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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 2 April 2025
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Displaying 1148 contributions

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Health, Social Care and Sport Committee

Alternative Pathways to Primary Care

Meeting date: 22 March 2022

Emma Harper

I have a quick question for Scott Henderson. I know that, during the pandemic, pulmonary rehabilitation was starting to be delivered digitally, and the evidence suggests that such an approach works, especially given that these folk are vulnerable and might not want a face-to-face appointment. Moreover, I know—because I am co-convener of the cross-party group on lung health, which has done a lot of work on the matter—that there is also remote monitoring of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. What are your thoughts on that kind of remote monitoring? Do you think that pulmonary rehabilitation, for instance, could be delivered more widely in that way?

Health, Social Care and Sport Committee

Alternative Pathways to Primary Care

Meeting date: 22 March 2022

Emma Harper

I have a final, short question for Christiana Melam. How can we raise awareness that link workers exist?

Health, Social Care and Sport Committee

Alternative Pathways to Primary Care

Meeting date: 22 March 2022

Emma Harper

Did use of ALISS increase during the first lockdown phase of the pandemic? The alliance has shown that use of ALISS increased in 2021, and I was just wondering whether Covid had an impact in that respect.

Moreover, are we tracking who is using it? Is it being used by link workers or others? At last week’s meeting, we were told by Optometry Scotland and Community Pharmacy Scotland that they had not heard of ALISS, but their members also spend a lot of time with patients. After all, an eye examination can take up to half an hour. Who is using the system?

Health, Social Care and Sport Committee

Alternative Pathways to Primary Care

Meeting date: 22 March 2022

Emma Harper

Yes. It is just a quick question.

In one of my local areas, one of the manager leads of all the GP practices knows about ALISS, so his GP practices know about it; however, they said that it might not be as up to date as it should be. I am aware of some general practitioners who know about ALISS, although Dr Gulhane’s point about not knowing any GPs who access it is probably quite important.

It is about raising awareness, and linking to make it work better. For instance, the DG locator, which is run by the third sector in Dumfries and Galloway, is working on collaborating with the GP practices to direct them more towards ALISS and other services. That would involve asking what we need in order to make ALISS work better, apart from just money.

Health, Social Care and Sport Committee

Alternative Pathways to Primary Care

Meeting date: 22 March 2022

Emma Harper

My question is just a wee supplementary.

When we talked about library services, Chris Mackie said that we must

“use them or lose them.”

Perth and Kinross Council introduced dog-friendly Fridays in its libraries in 2018, and City of Edinburgh Council introduced dog-friendly Thursdays in October 2019. Those initiatives tackle isolation and loneliness and ensure that folk do not have to tie their dogs up outside the library or leave them in the car. Are you aware of those initiatives? Are we tracking them to see whether dog-friendly days in libraries are a good thing?

Health, Social Care and Sport Committee

Alternative Pathways to Primary Care

Meeting date: 15 March 2022

Emma Harper

Good morning. I would like to pick up on what Julie Mosgrove said about remote and rural areas. There are places in our small towns and large villages where people can access optometry services, but there are additional challenges in remote and rural areas. Could you outline some of those challenges in relation to people’s ability to access alternative pathways?

Health, Social Care and Sport Committee

Alternative Pathways to Primary Care

Meeting date: 15 March 2022

Emma Harper

I am interested in social prescribing, which is also known as community prescribing. In the previous session of Parliament, both David Torrance and I were members of the Health and Sport Committee, which did an inquiry into social prescribing and talked about it as an investment rather than a cost. I am interested to hear whether you think that there is scope for wider use of social prescribing?

Health, Social Care and Sport Committee

Alternative Pathways to Primary Care

Meeting date: 15 March 2022

Emma Harper

I have a quick supplementary question about digital exclusion and pop-up health checks. I am aware that the local NFU Scotland branch in Dumfries and Galloway went to an auction mart and did blood pressure, vital signs and blood glucose checks. Should we consider pursuing pop-up health checks at auction marts or in empty shops in town centres?

Health, Social Care and Sport Committee

Alternative Pathways to Primary Care

Meeting date: 15 March 2022

Emma Harper

Yes—my question is directly for Clare Morrison. There is a system called ALISS—a local information system for Scotland—which is used to signpost people to local services. Do pharmacists use it?

Health, Social Care and Sport Committee

Alternative Pathways to Primary Care

Meeting date: 15 March 2022

Emma Harper

I have a wee supplementary question on general practice. The Scottish Government has established the Scottish graduate entry medicine programme, which is a four-year training programme to support general practices in rural areas. Are you aware of, or do you have experience of, ScotGEM?