Duncan McNeil: 14. To ask the Scottish Government when the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Wellbeing last met the chief executive of NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde and what was discussed. (S4O-01782)
Duncan McNeil: The sudden death of a loved one can be a traumatic experience for any family, and in most cases it will result in a post mortem. In the west of Scotland, that procedure would likely be carried out at the Southern general hospital in Glasgow. The current wait for a post mortem there is 10 days, but in some local circumstances that can stretch to more than two weeks. Such a wait increases the...
Duncan McNeil: 10. To ask the Scottish Government when the Cabinet Secretary for Finance, Employment and Sustainable Growth last met the chief executive of Scottish Enterprise and what issues were discussed. (S4O-01718)
Duncan McNeil: I recognise that, on his visit to Inverclyde, the cabinet secretary recognised the significant potential for cruise liner business there and in the rest of Scotland. The Minister for Energy, Enterprise and Tourism has also said encouraging words about cruise liners.
Duncan McNeil: The potential at Inverclyde needs to be extended and maximised. Given the support of the cabinet secretary and the minister, have they taken the time to impress on Scottish Enterprise’s chief executive the importance of the project in Inverclyde? Will the cabinet secretary give us an update on that?
Duncan McNeil: 2. To ask the Scottish Government when the Cabinet Secretary for Justice last met the chief executive of the Scottish Court Service and what was discussed. (S4O-01670)
Duncan McNeil: I thank the cabinet secretary for his response. I have obtained figures from the Scottish Court Service that show that, in the past three financial years, 90,000 fines that were issued by the justice system had to be chased up with an arrest warrant because offenders failed to pay up. In addition, more than 200,000 citations have been issued ordering offenders to appear before the courts for...
Duncan McNeil: If Scotland has lots of water, Greenock and Inverclyde is blessed with an abundance of water, which the bill recognises as a real resource. In Greenock history, water was long ago recognised as a resource. Loch Thom is an internationally renowned engineering marvel designed by the Scottish civil engineer Robert Thom who used water assets to address public health issues through the provision...
Duncan McNeil: 4. To ask the Scottish Government when the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Wellbeing last met Healthcare Improvement Scotland and what was discussed. (S4O-01611)
Duncan McNeil: I draw the minister’s attention to Healthcare Improvement Scotland’s recently published thematic report as part of its inspections of care for older people in acute hospitals. Although there are no doubt positive things in the report, I am sure that he will be as concerned and disappointed as I am that six out of eight hospitals inspected failed to screen patients for dementia; seven out...
Duncan McNeil: It is our national health service—it does not belong to any political party—and that is what the debate, although limited in time, is about. We recognise that, as the cabinet secretary stated, the NHS budget has been protected and health is certainly better off than some of the other portfolios, which have suffered greater cuts. However, as Jackson Carlaw pointed out, that is not the...
Duncan McNeil: I ask myself why I am speaking in a debate about business tourism. I asked some people earlier, “I am from Inverclyde—why am I in the debate at all?” but I put my mind to it. I am here to recognise the potential of tourism in the widest sense for a community that was based on traditional industries. As we know—actually, we cannot believe it—Greenock has turned into a gateway to...
Duncan McNeil: The member will agree that the Commonwealth games are a great opportunity for places such as Inverclyde, not just in sporting links but in cultural links. Many of the grandparents or ancestors of participants in the games from Australia, New Zealand and Canada left these shores from Greenock, and more could be done to ensure that they walk the streets that their forefathers walked.
Duncan McNeil: Does the cabinet secretary accept that, although we all support that policy, the issue is how we pay for it? Does he believe that a regressive pay freeze should not be subsidising free personal care?
Duncan McNeil: I have been around in the Parliament for as long as many others, although there are not as many of us as there used to be. We were around for some of those debates, and obviously we believed in what we were doing at that time, particularly around supporting people in elderly care. There is no doubt about that. However, in looking back over that time, I do not remember there being a great...
Duncan McNeil: It is 20 per cent according to Bruce Crawford’s own figures. Did we expect that 20 per cent of the people who were entitled to a card would use it to travel to work? Is that what we intended? The unintended consequence has been that the lowest-paid workers in Scotland have faced increasing costs to travel to work because the scheme is not being funded as it should be.
Duncan McNeil: Yes, but as I mentioned, the scheme is not being funded as it should be. SNP candidates in Inverclyde who have some knowledge of the bus system have protested loudly that that is not being done. Who would have thought, when we put in place support for elderly care, that that would be at the cost of quality? When care workers go into pensioners’ homes, they do not even take their coats off...
Duncan McNeil: Everyone in the chamber recognises the need to support elderly people in the community. We all agree with that; there is no difference of opinion on it. However, there is a difference on whether the commitment is there to ensure that that is properly funded and that the outcomes are what we would want for our own parents—that should be the test. More recently, who would have believed that...
Duncan McNeil: Will the member promise the chamber that she will look at the Official Report tomorrow and give me an apology?
Duncan McNeil: Does the member have any outcomes for or proof of the advantages of residential rehab centres to show that they work better than any of the other proposals?
