7. To ask the Scottish Government when it last met NHS Ayrshire and Arran and what issues were discussed. (S5O-00773)

Ministers and Scottish Government officials regularly meet representatives of all health boards, including NHS Ayrshire and Arran, to discuss matters of importance to local people.

Since the publication of the Scottish Government’s national drugs strategy “The Road to Recovery” in 2008, the Government has taken a strongly recovery-focused approach to problematic drug and alcohol use. In my Constituency, North Ayrshire alcohol and drug partnership has cemented its reputation as a leader when it comes to recovery, with countless local successes, including cafe solace and the funky films project.

I welcome the Scottish Government’s new partnership for action on drugs in Scotland, which was launched in January. One of the top three priorities is listed as

“building communities focused on recovery and tackling stigma”.

Will the Cabinet secretary provide an update on the partnership’s work and in particular on the development of the priorities and the work plan through the themed groups?

The partnership for action on drugs in Scotland—PADS—and its sub-groups are making good progress on tackling problem drug use through reducing harm, embedding high-quality and consistent services and developing recovery-centred communities. The Minister for Public Health and Sport attended the PADS meeting on 8 March, which focused on two of its priorities: the Harry Burns review and children who are affected by parental substance misuse.

The Scottish Recovery Consortium, which is funded by the Scottish Government, is working alongside PADS to ensure that recovery and lived experience are at the heart of its work.

North Ayrshire is a leading ADP, and it continues to exceed the national waiting time target for local delivery plans. It has implemented a number of recovery-focused initiatives, including two recovery community cafes, with a third site due to open shortly, as well as nine smart recovery meetings embedded across North Ayrshire. I pay tribute to the partnership for the work that it is doing.

In November last year, the Cabinet secretary promised the parents of six babies who tragically died at Crosshouse hospital in Ayrshire from 2008, and whose deaths were deemed unnecessary, that there would be a full official review of their children’s deaths. Given that promise, will she explain why five out of six of those families have discovered that the review by Healthcare Improvement Scotland will not consider their children’s cases in detail, as their deaths occurred before the end of 2013? Will she intervene to ensure that the cases of all six families, including the cases of the babies who died between 2008 and the end of 2013, will be given the full and official review that the families were promised and deserve?

This is an important matter. I should say that the HIS review is independent. HIS has said that its representatives have met all the families who wanted to be involved. The member draws attention to the December 2013 date, which was specified by HIS because of the terms of reference of the review, which was to focus on whether NHS Ayrshire and Arran adhered to the national framework in dealing with significant adverse event reports, given that the previous review looked into cases prior to December 2013. That was the rationale for looking at cases beyond the December 2013 date, as cases before that date had already been looked into under the previous review.

It is important that, in taking forward the review, HIS is able to engage further with the families. I encourage it to do so to address their concerns. We must not lose sight of the fact that the review was established for a specific reason, which was to consider whether NHS Ayrshire and Arran adhered to the national guidance in dealing with significant adverse event reports since the previous review. I encourage HIS to engage further with the families, which I hope will address some of their concerns.