Chamber and committees

Yes. It is referred to in our papers. Where could we use that approach quickly for people?

We have heard evidence on the Scottish Government’s place-based community-led approach. Will you give examples of where that will make a difference?

I know that we are short of time, convener, but I hope that we can make a commitment to come back to the issue.

I thank all the witnesses for their input so far. As the convener said, I want to talk about the workforce. One of the biggest things that struck me was evidence from the Royal College of Nursing that suggested that we can make the biggest difference to improved mental health provision if we address staff vacancies and the workforce, as there are significant problems with the workforce in the area of mental health. I know that the Government is trying to address the issue, but it is important that we understand what workforce planning it is doing for specialist perinatal mental health services. Has the Government done any workforce planning? One of the things that we hear from nursing organisations is that the retention of good and well-trained staff is key. Do you have any feedback on that?

Yes, thank you.

I thank the minister for lodging amendment 1.

In moving amendment 5 and speaking to all the amendments in the group, I want to be clear that I am happy with the spirit of the bill and the collaborative nature of the approach that the Parliament has taken in moving forward through each stage to ensure that the women involved are reimbursed at the earliest possible time.

My amendment 5 would ensure the broadest scope for the qualifying residence element of the bill. As the minister stated, the committee has always agreed that that is the correct approach. Amendment 5 would ensure that any women who had mesh implant removal undertaken by the NHS but who were not ordinarily resident in Scotland would be included in the eligibility criterion, so that they could seek expenses and so on.

Towards the end of our discussions at stage 1, the committee touched on the rights of all women who have been adversely affected by transvaginal mesh surgery and who had any surgery in Scotland. Therefore, I lodged amendment 5 in the interests of clarifying the bill and ensuring that parts of it are not unclear for those who are affected.

I appreciate the discussion that we have had on the amendments and accept that there will be time before stage 3 to discuss the issues further and get things right for people. As a result, I seek to withdraw amendment 6.

Do you want me to go on, convener?

Thank you for that, minister; that is what we are looking for—training across the board. Can you give us a wee bit more clarity on the 51 practitioners? Are they new?

In moving amendment 6, I clarify again that my amendments 6 to 9 aim to be helpful in ensuring that the spirit of the bill and the committee’s discussion are captured in the bill as passed.

Amendments 6 and 7 seek to add wording that will give clarity to section 1. The committee sought to ensure eligibility for someone who incurred costs in supporting a person to have treatment, and my amendments 6 and 7 would allow that to happen.

Amendment 8 would extend the bill to cover those who might have begun the process and, therefore, incurred costs but for whom, unfortunately, the process has been halted due to travel or surgery restrictions “relating to coronavirus”.

Amendment 9 is a simple amendment that lays out the meaning of coronavirus.

I seek the committee’s support for this group of straightforward amendments.

I move amendment 6.

As the convener said, last night we heard from several people with lived experience and it was striking that, although we are all affected by the effects of Covid-19, for the mothers and fathers in this category there are some major things that we need to address right now and going forward. Does the panel have any advice on the return to services that seem very different across Scotland? What things might need to be put in place to support this group of people in the next year or so?