Seòmar agus comataidhean

Good morning to everyone in the room and online. We appreciate your time this morning. Does anyone have any comments on specific measures in the bill that we have not already discussed? I invite those in the room to answer first.

Thank you. I see that no one else wants to respond.

Finally, in what way would the bill improve the client experience? Are there any provisions that would make the client experience worse, and is there anything that you think is missing?

Thank you, and good morning, convener. I am delighted to be here.

I declare an interest in that, until 2022, I was a councillor for West Dunbartonshire Council.

The letter from Alan McIntosh contains interesting suggestions. The reduction in sheriff officer fees sounds quite attractive to me. Obviously, it is not feasible for us to do anything about that just now, but could we at least pass on the letter to the appropriate ministers so that it is not lost?

Does anyone online want to add anything?

Thank you for that. It was really helpful. Does anyone else want to come in?

Thank you.

Good morning, panel—it is great to see youse this morning. Thanks for your time.

I welcome the commitment to the piloting of opt-out blood-borne virus testing in Scotland. The Terrence Higgins Trust has commented on its positive impact on increased diagnosis and reducing the length of hospital stays for newly diagnosed patients. What does the piloting of that testing involve for the patient, and what overall benefits does it bring? Is it a way to reach those groups who are more at risk of late diagnosis?

I pop that out to whoever would like to answer first.

Good morning, panel, it is great to see you. I will go back to questions about the pilot of opt-out blood-borne virus testing in Scotland. The Terrence Higgins Trust made a comment about the positive impact that that is having on increased diagnosis and on reducing the length of hospital stays for people who are newly diagnosed. I was also heartened to read about the positive data on that from Croydon university hospital, which found that, when it first started opt-out testing, the average hospital stay was 35 days, and it is now 2.4 days.

Let us come back to talk about Scotland again. To help us to learn a bit more, can you talk us through what the pilot involves for the patient and what the overall benefits are? I will pop that question to you, Dr Clutterbuck, because I really like your name.