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 1012 contributions
Health, Social Care and Sport Committee
Meeting date: 19 April 2022
Emma Harper
We have talked about prevention. The Government has provided financial support for deep-end practices—for example, in Govan in Glasgow—to monitor engagement. Part of that financial support was for link workers, anti-poverty work and giving people welfare advice. We have that data now to show engagement work and support by deep-end practices. We can look at that data and see the value of investing in that project. Is that something that we can audit right now?
Health, Social Care and Sport Committee
Meeting date: 19 April 2022
Emma Harper
I am interested in the issues relating to inhalers. It is not just about one measurement of hydrofluorocarbons as the delivery mechanism for salbutamol, for example; it is about the whole measurement of the bunch of plastic in a dry-powder inhaler that cannae be recycled as easily as some of the components can be. We need to be careful about saying that we will not give people certain inhalers and will give them only dry-powder inhalers, because the issue is much wider than just looking at propellants for those inhalers.
Health, Social Care and Sport Committee
Meeting date: 19 April 2022
Emma Harper
Good morning, cabinet secretary. Does this legislative consent memorandum on illegal organ donation, procurement and so on mean that our own Scottish legislation—the Human Tissue (Scotland) Act 2006—will need to be amended?
Health, Social Care and Sport Committee
Meeting date: 19 April 2022
Emma Harper
I am sorry for jumping in earlier.
I will not give you a shopping list of things to look at either. However, when we had NHS Highland before the committee, I asked it about the reduction emissions that are due to mileage not being travelled because folk are now holding Teams meetings or using Near Me. Are you planning for remote and rural working? How does that support net zero ambitions?
Health, Social Care and Sport Committee
Meeting date: 19 April 2022
Emma Harper
Yes. I am interested in prevention and early intervention. Public Health Scotland became fully functional in April 2020. What up-front preventative actions need to be taken to support better public health across Scotland?
Health, Social Care and Sport Committee
Meeting date: 19 April 2022
Emma Harper
I have a brief supplementary. Public Health Scotland’s website has loads of virtual learning opportunities for clinicians and for anybody in healthcare and social care. It has modules on health inequalities and human rights, health and wellbeing, tackling poverty, mental health, health at work and the public health workforce. There are loads of learning opportunities that people can log into and look at—they are out there and available now.
Will Audit Scotland look at the uptake of those virtual learning experiences, who is involved in taking them up and whether the Government should be doing more to support Public Health Scotland’s work to ensure that the opportunities in that learning environment are taken up by health boards, local authorities and IJBs?
Health, Social Care and Sport Committee
Meeting date: 19 April 2022
Emma Harper
People are now keener to live in remote or rural areas because they can work from home two or three days a week and travel only one or two days, rather than having to drive every day to the central belt or, in Dumfries and Galloway, from Stranraer to Dumfries. That is what I was thinking about with emissions reductions linked to mileage or unnecessary travel, whether by clinicians or staff who support the work of clinicians.
Health, Social Care and Sport Committee
Meeting date: 19 April 2022
Emma Harper
I have another quick question. If someone whom we thought was on a transplant list for a kidney, for example, showed up looking for anti-rejection medication and seemed to be doing well, we might assume that they had received an organ somewhere else. Does the legislation support better traceability of organ surgery, procurement and so on? Given that anti-rejection medication is part of the treatment following transplant, would that be a trigger for pursuing what might be criminality if someone had received an organ outside Scotland?
Health, Social Care and Sport Committee
Meeting date: 19 April 2022
Emma Harper
What Audit Scotland needs from the Scottish Government is different types of data. Can you say what data is missing, so that the Government can provide you with data that you can analyse.
Health, Social Care and Sport Committee
Meeting date: 19 April 2022
Emma Harper
I have a quick question about data. We need data to show transparency of information and to make sure that we are following the care pathways and so on. Is that data part of the data supply chain that comes from health boards, integration joint boards and our local authorities? Who procures that data? Does the Government provide it for you?
I get feedback that everybody is so busy churning out data that they cannae get on with their job. The same clinicians and care co-ordinators are being asked to provide data rather than doing what they want to do, which is to get people on to waiting lists, into appointments and moving forward so that they are not just waiting to be told when their hip operation will be. The other part of the data process is about people engaging in a care pathway.