Chamber and committees

I have a question for Jeff Ace, but before I ask it I remind everybody that I am a former NHS Dumfries and Galloway employee and was part of the Covid vaccination team as a nurse during the pandemic.

What particular changes have been made for service delivery? We met last Friday, as part of our normal updates. Parts of Dumfries and Galloway are really remote and rural, so one of the things that you talked about was the development of home teams. Will that help to manage the service in a better way—not necessarily to make savings, but to improve efficiency?

Yes—I have a quick point. The deputy convener mentioned the Shouldice approach. A Shouldice repair has strict criteria such as losing weight, having no alcohol and being able to exercise. It might be difficult to apply that in Scotland, where people who present as needing an inguinal hernia repair that uses mesh, for instance, might have additional comorbidities. We cannae compare apples wi oranges.

I will go directly to the communication theme. I am looking at the NSS website and the NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde website. The NSS website is quite clear on the pathway and what the process would be, but the NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde website is a bit clunky for finding the information that people need—that is obviously not something that you can control, Dr Lamont.

I am interested in how women are communicated with, from the start of the process through to referral and as the process goes on. Is there open dialogue and does it happen by contact with the direct clinical nurse specialist, for instance? What is the process for communicating to keep people feeling that they are well informed?

The Scottish Government published a Covid recovery document—the “NHS recovery plan 2021-2026”—in August 2021. How is that plan working out for the different boards and would you change anything in it after implementing some of its recommendations?

It is just a quick question. What has been learned from the Sturrock review, which has been taken forward in other NHS boards?

How are women advised about waiting times, for instance, or what they should expect? Do you have feedback around the processes? Is the communication done electronically or by letter or telephone call? How do we ensure that each individual feels that their preferred way of communicating is what is used?

I am interested in going right back to the beginning, knowing what we now know about complications caused by mesh implanted for stress urinary incontinence. As a nurse who worked in the operating theatre, I participated in anterior and posterior pelvic floor repair operations. However, before we even go there, is there work being done to encourage continence nurses, physios, midwives, and so on, to talk about things such as pelvic floor exercises? That advice would be free. Are we measuring whether that work, which might mitigate the need for any surgical intervention in the first place, is happening?

One of my former colleagues teaches Pilates, and she also does pelvic floor exercises as part of that, to destigmatise the issue. She sees young women in schools and is breaking down the barriers of conversation. Do you support taking education out to schools before young women start having experiences that might lead to urinary incontinence?

Professor Archibald, you talked about prevention and keeping folk out of hospital. I am the convener of the cross-party group in the Scottish Parliament on lung health. We talk about keeping fit, healthy and out of hospital people who have chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. It is the same for asthma. Are you undertaking such work as well?

I will be very brief, convener.

Earlier, Louise Thornton said that we are on a journey to improve coverage of sport. I agree with Catherine Houlihan that it is not about women doing women’s sport and men doing men’s sport, but is about covering sport and supporting sport and physical activity for folk to be healthier, too.

The six nations women’s rugby tournament is on now. It does not say that Scottish rugby women or Scottish rugby men are playing; it is just Scottish rugby. Is that a way to convey support for women in sport? Should we take gender out and just talk about Scottish rugby, for example, no matter which six nations tournament is going on, to demonstrate our support for women in sport?