– in the Scottish Parliament at on 6 October 2016.
Elizabeth Smith
Conservative
8. To ask the First Minister what discussions the Scottish Government is having with the governing bodies of contact sports regarding head injuries. (S5F-00321)
Nicola Sturgeon
Scottish National Party
First, I want on behalf of Parliament to take this opportunity to convey sincere condolences to the family and friends of Mike Towell, who sadly lost his life following a boxing match in Glasgow last Thursday. As the British Boxing Board of Control is investigating the circumstances of the incident, it would obviously be inappropriate for any of us to comment on the details at this time.
On the broader issue of concussion in sport, Liz Smith will be aware that we were the first country in the world to introduce standard guidelines on dealing with concussion in sports with the publication of the Scottish sports concussion guidelines in May last year. Those guidelines were developed with a range of experts, including the chief medical officer at the Scottish Government, Scottish Rugby and the Scottish Football Association, and they have been made available to all sports clubs and coaches for both contact and non-contact sports.
Elizabeth Smith
Conservative
I thank the First Minister for that response and for the very helpful letter that she sent me this time last year following another First Minister’s Question Time at which I raised the same issue. In that letter, she said that she fully recognised the seriousness of the issue and intimated that guidance would be updated regularly. Have those updates taken place, and has consideration been given to the fact that different sports have different guidance for serious concussion injuries? For example, in boxing, suspension from the ring is for a minimum of 28 days, whereas the minimum in rugby is seven days away from the sport. Does the First Minister agree that the medical expert panel to which she referred in her letter might like to look at whether there should be a standard approach?
The First Minister:
As I said in my original answer, we have introduced standard guidelines on dealing with concussion in sport. I think that when Liz Smith last raised the issue with me, she raised the prospect of legislation, and the consensus among medical experts at this stage appears to be that that would not necessarily be helpful. However, I will say today what I said then: we need to ensure that we keep the matter under review, and that as we do so, we are informed by the best medical opinion. I am very happy to take the comments that Liz Smith has made today and ensure that they are discussed by the panel of medical experts who inform these decisions, and I will be happy to enter into further correspondence with her when that happens.
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