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With regard to what we have done, the proof of the pudding is in the eating. We know that staff are accessing the mental health and wellbeing hub and the services around it. As the committee knows, we have invested more money in that, but it would be fair to say—this goes back to your earlier point about stigma—that some staff feel stigmatised in using those services. We have to get folk over that hump.

In talking to folk in health and social care, I have always said that we must continue to signpost those services; indeed, at times, we must cajole folk to use them. Once they use them, those services can make a real difference. In some cases—although, obviously, not in every case—that can happen in a fairly short time. The other week, I talked to somebody who had used the services, and they felt that, even in the initial calls, the burden had been lifted, to use their words.

Folk are under a lot of pressure, and I want those services to be used. It is absolutely vital that all of us—whether in the Parliament or out there on the front line in health and social care in the NHS, in health and social care partnerships or in third sector organisations—highlight that those services exist and that folk should access them if that is needed.

All of that shows that we still have a lot of work to do in destigmatising.

I dinna ken if I can give a brief answer to that, as Emma Harper has covered a lot of ground. As the committee is aware, the cabinet secretary announced £300 million of funding specifically to support winter pressures. There was equity between health and social care on that front. That includes £62 million for enhancing care-at-home capacity, £40 million for interim care, £20 million for enhancing multidisciplinary teams and up to £48 million for the pay increase that I mentioned earlier.

The investment in the plan itself being published does not mean that the work stops there. The cabinet secretary and I have been in discussion with a number of health boards, health and social care partnerships and local authorities over the past number of weeks to hear from them what the pressures and challenges are and to see what other help we can provide. That will continue as we move forward.

Without doubt, this is the most precarious time in the pandemic. In some areas, there is a difficulty with staffing, often because of Covid outbreaks and often because of other illnesses. Frankly, many folk on the front line are shattered. They are tired. We must take cognisance of all that in how we get all of this right.

In some of the meetings that have taken place with health boards, health and social care partnerships and local authorities, we have been considering together—and I emphasise together—what else can be done to take pressures off. That includes how everybody works in partnership and in tandem in reducing delayed discharges. What can we do through the multidisciplinary team approach to plug gaps? If there are Covid outbreaks or other things that are keeping staff off, how can we plug those gaps? Some good thinking and some good action is taking place in some places, which we are advising other places to consider and do if necessary. That will be on-going—Ms Bell has probably been on more calls than anyone else—and will continue on a daily basis.

It has had a huge impact. From talking to folks, it is clear that the difference that Covid has made to some people’s lives is quite horrendous. We have all faced the stress of the pandemic period, but for some people, such as those who have lost income or have been bereaved during the pandemic, it has been much worse than for others. For some people, the lifeline things that they were able to do previously, which kept them in fairly good fettle, went by the wayside as a result of the lockdowns.

We should not underplay the impact that the pandemic has had on people across the country. We can see from the survey work that has been undertaken across the piece that almost everyone has been affected by what has gone on.

Yes. Some of the thinking obviously has to be different in rural areas than it is in cities. Sometimes it is not so easy to plug a gap if there is illness in a remote rural place. Some places have considered having flying squads—which is their expression, not mine—so that they can deal with care at home in places where a gap has been created because of illness or whatever.

Many people are thinking out of the box around how we do our level best for folk, and that needs to continue. We need to continue to push that. What we require—some of the folk on the calls with me are probably sick fed up of me of saying this—is collaboration, co-operation and a lot of communication in order to get that right over the piece.

No—at the moment, I am not confident that everybody can access respite support. I should say that I want to get away from using the word “respite”; I prefer the phrase “short-term breaks”, which is a much better way of describing it. As somebody said to me, “respite” implies that care is seen as a burden, and we need to get away from that kind of thinking.

I want to ensure that, as we move forward, short-term breaks become a right, as they should. That is why the national care service consultation contained questions on that subject. I would be telling porkies if I said that, at this moment in time, everybody can access what is required, because I know that that is not the case.

I was talking to managers of carers centres only yesterday, and it is clear that there is a combination of things going on that add to the pressures. In some areas, day services have not fully opened up. That is sometimes down to space difficulties, or they have been in the same position in the past. We need to continue to open those centres up safely.

Equally, as was said to me yesterday, some carers are still afraid to send their loved ones to daycare services or on short-term breaks because they are still feart about the pandemic. As we move out of the pandemic, we will have a job of work in regaining folks’ trust and helping them to get back into their previous routine. That will take a while.

I cannot say that we are doing everything to meet those needs at this moment in time. However, as we move forward, we need to ensure that we do that, which is why that part of the national care service consultation is very important.

That is a question and a half. Introducing golden hellos, or golden handcuffs, is a very difficult thing to do, and it could end up creating more problems than it resolves. I will be honest with Ms Mackay and the committee. I am pretty pragmatic about many things, and I do not automatically shut doors on suggestions. We could look at that but, in some regards, I do not think that it is necessarily a solution.

I am sure that that will be the case, convener.

I am in your hands, as always, convener.

Third sector representation is better in some places than it is in others. On how we as a Government interact with the third sector, I speak to the third sector all the time, and it is represented on many of our strategic groups and bodies. With regard to health and social care partnerships in particular, it is fair to say that there is pretty good dialogue with, and representation of, the third sector in some of them—although that is without votes at the table—and not so much in others.

Yes. You have hit on a really good point. Some folks have seen some very traumatic scenes happen before their eyes. I have heard some pretty bleak stories as I have been doing the rounds and talking to folk. We must ensure that we do our level best for such people.

A number of folk have seen difficult situations, including deaths, in the past but, for many, the pandemic has been so much more than that. We must take cognisance of that and provide the wraparound support that is required.