The Official Report is a written record of public meetings of the Parliament and committees.
All Official Reports of meetings in the Debating Chamber of the Scottish Parliament.
All Official Reports of public meetings of committees.
Displaying 595 contributions
Health, Social Care and Sport Committee
Meeting date: 9 November 2021
Gillian Mackay
Do we have a sense of why certain health boards are struggling with the issue more than others are? Is it because of the number of consultants in particular health boards or is it, say, an issue of geography? NHS Forth Valley, which I have used as an example, is a relatively urban health board and its A and E numbers are worse than those of NHS Lanarkshire next door, which is on a higher crisis footing. Do you have any particular insights into why some health boards are struggling more than others are?
Health, Social Care and Sport Committee
Meeting date: 9 November 2021
Gillian Mackay
Air pollution monitoring will be key to identifying problem areas. Has the Scottish Government considered implementing a system of health alerts, which are informed by air pollution monitoring, to people with lung conditions, so that they know which areas to avoid?
Health, Social Care and Sport Committee
Meeting date: 2 November 2021
Gillian Mackay
In its response to the consultation, NSS said that reimbursement should be made only when the outcome of the mesh surgery was fully successful and requires no further treatment on the NHS. Can you expand on that? Is it fair to exclude women who might have suffered complications or had unsuccessful surgery through no fault of their own?
Health, Social Care and Sport Committee
Meeting date: 2 November 2021
Gillian Mackay
Good morning, everyone. How is Covid-19 impacting the service from the point of view of staff absence or redeployment, or people’s ability to access a referral because of capacity issues in primary care? That question is probably for Dr Jamieson.
Health, Social Care and Sport Committee
Meeting date: 2 November 2021
Gillian Mackay
Good morning, cabinet secretary. In the past few weeks, we have heard some of the women say that they have lost trust in the mesh services, and some of them have lost trust in the Scottish NHS as a whole. The event will have been traumatising for many of them. Earlier, you broke down one of Jackie Baillie’s questions and spoke about the bill and the position going forward. What consideration has been given to women who have already paid out of their own pockets for other wraparound care, such as mental health support? What on-going consideration is being given to women who may not feel able to undertake any form of mental health support or physiotherapy, for example, in NHS services because of their mistrust?
Health, Social Care and Sport Committee
Meeting date: 26 October 2021
Gillian Mackay
I have one more question on that before we move on to talk about the bill.
If a woman who has had mesh inserted that has caused problems is nervous about the surgeon who put the mesh into their body also being the surgeon who might remove it, is that taken into account and respected?
Health, Social Care and Sport Committee
Meeting date: 26 October 2021
Gillian Mackay
I am interested in how we can support women’s mental health and in whether consideration was given in the bill to reimbursing private medical costs related to that. In our private round-table session this morning, we heard that some of the women had lost confidence in the centre in Glasgow, and some will probably have lost confidence in the Scottish NHS as a whole. They might want to be seen privately for what has been for many of them a traumatising event. Has consideration been given to paying for or reimbursing women for private counselling and other services, aside from mesh removal itself, that might help them to recover?
Health, Social Care and Sport Committee
Meeting date: 5 October 2021
Gillian Mackay
How much of a risk do the bill’s provisions pose to the confidentiality and safety of patient data? Is it possible that Scottish patient data could be provided to private companies?
Health, Social Care and Sport Committee
Meeting date: 28 September 2021
Gillian Mackay
How best do we determine the level of funding that the NHS and social care need after Covid? I know that the British Medical Association has said that
“short-term boosts won’t be enough to deliver the full recovery”
that services need, and that what is really needed is
“a full review”
of health and social care spending in the context of a national conversation about our expectations. Would the panel support that approach?
Health, Social Care and Sport Committee
Meeting date: 28 September 2021
Gillian Mackay
My question should probably be directed at Fiona Collie. A lot of unpaid carers have been unable to take breaks, and the pandemic has also had a significant impact on their mental health. I was caring for my grandpa. The pandemic, and the risk that my outside activities posed for his health if I brought Covid into the house, cast a shadow. What should we do in the immediate term to make sure that unpaid carers’ mental health and risk of burn-out is decreased to the greatest possible extent, and are there other things that we should be doing to make sure that, as we recover from the pandemic, unpaid carers do not continue to suffer unnecessarily?