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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 17 February 2025
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Displaying 801 contributions

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Meeting of the Parliament

Hospital at Home Programme

Meeting date: 30 May 2023

Christine Grahame

I thank Edward Mountain but I just wanted to clarify and say that I did not mention extra equipment, although I said that a full assessment has to be made of whether hospital at home is the right thing in the right place at the right time for that person. By implication, that might also involve equipment.

Meeting of the Parliament

Deposit Return Scheme

Meeting date: 30 May 2023

Christine Grahame

I emphasise that I fully support including glass recycling in the DRS and that I deplore interference by the UK Government in a fully devolved issue. My concern has always been about the practicalities of glass recycling. Will the minister confirm that Circularity Scotland will have those issues resolved and that glass recycling will be in place in many businesses by the launch next year?

Meeting of the Parliament

Hospital at Home Programme

Meeting date: 30 May 2023

Christine Grahame

Will the member take an intervention?

Meeting of the Parliament

Hospital at Home Programme

Meeting date: 30 May 2023

Christine Grahame

I have to admit that, until recently, when I heard a news programme about it, I was unaware that the hospital at home service existed. That was my failure. I note that the Scottish Government’s motion states that it is

“a cost effective alternative to acute care”,

but, more importantly, that it

“provides very good clinical outcomes”,

which is what we all want. It also frees up hospital beds and, of course, the staff to service them.

Hospital at home is a short-term, targeted intervention that provides acute-level hospital care in an individual’s own home or in a homely setting. So far, it has led to a 53 per cent increase in the number of patients who are being managed by such services. It has prevented more than 11,000 people from spending time in hospital during 2022-23, thereby relieving pressure on A and E and, importantly, the Scottish Ambulance Service.

What is also important is that those patients were in the comfort of their own home, surrounded by the familiar, all of which, in my view, aids better physical and mental health. I will quote one patient, who said:

“I was delighted, it was unbelievable ... It was totally different to being in hospital. One thing I haven’t mentioned is the fact that it’s the personal ... between the two of us, I wasn’t just a number. It makes a difference.”

Midlothian’s hospital at home team has the acronym MERRIT, which stands for Midlothian enhanced rapid response and intervention team. It is an acute care team, based in Midlothian community hospital, which offers an assessment of a patient’s medical needs in their own home, or in a care home, by using a holistic, multidisciplinary approach during the acute phase of their illness. The service offers an opportunity to identify a potentially unwell patient, better persuade a patient to accept hospital admission as a safer place of care or direct them to a more appropriate service.

However, it should be recognised that there might be specific circumstances in which remote triage might also be appropriate, such as when the patient has been seen within the past 24 hours by a GP or another clinician; when there is a clear indication of a known recurrent or stable condition; or when examination findings are unlikely to change the appropriate place of care. In other words, as other members have said, it is about giving the right treatment in the right place, which might be either in hospital or at home.

I will give some examples of the criteria for referral to the hospital at home service. For Midlothian’s service, the patient must be resident there. In addition, their personal care requirements must be able to be met in the community: that is to say that they will be safe at home, either caring for themselves, having an existing package of care or receiving the support of their family.

There is also strict guidance on not referring patients with, for example, chest pain, acute stroke, asthma, suspected deep vein thrombosis, a suspected fracture or another suspected acute surgical emergency or, indeed, where the patient or their family is unwilling for them to stay at home. A discussion should be had with the person in their own home about what is most suitable for them.

NHS Borders’ hospital at home service started admitting patients only in April 2023 and so is the newest such service in Scotland. Rurality is an issue, but such areas can still be covered. Borders general hospital is far away for many people.

I welcome the progress that has been made on hospital at home, which seems to me to be a plus all round—and, in particular, to patients if it is practicable for them to be assessed and treated in familiar surroundings, which must be good for them.

Meeting of the Parliament

Protecting Devolution and the Scottish Parliament

Meeting date: 30 May 2023

Christine Grahame

The Scottish Parliament reconvened on 1 July 1999, 300 years after it was abolished, as part of the process of union with England. For the benefit of the sole occupant of the Labour benches, the two occupants of the Tory benches and the deserted Liberal Democrat benches, I quote the words of Donald Dewar, who was the first First Minister:

“There shall be a Scottish Parliament. Through long years, those words were first a hope, then a belief, then a promise. Now they are a reality. ... Today, we look forward to the time when this moment will be seen as a turning point: the day when democracy was renewed in Scotland, when we revitalised our place in this our United Kingdom. This is about more than our politics and our laws. This is about who we are, how we carry ourselves. ... The past is part of us. But today there is a new voice in the land, the voice of a democratic Parliament. A voice to shape Scotland, a voice for the future. Walter Scott wrote that only a man with soul so dead could have no sense, no feel of his native land. For me, for any Scot, today is a proud moment; a new stage on a journey begun long ago and which has no end.”

I was there; I heard those lyrical words at the rebirth of this ancient Parliament.

I repeat:

“A journey begun long ago and which has no end.”

Many of us were then inexperienced, taking our first steps into formalised politics and learning how to be effective—in my case, as an Opposition back bencher and committee convener.

Twenty-four years on, this Parliament has matured and defined its Scottishness, social democratic values and distinctive priorities. I am proud of free personal care, which the Labour-Liberal coalition brought in, and the SNP’s minimum unit pricing, free prescriptions, concessionary fares, free childcare and the more recent child payment.

I have observed six Governments in my six sessions here. Not one of them has been perfect, but they have all been accountable at the ballot box to the Scottish electorate, which has spoken loud and clear for the second time and delivered an overall majority that is indisputably committed to Scottish independence.

Now, a Government that we did not vote for—there are only six Scottish Tory MPs to the SNP’s 45—denies and even defies devolution, let alone the democratic right of the people to a referendum, as it interferes in devolved areas. What next? What will happen around, for example, nuclear power, against the will of Parliament, which controls planning law, and against the will of the Scottish people? Power devolved is, indeed, power retained; for the current Tory Government, it is power regained, which is a red alert to all who support devolution, if not independence.

We have, as a nation, travelled so far in nearly a quarter of a century, regaining our Scottish voice. The remedy lies where it must—with the Scottish people, who are sovereign, and not with Westminster. Let people use their voice loud and clear at the next election. Only independence gives them the Government and the policies that they vote for. To this chamber, that is democracy.

18:03  

Meeting of the Parliament

First Minister’s Question Time

Meeting date: 25 May 2023

Christine Grahame

Following the answers to Claire Baker’s questions, I refer to the review that the First Minister raised. Can the review address the professor’s comment that there are tests that can detect amyloid, which is a major contributor to dementia, and that there are drugs that can clear that, but the Government infrastructure is not in place to deliver either of those?

Meeting of the Parliament

Portfolio Question Time

Meeting date: 24 May 2023

Christine Grahame

I thank the cabinet secretary for his answer regarding local partners. Does the cabinet secretary have discussions or engagement with private and public sector employers regarding home working and, separately, regarding the provision, where practicable, of the 1,140 hours of free nursery care, including to home workers?

Meeting of the Parliament

Portfolio Question Time

Meeting date: 24 May 2023

Christine Grahame

To ask the Scottish Government what support it is giving to bring people with children back into work. (S6O-02262)

Meeting of the Parliament

Scottish Connections Framework

Meeting date: 23 May 2023

Christine Grahame

A recent YouGov poll has disclosed that only 9 per cent consider that Brexit has been a success, while 62 per cent consider it a failure. I am happy to take an intervention from Stephen Kerr on that point. No—he is in his seat.

I welcome Scotland’s overseas network of offices in Beijing, Berlin, Brussels, Dublin, London, Ottawa, Paris and Washington, and the more than 30 Scottish Development International trade and investment offices in around 20 countries to promote co-operation in areas of devolved responsibility at the national and sub-national level.

I return to Scottish culture, one of Scotland’s greatest exports, which can support our wider international connections, including trading relationships. Tourism is based inextricably in our history and culture, and it is also a key economic contributor.

I will be a bit parochial here, representing, as I do, the Scottish Borders. We have the eclectic Abbotsford, home of the talented and colourful Sir Walter Scott, who did much to revive tartan, and Melrose abbey, where the heart of Robert the Bruce is buried. How many here know the weel-kent children’s song “Ally Bally Bee”, which, I would suggest, is the first-ever advertising jingle and was the creation of a Galashiels weaver, the mischievous confectionery trader Robert Coltart. Then there are the common ridings, which bring expats back to their communities.

We have the history, we have culture, we have those millions with Scottish ancestry across the globe, and we have the saltire, which is recognised the world over as the flag of Scotland, but we do not have our own voice.

I congratulate the Scottish Government on the international measures that it is taking, constrained as it is by devolution. However, I say gently to Willie Rennie—and certainly not gently to Stephen Kerr—how much more we could do with our independence.

Meeting of the Parliament

Scottish Connections Framework

Meeting date: 23 May 2023

Christine Grahame

Scotland, notwithstanding some dark moments in its history—its role in the slave trade and the British Empire, for example—has that lucky advantage on the world stage of being an instantly recognisable brand. It is identifiable as a nation even though we are not yet a completed nation—independent—and are therefore excluded from the United Nations and other international organisations and treaties.