Hansard

PE2165, which was lodged by Michelle Moir, calls on the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scottish Government to help to improve awareness of functional neurological disorder by providing funding for training and educational resources for medical professionals, general practitioners, paramedics, call handlers, employers and wider society on the symptoms and impacts of FND.We last considered the petition on 24 September last year, when we agreed to write to the Minister for Public Health and Women’s Health. The minister’s response methodically answers the additional questions posed by the petitioner. She reiterates that a number of projects are under way that are relevant to the petition’s ask, including the FND care pathway, which some colleagues welcomed when we last considered the petition. The minister explains that, ultimately, it is the responsibility of national health service boards to plan and deliver services at a local level, including those for FND, and that boards have a statutory duty to involve people and communities in such decisions.On disseminating information, the minister explains that, despite statutory obligations, the ombudsman appears to maintain a pattern of inflexibility that in effect discriminates against neurodivergent individuals. I think that I have got my notes mixed up. I apologise and I will start again.The minister explains that the responsibility to refer people with FND to the appropriate resources falls on clinicians.The petitioner came back with further additional questions for the minister. Although those questions are perfectly reasonable, I tentatively suggest that, in this case, there might not be much else that the committee can pursue in relation to the substantive ask of the petition. Given that the FND care pathway has been set up, is there any action that colleagues think that we could take?