Hansard

I think that this is the second time that I have said this in as many months, Presiding Officer, but it is a genuine pleasure to follow Jackson Carlaw’s contribution. He made some powerful points. Indeed, a number of members from all parties, including Anas Sarwar, who led the debate for Scottish Labour, have made important points.

I reiterate that I will seek an early meeting with Anas Sarwar. My office will be in touch to arrange that. I am keen to understand—I am sure that he will address the matter in his closing speech—the timetables that are involved in relation to the proposals, the bill and so on. Let us get ahead of that and meet early on to discuss the specifics of Milly’s law, as the proposals have a lot of merit to them.

I, too, commend every member of this Parliament who has, over the years, amplified the voices of those who have felt powerless in the face of terrible adversity. That should never have been necessary; it should not have taken members of this Parliament to amplify those voices. However, they have done so admirably.

A number of points have been well made by members. Katy Clark made the point very well about the imbalance that can often arise between the state and its institutions and the public. She spoke at length about some of her concerns about the handling of police complaints and about the prison service. Later this year, we are due to consult on the police complaints handling bill. I am sure that she will want to give her thoughts on that. Many of the issues that she touched on will be covered in that consultation.

A number of members spoke powerfully about the loss of a child, including how no one expects that to happen, how unnatural it must feel and how none of us, unless we have experienced it ourselves, can understand the grief that befalls parents and a family when that happens.

I accept the central premise—which Opposition members and members of my party have mentioned—that, on occasion, the health boards involved have not approached the issue correctly, appropriately or, indeed, with the values that all of us hold dear around transparency and parent and family involvement. I think that there are merits in the proposals.

This has been a very good debate, with, by and large, very good contributions. However, we perhaps need to take a moment. We should not always cast the debate as being one of management, and senior management in particular, versus the public. I have had the pleasure of being the health secretary for the best part of 10 months. I have dealt with and spoken to senior management in every single health board and non-territorial board in the country. I speak to men and women who are dedicated to public service. I fully accept that that does not mean that they get everything right, but they are dedicated to public service. We need to ensure that the values that we expect in our health service materialise, particularly at the time of adverse events.

On the actions that the Government has taken, we have the duty of candour laws. I accept the point that there may be a discussion to be had about what else can be done. Jackie Baillie raised the point about potential sanctions, which I will consider.

A consultation on the patient safety commissioner has just taken place, and perhaps that role presents an opportunity. As I said, I will have an early meeting with Anas Sarwar, at which we will perhaps discuss his bill, pre-introduction, and his expectations in relation to the public advocate that he is calling for. Perhaps those could be met through the patient safety commissioner.

Where, unfortunately, things have not gone right and there is a requirement for independent public scrutiny, as happens with a public inquiry, I make it abundantly—absolutely—clear that the Government will co-operate with the public inquiry that is under way. My goodness, let us hope that there is not another such inquiry in future, but, if there ever is, the Government will co-operate fully with it.

I look forward to seeing the detail of Milly’s law and co-operating and working closely with people across the Opposition parties to make sure that we prevent things from going wrong and that, if they do go wrong, we deal with them openly and transparently.