Chamber and committees

Over the past few weeks since the recovery plan was published, we have heard that there will be a need to address backlogs in the diagnosis of cancer—including breast and bowel cancer diagnostic processes and cervical smear tests—ophthalmic surgery and cataract treatments and hip and knee replacements. How will we address that demand? During the pandemic, elective work basically stopped. Even now, the intensive care units are filled with Covid patients rather than, for example, elective bowel surgery patients. Where do you think that the backlog of surgery requirements and diagnostic testing needs to be tackled?

Dr Sue Robertson.

What value do we need to place on social prescribing, in order to stop folk people getting poor health in the first place, as well as support work such as pulmonary rehab and mitigation of type 2 diabetes complications? That question goes to Dr Robertson again.

I have a quick question for Calum Duncan about marine litter. You made a presentation to the cross-party group on recreational boating and marine tourism, of which I am a member, towards the end of the previous parliamentary session, when you spoke about work that was being done to deal with marine litter. Is work being done to connect and collaborate with inshore fishermen on how to deal with marine litter? One fisherman in Kirkcudbright, for example, has been doing a good job of securing what needs to be secured on his boat so that things do not fly over the side. I am just seeking a wee update on that.

I realise that we are challenged for time, so your responses can perhaps be given down the line, either in written form or at future sessions.

My question, which is for Elaine Whyte, is about the local management and governance of inshore fisheries. There are a lot of smaller boats on the west coast. People need to be more connected with communities. As you mentioned, in the south-west—in the Irish Sea—there are Isle of Man waters, English waters, the Solway Firth and Irish Sea waters. All of that is in the mix, and it must be quite challenging to manage inshore fishery aspects of those waters. We now have a border in the Irish Sea. It would be interesting to hear about what should and could be done and about what items we should be thinking about in the future.

My question is not for right now, convener; I was just going to say that I can come in after Alasdair Allan.

Good morning. I have no interests to declare.

Thank you for breaking down the finances.

Much has been made of the cost of residential rehab. The Castle Craig clinic, which is mentioned in a BBC article, costs £2,500 a week for one person. There is a variety of residential approaches. The number of residential beds in Scotland has increased to 418, which is up from 365 previously. That is good news. There is a breadth of residential rehabilitation and a variety of costs. The Scottish Government is looking at a tailored person-centred approach that fits each person. You have talked about families and about Phoenix Futures.

Will you report back to us, in the chamber or in committee, on your assessment of all those pathways for funding and how they are working?

I have a quick question. The issue of drug-related deaths is complex and work is being done in many strands. In previous questions in the chamber, I was interested in the tackling of stigma. We know that the Scottish drugs task force, in collaboration with other partners, has a strategy for addressing stigmatisation among people, communities and families. Stigmatisation is an issue in rural areas as well.

How important is it to tackle stigma, so that the media uses correct images, or better ones, and so that healthcare professionals who do not work in direct services with alcohol and drug users—people such as myself, when I worked in the recovery room—have a better understanding around the use of stigmatising language?

All the matters that we have discussed this morning involve financial input, and I am aware that the Scottish Government has committed to increasing funding. There was £5 million at the end of the previous financial year, and an allocation of an additional £50 million of funding each year, which will total £250 million over this session of Parliament. That will support further investment in a range of community-based interventions, including primary prevention and the expansion of residential rehabilitation, which you have covered a wee bit. Will you provide a breakdown of how that funding is allocated? Will we have reporting from the alcohol and drug partnerships that spend the money, and will we get an idea of how that spending will be assessed and evaluated?