Chamber and committees

Did use of ALISS increase during the first lockdown phase of the pandemic? The alliance has shown that use of ALISS increased in 2021, and I was just wondering whether Covid had an impact in that respect.

Moreover, are we tracking who is using it? Is it being used by link workers or others? At last week’s meeting, we were told by Optometry Scotland and Community Pharmacy Scotland that they had not heard of ALISS, but their members also spend a lot of time with patients. After all, an eye examination can take up to half an hour. Who is using the system?

Yes. It is just a quick question.

In one of my local areas, one of the manager leads of all the GP practices knows about ALISS, so his GP practices know about it; however, they said that it might not be as up to date as it should be. I am aware of some general practitioners who know about ALISS, although Dr Gulhane’s point about not knowing any GPs who access it is probably quite important.

It is about raising awareness, and linking to make it work better. For instance, the DG locator, which is run by the third sector in Dumfries and Galloway, is working on collaborating with the GP practices to direct them more towards ALISS and other services. That would involve asking what we need in order to make ALISS work better, apart from just money.

My question is just a wee supplementary.

When we talked about library services, Chris Mackie said that we must

“use them or lose them.”

Perth and Kinross Council introduced dog-friendly Fridays in its libraries in 2018, and City of Edinburgh Council introduced dog-friendly Thursdays in October 2019. Those initiatives tackle isolation and loneliness and ensure that folk do not have to tie their dogs up outside the library or leave them in the car. Are you aware of those initiatives? Are we tracking them to see whether dog-friendly days in libraries are a good thing?

Good morning. I would like to pick up on what Julie Mosgrove said about remote and rural areas. There are places in our small towns and large villages where people can access optometry services, but there are additional challenges in remote and rural areas. Could you outline some of those challenges in relation to people’s ability to access alternative pathways?

I am interested in social prescribing, which is also known as community prescribing. In the previous session of Parliament, both David Torrance and I were members of the Health and Sport Committee, which did an inquiry into social prescribing and talked about it as an investment rather than a cost. I am interested to hear whether you think that there is scope for wider use of social prescribing?

I have a quick supplementary question about digital exclusion and pop-up health checks. I am aware that the local NFU Scotland branch in Dumfries and Galloway went to an auction mart and did blood pressure, vital signs and blood glucose checks. Should we consider pursuing pop-up health checks at auction marts or in empty shops in town centres?

Yes—my question is directly for Clare Morrison. There is a system called ALISS—a local information system for Scotland—which is used to signpost people to local services. Do pharmacists use it?

I have a wee supplementary question on general practice. The Scottish Government has established the Scottish graduate entry medicine programme, which is a four-year training programme to support general practices in rural areas. Are you aware of, or do you have experience of, ScotGEM?

We know that social prescribing—singing in a choir for pulmonary rehabilitation, walking football and so on—works and makes people feel good. However, are we measuring the benefits accurately enough? Is there a risk that social prescribing will be seen as a replacement for what is perceived as more appropriate care?

The receptionist is primarily the person who takes the phone calls and triages cases. I have heard that some GPs in my area answer the phones and triage calls, identifying themselves as Dr X or whoever, and that their experience has been different and not as traumatic. Could we measure that approach? I am not suggesting that we require GPs to triage, but is it worth considering different experiences? Is there a perception that a receptionist who answers the phone does not have a clue about how to triage, when in fact they are pretty much specialists at that? Should we look at how attitudes differ, depending who answers the phone?