Chamber and committees

I want to make two points. I have had mesh inside me for a long time following a hernia repair, and I am one of the 90 per cent of people for whom its use has been very successful. Indeed, it has changed my life. Therefore, I would definitely rule out a ban on the use of all mesh implants.

You have mentioned this already, convener, but when we write to the Scottish Association of Medical Directors, could we ask them about the very strict criteria that need to be met at Shouldice hospital before surgery can go ahead? If we implemented such strict criteria, would the public accept that? The fact is that many patients would be rejected for surgery on those grounds.

The committee has heard evidence that there are real pressures on the service in England because of a lack of pathologists to carry out post mortems. Can the Lord Advocate or Mr Shanks confirm that the pathology workforce is under the same pressure to carry out post mortems in Scotland?

As a client, you are procuring a service, so can you not determine how that service looks and change the ways of working to the approach that we have heard about in certain areas in England? You are procuring a service, so surely how that service looks is up to you. You can determine how it works.

Good morning. My questions are about the recovery plan and the progress that NHS boards have made. How accurate is Audit Scotland’s assessment that the October 2022 progress update does not fully reflect the scale of the challenges that boards have faced and the extent to which that has hampered progress towards recovery by many boards? I put that to Carol Potter first.

Are there any particular areas that you can highlight where good progress has been made? What are the reasons for that?

What impact did the Covid-19 pandemic have on patients at the state hospital and their treatment?

What progress have you made on the 11 recommendations in the report “Forensic Mental Health Services’ Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic”?

Good morning to the panel. I have spent the morning looking at your social media sites—your Twitter and Facebook accounts—and the number of followers that you have. Social media is probably a passion of mine because, no matter what we do, it is the easiest way to communicate with anybody now and to encourage young women into sport and leadership roles, especially with TikTok.

In her very first statement to the committee, Ailsa Wyllie touched on the topic of influencers. What are you as governing bodies doing to use influencers and sites such as TikTok to connect with young women out there and encourage them into sport?

Maureen McGonigle wants to come in.

Thank you.