Seòmar agus comataidhean

I thank Christine Grahame for bringing the debate to the chamber, and I welcome the new ministers to the front bench. On behalf of Scottish Labour, I also welcome global intergenerational week and all the work in Scotland that looks to bring people of all ages together to ensure that generations have the best chance of a healthy and happy life together.

The work of Scotland-based Generations Working Together is exciting, and the development of policy from the manifesto of 2021 gives us much to aim for. The vision of Generations Working Together is for a Scotland where different generations are more connected and where everyone can build relationships that help to create a fairer society. In order to have a fairer society, we must prioritise the health of our population, which must surely be a priority for any Parliament and any Government. That has become even more important over the past few years, as it has been difficult for people to be connected as much as we would all like to see, and as we talk about in the chamber.

We have heard in this debate—and many other times in the chamber—that being healthy means being not only physically healthy but mentally, socially and economically healthy. Each of those crucial aspects of life play a role in determining the health and outcomes of an individual, a family or a population. The intergenerational work that we are talking about is essential, and there is now really good evidence to support just how important it is. We all know of the benefits of learning from our parents, grandparents and neighbours, and we have heard many good examples of how we as a society can encourage that and build on it for those who, in a more modern society, do not always benefit from that naturally. Christine Grahame gave us some lovely examples of how people can be intergenerational together. I hope to watch her Twitter account and check that those emojis are all in the right place.

Thank you for all the information. I am interested in what you said in your opening remarks about how you had already done some work on the issue before you approached the committee. Is there anything in that that we can follow up on? What commitments did you get that might not have been fulfilled yet? Tell us about the work that you did beforehand in case we can build on anything that has already been put in place.

That is no bother. I will be quite brief, because the information has been clear and I am incredibly supportive of what has come across.

Do you believe that the Government knows what needs to be done but is finding it difficult to make decisions about how to do it, or is the Government just not clear about what has to be done?

It seems to me that being a corporate parent is about the state, so as elected members we have responsibilities to hold people to account and to hold the Government to account. As experienced people, do you believe that the Government understands what has to happen and is just unable to deliver it, or do we need to be clearer about the stages that we need to go through to get what is needed to happen? It would be helpful for the committee to be clear about that.

No, I was just going to agree.

Okay. You said that there is work to be done on different levels. There might be layers of things that require to be done, but this committee can build on existing work. It is important that, although certain avenues have been explored, some pressure is applied to get the last part over the line.

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on how it is supporting national health service boards, including NHS Ayrshire and Arran, that have outsourced child and adolescent mental health services in order to reduce waiting times, to bring such services back in house. (S6O-02114)

We are well aware of the pressures that health boards and CAMHS face, but the issues with long waiting lists are long-standing, and that is due to Scottish National Party inaction. Health boards are now having to outsource CAMHS to reduce waiting times. I would have expected the minister to commit Government to returning services in house.

Is the Government committed to supporting health boards to return those services in house? If so, what is the timetable for that?

I, too, thank Alexander Stewart for bringing this important debate to the chamber. I also thank all the members who have spoken in it for highlighting how important it is that we have debates to address issues relating to the older population.

On behalf of Scottish Labour, I welcome the Healthy Ageing in Scotland study, led by the University of Stirling, and I put on the record my thanks to the team who will start this extremely important work. The study is the first of its kind and, although it will look at many different factors, including health, social and economic circumstances, the main aim of the team of researchers is a simple but critical one: to improve the health and wellbeing of Scotland’s older people by fully understanding their lives.

The health of our population must be the priority for any Parliament and any Government. After the past few years, that is clearer than ever before. However, as other members have stated, being healthy does not just mean being physically healthy; it means being mentally, socially and economically healthy, too. Each of those crucial aspects of life plays a role in determining the health and outcomes of an individual, a family or a population.

The motion correctly notes that our older population is growing and that people are living longer, but it is also right to state that significant and divisive income inequality exists in our society today. I absolutely agree with much of the content of Alexander Stewart’s motion and speech. I know that he has been a champion of older people. However, I have to say—because it is important—that his party’s policies are responsible for much of that division. We need a whole change in approach with regard to improving pay, closing pay gaps and supporting the lowest paid in order to improve health and wellbeing outcomes later in life. It starts early in life and it continues; people start an unhealthy life and then live an unhealthy life. A lot of that is linked to the austerity that we see in this country.

It is important that we touch on health inequalities right now. Health inequalities are one of the greatest strains in our society—members will not be surprised to hear me say that, as I say it often. We need far greater action than we have had. The First Minister was right to focus on tackling poverty yesterday. However, people from deprived areas in our country are less likely to attend screening appointments. That remains a stark gap and an avoidable one. It is not always about income; it is about how we ensure that those people can attend vital screening appointments.

We know that health inequality exists from birth, but we also know that it continues to negatively impact people throughout their lives and can determine outcomes in later life. As the project embarks on the study, it will be interesting to see whether we, as parliamentarians, can act more decisively and effectively to address the issues that have led to the study being undertaken.

A staple of any healthy, progressive, modern nation should be the ability of its citizens to age healthily and to grow old with dignity. I hope that the study will allow improvements to be made that will positively impact the health and wellbeing of the older population.

Many of the challenges that are faced by our older people in Scotland today have been exacerbated by poor Government decisions. In some cases, there has been Government inaction. We know that we need to improve the health and wellbeing of our elderly population—we need to do so urgently and to be quite radical about it.

Healthy ageing should be a priority. Once again, I thank Alexander Stewart for lodging the motion, and I thank all members who have contributed to the debate.

On a point of order, Presiding Officer. I have connection problems with my app. I voted yes. Can I check that that has been recorded?

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on investment in research and co-ordinated care services to support those living with long Covid. (S6O-02092)