Hansard

The motion asks us to note the contents of the Health and Sport Committee’s report, which I do with great interest. I, too, thank the members of the committee and their back-up team for the work that has gone into it.

As others have said, clinical portal technology offers ways of accessing virtually all the records for a given patient at very high speed. That is a far cry from the situation in which a specialist who sees a problem is unable to know the best way forward because important information is held in a file somewhere else or because the pertinent information is held by another consultant even further away. Clinical portal technology offers total instant access at the tap of a key. Indeed, taking into account the caveats that Christine Grahame voiced, I was surprised that, after I underwent medical treatment at Aberdeen royal infirmary last year, I had to hand carry some of the information about my condition back to my GP. That is not to gainsay the excellence of the treatment that I received, but I found that surprising in this day and age.

As the report points out, and as others have said, the health service has a poor track record in communicating to patients how their medical information is used and shared. Patient confidence in the recording, accessing and use of medical information is vital to the success of such IT projects, therefore the Scottish Government must ensure that patients are aware of how their personal information is being used and that development of the clinical portal is transparent.

Representing the constituency that I do, I am extremely supportive of telehealth technology, which can be particularly beneficial to patients in remote and rural areas. For example, in emergency care situations, telehealth solutions might reduce the number of trips to hospital for those who suffer from long-term conditions and could enable those at remote GP practices to see hospital consultants remotely.

In addition, telehealth technology can be hugely beneficial outwith remote and rural areas. Initiatives that monitor people’s long-term conditions from home are empowering and give patients confidence in self-care and self-management of their condition. However, as the report stresses, we need to move on from the current situation, in which successful pilots and projects have not led to the mainstreaming of telehealth approaches. I agree with the committee’s call for action to roll out successful projects.

The availability of high-speed, reliable broadband is vital to support telehealth services. The challenge of poor broadband connectivity affects many communities across Scotland as the digital divide continues to grow. That should be a worry to us all. Therefore, it is vital that both the Scottish Government and the UK Government work together to ensure that the peripheral parts of Scotland are not missed out as high-speed broadband is rolled out.

It will come as no surprise to hear that I believe that everyone in Scotland, including my constituents and anyone who lives in a remote area—no matter where—should have access to fast and reliable broadband. That is why my party has started a campaign to urge Jeremy Hunt, who is the UK Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport—a long title—to choose Scotland as one of the areas to be covered by the three high-speed broadband connectivity testing projects that he announced recently. It is imperative that we all get behind that campaign.

Furthermore, although the opportunities that telehealth presents have long been recognised, it is the case, as the committee pointed out and as others have said, that the mainstreaming of telehealth Scotland-wide has been far less successful than one would have hoped. Accordingly, the committee recommended that the Scottish Government should set a target of making Scotland the first country to establish national-scale telehealth services within three to four years at most. To fail in that endeavour is to let down patients, particularly those in the remotest parts of the country, who include many of my constituents.

Before I leave telehealth, I want to flag up a caveat. It is crucial that we set exactly where—I mean physically where—the balance should lie between an electronic, down-the-wire-and-through-the-ether approach and a real-face-in-front-of-you, hands-on approach. That is particularly true for areas such as the far north of Scotland, where remoteness and inclement winter weather can impose extra challenges when the time comes for real, hands-on treatment. For that reason, there must be a limit on the physical distance that separates health professionals and medical facilities from patients. I am sure that all rural members will understand my point; there has to be a balance.

I will conclude with a related issue that concerns all of us—data security. I recognise that things have come a long way since I was a lad, when I used to go to my surgery in my home town of Tain, where the receptionist behind the counter, who was a formidable lady, would demand of you, in front of all the other patients who were waiting patiently in the queue to see the doctor, “And what’s wrong with you today?” If you said, “I would like to see the doctor,” she would say, “No, but what’s wrong with you?” That could prove extremely embarrassing, until a late and great friend of mine, Councillor James Paterson, who was known to many of us in the Highlands, replied, “I’ve got VD.” After that, she did not ask the question again.

Perhaps I am wrong to make light of the issue. My point about data security relates to the fact that in the past two years, as we know, more than 300 laptops and sensitive files were lost by Scotland’s public authorities. Items that were lost by NHS boards included six mobile phones, one of which had patient telephone numbers stored in it, and a memory stick with 40 clinical reports on 21 patients. Of the seven laptops that were stolen, one had on it details of approximately 5,800 patients, one had on it details of patients’ names and another had on it some limited staff information. Another memory stick that was lost contained details of no less than 143 patients.

Although such accidents and examples of human error are understandable—we all lose things—each one only serves to undermine public confidence in clinical portal and telehealth technology. Such mistakes might be understandable, but they are, nevertheless, entirely unacceptable, and we must all do everything in our power to ensure that in future we minimise the likelihood of such events happening again. At stake is the confidence of the patient, which I believe is paramount.