Chamber and committees

The next item on our agenda is further consideration of the National Care Service (Scotland) Bill. We will have two evidence sessions. The first panel will focus on certain services relating to social care, including mental health and drug and alcohol services, as well as public protection; the second panel will focus on older people and on Anne’s law.

I welcome Elinor Jayne, who is the director of Scottish Health Action on Alcohol Problems; Kira McDiarmid, who is senior policy and public affairs officer at Change Mental Health; and Susan Webster, who is head of policy and campaigns for MND Scotland. Thank you for coming.

I apologise—joining us online we have Mark Hazelwood, who is the chief executive of the Scottish Partnership for Palliative Care. Many apologies, Mark; I did not forget you—well, I kind of did. I am sorry; I just did not read below the line on my papers.

I have been asking most people who come to our sessions about their hopes for the national care service. What do you hope that it will address? Relating to that, there is an opportunity to review those aspects of integration that have not been working, but which you hope will work in a national care service, because that is essentially why it is being created.

I will go round everyone. Not every committee member will be able to do that—they will probably direct their questions—but I tend to do this to hear witnesses’ general thoughts. Perhaps we could start with Susan Webster.

Before I hand over to my colleagues, I want to pick up on something that has been put to us—not just around palliative care, but I will concentrate on that. We have heard from quite a lot of people in our informal sessions that, often, the only consideration is the person who is receiving palliative care—not the wider family. The systems that are out there do not take into account other family circumstances. An elderly person, who might have their own health needs, might be looking after somebody who is receiving palliative care, but they are considered completely separately rather than as a family. Has that been your experience, Mark?

I call Tess White, who has questions on palliative care and long-term conditions.

There is time for a final question from Sandesh Gulhane, and then we must break.

That is very helpful. We will go to Dr Manji.

Thank you. That is a very helpful start to our conversations this morning. I call Gillian Mackay.

Dr Manji—do you want to come in?

Do you want to move on to your next topic, Paul?

Cathie wants to come back in.

We will move on to questions specifically about Anne’s law. Evelyn Tweed will lead on that theme.