Seòmar agus comataidhean

I thank Alasdair Allan for bringing the debate to the chamber, and I acknowledge the good work that he does as convener of the cross-party group on epilepsy.

Having this kind of conversation in the Parliament sends a clear message that we care, we are on your side and we are committed to working with you to improve the rights of those who are living with epilepsy.

I, too, thank Epilepsy Scotland for its work, and I welcome representatives of the organisation, and some of its members, to the public gallery. It is so important that we have active and motivated organisations to work on behalf of groups that can often feel that they are being left behind.

The report that we are discussing sheds light on the fact that it is crucial to recognise that the disabilities that individuals face are not the sole aspect requiring attention—the mental health of those individuals needs equal consideration. Disabled individuals often encounter significant emotional and psychological challenges as a result of the stigma, isolation and limited accessibility to services. The impact of those factors on their mental wellbeing should never be overlooked.

It is so important that we recognise and address the mental health challenges that are faced by individuals who are living with epilepsy. Although epilepsy is primarily a neurological condition, it also takes a toll on a person’s emotional wellbeing. According to figures from the report, more than one in three people with epilepsy in my region of Lothian struggle with anxiety, and the same number report that they deal with depression. Those numbers are heartbreaking.

Despite the growing awareness of the importance of mental health, there remains a significant gap in the support and resources that are available for individuals with epilepsy. In order to truly address their mental health needs, we must prioritise specialised mental health services that are tailored to the unique challenges that are faced by this part of our population.

The report makes a number of excellent recommendations on how we can begin to close that gap in support. One such recommendation suggests implementing

“routine screening of mental health issues in epilepsy clinics”

and facilitating

“immediate referral to mental health support”.

That would be a simple, yet immensely positive, step for health boards across Scotland to take. Such an approach would ensure that mental health concerns were not left untreated or undetected, which would lead to improved overall wellbeing and better management of epilepsy. Swifter referral to mental health support services would offer timely interventions, which would allow individuals to receive the necessary assistance and support tailored to their specific needs.

That easy and proactive measure has the potential to significantly enhance the holistic care that is provided to individuals with epilepsy, ultimately fostering better mental health outcomes and a higher quality of life for individuals.

All the recommendations in the report promise to make life better for those with epilepsy. I hope that we can get a commitment from the minister tonight, in her closing speech, that the Government will commit to rolling them out—not in a decade’s time, but with urgency and in the current session of Parliament.

Presiding Officer, the Conservative members also want to pay our respects to Winnie Ewing and associate ourselves with the comments that you made about her. I had the privilege of meeting her on a few occasions. She was a formidable woman but also sought to encourage everyone who wanted to get involved in public life. Our thoughts and prayers are with her family at this time.

I say to the cabinet secretary that people are experiencing unacceptable delays not just on ADP. The average processing time for funeral support payment was 39 days in March this year. That means that many families are having to wait well over five weeks before they can even start to organise a funeral. Will the cabinet secretary tell members why those delays are happening? Will she commit to investigating ways in which that can be fixed and report back to the Parliament?

On a point of order, Presiding Officer. I could not connect. I would have voted yes.

On a point of order, Presiding Officer. The system would not load. I would have voted yes.

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to provide continuity in education for children leaving the MS Victoria in the coming weeks. (S6O-02384)

The families who are living on the MS Victoria have been through unimaginable turmoil and disruption. Can the cabinet secretary confirm that any child who is already enrolled in a City of Edinburgh Council school will be provided with accommodation within the city in order to enable a safe and secure transition to their next academic year and avoid yet more disruption?

I thank colleagues on all sides of the chamber for coming along to this members’ business debate and supporting the motion. In this Parliament, there is often a lot of focus on the areas in which we disagree. That may make for a better spectator sport and grab more headlines, but I am encouraged that, over the past months, a group of cross-party MSPs have managed to come together and find a solution to this issue. Our Parliament is at its best when we represent, and work together for the sake of, our constituents.

In 2021, an audit of NHS Lothian’s paediatric audiology service revealed that a great number of children had been missed in the diagnosing of serious hearing problems. That has led to many children under the age of 12 growing up without any support to deal with an auditory disability. I ask members to imagine how difficult that must be for parent and child alike.

Today’s debate is significant. We are talking about real families and real lives. The families that are represented by FLAAG—the families failed by Lothian audiology action group—have been through a real ordeal and have had to fight hard to be heard. I hope that this debate can be a catalyst for change and a prompt for answers.

It is good to see a number of the families in the public gallery, and I am sure that colleagues on all sides of the chamber will join me in welcoming them, because those families deserve answers, and there are so many questions that are still left unanswered.

Looking forward, we have to do better. We must ensure that the support that those families get is better, as it has so far been woefully lacking. Time and again, we hear from them about the massive gaps in the care that has been provided. That includes things such as British Sign Language teachers and speech and language therapists not being provided. That is care, not luxury—it is fundamental to the development of those children, whose care should already be given top priority.

The number of families in the Lothians who are affected by the issue is estimated at around 150, but the truth is that we do not know the true number, as the audit that was carried out by the British Academy of Audiology did not include children who were seen later than 2018. A number of additional cases in the Lothians could have been missed. It must be a priority to identify all those people in short order and ensure that they are provided with the top level of support that they require.

Absolutely—and I will develop that area slightly in a moment, if that is okay with the member.

It is clear that we are not addressing the issue correctly. With the gaps that have been mentioned and the unknown number of unidentified cases, it has become increasingly clear that carrying on as we have done will not cut it. We are in desperate need of progress, and progress will not come without oversight.

Having had a number of meetings as a cross-party group of MSPs, we feel that NHS Lothian is not capable of organising and providing the much-needed support without some kind of accountability. Therefore, along with a number of my colleagues and the FLAAG families, we are calling on the Scottish Government to do two things.

The first is for the minister to meet the cross-party group of MSPs to discuss what can be done at the Government level to address the situation. I hope that the minister, in her summing-up speech, will agree to that meeting as urgently as possible.

Secondly, we are calling for the minister to commission a third-party audit to review the whole process over the past number of years and monitor whether families are getting the support that they need. The third party would have all the necessary powers to investigate and present their findings to the Parliament and Government after nine months. Based on those findings, we can move forward and ensure that adequate care is being provided. In her rounding-up speech, I hope that the minister will confirm her willingness to work with us in that way. We have to get that right, because the children and families who are represented by FLAAG cannot afford to continue to be failed.

Finally, I come to the issue of trust. Trust takes a long time to build up and can be lost in an instant. There has been a breakdown between the FLAAG families and the institutions that were supposed to look after them. We need to make every effort to assure them that we care, that we are sorry and that we are motivated to right all the wrongs that have occurred in this matter. That will not be achieved passively—it will take focused efforts to make amends and allow the families to regain their trust.

Once again, this is not an abstract or non-important issue. It is serious and life altering, and those families have experienced something that no family in Scotland should have to experience. We owe it to them to make sure that it is fixed, and I hope that today will be another step in that process.

I accept John Mason’s point, but there is a public service duty. There is a particular issue for people who do not drive who need to get between different parts of our regions. That is an issue that we need to consider.

Obviously, there are a number of factors that make it difficult to create effective transport links for every possible journey within Midlothian, but if we want our smaller communities to be as accessible as possible, and if we want people to drive less, we must provide the necessary infrastructure.

I want to briefly touch on one other issue, which has been brought to my attention by disability access panels from across Scotland. In my capacity as convener of the cross-party group on disability, I have been meeting access panels to find out what issues affect disabled people around Scotland. There have been a number of common issues, but one issue that comes up more than any other is that of access to public transport points. From the state of our pavements and roads to the rise of floating bus stops, we are not considering the needs of people with limited mobility. Public transport is useful only if people can access it.

Apparently, there are plans in the city of Edinburgh to review the number of bus stops, with a view to reducing them. I strongly advise against doing that. The extra distance between stops might seem small to an able-bodied person but, for many disabled people, it represents the difference between having the ability to get on a bus and being forced not to use a bus. I could go on, but I will not.

Buses are an excellent tool for disabled people, but only if they are able to access them.

I congratulate Mark Ruskell on securing the debate.

It would be remiss of me, as a Lothian MSP and former councillor of the City of Edinburgh Council, if I did not mention during a transport debate the long-awaited opening of the Newhaven section of the Edinburgh tram network, which happened today. That is very welcome, good news for many parts of the city. Although I welcome the route’s completion, I restate my disappointment with the time that is being taken to publish the report of the inquiry into the tram project. The report was completed a few weeks ago, but we are still waiting to see what it says. The people of Edinburgh, and of Scotland, have been deeply inconvenienced for a number of years and we all deserve answers.

I am delighted to speak in this debate about local bus services. As someone who does not drive or cycle, I am a huge fan of buses and rely on the bus network to get me around Edinburgh and the Lothians. Without that, I would be dependent on the generosity of friends and family for lifts and would be completely incapable of helping my two daughters reach their various commitments around the city. I am free to roam the Lothians as and when I choose, enjoying the various excitements that our capital and the area beyond have to offer.

A well-run bus network is essential for disabled people. The ability to get around should be a priority rather than an afterthought. In places that are not well served by buses, the quality of life of disabled people is damaged. In my region of Lothian, we see both ends of the spectrum. Here, in the city of Edinburgh, we have a world-class service, yet just across the region in Midlothian, we have a much poorer service. To be fair, there are reasonably good transport links from Midlothian into Edinburgh, but getting from town to town in Midlothian is a completely different matter. The radial nature of a bus network that is centred on Edinburgh means that, often, there is no direct route between two locations that are close together geographically.