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That is helpful, thank you.

That is helpful. I am hearing that you feel that people across the professions engage with the process, which is good for us to hear.

Lyndsey, do you have a sense of whether the bill would build on people’s lived and living experience of how health professionals work on treatment determination for people with drug and alcohol misuse issues?

Great. Thank you. Would anyone else like to comment on training?

Are you saying that the workforce is under pressure at the moment, so anything additional, including additional training, should be taken into consideration when we look at the financial memorandum, and so on?

The member makes my point: we can talk about systems and examples in bits and pieces, but the reality is that, at this time, we should be much further advanced. That would make an incredible difference to our practitioners. I know that the member is a practitioner, so she will hear that at times when she works within the NHS. All the staff speak to me about that.

I know that I need to conclude. We support the Government in making the changes. The opportunities are endless. However, if we want to keep up with the rest of the UK and the world, we must be honest about where we are so that we can move forward and support our staff and our patients in realising this opportunity.

I welcome the member’s intervention. That absolutely is the case. Practitioners on the ground, no matter what their profession, tell us every day that data systems being able to speak to each other would make a such a difference to patient experience and patient outcomes.

There has to be an ambition to upgrade NHS systems and equipment. That can be done only if there is leadership from the Government. I hope that the Government welcomes the Labour amendment’s call for

“a shared care record system and empowering patients through an NHS app.”

To ask the First Minister whether he will provide an update on how the Scottish Government is working to improve healthy life expectancy. (S6F-03900)

I am glad to hear from the cabinet secretary about the improvements and investments in technology that are being made. The member who spoke before me gave excellent examples of how technology can be used. There are, indeed, great examples, and we welcome how technology is being used, but the point is that we need to embed that in what we do in the NHS across Scotland.

It is fair to say that, having been in government for 18 years, the SNP has had ample opportunity to keep pace with innovation and bring forward the technological changes that our NHS has needed for many years and that it desperately needs now. That is possibly the part that was missing from the cabinet secretary’s excellent speech—the recognition that we have not kept pace.

This Government debate on recognising the significant health and economic benefits of supporting and adopting innovation in our NHS is welcome. It can be seen from the Labour amendment that we support the Government in enabling that. However, on the ground, the motion must feel as though it is only warm words, because the issue is action and the implementation of the fantastic things that have been spoken about.

As we know, thousands of patients are stuck on NHS waiting lists and are waiting for tests and to be diagnosed. We need to do all that we can to embrace innovation and explore the potential of new technology not only to speed up treatment but to make best use of the accuracy in diagnosis and offer the best treatment plans.

The reality is that our NHS is stuck in what can be described only as an analogue age. We need to address the day-to-day technological challenges that are faced. We have magnetic resonance imaging and CT scanners that are decades old and theatres that lie empty due to poor scheduling. Technology could help with that. As we have heard, it is common for doctors and nurses to use pagers, despite there being much more efficient ways of communicating.

No one disputes that our NHS needs urgent action—the cabinet secretary himself is saying that. We need to keep pace with the technologies, but, at times, it is hard to imagine how we can get to that point. The basics, such as data gathering, are a challenge across the NHS. Scotland has a population of around 5.5 million, yet its 14 health boards collect data in different ways and the systems cannot speak to each other. The use of different IT systems creates administrative burdens, while issues in accessing patient records create major barriers to effective care.

I, too, thank all the young carers in the public gallery. It is a delight to have them with us today. I give a special shout-out to the South Ayrshire young carers I met outside. They were really kind to spend some time with me—it was much appreciated.

I thank my colleague Paul O’Kane for bringing the debate to the chamber. It is absolutely right that we make time in this place to discuss such an important issue. Paul O’Kane has been a champion for carers in the current session of Parliament, bringing the issue to the chamber and working cross-party and outwith the Parliament in the way that other members, including Willie Rennie, have spoken about, as well as working with many organisations and charities to raise the voices of carers and ensure that we see lasting change. Again, I thank Paul O’Kane for giving us the opportunity to talk specifically about young carers today.

Other members have mentioned the data and statistics, so I will not go over those again. I simply highlight that, with more than 30,000 young carers under the age of 18, it is incumbent on us to support them. I thank Carers Trust for the work that it does in gathering all the information. As others have said, it is important that we have that information, to ensure that we understand the issues, and that we use it to guide us on the solutions that we need in order to provide adequate support to all our invaluable carers, particularly our young carers.

The debate is in response to young carers action day, and I commend young carers for the contribution that they make to our society when they are caring for their loved ones. As we know, young carers often do not recognise themselves as carers, and many do not think twice about what they do. We owe them a great deal of gratitude.

Dumfries and Galloway Carers Centre, in my region, wrote to me to ask for my support for young carers action day 2025, which I am delighted to give. The theme, “geezabreak”, focuses on the importance of providing breaks and respite for young carers and, as others have said, the need for schools and employers to better support them in school and work.

From previous debates and my meetings with young carers, I am aware that the reality for many young carers in Scotland is that caring responsibilities can dominate their lives. Young carers often do not realise that and continue without support. Sara Jackson, the young carers manager at the Dumfries and Galloway Carers Centre, works directly with young carers and explained in correspondence with me that the damaging impact of a lack of support and burnout means that many young carers are often at breaking point and their reality can be quite difficult. What stood out for me in her correspondence was the suggestion that, although young people need a break through getting straightforward respite from their caring responsibilities, they also need a break in that they must be given equal opportunities to thrive, as others have touched on. That is why Carers Trust Scotland is urging schools, trusts, colleges and universities to step up. It would be great to hear about that from other members, as well as getting a commitment from the minister to work across Government on that.

As politicians, it is our responsibility to work together to ensure that that happens, so that young carers feel confident in the support that is available to them and their loved ones. I commit to doing that. I hope that the debate spurs us all on to do more together in response to the needs of our young carers in Scotland. It is incumbent on us to do that.

I thank everyone who has spoken or is about to speak in the debate.

Scotland has the highest obesity rates in the United Kingdom, which disproportionately affects our most deprived communities and harms the physical and mental wellbeing of millions of people. That hinders economic activity and costs the national health service millions of pounds each year.

The Government consulted on restricting promotions of food and drink that is high in fat, sugar and salt. The consultation closed in May 2024, yet the Parliament is still waiting for the independent analysis of the consultation responses. When will the Government publish the analysis and introduce vital regulation to stop Scotland falling even further behind?