, Northern Ireland is in the UK customs territory, but it remains aligned with EU regulations. The rules in Northern Ireland could change in order to remain aligned with the EU, and the framework sets out the structures and processes for managing the impact of such changes. Could changes that result in divergence between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK obstruct any sharing of blood, tissues or organs?

Good morning, ministers. I am interested in some of our public health priorities. Priority 2 mentions

“A Scotland where we flourish in our early years”.

My question is for Maree Todd. How do we measure, monitor and evaluate whether we have a Scotland where our young people flourish?

If any change or policy divergence is proposed, it will be important for there to be clear and timely communication so that the Scottish Government is aware of that.

It is a quick question about the importance of tackling stigma and discrimination, which we have talked about in the past. Obviously, if we reduce stigma, more young men, young women and young persons will come forward. The ice hockey team in Dumfries has a campaign to tackle stigma and discrimination called “Skate out of darkness.” That is important work, so could you give us a couple of comments on the importance of stigma?

Maree Todd mentioned the UK Government’s austerity policies, which have had an impact, but I will not discuss poverty and disability too deeply.

I want to touch on how adverse childhood experiences, such as eating disorders, can affect health outcomes. During the pandemic, there has been an increase in the number of people with eating disorders, and I am interested in that area. How do adverse childhood experiences affect children as they grow up? What work is being done to address eating disorders?

The SQA has taken the decision to move to scenario 2, which is to provide support to learners to aid them with their preparation for exams, with full details to be provided in early March. Will the cabinet secretary outline what learners can expect in March?

I am pleased to be speaking in the debate, and I congratulate Jackie Baillie on securing it.

As others have mentioned, the theme of world cancer day 2022 is “close the care gap”. It is about understanding and recognising inequalities in cancer care around the globe and lobbying for improved outcomes and equal treatment for all persons with cancer. I am pleased that the Scottish Government has a commitment to improve cancer services across our country, including establishing a new fast-track diagnostic cancer centre at Dumfries and Galloway royal infirmary in Dumfries.

The Covid pandemic had, and continues to have, a direct impact on cancer services, and I look forward to seeing how that can be improved as we move out of the pandemic. However, we do not have to look too far from home to find inequality in cancer care. In my South Scotland region, some patients are not receiving equal treatment, and I am pleased that my colleague highlighted the issues that I am about to address.

In Dumfries and Galloway, 1,135 people are currently living with cancer, and around 530 people lose their lives to cancer each year. Dumfries and Galloway is a large rural region—from Canonbie in the east to Kirkconnell in the north, Stranraer in the west to Whithorn in the south Machars—and we also have many challenges with the delivery of cancer services.

Since my election to Parliament, I have been actively lobbying for change to current cancer pathway arrangements for the region. Currently, although we in D and G are in the south-west of Scotland, we are not in the West of Scotland Cancer Network. NHS Dumfries and Galloway is part of the South East Scotland Cancer Network, which means that patients, particularly those who are in the west of the region and Wigtownshire and require more complex treatments and radiotherapy, must often travel north-east to Edinburgh for treatment. That is a 260-mile round trip from Stranraer, which can cause distress and discomfort, and exacerbate the negative effects of cancer treatment.

After continuous campaigning by local residents and elected members, including my efforts over a five-year period and those of colleagues across the chamber, and by the Galloway community hospital action group, which includes a campaigner who has highlighted the issue for more than a decade, in 2019 NHS Dumfries and Galloway agreed to change the existing arrangements so that a more flexible approach that was focused on patient choice could be taken to people’s treatment destination.

However, constituents are concerned that very little progress has been made, and that patients are still being asked to travel to Edinburgh, without even being offered the choice of going to Glasgow for radiotherapy and other treatment. I understand the pressures that the pandemic has caused, but we are talking about a long-standing situation that the former health secretary said that she would help to improve. Similarly, in July last year, I was told by the current health secretary that NHS Dumfries and Galloway’s cancer pathway arrangements would be addressed as part of the Scottish Government’s modernising patient pathways programme. I have spoken to a few people in order to progress matters, but I have not had any response from the modernising patient pathways programme. I will continue to pursue the issue.

I ask the cabinet secretary to provide a commitment that I will receive an update on the work that has been undertaken regarding cancer pathway arrangements across NHS Dumfries and Galloway. I also ask the Scottish Government to impress upon the health board the importance of the work on cancer pathways being carried out immediately so that patients in the south-west of Scotland can be offered a choice about whether to be treated in Glasgow or Edinburgh, depending on their preference.

I welcome the debate, the work that the Scottish Government has done and the opening of the fast-track cancer diagnostic centre in Dumfries, and I reiterate the need for action to bring about equality with regard to cancer pathways for patients across Dumfries and Galloway.

I congratulate Jackson Carlaw on his powerful speech. Holocaust memorial day provides us with an important opportunity to reflect on and remember the tragedy of the Holocaust and the atrocities that were committed.

It is extremely important that young people have the opportunity to visit the sites of the concentration camps and experience what for me was only reflected in school history books. I recognise the work of the Holocaust Educational Trust and its continued commitment to supporting our young people’s education. I also want to mention the work of vision schools Scotland, which was started by the University of the West of Scotland. I became involved in that after being invited to join by Jackson Carlaw in 2019. I was due to visit Auschwitz with young people from the programme in 2020, but the visit was cancelled due to the pandemic. As many young people, particularly in Scotland and across the western world, have no lived experience of far right extremism or of the hatred and intolerance that come with it, I agree that education is key in ensuring that such atrocities are not repeated.

I will share an experience that gave me a physical connection to the Holocaust, which I have mentioned in the chamber before. It is worth repeating, as it demonstrates the impact of the Holocaust on survivors. I was a recent arrival in Los Angeles, California, in the 1990s. I was in the operating room at Cedar-Sinai medical centre, about to assist a surgeon with the removal of a gall bladder from a 76-year-old patient. The woman, who was of German origin, had been resident in LA for 50 years. She was very frightened of her surgery and being put under anaesthesia. I reassured her that we would look after her and keep her safe. I held her hand and when I saw her outstretched forearm on the surgical arm board, on her arm was a tattoo of a pale grey set of numbers—162753. I was overwhelmed with a quick flood of emotions—shock, anger and compassion all at once—so much so that I am not even sure that I remember the correct numbers. I definitely remember how they made me feel, and they still make me feel the same way.

What is burned in my memory is that pale grey tattoo, the significance of those numbers and the rush of emotions. I was 26 years old when I looked after that lady, and I thought about how, when she was 26, she was there—she was a survivor. The numbers that had been forced on to her delicate skin had made a permanent lifelong mark, but, more important, they were proof that she had survived the horrors and nightmares of Auschwitz.

That inhumane imprint on that woman has been part of my memory for 25 years. The visits that ensure that weans are involved in learning about the Holocaust and my memories of that survivor have contributed to my continuing to care about other victims of oppression across the planet.

I will conclude with a mention of the Jane Haining project. It is a new group that is creating a national essay-writing competition so that we can continue to remember Jane Haining. She was the daughter of a farmer in Dunscore, near Dumfries, and an amazing and brave woman who died in Auschwitz after refusing to abandon the Jewish children who were in her care in Budapest as a missionary. Jane Haining is the only Scot to be honoured as “righteous among the nations”, which is the term that is used by the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial centre in Jerusalem for non-Jews who risked their lives to protect Jews from extermination.

I end with the words of Jane Haining, who said:

“If these children need me in the days of sunshine, how much more do they need me in the days of darkness?”

Through engagement with local manufacturing and agricultural businesses, I have had feedback that Skills Development Scotland can be sometimes challenging to engage with on manufacturing and agriculture career opportunities. Will the minister outline what further action the Scottish Government can take to support SDS to promote apprenticeships involving agriculture and rural skills, particularly given their importance to Scotland’s economy and our fight against the climate emergency?

To ask the Scottish Government how it is supporting Skills Development Scotland to engage with the agriculture and rural sector to promote opportunities and apprenticeships for young people as a positive career destination. (S6O-00680)