Seòmar agus comataidhean

I want to press you on the substance of the petition, which makes a targeted call for an agency. We need to decide whether to take evidence on the idea of having an agency. Are you talking about taking evidence on the wider aspects that surround the call for an agency?

Our final theme is resourcing. The questions will be led by Sandesh Gulhane, and Paul Sweeney also has some questions.

You are calling for us to do something specifically on women’s health and not just something as part of work on rural healthcare. I am not sure that the committee has the scope or the capacity to do two separate pieces of work on rural healthcare. I think that it will have to be one larger piece of work that encompasses women’s health.

Good morning and welcome to the Health, Social Care and Sport Committee.

I have received apologies from Stephanie Callaghan.

Agenda item 1 is for the committee to decide whether to take item 5 and the next meetings of the committee on 28 February and 7 March in private. Do members agree?

Members indicated agreement.

Thanks, Emma. We move on to some questions from Evelyn Tweed.

The final questions come from Paul Sweeney.

To whom do you want to direct that question, Emma?

Item 2 is an evidence session on the Patient Safety Commissioner for Scotland Bill. Before we begin, I will provide a brief introduction.

Last week, we heard from Baroness Cumberlege about the independent medicines and medical devices safety review and its key recommendation that a patient safety commissioner be created. A patient safety commissioner has already been established in England and will focus on medicines and medical devices. However, the bill that is before us proposes the creation of a patient safety commissioner for Scotland who will have a broader remit that covers patient safety across all healthcare settings.

The evidence that we hear today will be about issues that were highlighted as part of the Cumberlege review and in relation to wider patient safety issues in Scotland. As such, some of this meeting’s content might be sensitive or distressing, and the committee encourages anyone who is affected by any of the issues that we discuss today to seek support. Breathing Space is a free and confidential service for people in Scotland, and it is able to provide a range of support as detailed on its website, which is breathingspace.scot, or you can call 0800 838587.

If anyone who is attending today’s meeting needs to take a break during the meeting, please indicate that to me or to my clerks and we will allow you to take that break.

I welcome Charlie Bethune from Valproate Scotland. Sodium valproate has been a treatment for epilepsy since it was licensed in the 1970s, but it is known to carry a risk of birth defects if taken by women of childbearing age.

We also have Marie Lyon from the Association for Children Damaged by Hormone Pregnancy Tests. Primodos was a hormonal pregnancy test drug that was administered to women between the 1950s and late 1970s, and it is associated with miscarriages and some birth defects.

Fraser Morton was among a number of families who called for a public inquiry into infant deaths at Crosshouse hospital maternity unit.

Joining us online is Irene Oldfather from the Health and Social Care Alliance Scotland. She will be speaking from the perspective of her organisation’s work with women who have been affected by complications following transvaginal mesh surgery.

Bill Wright from Haemophilia Scotland will be speaking from the perspective of those who were affected by the contaminated blood scandal, when a large number of people, most of whom had haemophilia, were infected by hepatitis C and HIV in the 1970s and 1980s.

I thank you all for coming along. I know that some of you might be sharing personal experiences with the committee, in relation to the bill. That is greatly appreciated by us and will be instrumental in informing our scrutiny, but there is no pressure to, or expectation that you will, share personal experiences.

We will move on to questions. I would like to ask all of you for your views on the proposed establishment of a patient safety commissioner, and whether you think that a patient safety commissioner would or could have made a difference for those whom you represent or for you personally, if you have been affected. I will go to Charlie Bethune first.

Item 2 is an evidence session on the Patient Safety Commissioner for Scotland Bill. Before we begin, I will provide a brief introduction.

Last week, we heard from Baroness Cumberlege about the independent medicines and medical devices safety review and its key recommendation that a patient safety commissioner be created. A patient safety commissioner has already been established in England and will focus on medicines and medical devices. However, the bill that is before us proposes the creation of a patient safety commissioner for Scotland who will have a broader remit that covers patient safety across all healthcare settings.

The evidence that we hear today will be about issues that were highlighted as part of the Cumberlege review and in relation to wider patient safety issues in Scotland. As such, some of this meeting’s content might be sensitive or distressing, and the committee encourages anyone who is affected by any of the issues that we discuss today to seek support. Breathing Space is a free and confidential service for people in Scotland, and it is able to provide a range of support as detailed on its website, which is breathingspace.scot, or you can call 0800 838587.

If anyone who is attending today’s meeting needs to take a break during the meeting, please indicate that to me or to my clerks and we will allow you to take that break.

I welcome Charlie Bethune from Valproate Scotland. Sodium valproate has been a treatment for epilepsy since it was licensed in the 1970s, but it is known to carry a risk of birth defects if taken by women of childbearing age.

We also have Marie Lyon from the Association for Children Damaged by Hormone Pregnancy Tests. Primodos was a hormonal pregnancy test drug that was administered to women between the 1950s and late 1970s, and it is associated with miscarriages and some birth defects.

Fraser Morton was among a number of families who called for a public inquiry into infant deaths at Crosshouse hospital maternity unit.

Joining us online is Irene Oldfather from the Health and Social Care Alliance Scotland. She will be speaking from the perspective of her organisation’s work with women who have been affected by complications following transvaginal mesh surgery.

Bill Wright from Haemophilia Scotland will be speaking from the perspective of those who were affected by the contaminated blood scandal, when a large number of people, most of whom had haemophilia, were infected by hepatitis C and HIV in the 1970s and 1980s.

I thank you all for coming along. I know that some of you might be sharing personal experiences with the committee, in relation to the bill. That is greatly appreciated by us and will be instrumental in informing our scrutiny, but there is no pressure to, or expectation that you will, share personal experiences.

We will move on to questions. I would like to ask all of you for your views on the proposed establishment of a patient safety commissioner, and whether you think that a patient safety commissioner would or could have made a difference for those whom you represent or for you personally, if you have been affected. I will go to Charlie Bethune first.

Paul O’Kane has a question on the same theme.