Chamber and committees

I have another quick question about the scope of practice of anaesthesia associates. In my experience as an operating room nurse, anaesthesia associates would anaesthetise patients who were young, fit and healthy and who did not have additional comorbidities or, say, type 1 diabetes that was out of control. The scope of what the AAs were allowed to do was very structured and quite limited—they could conduct monitored anaesthesia care and would support consultant anaesthetists with sicker patients.

The workforce has been non-regulated for 20 or 30 years now. The regulation that we take forward is about safety and ensuring that everybody understands the parameters of the scope of practice. On its website, the Royal College of Physicians says that there are

“over 40 specialties across primary, secondary and community care”.

It also says that the role of the physician associate is

“varied, dynamic and versatile”,

and that they are

“medically trained generalist healthcare professionals”.

Can you reiterate that this is about optimising the safety of patients wherever they are being looked after, whether in primary or secondary care or in the community?

The committee is doing an inquiry on remote and rural healthcare right now, and I am sure that NRAC will help to inform us in our inquiry.

And we will monitor the numbers and the data to see those percentages for sectarianism and racism reduce.

Okay—thank you.

I am interested in picking up issues to do with continuing professional development such as additional training. It is challenging if, as Laura Wilson said, you have to travel for two days to get to your place of education. Is there a role for delivering more multiprofessional CPD in rural areas directly, such as through the clinical skills managed education network’s mobile skills unit? Is that something that we could look at doing better?

Is there enough time for education? I put this question to Dr Kennedy as well. Some GP practices close for half a day for continuing professional development, for all the staff in the area. Is there enough time in the day to do the education that is needed for continuing professional development?

The report that I mentioned talks about

“sex and sexism, disability and discrimination, race and racism, and rurality and exclusion.”

Before I come to the topic of sectarianism, does further work need to be done on inclusivity more widely?

My final question is about sectarianism.

Bigotry, sectarianism and racism remain key issues in Scottish football, and are often fuelled by footballing rivalries. The “Scottish Football Supporters Survey” notes that 89 per cent of supporters “witnessed” and 41 per cent were “subjected to” sectarianism. In addition, 56 per cent of supporters “witnessed” and 4 per cent were “subjected to” racism. The percentages for racism seem to be lower than the figures for sectarianism. What is being done to look at the issue of sectarianism in Scottish football?

I probably need to declare an interest, as a former clinical educator for nurses in remote and rural areas. Are there more digital opportunities for pharmacists in particular? Online learning could be the way to deliver education.

Nothing beats hands-on clinical skills training, whether it is a simulation with mannequins or something else.

Education budgets are often the first to be cut, and clinical educators are then disposed of. Is there a way to take a standardised approach to certain clinical skills or methods of training so that the same course can be delivered for different professionals? I know that pharmacists, dieticians, physiotherapists and GPs have completely different roles, but is there an opportunity for some education to be standardised for multiple professionals?

Thank you.