Hansard

I welcome the bill and pay tribute to everyone who has campaigned on the issue, including, most importantly, the women who have campaigned for justice. I thank the Scottish Government for listening and acting, and I congratulate the members of the Health, Social Care and Sport Committee for their excellent stage 1 report. They have captured the bill well and their recommendations are welcome.

I have dealt with three constituents who have had mesh complications. Every one of those ladies has had their lives adversely affected in many ways. I have had a great deal of correspondence with the Scottish Government on behalf of one lady in particular. She is called Michelle, and I have her permission to highlight her case today.

The bill offers a great deal of hope for Michelle and many other women. The physical pain and mental challenges that those women live with each day cannot be imagined. Added to that is the loss of trust in our NHS, as referenced throughout the report. It is no wonder that many women looked beyond our NHS to try to reclaim something of their old lives. Not one of my constituents with mesh problems believes that they will get their old life back fully, but a life of less pain and progress towards reclaiming their lives will be a positive outcome for some.

That is where the first sentence in the recommendation in paragraph 92 of the report is so important. It reads:

“The Committee supports the principles of fairness, equity and parity which, in its view, underpin the Bill.”

If those are the bill’s aims, which they clearly are, the discussion about how women have funded or will fund mesh removal treatments is redundant. Not every person has tens of thousands of pounds in their savings bank accounts, so they will have to raise finance somehow. For some, that will mean borrowing from friends or family and, for others, it will mean taking out a bank loan or maxing out a credit card. For others still, it will mean selling items or organising fundraising nights to bring in extra resources. Another example that could be used is a crowdfunding platform.

I know that Michelle used many of those examples, but she was struggling to deal with the pain and wanted to reclaim some of her life. At some point in time, just about every member of the Scottish Parliament, as a candidate to get elected to the Parliament, will have undertaken a crowdfunder. Why is it that we can do that, but there appear to be concerns that women who are in pain should not? That makes absolutely no sense to me. I therefore welcome the recommendation in paragraph 69 but also note the comments that were attributed to the cabinet secretary in paragraph 68.

It is clear that there are many unknowns around the bill, such as how many women will be eligible for the scheme, how many women will pursue the mesh removal treatment and the actual cost for each woman and their travelling companion. That is why it is extremely challenging for the cabinet secretary and the Scottish Government to produce a financial memorandum that contains absolute financial clarity, and it is why the stage 1 report asking for a reassessment of estimates is perfectly reasonable.

Paragraph 87 of the report makes a recommendation about

“an appropriate level of scrutiny”

of future subordinate legislation for the proposed scheme. As the convener of the Delegated Powers and Law Reform Committee, I can see how using the affirmative procedure would be beneficial in this instance, but I also accept, as the committee itself did in paragraph 10, that:

“The Committee has been keen to ensure an appropriate balance between enabling effective scrutiny of the Bill, while not unduly delaying reimbursement to those affected.”

That is why I note the cabinet secretary’s comments today and those in his reply to the committee that, if there were regulations, they could be time-consuming and that an administrative scheme could be a lot quicker.

The final point that I want to address is about the self-titled “in-betweeners”, as described in paragraph 33 of the report. I note and welcome paragraph 35 of the report highlighting the cabinet secretary’s intention that

“anyone who made their own arrangements for treatment outside of the NHS on or before the announcement on 12 July 2021, will be able to apply for reimbursement, regardless of whether or not that treatment has already been carried out.”

However, the committee’s recommendations in paragraphs 39, 40 and 41 are really important, particularly the call in paragraph 40 asking the Scottish Government to

“demonstrate appropriate flexibility in the definition of ‘making an arrangement’ for mesh removal surgery.”

I hope that clarity on “making an arrangement” will provide absolute clarity to Michelle and other women.

I know that dialogue and other communication took place between Michelle and the professor who did her operation prior to 12 July, but the agreement was signed—and the operation was performed—after 12 July. I welcome the cabinet secretary’s statement that greater clarity will be provided on the post-12 July situation, the procurement exercise, which was announced on 12 July, and the dates for the establishment of the contracts and the opening of the pathways to referrals.

My considerations in relation to the bill were solely for Michelle and the other constituents who I have spoken to. Nothing will be able to change the experiences that they have had to suffer and endure, but with the greater clarity that I hope that the passing of the bill will bring, I hope that they can have a more positive future. As a Parliament, we owe them that.