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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 10 March 2025
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Displaying 1165 contributions

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Health, Social Care and Sport Committee

Session 6 Priorities

Meeting date: 16 November 2021

Kevin Stewart

A number of things are going on, as is always the case. The Scott review is taking place, which is looking at the legal aspects of how we deal with folk with mental health difficulties. That will be extremely important. As always, there are folk who are saying that we need to look at various bits and pieces of legislation. In connection with the Scott review, there are folk who are saying that we should look at aspects of the adults with incapacity legislation now, but I think that we should allow the review to take place and do all that work in the round.

As we move forward, as I said in my introductory remarks, we need to take a human-rights based approach in all that we do. I know that many members have taken a great interest in embedding human rights in legislation. There must be more of that no matter what challenges are posed by the fact that the UK Government took to the courts the previous attempts by the Parliament to embed human rights in Scottish legislation. We must continue in that vein. The Scott review is also important in that regard.

09:15  

Health, Social Care and Sport Committee

Session 6 Priorities

Meeting date: 16 November 2021

Kevin Stewart

I do not have that information. I am more than happy to write to the committee with any detail that I do not have in front of me.

It is our ambition to ensure that we get waiting times and lists down, but Dr Gulhane must recognise that we are going through a very difficult period because of Covid. I am sure that he will come back at me and say that some of the problems existed before Covid. That is fair enough, but the pandemic has exacerbated difficulties for people and has put a huge amount of pressure on services.

We have put in place a national standard for child and adolescent mental health services. In co-operation with stakeholders, including the Royal College of Psychiatrists, my officials will do exactly the same for psychological therapies. That is important and we are going to be extremely ambitious as we move forward with that.

Health, Social Care and Sport Committee

Session 6 Priorities

Meeting date: 16 November 2021

Kevin Stewart

I think that Ms Webber knows that I cannot respond on individual cases—that is not possible—but she should feel free to contact me about those situations.

Ms Webber hit upon a point that came up in discussion yesterday morning. There is something that we all need to recognise, and we need to build it into the action plan and how we deal with folk on the front line.

It was said to me yesterday that, for many folk on the outside, it looks as though some folk have the perfect life—they are pretty wealthy, and they have a nice hoose and a good job—but we never know the turmoil within. You might have all those things and still not be happy and still be unwell.

Ms Webber made a point about folks who make judgments that are based on a person’s external aspects. That is wrong, and we have to put a stop to it. We have to listen more. Again, it comes back to a person-centred approach. Work needs to be done on that. That is another kind of stigma, is it not?

Health, Social Care and Sport Committee

Session 6 Priorities

Meeting date: 16 November 2021

Kevin Stewart

It is another stigma that we must get rid of. Although I canna comment on the individuals, I get that point completely. It is a very good point to make, and it was made to me just yesterday. We have got to get over that and get rid of that stigma, too.

Health, Social Care and Sport Committee

Session 6 Priorities

Meeting date: 16 November 2021

Kevin Stewart

I will maybe write to the committee to give the details of access to the mental health and wellbeing hub and other services in more depth, and to give the committee an indication of what those services are doing and the kinds of difficulties that folk are going to them with.

I will answer Ms Harper’s question without giving her the in-depth statistics that she wants. I am spending a lot of time speaking to folk on the front line, and it is quite clear that a lot of them are under a lot of strain. Sometimes that is because of work, and sometimes it is because of home pressures as a result of the pandemic. A lot of different things are going on out there. We all need to be aware that there are folk out there who are not feeling at their best at the moment, and we—not just as a Government, but as individuals—need to do what we can to support people in the best ways. We have had suggestions from staff about wellbeing issues, which we have acted on. Why would we not do that if a difficulty has been highlighted to us? We increased investment because it was suggested that we needed to go further in some cases.

Beyond that, there are individual health boards that have gone even further in meeting the needs of staff during these times. For example, Fife Council received a substantial donation from a member of the public that went to supporting staff. Sometimes that support comes in the form of the simplest things, such as free hot drinks or free food. All that can make a difference and take the pressure off. I am open to suggestions on the issue, as is the cabinet secretary.

Health, Social Care and Sport Committee

Session 6 Priorities

Meeting date: 16 November 2021

Kevin Stewart

Are you giving me half an hour, convener? [Laughter.] I will try to be quick.

Our ambition for the national care service is that it puts people at the heart of the new arrangements, that it is holistic and that it enables people to have the life that they want to lead.

Derek Feeley answered a lot of questions about adult social care—that was his remit—but he also said that there were a lot of unanswered questions. Mr O’Kane asks why we enhanced the scope. Folks have told me about some of the difficulties that they face and it is recognised in the proposals that transition periods are often very difficult for folk. That is also recognised by Pam Duncan-Glancy’s proposed member’s bill.

In all of that, we decided to ask the questions about bringing everything together and getting rid of those transition periods, and seeing what folk out there think. Mr O’Kane mentions learning disability groups being wary about it all coming together. I have talked to a fair amount of folk from the learning disabled community and only a very small minority expressed concerns.

I know that, for some, change is threatening. However, we have a huge opportunity to get it right. That is why we have asked some of the questions in the consultation. We will analyse the responses—there are some 1,300 of them, although some may be duplications. We will also consider all that we garnered from all the meetings that were held and then we will come to a conclusion on the way forward.

We have to get it right. It is all about people. Some of the responses that I have seen focus almost entirely on people and others do not. If the committee goes out and talks to folk—as I am sure it will do over the piece—it will find that they want change. People do not feel that the delivery of social care is right in many places. They think that the postcode lottery that clearly exists is unfair and they feel that there is a lack of accountability. We have to get that right.

Health, Social Care and Sport Committee

Session 6 Priorities

Meeting date: 16 November 2021

Kevin Stewart

There will be a huge amount of modelling in various areas. Some of that work is on-going, and we will continue to look at the results from the analysis. Obviously, a huge amount of work needs to be done in looking at the 1,300 or thereabouts responses and everything else that has come in from consultation events. I can assure the committee that a lot of work is going on, because we have to get it right.

I can also reassure the committee that—as was the case in my previous role—I am happy to come back to the committee to deal with such issues subject by subject if necessary, because that is how we get good legislation. I say to Ms Webber and every member around the table that there will be a lot of hard graft, because I am determined to get this right.

Health, Social Care and Sport Committee

Session 6 Priorities

Meeting date: 16 November 2021

Kevin Stewart

Can I tackle that point, because it is a big question, although it was a shorter sentence than Mr O’Kane’s previous point.

Health, Social Care and Sport Committee

Session 6 Priorities

Meeting date: 16 November 2021

Kevin Stewart

Some solutions have to be found locally. That is why we are having conversations with partners across the country to mobilise everything and to ensure that we do the right thing.

We do not have the luxury of not involving everyone. There must be collaboration and co-operation between Government, local authorities, health and social care partnerships, NHS boards and the third sector so that we can do our level best for everyone in these precarious times.

Health, Social Care and Sport Committee

Session 6 Priorities

Meeting date: 16 November 2021

Kevin Stewart

The cabinet secretary, Humza Yousaf, recently announced additional resources for hospital at home. It is a great way forward. I recently had the pleasure of meeting teams in Edinburgh and Lanarkshire. The deputy chief medical officer, Graham Ellis, is from Lanarkshire and has been a great advocate for hospital at home. That is why we are investing to expand the programme further, which is a good thing.