Seòmar agus comataidhean

Thank you very much, convener, for inviting me along this morning. I apologise for not being able to be there in person.

It is important to note where the idea of a patient safety commissioner came from: it came from the United Kingdom-wide independent medicines and medical devices safety review, more commonly known as the Cumberlege review, which looked at the issues around mesh, sodium valproate and Primodos. It highlighted that patients did not feel that they had been listened to as well as the length of time that it took for their problems to be acknowledged.

One of the review’s nine recommendations was that a patient safety commissioner be appointed as an independent public leader with a statutory responsibility, to champion listening to patients, promoting service users’ perspectives and seeking improvements to patient safety with regard to the use of medicines and medical devices. As a direct consequence, the Patient Safety Commissioner for England and Wales was appointed in September 2022.

I was not a member of the committee when it took evidence on the Patient Safety Commissioner for Scotland Bill, but I know that it had the advantage of being able to seek guidance and information from the commissioner for England and Wales. The Scottish Government also gave a commitment to implementing all the recommendations from the review, including the creation of a patient safety commissioner for Scotland, which was done via primary legislation.

It is fair to acknowledge that, in Scotland, the regulatory landscape around patient safety was already complex prior to the bill. Some of the issues that Audrey Nicoll has highlighted were also considered by my committee, but members felt that the role had the potential to improve patient safety across health services in Scotland and ultimately supported the bill’s general principles at stage 1.

You are absolutely right. We have to ensure that positive outcomes come from the creation of any commissioner. I welcome this inquiry, given the number of commissioners and proposed commissioners. There has to be evaluation.

The patient safety commissioner will lay before Parliament a report annually. That does not preclude them from doing that in relation to other investigations that they carry out or other areas that they investigate.

It is really important that we ensure that, with all commissioners, there is value for money and that the roles that they carry out are not duplicated, there is not unnecessary overlap, and there is collaboration between them so that resources are used effectively. If commissioners have good working relationships, the duplication of work should be reduced.

In case I strayed into any issues this morning that might raise this as a concern, I refer members to my entry in the register of members’ interests, which states that I hold an NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde bank staff nurse contract. I have nothing else to add, and I thank you for the opportunity to contribute today.

I would not disagree with you, Mr Marra, that that is absolutely our role as elected representatives. I am sure that you have been representing your constituents in issues relating to what they perceive as medical negligence, issues accessing healthcare or just concerns about the impact that medication or medical devices have had on them.

The landscape of patient safety is complex. We have clinical governance structures, we have royal colleges that look at issues, and we have United Kingdom-wide oversight of some medications and issues relating to those. It is important that we ensure that the public are confident and have trust in the healthcare system, so it is absolutely key for the commissioner to have a clear purpose and role of advocating for system-wide improvements in the safety of healthcare and promoting the importance of the views of patients and members of the public.

I referred earlier to what stakeholders described as the golden thread to bring together all those systems and structures. Obviously, we do not yet have a patient safety commissioner in that role, but that is what the committee anticipated would be the outcome from having a commissioner. Ultimately, Parliament passed the legislation that introduced the commissioner, so parliamentarians agreed that that was required.

Given the history and the UK-wide review, and the acceptance from the Scottish Government—obviously I cannot speak for it—of all the review’s recommendations, creating the post of a patient safety commissioner certainly made sense. I understand that there is an argument for commissioners for various other issues and I am sure that many more proposals will come to Parliament. I say from a personal point of view, rather than from a committee point of view, that we need to ensure that there is a good and sound rationale for new commissioners and that they will add value to the public landscape, public conversation and advocacy for individual groups. That is why the committee is looking into the issue.

Certainly, with the patient safety commissioner, the evidence was there as to why we required to appoint one.

Good morning, and welcome to the 15th meeting in 2024 of the Health, Social Care and Sport Committee. I have received no apologies.

Agenda item 1 is a decision on taking business in private. Do members agree to take items 4 and 5 in private?

Members indicated agreement.

Agenda item 2 is an evidence-taking session with Dr Hilary Cass on her review of gender identity services for children and young people, which was commissioned by NHS England.

Dr Cass, the chair of the Cass review, is joining us remotely and I welcome her to the committee. We will move straight to questions, Dr Cass. Thank you for your time.

I call Ruth Maguire.

Thank you. I was just seeking clarity on that point. I call Ivan McKee.

We must close, I am afraid. We need to finish this part of the meeting by 10 o’clock.

Thank you for your attendance, Dr Cass, and for the information that you have given to the committee. I am sure that it will help us in our further inquiries when we have other interested parties along to speak to us in the coming weeks. Thank you for your time.

I point out to our witnesses that they do not need to do anything to make the microphones work—broadcasting staff do that.