Meeting of the Parliament 19 May 2015
First, I welcome the new £3 million fund that the minister announced. I am sure that the fund will become invaluable in the coming months as we take forward the services that we have talked about.
For a number of years, it has been clear that the way in which our health system works requires to be changed. We are living longer and it is vital to reflect future demographics. I think that we all agree that the decision to work towards a system of prevention instead of reaction is the correct path to take.
With the integration of health and social care, it is clear that the connection between the old ways of doing things has been broken. I firmly believe that the new integrated boards should and will value and take cognisance of the allied health professionals and their work. That is absolutely vital. Stewart Stevenson mentioned the size of the boards and how they will react faster and provide better outcomes. I am sure that that will happen. The change is definitely required; I am sure that it will happen successfully.
I am delighted that the motion highlights and recognises the work that is done by allied health professionals. In some cases, they are seen to take second billing behind doctors and senior medical professionals when, in fact, they hold our health service together. The skills that have been brought into not just health but social care are vital in changing the services that we provide for the people of our country, bringing our health service well into the 21st century.
I am delighted that there has been a rise in the number of allied health professionals, with well over 11,000 individuals now involved. Although, as Bob Doris said, that could be seen as just an arbitrary number, I believe that the Scottish Government is seeing how valued allied health professionals are, and the AHP national delivery plan gives a clear direction of travel that we must take to address future needs.
As the minister pointed out, some extremely good results have come out of the NDP progress report of February this year. In my constituency, I have heard numerous stories relating to the help that allied health professionals have given. One of my favourites relates to podiatry, and I am sure that Mary Scanlon, Christine Grahame and Stewart Stevenson will appreciate it. A lady to whom I spoke just the other day, who is in her late 70s, has struggled for some time with problems with her feet but can still get around. The podiatrist who has dealt with that lady has been successful in ensuring that she is still mobile. However, she remembers the same problem being faced some years ago by her mother, who unfortunately did not receive the same level of care and had to endure much more discomfort, especially in her final years. Whatever we say, it is all about quality of life, and my constituent fully understands why we have podiatrists in our health service, such has been the effect on her life.
We all want to see more people spend more time in their homes and communities, and the work that the allied health professionals do in trying to ensure that people of all ages spend less time in hospital care is invaluable. I have seen examples of that on numerous occasions in my constituency. If it was not for the work of the AHPs, many of my older constituents would be in full-time care. Enablement programmes are superb examples of why we require allied health professionals. Particularly for the elderly, enablement allows independence in the community, but it is workable only with allied health professionals.
Like Jenny Marra, I have sat through multidisciplinary team meetings at health centres over the years, and the one thing that I have been unable to help noticing is the real professionalism that is shown at such meetings. Even more important, those people really do care—it is not just an action or a job to them. Working with doctors, allied health professionals are extremely impressive.
Our constituents want to live their lives normally for as long as they can within their communities.
AHPs deal not just with adults with physical difficulties; as Nanette Milne and others have pointed out, virtually every strand of society requires the help of AHPs. They help kids to get the best start in life, they help those with mental health issues and they help people with extreme complex needs. Physiotherapists provide an example that is very close to home for me. My father was terminally ill with Huntingdon’s disease and required one-to-one care towards the end of his life because of the involuntary movements and the other difficulties that he had. The work of the physiotherapists was absolutely phenomenal and made life much easier for him in the long term while he was in care.
Bob Doris talked about not just people who work in the national health service, but those who work in the care system—in care homes and the like. They have been undervalued and really do need respect and authority, and the training to bring everything to the same standard; they need to be seen in that way by the public. Social care is not a second-rate system, and we should help it as far as we can.
Until fairly recently, I had not really thought about the work that drama and arts therapists do, which Christine Grahame brought up. The work that they do on sensory perceptions and bringing out colours, sounds and smells is fantastic for people who require that kind of help. By evoking memories, they give people a better quality of life.
Bob Doris was right to bring up workforce planning. I believe that, given the way in which we are moving forward, the proposed audit is not necessary, but I might be proved wrong. I tend to agree with what Stewart Stevenson said.
The people whom we call allied health professionals are not just people on the periphery of the NHS; they are absolutely vital to it.
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