Seòmar agus comataidhean

To ask the Scottish Government how it plans to invest in community midwifery services to ensure that they are consistently delivered in areas of need rather than in centralised, and often hard-to-access, locations. (S6O-02502)

I have met midwives across the South Scotland region and what is clear to me is that there is now significant pressure on midwifery professionals’ ability to deliver regular high-quality community-based services to those most in need. It is the Government’s lack of a proper education and workforce strategy for midwives and its inability to support rural health boards with high numbers of vacancies that are contributing to those pressures. Will the Government accept that fact and set out in full the action that it can take that will ensure that midwives are supported to provide community-based services in areas that are most in need?

Good morning. I have three questions about the safe staffing legislation, which has already been passed. First, will it be implemented in the first half of next year?

It is very helpful to know that you are still committed to that. We want to make sure that the link between safe staffing and safe patient outcomes is taken forward. That is great. Thank you.

Minister, I think that we all agree that with the right policies we could halve childhood obesity in Scotland by 2030. I would like to understand why we are going into another consultation process. Given the evidence that we have, why cannot we consider legislation? Has pressure been put on you and the Government not to introduce primary legislation in the area? We know that we could change outcomes for a large part of the population.

The process has been going on for a number of years and is time-sensitive. Can you commit to ensuring that the matter is a top priority for the Government in terms of business?

I have one more tiny question. I am interested in the daily mile. How much commitment is there across Scotland to the daily mile? Is it is still a priority?

That is excellent. My second question was to be on engagement with trade unions, so I am really pleased to hear what you have said. Obviously, I have been liaising with them myself.

My final question is on the link between the staffing legislation and the Patient Safety Commissioner for Scotland Bill. We managed to lodge some amendments on that at stage 2, so a result should be that both work together. What discussions or thoughts have you had on that?

My view is that it is an extremely complex picture. A lot of our difficulties in more deprived areas are a result of the fact that services are much less accessible. We also have a system that builds in inequalities, so we have to look right across the board at what we can do to support such communities.

The impacts of alcohol harm are wide ranging and can affect anyone. However, the fact that, in 2023, those harms are still felt so acutely in our most vulnerable communities is appalling, and we need to ensure that our approach to tackling this public health emergency is underpinned by a desire to support those people who are most in need. The approach needs to be preventative in nature by tackling the root causes of alcohol harm, which perhaps comes back to Brian Whittle’s point. We must be strong in our approach to advertising where we have the powers to be so, we must put people before profits and, for those who are already dependent, we must have the right support services in place, through investment in our alcohol and drug partnerships, to give people an offer of hope at an otherwise incredibly challenging time.

As I said at the beginning of my remarks, this is not a debate that any of us want to have, but, due to the situation that we find ourselves in, it is necessary to have it. It is a debate that we need to have in Government time so that families and communities can see how seriously the Government takes the issue.

The number of alcohol-specific deaths in Scotland is at its highest level in 15 years, and, at the same time, there are 40,000 more children living in poverty in Scotland than there were a decade ago. The link between alcohol harm and poverty is damaging and well established, and we must do everything in our power to break that link.

Again, I pay tribute to the first-class organisations that research alcohol harm or suggest ways through this emergency; to those who provide services to people who are alcohol dependent; and to our great national health service staff, who always do their best to act when they are called on. They are all part of the fight, but they are being let down. They need a change of approach that shows urgency and tackles the emergency. So far, the Government has not stepped up to the mark, so I implore the minister to take the opportunity today to feed back and tell us how it will tackle what is an emergency for our communities.

It is unfortunate that today’s debate is required, but I am pleased to have the opportunity to bring it to the chamber. At the outset, I wish to thank Alcohol Focus Scotland, Scottish Health Action on Alcohol Problems—SHAAP—and others for the briefings that they have provided members with ahead of the debate.

I am pleased that the Minister for Drugs and Alcohol Policy is attending the debate, and I am pleased to see some Government back benchers attending, too. However, as of this morning, not a single Scottish National Party or Scottish Green MSP had signed the motion. In his speech on Tuesday delivering the programme for government, the First Minister did not mention recently released statistics regarding alcohol-specific deaths. Yet again, we are promised a review of strategy and a review of delivery, but action feels as far away as it ever has been.

I offer these words to the minister: if our approach to investing in alcohol services to reduce alcohol-related harm does not include accepting where we have gone wrong in the past and where we are currently not quite getting it right, we are doing a disservice to those who already are—and those who will become—dependent on alcohol, as well as to their friends, their families and their communities.

It is important to note that, in total, 1,276 deaths were attributed to alcohol-specific causes last year. That is 31 more than in 2021 and is the highest number since 2008. That is 1,276 individuals whose lives were lost before time, and whose friends and families have lost a loved one.

This is a public health emergency. I think that we all accept that. However, I join with key stakeholders today in asking why the amount of alcohol-related harm and the number of deaths have not convinced the Government that the matter is worthy of an emergency response. We have had no ministerial statement, no debate in Government time and no real path to delivery from the First Minister or the Minister for Public Health and Women’s Health. We can do so much better. Those who are suffering due to alcohol-related harm deserve better, and so do the countless families, friends and communities that have seen too many lose their lives to alcohol without the correct support being in place.

Taking a somewhat deeper look at the tragic announcement in recent weeks, we see further causes for concern. While male deaths continue to account for about two thirds of alcohol-specific deaths, the number of female deaths increased by 31 in 2022. It is pivotal that we analyse the detail and do all that we can to ensure that the increased number of female deaths is not repeated, and that we also reduce the number of male deaths from alcohol.

As we see in the motion, although deaths are the most extreme form of alcohol harm, they are likely to be accompanied by increases in other harms, including domestic abuse and violence, and we know that those harms disproportionately impact women. I repeat that this is a public health emergency, and I highlight the importance of having a multilayered response that addresses key factors including causes, related harms and improving outcomes.

I often take the opportunity in the chamber to call for the reduction and eradication of health inequalities. As the motion states,

“the risk of alcohol harm is already greater for the most disadvantaged in society, with people in Scotland’s most deprived communities reportedly over five times as likely to die and six times as likely to be admitted to hospital because of alcohol than people in the wealthiest communities”.

That is the devastating reality—one that our most deprived communities have to live with every day.