Chamber and committees

Thank you. That is very helpful.

Thank you very much for speaking to us this morning. You have all talked about tapping into and referring to other services, but has any specific funding been earmarked for post-Covid and long Covid services? If so, is it recurring funding? How available is it?

Claire Jones, do you have anything to add?

All the NHS boards in Scotland report recruitment issues with specialist posts such as rehabilitation co-ordinators, occupational therapists and physiotherapists. You have kind of answered that, but the question then is how sustainable it is to say that we will offer those services, and what needs to happen, given that there is recognition that the number of people being reported as having long Covid is quite high. That must put masses of pressure on the system. What do we need to do?

I have been surprised by the number of people who have written to me to say that they have been suffering from ME for years, that it has been really difficult and that they have not been getting support. A lot of conditions seem to be similar.

Dr Strain, do you have any points to make on how we tackle sustainability?

Who can make that happen? Who should be leading on that? Should it be the chief executive of the board who says that that needs to be put in place?

I have a brief question to ask before I bring in Claire Taylor. Who at NHS level needs to take responsibility for ensuring that there is a far more joined-up approach? GPs are run off their feet. I get a huge amount of correspondence every week from people who are complaining about issues. Given that GPs are totally run off their feet, who should take responsibility for ensuring that services are working together and joined up, and that there are clear pathways? Is that a task for the NHS board or for someone within the board? Who should do that?

I want to come back to an issue that was picked up in the earlier evidence session. There was a suggestion that there are third sector organisations, such as Chest, Heart & Stroke Scotland, that are geared up to be doing a lot more but that there is almost a push back on that from health boards. Is there a good working relationship, and do health boards see the third sector as having a role? If so, what would the issue be with Chest, Heart & Stroke Scotland doing more?

Sorry, Jane-Claire.