Chamber and committees

Good morning to youse.

I think that the question of stigma has already been answered. That issue came up when Stephanie Callaghan and I got some feedback from young women at the Mary Erskine school about their experiences of participating in sport.

Dr Stark, I am interested in what you said earlier about the need to start young. In 2012, we introduced the daily mile in Scotland. Has that initiative been sustained, and is it growing? Are schools still delivering a daily mile? It is so simple—the kids do not even need gym kit or trainers; they basically just get out of the classroom on days when there is nice Scottish weather, and both genders participate in a daily mile.

I have a supplementary question on the back of what Paul Sweeney asked about the availability of CT scans, additional capacity and prevention in the community. On Friday, when we met at our usual elected members briefing, Ralph, you talked about how beds were used as a currency when we should be looking at the services that are delivered, such as pulmonary rehabilitation or mental health care in the community, which prevent acute admissions.

A lot of work is being done on how we deliver things differently. I heard about a diabetes outreach bus that is being developed in Glasgow by Dr Brian Kennon, which goes to Ibrox stadium, for instance, and helps to do some of the health inequality outreach for people with type 2 diabetes.

Should we focus on that? Rather than just looking at beds as a measurement of how successful things are, should we look at service delivery? Will you comment on that?

I want to have it clarified that these technical amendments will help to allow staff to understand that they can raise issues with risk associated with staffing or staffing concerns. They will allow staff who work in NHS Scotland—I am a former employee; I need to remind folk that I am a former nurse for NHS Dumfries and Galloway—to understand that they can raise issues with risk.

It might be a question for just Kirsty Garrett or Patrick Murphy. It is about wheelchair rugby. Rugby is becoming something that everybody plays; it is becoming important for women to take up, for example. Wheelchair rugby is quite a leveller because disabled folk can play with non-disabled folk and you can have mixed-gender teams as well. Is that something that is growing or can be pursued in order to level the playing field and encourage folk?

I remember that there was an advert on the telly showing people playing wheelchair rugby and, at the end of the game, an able-bodied person who was joining in stood up. Able-bodied people joining in and playing the game with siblings is something that can happen—maybe the need to highlight that is a question for the media folks when they come in front of us as well.

I suspect that my other questions will come up later, so I will pause there.

My questions are about investments and saving money on energy. NHS Dumfries and Galloway has a £200 million hospital but has not put a single solar panel on the roof. Has NHS Borders assessed the opportunities that would come from investing in solar panels?

My question is for Cecilia Oram. I had a quick look at the Sustrans toolkits for creating better spaces. Safety is mentioned where it relates to reducing the speed of cars, but the toolkits do not seem to mention safety in the context of protection of and support for women. That does not seem to be mentioned in the information and the toolkits that you provide, or am I just missing it?

Sure—I will be quick. I have two questions, but we could park for later the question about the use of the long Covid pathway, rather than the long Covid clinics that have been established in the NHS Borders area. I am interested in knowing about the best way to look after long Covid patients.

The other issue goes back to what Ralph Roberts said on Friday, which was that making progress on recovery has required working with registered social landlords to look at housing and wider aspects of supporting people in order to practise reablement. We do not use that word a lot, but it simply means supporting people to get the best care and to get them home. Is that part of what you are doing to make progress on recovery?

I know. It used to be called murder ball and now it is wheelchair rugby.