Chamber and committees

Item 2 is an evidence session on the Patient Safety Commissioner for Scotland Bill. Before we begin, I will provide a brief introduction.

Last week, we heard from Baroness Cumberlege about the independent medicines and medical devices safety review and its key recommendation that a patient safety commissioner be created. A patient safety commissioner has already been established in England and will focus on medicines and medical devices. However, the bill that is before us proposes the creation of a patient safety commissioner for Scotland who will have a broader remit that covers patient safety across all healthcare settings.

The evidence that we hear today will be about issues that were highlighted as part of the Cumberlege review and in relation to wider patient safety issues in Scotland. As such, some of this meeting’s content might be sensitive or distressing, and the committee encourages anyone who is affected by any of the issues that we discuss today to seek support. Breathing Space is a free and confidential service for people in Scotland, and it is able to provide a range of support as detailed on its website, which is breathingspace.scot, or you can call 0800 838587.

If anyone who is attending today’s meeting needs to take a break during the meeting, please indicate that to me or to my clerks and we will allow you to take that break.

I welcome Charlie Bethune from Valproate Scotland. Sodium valproate has been a treatment for epilepsy since it was licensed in the 1970s, but it is known to carry a risk of birth defects if taken by women of childbearing age.

We also have Marie Lyon from the Association for Children Damaged by Hormone Pregnancy Tests. Primodos was a hormonal pregnancy test drug that was administered to women between the 1950s and late 1970s, and it is associated with miscarriages and some birth defects.

Fraser Morton was among a number of families who called for a public inquiry into infant deaths at Crosshouse hospital maternity unit.

Joining us online is Irene Oldfather from the Health and Social Care Alliance Scotland. She will be speaking from the perspective of her organisation’s work with women who have been affected by complications following transvaginal mesh surgery.

Bill Wright from Haemophilia Scotland will be speaking from the perspective of those who were affected by the contaminated blood scandal, when a large number of people, most of whom had haemophilia, were infected by hepatitis C and HIV in the 1970s and 1980s.

I thank you all for coming along. I know that some of you might be sharing personal experiences with the committee, in relation to the bill. That is greatly appreciated by us and will be instrumental in informing our scrutiny, but there is no pressure to, or expectation that you will, share personal experiences.

We will move on to questions. I would like to ask all of you for your views on the proposed establishment of a patient safety commissioner, and whether you think that a patient safety commissioner would or could have made a difference for those whom you represent or for you personally, if you have been affected. I will go to Charlie Bethune first.

Paul O’Kane has a question on the same theme.

Can I move to questions from your colleagues, Evelyn?

Sorry—Dr Chopra wants to come in.

Should patients be able to give feedback anonymously? Is that important?

We have run out of time, sadly. I thank all our witnesses for what they have told us and the opinions that they have given on the Patient Safety Commissioner for Scotland Bill. We will continue our scrutiny of it in our next meeting. That concludes the public part of our meeting.

I apologise to members who want to ask more questions, as we have run out of time. We go to Tess White for a final question.

Tess White has some questions on more recommendations.

Thank you, Irene. I appreciate that. Charlie Bethune wants to come in.

We have talked about individual complaints throughout this evidence session but Gillian Mackay has some additional questions.

I thank all four witnesses who were in the room with us, as well as Irene Oldfather, who joined us online, for your time this morning. It has been very important to hear your stories and thoughts on the patient safety commissioner.