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Official Report: search what was said in Parliament

The Official Report is a written record of public meetings of the Parliament and committees.  

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Dates of parliamentary sessions
  1. Session 1: 12 May 1999 to 31 March 2003
  2. Session 2: 7 May 2003 to 2 April 2007
  3. Session 3: 9 May 2007 to 22 March 2011
  4. Session 4: 11 May 2011 to 23 March 2016
  5. Session 5: 12 May 2016 to 5 May 2021
  6. Current session: 12 May 2021 to 23 December 2024
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Displaying 1019 contributions

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Health, Social Care and Sport Committee

Scottish Football Association

Meeting date: 19 December 2023

Dr. Sandesh Gulhane

I agree with all of that, but if it does not come across in response to questions from other members, it would be great if you could write to us with specific things that you are doing to grow the women’s game. That would be fantastic.

Health, Social Care and Sport Committee

Scottish Football Association

Meeting date: 19 December 2023

Dr. Sandesh Gulhane

Yes.

Health, Social Care and Sport Committee

Scottish Football Association

Meeting date: 19 December 2023

Dr. Sandesh Gulhane

Thank you.

Health, Social Care and Sport Committee

Healthcare in Remote and Rural Areas

Meeting date: 19 December 2023

Dr. Sandesh Gulhane

I have a couple of very quick questions. MDTs include not only our physios and pharmacists but people who work in schools, for example. I recently worked in NHS Fife, and children in schools there cannot be given basic medication such as Calpol unless a GP has prescribed it. Dr Kennedy, how is that helping our primary care services?

Health, Social Care and Sport Committee

Healthcare in Remote and Rural Areas

Meeting date: 19 December 2023

Dr. Sandesh Gulhane

The Fife local medical committee said that that was the case and that it had been struggling for a year to get schools to change their minds.

My second question also relates to NHS Fife. Those of us who work in primary care want to try to keep people out of hospital—I love to be able to do that as much as possible. In NHS Fife, people who work in primary care are not able to order pretty routine tests, such as a brain natriuretic peptide test for heart failure. Why are there such differences across the piece? There are some basic things that we can do, and I do not understand why it can be said that it is not acceptable for someone who is trained to order an examination that will keep someone out of hospital.

Health, Social Care and Sport Committee

Scottish Football Association

Meeting date: 19 December 2023

Dr. Sandesh Gulhane

Yes, absolutely. My colleagues will certainly come to those topics.

Recently, we saw a very sad case in England, when one of the Luton Town Football Club players had a cardiac event on the pitch. We have seen such events on multiple occasions. What does the SFA have in place to ensure that we try to prevent those things from happening but also to reassure people that, if something were to happen here in Scotland, we have robust processes in place?

Health, Social Care and Sport Committee

Scottish Football Association

Meeting date: 19 December 2023

Dr. Sandesh Gulhane

Is there is equivalent diversity in the SFA, too?

Health, Social Care and Sport Committee

Healthcare in Remote and Rural Areas

Meeting date: 19 December 2023

Dr. Sandesh Gulhane

I declare my interest as a practising national health service general practitioner and as a BMA member, given that Dr Kennedy is here and my first question is for him.

I am rather concerned about the potential for a two-tier health service, given the issues that we have with recruitment and more generally, specifically when it comes to physician associates. I saw a job advert for a physician associate at Raigmore hospital that said that they would actively undertake clinical supervision of ward nursing staff, junior doctors and student PAs to facilitate the development of clinical skills and practice. NHS Highland followed up by saying that that was an error and that the role in question was a General Medical Council-recognised role. Given that PAs will be regulated by the GMC, might an increasing number of PAs across rural areas be supervising doctors?

Health, Social Care and Sport Committee

Healthcare in Remote and Rural Areas

Meeting date: 19 December 2023

Dr. Sandesh Gulhane

My final question is for Laura Wilson. Looking specifically at our rural population, pharmacy first is a great initiative, which allows people to go and get help very quickly when they need it from somebody who is skilled and who knows what they are doing—it is really important to stress that the pharmacists involved are trained to provide such help. However, are there enough pharmacists in rural areas and is there enough time for them to be able to do that fantastic work, or is there a slight difference between what we see in the urban areas and the rural areas?

Health, Social Care and Sport Committee

Scottish Football Association

Meeting date: 19 December 2023

Dr. Sandesh Gulhane

Thank you, convener, and I should first declare an interest as a former club doctor for Queen’s Park Football Club.

I want to start with transparency, if I may. Look: all fans, regardless of whom they support, think that there is a conspiracy against their club. That is just the way of it. However, with the introduction of video assistant referees—or VAR—there seems to be huge uncertainty about what is happening. Fans in the stadium do not know what is going on, and those watching at home are never overly sure of what is happening, what counts and what does not count. Obviously, I have to be very careful, given that my party leader is a referee, but, for the average fan, there does not seem to be transparency in the game when it comes to decision making and the way that the game is going. How would you respond to that?