Meeting of the Parliament 03 March 2016
I thank members for their contributions. I welcome the breadth of support that the bill has received throughout its parliamentary stages and the constructive nature of what members have said. In particular, I offer my thanks to the experts who gave their time to provide evidence to the Health and Sport Committee, almost all of whom advocated the bill as being proportionate and necessary. The bill offers us a real chance to progress our commitment to ensuring that people in Scotland live longer, healthier lives. I also thank the bill team for all their hard work in getting us to this point.
The bill is an important milestone and will play its part alongside the vast range of measures that the Scottish Government will continue to progress to reduce tobacco-related harm. It will also, for the first time, put on the statute book specific regulation of NVPs. Many members have mentioned the fact that, because NVPs are new, evidence on whether they are effective or are harmful is still emerging. We absolutely do not want to stigmatise people who use NVPs to come off tobacco-related products, which we know are much more harmful, but it is amazing that we can put in place legislation on a new product, rather than play catch-up, as we have been doing with tobacco and alcohol products.
We are committed to preventing access to NVPs for young people under the age of 18. Alongside that, we wanted to consider what more could and should be done to control the sale and marketing of those new products. That is why we will ensure that there is no advertising of the products on billboards and posters. The products are now being advertised on television, but European Union legislation that must come into domestic United Kingdom law by 2016 will ensure that the products are no longer advertised on that medium. I am confident that the bill strikes the right balance in that respect and that we are contributing to giving children the best start in life by creating a society where they are supported to make healthy choices.
The bill will help to build further openness and transparency in our healthcare systems. It will allow patients and service users to know about what has gone wrong in the course of their treatment, should they wish. It will encourage apology, as well as learning and improvement, to prevent issues from happening again.
The idea raised by Nanette Milne and the RCN, in its briefing, that the offences will prevent a culture of transparency implies a pessimistic view of health and social care workers’ attitudes. I do not share that view, as the offences are not aimed at instances of unintended or unexpected harm. I am sure that, as the law comes into force, any reservations will be dispelled.
Part 3 of the bill is about premeditated neglect or ill treatment. Rhoda Grant was right to point out that the duty of candour and wilful neglect are completely separate issues. The premeditated neglect or ill treatment of people receiving healthcare or social care is deplorable. Those that commit such crimes—organisations as well as individuals—need to be dealt with by the criminal justice system, and the bill will provide for specific action against them.
The provisions were borne out of incidences of that—thankfully not in Scotland, but in other parts of the UK. It is important that people know not only that they can expect respectful and compassionate care but that, in the small number of cases where there has been wilful neglect, people will be suitably punished.
Nanette Milne and others mentioned the use of tobacco by mental health patients and prisoners. It is up to health boards to implement strategies as part of their wider commitment to health improvement. Now that prisoner health is for health boards, it should be easier to help prisoners to stop smoking.
Improvement in patient safety and in individuals’ health goes right through the bill. Rhoda Grant said that the bill was all-encompassing. We have had catch-all bills before, but it is important that this bill is passed at decision time.
The addition to the bill of provisions on voice augmentation communication equipment is welcomed by everyone. This morning I visited the Euan MacDonald centre and met Euan, young Greta and Paul, who is in the gallery. I saw how the use of voice equipment enabled them to join in conversations with others. Because there is such a wide range of equipment now, the bill’s sections have been left deliberately open so that people can have access to the right equipment at the right time.
Rhoda Grant mentioned last night’s Sue Ryder event. Dee View Court is in my constituency and I visit often. I can see how, given at the right time, voice equipment would be useful for many patients there.
In approving this wide-ranging bill, Parliament will be contributing to a number of better outcomes for Scotland. It will build on our vision of a tobacco-free generation by 2034; protect non-smokers, particularly children and young people, from nicotine addiction by reducing access to and the marketing of the new products; improve the delivery of health and social care services; and ensure that nobody in Scotland dies without a voice.
I thank all members who have helped with the bill’s passage. There were not that many amendments at stage 2 or, indeed, today at stage 3. I cannot guarantee that the same will be true for the Burial and Cremation (Scotland) Bill, which the Health and Sport Committee has to consider at stages 2 and 3.
I hope that Parliament will pass the bill unanimously at decision time.