Chamber and committees

Good morning. I asked the previous panel about recovery from Covid, as we are still recovering from a global pandemic. I am interested to know, for instance, about the on-going financial costs of dealing with post-pandemic vaccinations and long-term care, which were unanticipated prior to the pandemic. Has the pandemic had an impact on on-going planning for finances? How has that impacted ye?

I am looking at you to answer first, Sharon, because your heid is up.

I am just thinking about the 79.4 per cent of NHS funding that goes towards integration in Dumfries and Galloway. That is a big pot of money and already represents a big chunk of what they are doing.

Is that complexity caused by there being more people with more than one long-term condition?

I have one final quick question. I know that the NHS Highland model is the only lead model that is used with regard to the integration of joint boards. I find it interesting that the NHS has taken on that lead role, and I see that it has been talking about reducing overlap, improving care and having better co-ordination, which I suppose brings us back to collaboration. Has any modelling or assessment been done on the finance and efficiency opportunity of a lead model versus an integration model?

Caroline Cameron mentioned mental health in her first response. There can be one-off or initial funding for many such programmes, or funding can be annual. In relation to sustainability, what would be a different approach to tackling mental health issues, for example?

Thanks.

Good morning to you all. My questioning is on the same theme—financial planning—but is about sustainability. Before I get to my first main question, I wonder what the legacy of Covid is. I think that we are still recovering. I have a simple question: are we still recovering from the global pandemic?

Is there anything that we should be doing on multiyear funding commitments? That issue comes up a lot in evidence. Can IJBs do anything to support sustainable planning as we move forward?

I have one final question. In your submission, Professor Bell, you talk about the NHS and how funding for boards varies widely. You say that that

“is difficult to explain in relation to markers such as deprivation or rurality.”

Dumfries and Galloway IJB is 79.4 per cent funded by the NHS, for example, whereas the figure for the north-east—Aberdeenshire—is 53.9 per cent. Can you explain why there is such variation in how the IJBs are funded?

Can I ask another wee quick question? I am thinking about areas that have wild salmon, such as the rivers that feed into the Solway Firth. Galloway Fisheries Trust manages a lot of the research around there. There are no wild salmon farms in the Solway or near the River Tweed, but research is being conducted to look at salmon in those rivers. Would such research help to inform what is happening to wild salmon in other areas? I know that there are issues with fish farms and wild salmon, but there is research to look at salmon outside of where the west coast fish farms are.