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I know that the minister recently had a meeting on farrowing crates. Would he consider using rural payments to support animal welfare improvements such as transitioning from farrowing crates to free farrowing?

To ask the Scottish Government what provisions are in place to support people in hospitals and care settings who have serious spinal injuries resulting in paralysis from the neck down. (S6O-05006)

My constituent, Graham Wright, suffered a freak accident last year. His spine was paralysed from the neck down. Sadly, he died recently. Although his wife had praise for the three months that he spent in the spinal unit at Queen Elizabeth university hospital in Glasgow, the planned transfer to Borders general hospital exposed dreadful deficiencies in its ability to look after him, including not even knowing initially how to use a hoist.

Will the cabinet secretary meet my constituent to hear her experience, as it is disturbing that in an area known for rugby, horse-riding and agriculture, where a spinal injury might not be so uncommon, the appropriate training for spinal injuries appears to be lacking in the local hospital?

I thank all of the members who signed the motion to allow the debate to proceed, the people who are manning the exhibition in the lobby this week and those who are attending in the public gallery, including members of the transplant team, health professionals and, in particular, Audrey Cameron, a donor’s mother, about whom I will say more later. I also thank those who have remained in the chamber after a very long week because of late sittings.

My contribution extends only to transplants following a death. Talking about death is always a difficult topic in any circumstance. One might say that it is grisly, and we in the western world prefer to avoid it. However, one death can save a life or allow a better life to someone else, and sometimes to many strangers.

Let me first set out the legislative background. The Human Tissue (Authorisation) (Scotland) Act 2019 was passed in July 2019. It provides for a deemed authorisation, or opt-out, system of organ donation for transplantation. It applies to most adults aged 16 and over who are resident in Scotland, but it does not apply to everyone.

There are exemptions: adults without capacity to understand the law, adults who have lived in Scotland for fewer than 12 months before their death and children under the age of 16. If a person in one of those groups dies in a way that means that they could donate, their closest family member will be asked whether they wish to authorise donation.

Otherwise, if a person dies in circumstances in which they could become a donor and have not recorded a donation decision—either to agree or to reject—it will be assumed that they are willing to donate their organs for transplantation. Even then, a person’s family will always be asked about their latest views on donation to ensure that it would not proceed if that was against their wishes.

I am grateful for the publicity on organ and tissue donation, but members who are sitting here in the Parliament did not know that it is preferable to register one way or the other. I know that we are sometimes not the brightest of the bright, but even though there is a campaign, the message is not even getting through to us. How do we step up the campaign so that it becomes common knowledge that people should help by registering one way or the other?

Has the Labour Government’s increase in employer national insurance contributions had an impact on the delivery of free personal care?

I am ashamed to say that I, too, did not realise that. I have been carrying the old card and did not know that I had to register. I just thought that all would be well, because we now have presumed consent.

The reason for the debate is partly to highlight that.

That is where understandable difficulties arise. Specialist nurses must—without delay, for obvious reasons—raise the issue of consent to use some of the deceased’s organs in the most distressing of circumstances. If a person has registered their wishes one way or another, it makes that discussion much easier.

Therefore, although there is presumed consent, it is still better to register. Let me also stress that only 1 per cent of the population who die can be considered to become an organ donor—only those who are in intensive care and ventilated—so it is a niche set of circumstances.

The specialist nurse whom I referred to is one of a team of 23 who are based in intensive care units across Scotland. They support consultants and nurses who are having end-of-life discussions with families. They cover all aspects of the donation process, from the initial referral from the intensive care unit team, to building a patient’s profile—bloods, electrocardiogram, chest x-ray, medical notes—organ matching, offering and placement; organising theatre; and organising for the national organ retrieval service team to arrive at the donor hospital. Time is always of the essence.

Those nurses co-ordinate the retrieval operation to the very end, when they perform last offices with donors and ensure that organs are safely dispatched to their recipients. They also provide a bereavement follow-up service for donors’ families.

There are currently around 600 people waiting for an organ transplant in Scotland at any one time. Those patients are in urgent need of life-saving or life-enhancing organs, with the majority waiting for a kidney transplant. One donor can save up to nine lives.

Nothing illustrates the significance of organ transplant better than an example. Audrey Cameron is here in the Parliament today. Her son James Borland died in February 2024 at the young age of 25. Audrey chose to donate James’s organs, as she felt that that was fitting for him, as a kind and gentle young man. James went on to donate his heart, lungs and both kidneys, saving the lives of four people. His becoming an organ donor has given his family so much comfort amid their grief. James’s story has not ended, and he has changed so many people’s lives. He left behind his young son, who one day will know how brave his daddy was and how he is a true hero to so many. Audrey now works closely with the specialist nurse in the organ donation team, promoting and sharing her passion for organ donation, and I thank her for this permission to make public her experience. I thank all others who, in similar circumstances, have done that. Nothing can illustrate how important organ donation is more than that example. [Applause.]

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions the finance secretary has had with ministerial colleagues regarding different funding models that may be available to finance the building of social housing, in light of the approach adopted by Falkirk Council which awarded Hearthstone Investments £30 million through its local government pension scheme fund to invest in social and affordable housing in 2015. (S6O-04975)

Having supported the bill at stage 1, subject to the caveats that I emphasised on both capital and revenue funding, I am pleased that it will now progress to stage 2. We know that those issues will not be easy to resolve.

Will Broomlee outdoor education centre in West Linton, in my constituency, which I have visited often, be a consultee? I have huge regard for the facility and its staff and would hope for an extended future for it, which could perhaps include provision for children with ASN in the Borders, which is much needed.