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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 August 2025
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Displaying 1072 contributions

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Health, Social Care and Sport Committee

Session 6 Priorities

Meeting date: 9 November 2021

Paul O'Kane

Thank you, minister. I will follow on from that point. We are meeting during COP26, and the climate change aspect of clean air is linked to the public health duty. The “Clear the air” report from Asthma UK and the British Lung Foundation highlighted the specific impact that poor air quality has on low income communities. I am keen to get a sense of what we are doing within the strategy to target those low income communities and areas of multiple deprivation, with regard to issues such as active travel and active transport.

10:30  

Health, Social Care and Sport Committee

Seasonal Planning and Preparedness

Meeting date: 9 November 2021

Paul O'Kane

I wonder if I might pivot on to a point that Colin Poolman raised. Everyone has spoken this morning about the challenges in retention. It is evidently a huge challenge to keep people in the system and to support people to remain in it. I am keen to understand from Colin Poolman whether he feels that the Scottish Government’s seasonal planning—the winter plan—has done much to support retention, particularly in nursing.

Health, Social Care and Sport Committee

Seasonal Planning and Preparedness

Meeting date: 9 November 2021

Paul O'Kane

Thank you very much, convener. I appreciate that we are tight for time.

We are still living through the pandemic, and last winter was unprecedented. I am keen to understand how you feel about the lessons learned from last winter. Has the Government learned what worked and what did not work so well, and have those lessons been factored into the winter preparedness plan?

Health, Social Care and Sport Committee

Seasonal Planning and Preparedness

Meeting date: 9 November 2021

Paul O'Kane

My question is also for Annie Gunner Logan. I have heard a lot about unpaid carers being in crisis because they feel that they cannot access the packages that they need or because they have been told by their local authority that their package will have to be scaled or cut back. In relation to care at home, that is the case not only for older people, but particularly for people who have learning disabilities. From the work that you do with providers and your survey work, do you have the sense that there is something of a crisis for unpaid carers, too?

Health, Social Care and Sport Committee

Session 6 Priorities

Meeting date: 9 November 2021

Paul O'Kane

Yes, thank you for giving us more time, minister. We have had a meaningful discussion about public health and the huge amount that needs to be done. The narrative of a public health Parliament has permeated the discussion.

We are dealing with Covid-19 and its far-reaching impact. In the next part of the meeting, we will hear about the pressures on our NHS as we approach the winter. How can we address the wider public health challenges, which have been exacerbated by the pandemic, while dealing with the huge challenge of remobilisation and getting the delivery of acute services, in particular, back to the right level?

Health, Social Care and Sport Committee

Seasonal Planning and Preparedness

Meeting date: 9 November 2021

Paul O'Kane

My question is for John Mooney, and Annie Gunner Logan might be able to comment as well. The point that you have made is essentially that we need to deal with pay in the care sector more broadly. John Thomson alluded to the fact that you can work in a supermarket or do bar work and earn more money than you can in social care. What is your view of trade unions, such as the GMB, Unison and others, campaigning for £15 an hour as a standard wage for care work?

Health, Social Care and Sport Committee

Seasonal Planning and Preparedness

Meeting date: 9 November 2021

Paul O'Kane

We see those pressures every winter, and I take your point about elective surgeries. However, do you feel that the unusual circumstances of the pandemic and the cancellation of more and more elective surgery will create a problem for us at the other end of winter?

Health, Social Care and Sport Committee

Seasonal Planning and Preparedness

Meeting date: 9 November 2021

Paul O'Kane

It is clear that a range of factors have contributed to the challenges around retention. Brexit is often cited as the key issue.

To pick up on what Annie Gunner Logan said, what mitigation work was done by the Scottish Government for care providers prior to Brexit? Was a detailed piece of work done to tackle what were perceived to be the challenges around staffing as a result of Brexit?

Equalities, Human Rights and Civil Justice Committee

Proposed Disabled Children and Young People (Transitions to Adulthood) (Scotland) Bill

Meeting date: 2 November 2021

Paul O'Kane

I draw attention to my entry in the register of members’ interests, which shows that I am a serving councillor in East Renfrewshire Council and a member and former employee of Enable Scotland.

Equalities, Human Rights and Civil Justice Committee

Proposed Disabled Children and Young People (Transitions to Adulthood) (Scotland) Bill

Meeting date: 2 November 2021

Paul O'Kane

Thank you for presenting your statement of reasons. I serve as convener of the cross-party group on learning disability, where the previous iteration of the bill, under Johann Lamont, and the current version have been discussed at length. Many of the stories that colleagues have alluded to about the lived experience and the struggle and battle around transitions have been aired thoroughly in the cross-party group. Similarly to Fulton MacGregor and other members, constituents have been keen to get in touch with me to share their lived experience. Therefore, there is a compelling argument that we have done a lot of talking about the proposal and that we are perhaps now coming to the point where we need to act.

Your statement of reasons refers to the 91 responses to the previous consultation, which were broadly supportive of the bill. It is fair to say that, as I referred to, other people have fed in through correspondence and the CPG. Are you content that the bill has been shaped by those responses and experiences? In essence, we all want to know that the bill has been influenced strongly by that consultation and that people have been listened to in the process.