Chamber and committees

The Government says that it wants to prioritise community-based preventative care but, right now, Glasgow’s Huntington’s disease specialist service is facing closure. It consists of front-line professionals who prevent hospital admissions and support families in crisis. Will the cabinet secretary act to protect those essential services before more vulnerable families are left behind?

I am pleased to take part in this important debate and I thank Alex Cole-Hamilton and the Liberal Democrats for bringing it to the chamber.

This is not the first time that we have debated the mental health emergency in Scotland and I, for one, do not believe that it will be the last time. It is hard to think of a topic that has been discussed so widely in Holyrood and yet on which so little progress has been made. On many fronts, Scotland’s mental health crisis appears only to be getting worse. It is getting worse for the kids in school, for their teachers and parents, and for adults who are battling a range of problems for which treatment seems virtually impossible to access.

Most political parties have agreed, at one point or another, that mental health should have parity of esteem with physical health within Government and the NHS. However, no one working in the system, or who has had to navigate their way through it from outside, really believes that that has ever happened. Today’s debate focuses on a number of areas relating to neurodevelopmental conditions and the provision—or lack thereof—to help people cope with them.

Those shortages affect people of all ages, but their impact on children is causing the most distress across society. Services are so chaotic and disjoined, and the waiting times so unbearably long, that many young people will not even be children any more by the time that the NHS gets round to seeing them. That is not a reflection on the dedicated and hard-working staff, many of whom constantly go the extra mile just to keep their services above water. It is, however, very much a reflection on the Scottish Government, which has underfunded and undervalued mental health care for nearly 20 years of its being in power.

Since 2007, mental health has been under the sole control of the SNP Government. It is entirely devolved, and the Scottish Government has no one to blame but itself for the current state of affairs. Education is also devolved, and the Scottish Government’s desire to mainstream as many children as possible is visibly backfiring. We have heard countless reports—shared in the chamber and beyond—of how so many young people are being forced into environments to which they are clearly unsuited. It ruins their learning and development, and it jeopardises the experience and education of those around them.

Only last year, I had a Glasgow family in my office in tears because they could not access special school provision for their child who has severe autism. They were terrified about what life would look like for him in a mainstream school, but because of Government and local government policy, they had no choice but to go with it. The statistics bear that out, too. Hundreds of special schools across the country have been lost since 2007, and with them have gone hundreds more specialist, experienced and skilled teachers. Kids are waiting years for testing in relation to autism and ADHD. Professional psychiatry bodies have said that, by failing to help those young people now, we are merely storing up even more problems for the future.

There are things that the Government could do now to help. It could increase mental health spending to 10 per cent of the front-line NHS budget; it could ensure that there is sufficient capacity in education for pupils with complex needs; and it could better support teachers to identify and help pupils with conditions such as ADHD and autism. Those measures would make a real difference to those suffering on the ground. If mental health and physical health are, indeed, to have parity of esteem, those commitments would be a good place to start.

In March alone, delayed discharges led to 60,129 hospital bed days being lost, which is a rise of 3 per cent on the same month last year. That is thousands of people who are stuck in hospital for longer than is necessary. Will the cabinet secretary spell out what immediate and medium-term actions the Government is taking to tackle that, and when we can expect to see real progress?

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the latest Public Health Scotland statistics on delayed discharges in NHS Scotland, which show that the average length of delay for March 2025 was 27 days. (S6O-04657)

Almost 6,500 people across Scotland are waiting for a social care assessment—a number that represents real lives and real families. The Scottish Government says that it is investing money in care services, but what does that mean for people who are waiting for those assessments? When will people receive the care that they desperately need?

As the world mourns His Holiness Pope Francis, I am honoured to have the opportunity to pay tribute to him here today. Pope Francis was a champion of compassion within the church. He was elected to the papacy at a time of huge challenges and controversy for the Catholic faith. Ultimately, however, his time was marked not by those difficulties but by the true love of humanity, with all its flaws and strengths, that he brought to his office.

Pope Francis stood for the downtrodden, the vulnerable, the poor and all those who, for a long time, were not sure whether they were really welcome in church. His accepting, generous spirit reached out to Catholics like me around the world. His famous words “Who am I to judge?” marked the start of a shift in how the Catholic church approached homosexuality, but they also perfectly captured Pope Francis’s humility and compassion for others. That message meant so much to me, as a gay woman, and many others.

However, Pope Francis was not just a champion for those of Catholic faith. His message was one of acceptance and solidarity between people of all faiths. Right up until the final days of his life, he was preaching that message of acceptance and peace and praying for an end to conflicts around the globe, including in his Easter blessing on Sunday, just the day before his death. Although he was not able to deliver his full blessing himself, he still appeared in Rome to wish us all a happy Easter just two days ago, showing astounding dedication to public service even when gravely ill. He demonstrated how all of us can continue to make a difference right until the end, and he left us with the words

“May the principle of humanity never fail to be the hallmark of our daily actions”,

reminding us of the value of every human life and the importance of loving our neighbour.

Pope Francis was a pope who reached out to people across the world, who gave the church a human face and personal touch, and who focused on humanity as well as divinity. His passing will be mourned for a long time by those of many different faiths, but his legacy can be celebrated as one of compassion and peace.

On a point of order, Presiding Officer. I do not know whether my vote went through. The screen disappeared. I would have voted yes.

Approximately two weeks ago, discarded needles and burnt spoons were discovered in a car park across from the Thistle drug consumption facility. Local community representatives have raised serious concerns about the facility’s impact and, in particular, about the risk of children coming into contact with discarded syringes. The finding of that material contradicts official statements, which have downplayed the issue of drug-related litter.

Will the minister clarify how the Government intends to address those reports and outline its plan to maintain a safe environment for residents and visitors? I have seen the situation at first hand, and it is not getting any better in the places that I have visited.

To ask the Scottish Government what community safety measures it plans to prevent antisocial behaviour, including improper needle disposal, in the area surrounding the Thistle drug consumption facility. (S6O-04451)

To ask the First Minister what plans the Scottish Government has to tackle the reported rising number of cases of drug driving. (S6F-03870)