Meeting of the Parliament (Hybrid) 15 June 2021
I offer my congratulations to Evelyn Tweed and Siobhian Brown on their first speeches.
Many colleagues have raised during the debate the importance of women in the NHS and social care workforces. Again, my heartfelt thanks go to every single one of those women. I do not think that we can ever thank them enough. Annie Wells and Carol Mochan both mentioned the heroic efforts of transvaginal mesh survivors. The injuries that they faced are appalling, and we must ensure that they have the resolution that they need and that they can be assured of our support going forward.
Many colleagues have noted that women generally live longer. We have to ensure that women receive the later-life and end-of-life care that gives them the dignity and choice that they deserve. Choice in palliative care is essential. One of the greatest barriers to women receiving healthcare is access. Women report difficulties in accessing appointments and in how to fit them around caring, childcare and other responsibilities.
We need to make sure that there are flexible appointments at convenient times for those who need them. The difficulties are often worse for women from black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds, disabled women and Gypsy Traveller women.
I have spoken several times in the chamber so far about the need to work across portfolios to ensure that we deal with the inequalities in particular services and the other factors that exacerbate those inequalities.
Income inequality is a driver of poor health. Those with a lower income are less likely to be able to afford good-quality food and more likely to live in poor-quality housing and, ultimately, they are likely to die younger than their peers. Food bank use is at a high. The situation has been exacerbated by the pandemic, but it is also exacerbated by inequalities. That inequality is not being lessened for those who are on furlough and getting 80 per cent of an already poor wage. We have an obligation to take the issue seriously this session. Public Health Scotland suggests on its website that a universal basic income could tackle that, which is something that we would obviously support.
In the coming session, the proposed national care service will also be important for women’s health. As we are all aware, providing care, particularly unpaid care, is a highly gendered role. The establishment of a national care service will, I hope, work to remove some of that burden. Guaranteed minimum respite hours for unpaid carers would give women in particular the ability to plan breaks. As I said earlier, we believe that carers should be entitled to flexible healthcare appointments,
Mental health is not an area that is particularly covered when we talk about women’s health. As many members have mentioned at various times, mental health support is critical, whether that be in supporting those with post-natal depression or in supporting women struggling with menopause. We need to see a shift in funding for mental health and more focus on talking therapies and peer support. Many women to whom I have spoken would like to see more peer support built in, particularly in relation to menopause support.
Finally, I highlight the improvements that we need to make, as Emma Roddick outlined, to trans and non-binary healthcare when we are designing services. Some non-binary and trans people bleed and they will require many of the services that we have spoken about today. We need to ensure that services are accessible to them and meet their needs as well. We need to end the years-long wait for gender clinics and ensure that the health service recognises the needs of that often very marginalised community.
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