Meeting of the Parliament 16 December 2025 [Draft]
I absolutely agree with the member. I always take every opportunity to promote training, particularly from allied health professionals—Eileen Smith and I were in that category.
The loss of language has a significant impact on a person’s life, but this evening it is important to mention the impact on family members’ lives. It can be very difficult to watch someone not be able to find the words or to see another person question their intelligence or ability.
Others have highlighted the issues that we hope that the minister will respond to, so I will finish on a point that I often raise in the chamber, which is health inequalities. Research has shown that people who live in Scotland’s most deprived areas are more likely to die in their first year following a stroke than those in the less deprived areas, and that they are much less likely to receive the appropriate recommended treatments. I do not have time to go over that, but it is an important point to raise, and I hope that others will agree with me on it.
I thank members for their speeches and Rona Mackay for bringing the issue to the chamber.
18:29