Chamber and committees

We will move on to talk about the national social work agency, and questions will be led by Evelyn Tweed.

Evelyn, do you have any more questions, or shall I move on to your colleagues?

Were any of you involved in the national care service forum in Perth the other month? Did you and your members have a presence at the first of those forums?

Welcome to the 32nd meeting in 2022 of the Health, Social Care and Sport Committee. I have received apologies from David Torrance, and James Dornan is joining us online as his substitute.

Agenda item 1 is a decision on whether to take item 3 in private today. Do members agree to take item 3 in private?

Members indicated agreement.

I will stop you there, Alison, because there are specific questions coming your way on all the aspects that you mentioned. I really wanted a broad overview of the bill. I am sorry to stop you mid-flow, but we have a number of questions. Paul O’Kane is first.

You might be aware of the views of witnesses in previous evidence sessions that there is not enough detail in the bill. When doing the review, your approach was to work with people who are accessing the current services as well as with people who work in the current services. The Scottish Government proposes to follow a similar process by having a framework in place and then going to the various and many stakeholders and involving them in a co-design process that will inform secondary legislation. Is that the right approach?

Alison Keir wants to come in.

A number of members have questions. I ask them to be succinct and focused, because we have only half an hour left with our colleagues.

I will pick up on your point about workforce challenges. The recruitment of GPs is an issue, as is the recruitment of ancillary staff who are currently provided as part of the GP contract. There is no one solution, but does the national care service offer the potential for a drive to recruit more people to the sector, given that parity of esteem for the care service and the health service is something that has come out in many of the consultation responses? I am happy to hear from anyone on that.

Thank you. Stephanie Callaghan will now lead questions on the human rights-based approach.