Meeting of the Parliament

Meeting date: Tuesday, October 8, 2019

Official Report 914KB pdf

Business Motion

The next item of business is consideration of business motion S5M-19312, in the name of Graeme Dey, on behalf of the Parliamentary Bureau, setting out a revision to tomorrow’s business.

Motion moved,

That the Parliament agrees to the following revision to the programme of business for Wednesday 9 October 2019—

delete

6.40 pm Decision Time

and insert

8.00 pm Decision Time—[Graeme Dey.]

I appreciate that business is packed and a bit chaotic this week, but I wish to raise concerns about the business motion. I do so reluctantly but with no option, as I have exhausted all other parliamentary options to force the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Sport to be held to account on an issue on which she previously made a statement in the Parliament.

On 26 June, the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Sport made a statement to advise members that she welcomed US surgeon Dr Veronikis’s offer to come to Scotland, and she said that we were looking to bring him here as soon as possible. The intention was for him to work with clinical services in a complementary fashion, and to provide treatment, expert advice and training.

Since that date, there has been little or no progress. At the weekend, via the media, we learned that Dr Veronikis has withdrawn his offer because of the appalling way in which he has been treated by senior Scottish Government officials who report to the cabinet secretary. All offers that Dr Veronikis has made to meet surgeons and have them observe his practice as part of the process have been rejected or cancelled. He attended a conference in Gothenburg that was also attended by Scottish surgeons who were supposed to liaise with him, but they made no effort even to speak to him. He offered to meet them in London when he was in this country, but no one took up his offer.

In the interim, we have seen Scottish patients having to use their life savings, to crowdfund, or to rely on benefactors to allow them to travel to the US for surgery performed by Dr Veronikis on a pro bono basis. Each of those women has it recorded in their national health service notes that they have received full mesh removal, only for them to go on to have up to 15cm of mesh removed from their bodies.

How on earth can that happen? Those women need answers. At every turn, Dr Veronikis’s offers to come here with the only motive of helping women who have been horribly injured and disabled by mesh have been blocked. Why do some surgeons here not want to learn pioneering mesh removal techniques? Why do they not want to improve their practice? Why do they not want to help women who are desperate for help and who are in excruciating pain?

This is the biggest medical scandal in the history of Scotland’s NHS. The cabinet secretary has known since last Monday that Dr Veronikis will not come here, but she has made zero effort to advise Parliament or the women of Scotland of that. Why?

We need to end the games. The cabinet secretary made a statement when she had good news to tell Parliament. She must do the same and be held to account when there is bad news.

Thank you, Mr Findlay, and thank you for the advance notice. I call Graeme Dey to respond on behalf of the Parliamentary Bureau.

The Parliamentary Bureau has taken a decision about the scheduling of business. I acknowledge that the subject that the member raises is extremely important, but I am not going to comment on behalf of the Government or the Parliamentary Bureau on allegations in the media.

As the member has acknowledged, the scheduling of business, particularly the stage 3 consideration of bills, has to take account of a variety of factors, and the situation means that we are extremely constrained this week.

Other options are available to the member beyond seeking a statement. There are a range of opportunities to ask questions, although I recognise that that is a matter for the Presiding Officer to determine.

Thank you, Mr Dey. Mr Findlay, there are other opportunities, including at First Minister’s questions this week.

The question is, that motion S5M-19312 be agreed to.

Motion agreed to,

That the Parliament agrees to the following revision to the programme of business for Wednesday 9 October 2019—

delete

6.40 pm Decision Time

and insert

8.00 pm Decision Time

I draw members’ attention to the fact that tomorrow’s decision time will be at 8 o’clock. That is because of the huge number of amendments that have been lodged to the Transport (Scotland) Bill.