Seòmar agus comataidhean

Good morning to the panel.

The point has been made that we need to increase the visibility of disabled women in sports. How can that be achieved with regard to women with hidden disabilities, including people with mental health conditions?

I will pick on Kim Atkinson first.

That is great—thank you.

The committee has focused on recruitment as well as retention. In your submission to the committee, you highlight that

“A key element has been on education around the unique offer TSH can give for the opportunity of a career in forensic mental health care, including continuing training and development.”

You said that that

“is proving to be a successful campaign for newly qualified practitioners, and for students expected to qualify in September 2023 with a growth in applications from social media campaigns.”

Will you say a bit more about the success of that campaign and how you think it could be replicated in other areas of the NHS?

Good morning. I imagine that working at the state hospital can differ greatly from working in other health boards. In your opinion, what particular pressures do staff at the state hospital face, how is that likely to affect their wellbeing, and what steps is the board taking to address that?

That is great—thank you.

I will come back on that briefly, convener—

That is great, thank you.

Absolutely. We also encourage sporting figures to be more open about stress, anxiety and depression; we have come a long way in that. People who have those mental health conditions may not necessarily come under Scottish Disability Sport’s remit, but will participate in organised sport and other physical activity. How do we better support people who have specific diagnoses? I am thinking in particular of people who have bipolar disorders, schizophrenia or personality disorders, about which there is less understanding and awareness. How do we ensure that those people are welcome in sport and that they are understood by their team mates, coaches and others in order to ensure that they can get the best support out of what they are doing? David Ferguson is nodding, so I will go to him.

Do you want to add to that, Gordon?

On the point about images, I suppose that we also need to remember that not all disabilities are visible and that they affect different people who play different sports in different ways. I say that as someone with a vestibular-related disability. It is absolutely important that we consider people with different physical impairments, but how can we also get those less-seen impairments out there? They can also affect people’s participation in sport throughout their lives.

That is great.