Seòmar agus comataidhean

This morning, we have heard a lot about your priorities and thoughts on various parts of the bill. From what your members have brought up at regional forums, what priorities should underpin the work on the design of a national care service?

No, I got all of that—thank you very much.

Dentistry is one of those areas in which patients find it more difficult than others to raise concerns and give feedback on treatment and on-going reforms. Is there a plan in place to ensure that people can have their voices heard and that ways of giving feedback—good or otherwise—are advertised so that people can input into the system?

I take on board the issues around funding, but there are other elements in the system, such as culture, that perhaps do not have as many pound signs beside them as some of the other aspects of terms and conditions that we talk about regularly.

Eddie Fraser talked about the number of employers and the fact that some of them are in better places than others on terms and conditions, culture and other pieces. What work is on-going to bring some of those employers who may be at the lower end up to the standard of others? What work is continuing in local authorities to push some of those areas forward so that we are not constantly waiting for big pieces of service reform and so that we take the staff—who are slogging their guts out doing their jobs day in, day out—along with us?

Thank you.

How confident are you that the ethical commissioning and procurement proposals for the NCS will ensure that fair work principles are guaranteed for social care staff?

The BDA is

“concerned that certain aspects of the new Determination 1 may result in unintended consequences, which may result in an increase to oral health inequalities. For example, a single examination fee which does not take account of disease experience, may favour patients with minimal past dental disease and/or current dental disease”.

Do you share those concerns? How will any unintended consequences be monitored?

The money is hugely welcome—I am sure that we all welcome it. Another particular concern that has been raised with me is that there is geographical variation in the ease of access to breaks—you will be well aware of that, minister, as a rural constituency MSP—and also variation in the support that is available. Not everyone will want what I am sure many members of the general public have traditionally seen as short breaks. Many people want to be able to take their loved one with them on holiday and to be supported to do that.

What specific work is going on in those two areas—addressing geographic variations and improving the diversity of short break offerings—in order to make sure that we will be ahead of the game by the time the provisions in the bill come into force?

That is great. Thank you.

Data is a bugbear of mine—particularly how it informs budgets and outcomes. How can data collection be improved to ensure that it is not only sufficient to measure performance but is linked to long-term outcomes and therefore informs budgets and other things going forward?

Good morning. Some unpaid carers are concerned that the pause in the national care service might mean a delay in the right to breaks from caring coming into place. Will you update us on what work is being done to progress that while the bill is still being worked on?