Chamber and committees

Good morning, everybody.

I want to pick up on Kim Atkinson’s point about availability of facilities. Gillian Martin, our previous convener, used to say that in Iceland they would basically hand the keys of the school over to the kids, because they trusted them just to get on with things and access the facilities. We do not do that sort of thing, but is that something that we should progress? Do you have data on use of the school estate after, say, 4 o’clock in the afternoon? Should we be looking at what other countries do and pursuing the models that they have in place? David Ferguson mentioned what is being done in Denmark, I think, and I have been looking at what the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media has been doing in America to encourage young women into sport and athletics. We could look at best practice in other countries; should we pursue that?

Can I—

When Professor Lindsay Thomson came to the committee, I asked her about the challenge of overweight and increased body mass index in patients and how to support them to have a healthier weight. Professor Thomson’s said that the on-site hospital shop had made a decision to have 80 per cent healthy foods and 40 per cent unhealthy foods, whereas other places were doing 50:50. That was a goal. At the moment, I am reading about ultra-high processed foods in a book by Chris van Tulleken, in which he talks about the correlation between UHP foods and obesity. How do you support people when activity might not be easy to achieve and groceries are brought in by family members? That issue was highlighted the last time a state hospital representative was here.

I will ask one final wee quick question. If someone is transferred to the state hospital and is then relocated to another less secure facility, do you measure that as part of performance measurement? Is that part of tracking patients’ movements?

Okay. I will ask another wee question. We have asked other boards how they will achieve net zero. I am interested to hear what the state hospital is doing to take forward net zero activities.

Yes. I assume that, once someone is admitted to the state hospital, there is the potential for them to be transferred to a less secure facility, as part of their progress. Is that monitored?

We know that, when we live and work in the same communities, we learn from each other. What specific things could be implemented to tackle racism in sport, whether that is related to religion or to the fact that some people do not understand certain cultures?

I am not sure whether Gordon Jamieson wants to come in. I am interested in what I read in the recovery plan about the mobile operating theatre that was introduced in Orkney and Shetland. I think that the Scottish Government invested £2.3 million to enable 350 elective surgeries to go ahead. Has that been beneficial in addressing elective surgeries?

Okay. Thanks.

Shetland, Orkney and the Western Isles are remote and rural. I am thinking about Stranraer in the south-west of Scotland, which is pretty rural and remote from the rest of NHS Dumfries and Galloway—its headquarters and everything. Is one of the strengths of remote and rural areas that it is not just about everybody owning areas as if they are their wee fiefdom; rather, it is about partnership working?