Hansard

The Convener: SNP

Agenda item 2 is a one-off round-table evidence-gathering session on the treatment of drug users in Scotland. We have been joined by senior representatives o...

Janis Hughes (Glasgow Rutherglen) (Lab): Lab

I am the deputy convener of the committee.

Kate Maclean (Dundee West) (Lab): Lab

I am a member of the committee.

Mark Frankland (First Base Agency):

I am the education manager at First Base Agency.

Mr Duncan McNeil (Greenock and Inverclyde) (Lab): Lab

I am a member of the Health Committee.

Euan Robson (Roxburgh and Berwickshire) (LD): LD

I am a member of the Health Committee.

Ms Rosemary Byrne (South of Scotland) (Sol): Sol

I am a member of the Scottish Parliament.

Dr Richard Watson (Royal College of General Practitioners Scotland):

I am clinical lead for drug misuse at the Royal College of General Practitioners Scotland. I am a full-time general practitioner in Glasgow and deal with dru...

Professor Neil McKeganey (University of Glasgow):

I am director of the centre for drug misuse research at the University of Glasgow.

Alex MacKinnon (Scottish Pharmaceutical General Council):

I represent the Scottish Pharmaceutical General Council.

Tom Wood (Scottish Association of Alcohol and Drug Action Teams):

I chair the Scottish Association of Alcohol and Drug Action Teams and represent the 22 alcohol and drug action teams throughout Scotland.

Helen Eadie (Dunfermline East) (Lab): Lab

I am an MSP.

Dave Liddell (Scottish Drugs Forum):

I represent the Scottish Drugs Forum.

Dr Jean Turner (Strathkelvin and Bearsden) (Ind): Ind

I am an MSP.

Stephen Moore (Association of Directors of Social Work):

I represent the Association of Directors of Social Work.

Mrs Nanette Milne (North East Scotland) (Con): Con

I am an MSP.

Catriona Renfrew (NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde):

I am the director of corporate planning policy with NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde. We are responsible for providing drug and alcohol services for about a thi...

Shona Robison (Dundee East) (SNP): SNP

I am a member of the committee.

The Convener: SNP

We are expecting Lesley Finch from SCOT-PEP, the Scottish Prostitutes Education Project, and she may yet turn up. We have had no indication of whether she wi...

Professor McKeganey:

I will begin with a brief comment on funding. It is not easy to get information on funding for drug treatment services in Scotland, but the indications are t...

Tom Wood:

I thank the committee for inviting us. I am sure that all the guests who are round the table will agree that one deficit on the matter in Scotland has been t...

Ms Byrne: Sol

How effective is the current approach? Drug treatment and rehabilitation in Scotland is patchy and unequal, and for those attempting to access services it is...

The Convener: SNP

A round-table discussion is meant to flow more easily than a question-and-answer session. Witnesses will be entitled to put questions to other witnesses; it ...

Catriona Renfrew:

We could have a pretty strong consensus that drug treatment services are not as effective as they should be. The health board in my area spends about £37 mil...

Mark Frankland:

It is worth considering two factors that are particular to heroin addiction, which I think will dominate today's discussion. First, everyone will agree that ...

The Convener: SNP

If an addict phones up to seek help, would you like contact to be made almost immediately? Should someone come round to see them straight away?

Mark Frankland:

Even more simply, I would like to see a system that used to obtain in general practitioners' surgeries when I was a boy. It was possible to ring, get an appo...

Catriona Renfrew:

Almost every part of the national health service now has an access standard. However, there are no access standards for drugs services, so we can keep people...

Alex MacKinnon:

I come at the issue from the perspective of the body that represents all community pharmacists, who are at the sharp edge of delivering services to drug misu...

The Convener: SNP

I ask everybody, when a subject begins to emerge as a discussion issue, not to come in and immediately scatter-gun around with another set of issues as well....