Chamber and committees

Muckle thanks tae Christine Grahame fur thon repone. Oor Pairlament’s committee reports and ither warks are awready available, by request, in Gaelic, British Sign Language or ither accessible formats—which is, o coorse, walcome. As wark is gan on tae support fowk tae yaise their ain leid—that it is gree’d that they can yaise and that is yin o oor three national leids—wull the SPCB commit tae explorin whither the executive summaries o committee reports could be publishit in Scots, as we pit a refreshed focus on Scots in oor ain national Pairlament?

If ye want me tae translate it intae English, Presiding Officer, Ah wull.

I am grateful for the opportunity to speak in this important debate. I, too, associate myself with the comments that were made at the outset, and I thank every public service worker who has supported us all throughout the pandemic over the past couple of years.

Anas Sarwar has spoken about Milly’s story on many occasions in the chamber—it is a terrible tragedy. I cannae imagine how any mother or parent would thole that awfie experience—it is pretty heartbreaking. I know that, as a result of the efforts of Milly’s mother, Kimberly Darroch, lessons have been learned and important action has been taken, and we have heard from the minister that the Scottish Government is taking action to ensure that the chance of any other family experiencing a similar tragedy will not be repeated.

It is clear that the Scottish Government and every party in the chamber should agree that everyone in Scotland should receive the best possible care from all public bodies, including our NHS. As with any other proposal, I welcome the fact that the Scottish Government will consider any bill carefully once a proposal and consultation have been published.

Following Milly’s story, and to ensure that the voices of people who use health services are heard and their concerns are acted on, the Scottish Government committed to establishing a patient safety commissioner. In July 2020, Baroness Cumberlege published her report on the independent medicines and medical devices safety review. The review was commissioned by the United Kingdom Government, with devolved Governments’ agreement, to examine how healthcare systems responded to concerns raised about medical interventions. The review made nine strategic recommendations, and the former health secretary accepted all the recommendations that were within Scotland’s devolved competence, which included the establishment of a patient safety commissioner.

The intention is that the commissioner will work with and support healthcare providers and other relevant bodies to improve the processes and systems that they have in place for receiving and acting on patient feedback. They will support patients to raise issues or concerns about the treatment or care that they have received. The commissioner will also act as an advocate for patients.

The consultation on the role, which closed in May 2021, identified that the commissioner must be proactive and enhance what the NHS and the Scottish Government have in place, with an emphasis on listening to and learning from people’s experiences. The commissioner must then drive implementation to continually improve patient safety.

The consultation envisaged that the role should seek to address several areas for improvement in patient safety, which were set out in the report and include the need for more widespread and timely recognition by the patient safety system of issues that are identified by patients and the public. That is welcome, and I ask the cabinet secretary to continue to keep us updated on the process and procedures surrounding the creation and implementation of the patient safety commissioner post.

As members will be aware, I am still a registered nurse and, in my previous role as a clinical educator, I provided support and skills training for healthcare and allied health professionals. I welcome the fact that the Scottish Government has a shared vision for an open and learning culture in our NHS that encourages learning when there has been dissatisfaction or harm and encourages organisations, including our health services, to identify improvements. The Scottish Government’s commitment to that is demonstrated in the development of its approach to openness and learning through the introduction of the statutory organisational duty of candour legislation.

I am conscious of time so, in closing, I echo the view that everyone in Scotland should receive the best possible care from all public bodies, including our NHS. I pay tribute to Milly’s mother and family for their campaigning, which has led to meaningful change. I welcome the steps that have been taken and look forward to forthcoming progress.

To ask the Scottish Government how its housing strategy will support local authorities to take action in relation to vacant, derelict and abandoned buildings. (S6O-00830)

Scotland has almost 11,000 hectares of vacant and derelict sites. That is equivalent to 20,556 football pitches. In the South Scotland region, there is the George hotel in Stranraer, the InterFloor factory in Dumfries and the N Peal building in Hawick, among many others. The Scottish Land Commission stated that those sites have a detrimental impact on community health and wellbeing. March is land reuse month, so can the cabinet secretary provide an update on what additional steps the Scottish Government can take to help communities to deal better with vacant, derelict and abandoned buildings?

I have had a look on ALISS myself, and I cannae find any mention of men’s sheds in Dumfries and Galloway. I know that we have them from Stranraer to Lockerbie, so there is an issue about the system being at its most up to date and accurate.

What steps can be taken to support general practices in providing effective signposting? That might involve care navigators or other methods, but what is the best way of communicating to people what is out there?

We have seen how the pandemic has made people engage more in daily walks and in accessing the outdoors. Has there been a shift in knowledge about social prescribing because of the pandemic? We know that people have been really isolated and that telephone befriending services were therefore set up. That would be seen as social prescribing that is not about sport but about tackling isolation to support wellbeing. Has the pandemic led to an increase in awareness of social prescribing?

Thanks, convener. There was a bit of a mix of views. Some people had an absolutely excellent experience of accessing alternative pathways and for others it was the complete opposite. A lot of the challenges were about communication, how signposting is delivered and what pathways or social prescribing options are out there.

All those people defined what social prescribing meant, but it was very new to them and when they called the GP practice the receptionist could be the absolute barrier to any progress. Those were a couple of the issues that came up.

People also asked why they could not make online appointments and why they could not just get text messages to remind them when there was an appointment. They raised the issue of joined-up computer information data systems, as well.

Some of the points are the same as those that we heard in the social prescribing session that we had in the previous parliamentary session, so it will be interesting to hear everybody else’s thoughts this morning.

My final question is about community links workers. When I last looked at the data, in March 2021, 218 links workers had been registered or looked at on the Scottish Government’s website, and it looks as though we are on track to have around 323 by March this year. Community links workers are supposed to help to direct people to the alternative pathways, services and social prescribing that are out there. How can links workers’ communication on the alternative pathways and social prescribing that are available for people help to support them?

Good morning, panel. Some of the information that I was looking for has been covered by Dr Chris Williams, who talked about the benefits of ALISS.

Our briefing papers say that Healthcare Improvement Scotland’s “Care Navigation in General Practice: 10-Step Guide” recommends that individual practices collate and maintain their own lists of local service providers. GPs know their own locations, but is it realistic to expect them to collate and maintain their own databases, when programmes such as ALISS are out there? There are also regional programmes. For example, in Dumfries and Galloway, DG Locator is accessible and has an app. How do you feel about Healthcare Improvement Scotland’s recommendation that GPs keep their own database of places for social prescribing?

The inquiry is about alternative pathways to primary care. In the previous parliamentary session, the Health and Sport Committee held an inquiry about social prescribing for physical activity and sport. I am not saying that everybody needs to take up cycling and running, but we know that access to the outdoors can be beneficial, that men’s sheds can support people and that joining walking groups can be helpful. I am interested to hear from the witnesses about their experience of patients’ general attitudes towards social prescribing.