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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 4 May 2021
  6. Current session: 13 May 2021 to 19 December 2025
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Displaying 1329 contributions

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Health, Social Care and Sport Committee

Health Inequalities

Meeting date: 28 June 2022

Dr Sandesh Gulhane

Before I get into my questions on systemic inequality, I wonder whether the minister would join me in asking anyone who is available for any screening programme to attend it.

Health, Social Care and Sport Committee

Subordinate Legislation

Meeting date: 28 June 2022

Dr Sandesh Gulhane

As a doctor, I am obviously supportive of the idea of not smoking around the entrances to hospitals. I have seen people smoking outside the children’s hospital in Glasgow, with the smoke going up to the children inside.

I have a few questions. NHS Forth Valley has been trying to enforce no-smoking areas. It has introduced big cross hatches, and somebody goes around telling people not to smoke. That person gets an awful lot of abuse. I understand that we will allow environmental health officers to issue fixed-penalty notices, but how do we prevent such abuse?

Health, Social Care and Sport Committee

Health Inequalities

Meeting date: 28 June 2022

Dr Sandesh Gulhane

Good morning, minister. What is the gender pay gap in the Scottish NHS?

Health, Social Care and Sport Committee

Health Inequalities

Meeting date: 21 June 2022

Dr Sandesh Gulhane

Dr Cawston, you said earlier that there is a standard amount of money going into general practice. Was I mistaken in thinking that, initially, GPs who worked in areas of high deprivation actually got more funding but that, following the introduction of the new GP contract, although there is an element of the funding allocation that concerns deprivation, more money is going to the care of those who are elderly and living with complex needs, which has reduced the money that is going into areas of deprivation?

Health, Social Care and Sport Committee

Health Inequalities

Meeting date: 21 June 2022

Dr Sandesh Gulhane

Professor Marmot, I remember reading about everything that you were doing when I was at medical school, so it is great to be able to see you and speak to you.

I have a question for Professor Meier. I believe that you founded the Sheffield alcohol research group. Through all the work that you have done and what we have seen, we know that alcohol most impacts people who are more deprived. Two reports have come out on alcohol and minimum unit pricing in Scotland, including one that came out today. Both reports present evidence that minimum unit pricing is not working and that the most vulnerable people, especially those who drink spirits, are cutting back on buying food. What is your response to that? How can we ensure that the impact of alcohol is not felt so greatly in the areas of most deprivation?

Health, Social Care and Sport Committee

Health Inequalities

Meeting date: 21 June 2022

Dr Sandesh Gulhane

With respect, alcohol consumption fell among those who were not deprived, but we saw alcohol consumption rise among people who have an alcohol problem and among the most vulnerable people. A report by Public Health Scotland found no clear evidence of a reduction in alcohol consumption among people drinking at harmful levels following the implementation of minimum unit pricing. However, you are absolutely right to say that there has been a collapse of recovery services, which is key. We have also found that those who are drinking have just switched what they drink, as I said in my first question.

The United Kingdom Government has increased tax on the basis of the alcohol level, so tax is increased on spirits and there are lower tax rates for drinks that are weaker in their alcohol content—those that are 3.5 per cent alcohol, for example—and for low and no-alcohol drinks. Should we be promoting low and no-alcohol drinks? Should we introduce a system that looks not just at pricing? In terms of health inequalities, our approach to alcohol is a huge area that does not seem to be quite working.

Health, Social Care and Sport Committee

Health Inequalities

Meeting date: 14 June 2022

Dr Sandesh Gulhane

I want to pick up on the financial impact of going to prison. When someone gets released from prison, do the jobs that they can get pay much less? Indeed, will they struggle to get any job whatsoever?

Health, Social Care and Sport Committee

Health Inequalities

Meeting date: 14 June 2022

Dr Sandesh Gulhane

You mentioned that you want an IT system for prescribing. As a general practitioner, I see people who come out of prison because they need healthcare, but I do not know what diagnoses have been made in prison. You spoke in your opening statement about mental health issues. A lot of that comes to the fore in prison, where people are seen and their mental health condition is diagnosed. I do not know what that diagnosis is or what drugs they have been prescribed. Some people come to me asking for drugs that I do not ordinarily prescribe—a specialist usually prescribes them. We are in a completely unsatisfactory situation for the patient, as well as for me, because I simply do not know what to do.

We want an IT system that works and talks to other systems, and we want digital prescribing. What are your needs and asks to make the process of a prisoner coming out of prison and accessing healthcare better not only for the patient but for the healthcare professional? Invariably, that is the same thing.

Health, Social Care and Sport Committee

Subordinate Legislation

Meeting date: 14 June 2022

Dr Sandesh Gulhane

On vocational training and the fact that it will now be NES that pays rather than individual employers, does that mean that NES will also pay pension contributions? I assume that it does. Will the regulations also allow dentists who are on vocational training to access NHS benefits, including the cycle-to-work scheme?

Health, Social Care and Sport Committee

Health Inequalities

Meeting date: 14 June 2022

Dr Sandesh Gulhane

My question relates to the one that Tess White asked. I want to focus on the inverse care law, which says that people who need help most often have the least access to it. As Toni Groundwater will know, that can be seen in the fact that there is a lack of prison medics. There are also areas with high levels of poverty that have the lowest number of available GPs and dentists for people living in them to access. Focusing on healthcare, are there any good schemes, and can they be scaled up to allow people to have more access to healthcare?