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Sadly, I did not get the same training as you got. I do not have children, but I do recognise the conditions and their results.

Giving information on different exercises in primary and secondary schools would be a strong way forward. Emma Harper raised that concern during the evidence session on 2 May. This summer, I hope, the women’s health group website is set to launch some short animations and support to help women to understand the importance of exercising muscles in their pelvic area.

That is a really positive way forward, and it reflects the importance of having the women’s health plan, which can react and respond positively when women see a specific need. I would love yoga teachers or Pilates teachers to come into schools to give women support. That is a good suggestion from Evelyn Tweed.

This week or early next week, I will have a meeting with Natalie Don, the Minister for Children, Young People and Keeping the Promise. We can talk about what solutions we might put in place.

If I am being honest, I have not looked specifically at peer support for mesh survivors. However, I have had really positive experiences of groups getting together. We talked earlier about menopause, and there have been amazing support groups around that—even St Mirren Football Club has created a menopause chat group. I would like to see that happening for mesh survivors.

The other way of offering support is perhaps through third sector organisations. As an MSP, I have quite regular conversations with the chief officer of Argyll and Bute health and social care partnership about how it is supporting women’s health in that health board area. It is about considering what connections could perhaps be made with the third sector interface or other women’s health groups that could be of support. I am interested in looking at that theme, because I have seen great success through self-help groups in other areas.

That is a very fair question. Some of what I read in preparation for this meeting included responses from women who gave the kind of examples that you have given. Some articles also say that women had not been told, or did not know, or could not remember exactly what had happened to them.

I would hope—speaking very much as a layperson and someone who goes to a doctor for advice—that doctors’ training and knowledge would allow them to ask the appropriate questions of their patients. I am sure that that is the case for the vast majority of GPs. I hope that they would therefore be able to eliminate something or say what the next step might be, such as a referral for a scan to see what has happened.

I am only a patient, but that is what I would hope for if I went to a GP to explain some of the symptoms that I had. As I indicated earlier to Carol Mochan, the increase in knowledge of this issue, and the support for GPs that I believe that health boards have put in place, plus the training, will move things to allow for better diagnosis. However, I absolutely get what you say about the fact that, historically, that information was perhaps not captured.

You are absolutely correct that I am the minister. However, I am also a patient, and the experience that I was giving you was my own. One strength of a lot of MSPs and everyone sitting round this table is that we all come to discussions, debates and policy with our experiences. Therefore, it is important that I reflect that in answering questions, as you reflect the fact, which I respect very much, that you are a practising GP. Therefore, I absolutely take on board what you have said.

Yes, it would be wonderful to have a simple system that allowed everything to be accessible, but we must recognise that there are requirements around the general data protection regulation, which is high on a doctor’s list of considerations when it comes to confidentiality and suchlike. However, on the premise of your point, yes, a simplified system would be helpful.

No—not at all. I was referring to how information is stored and made accessible.

I do not feel qualified to answer that question.

I am aware that you asked that question two weeks ago, and the response was that active recruitment is happening at the moment. I should point out that there are urology specialists in Scotland, and they can provide support as and when required. I am afraid that I cannot give you a timeframe, but I have been informed about the situation and it has been underlined that this is a key appointment that people are working to progress.

I agree with you that women should be able to approach their GPs regularly with whatever concerns they have and get the right support, which I know GPs can provide.

I agree that waiting times of that length must be incredibly difficult for the women who are waiting for the referral and for the discussions to find out what their best pathway is—the best course of action that they can be offered for what is a very debilitating and pretty awful situation to find themselves in.

My officials correspond and meet regularly with the health boards and NSS to ensure that everyone is across the pathways and understands the need to ensure that this is done with the patient at the centre of it, which is how we would hope to achieve any improvement in waiting lists. As Greig Chalmers indicated earlier, the whole system has been improved by listening to those who are waiting in order to improve their experiences while they are waiting. We have introduced a waiting well plan, and, in my role as women’s health minister, I am looking at how that can be connected into the women’s health plan.

If I recall correctly, the evidence that the committee received two weeks ago indicated that the pathway is clearly laid out and that there is an electronic referral to the GG&C complex mesh surgical service. That is the clear pathway that has been introduced. Greig Chalmers would like to comment on that.