Scotland's health troubles MSPs

By John Knox
BBC Scotland political correspondent

Increased anti-smoking funds were announced

How to cure the sick man of Europe?

This was the problem Holyrood set itself this week.

An all-day debate was held on the issue on Thursday and it broke with all British parliamentary traditions by having neither motions nor votes.

This was going to be a time for "blue skies thinking" and consensus politics.

All parties began by agreeing with the Health Minister Malcolm Chisholm that "we need a sea change in attitudes to health".

Scots had to aspire to better health - smoke less, drink less, eat more fruit and take regular exercise.

The dreadful statistics were taken for granted.

Scotland has the lowest life expectancy in Western Europe, the worst record on heart disease and cancer and a huge gap between the health of the better off and the poor, especially the poor in Glasgow.

Junk food

To start the ball rolling, Mr Chisholm announced an extra £1m a year for anti-smoking programmes.

It will be targeted on the deprived areas of Glasgow where young people and pregnant women will be offered counselling and nicotine replacement therapy.

The Scottish National Party's (SNP) Shona Robison said the Scottish Parliament should be given control of the welfare system to, for instance, pay child benefit to pregnant women so that they can improve their diet.

The Conservative health spokesman David Davidson said people need to be given more control over their own health care, with perhaps the NHS funding part of their treatment in the private sector.

Mike Rumbles for the Liberal Democrats said the new system of free eye and dental check-ups must be made to work.

Bad eating habits can start early

Tommy Sheridan for the Socialists repeated his call for universal free school meals.

His fellow Socialist Frances Curran and the independent Margo MacDonald made powerful pleas for action against the multinational food companies which swamp our supermarkets, High Streets and school vending machines with unhealthy snacks.

The health theme extended into first minister's question time.

The SNP leader John Swinney waved a letter from senior doctors in Lothian warning that non-emergency admissions to some hospitals may have to be suspended because of a health board deficit.

He claimed it had been caused by the excessive cost of the new Edinburgh Royal Infirmary, built under the private finance initiative.

"What these PFI hospitals are delivering is bed cuts, staff cuts, in some cases power cuts and now service cuts," he said.

First Minister Jack McConnell said that was "a load of rubbish from the SNP".

He insisted the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary had been built on time and on budget and would not have happened without private finance (PFI).

Round the clock drinking was ruled out

On Wednesday, MSPs debated another health issue - binge drinking.

A report by Sheriff Principal Gordon Nicholson recommended an end to fixed licensing hours and instead suggested that each pub, club, off-licence or supermarket should have its opening hours determined by the local licensing board.

Justice Minister Cathy Jamieson said however it would not amount to a "free for all" or "24-hour opening" since the boards would have to take into account the effects on the neighbourhood and the health of young people.

She will be legislating next year.

Before we leave health, two other health events were worth noting this week.

There was a demonstration by about a dozen hepatitis C campaigners outside the MSPs' office block on Thursday.

They claimed they now have new evidence showing that the health authorities knew about the risk of using American blood products to treat haemophiliacs as early as 1972 but they did nothing about it.

Tetra will be used by the emergency services

And the Greens' Mark Ruskell staged a member's debate on alleged negative health effects of the 700 new Terrestrial Trunked Radio (Tetra) radio masts being erected up and down the country by the emergency services.

The committees finally got down to serious business this week.

The audit committee put civil servants on the spot over the collapse of the Individual Learning Account scheme due to fraud.

The environment committee began its hearings into recycling. And the petitions committee reached petition number 653.

Among the petitions this week was a plea from 1,000 people living in Kirkcaldy for Scottish Water to control the smell which has been emanating from its sewage treatment works in the town for the last 18 months.

There was a petition from elderly people living just outside Galashiels for a better bus service.

And the British Lung Foundation put their case for 3,000 people with severe breathing problems to be given a valve-operated portable oxygen cylinder to allow them to leave their homes for at least a few hours each day.

The new parliament was designed by a Catalan

Poor Robbie the Pict, a seasoned campaigner, travelled all the way from Skye only to hear the committee finally end consideration of his petition alleging that the tolling licence on the bridge is invalid.

The committee said the claim had not stood up in the courts and, besides, the executive is now in negotiations to end the tolls.

Robbie said afterwards: "This is treachery. We've been mugged for eight years and lost £30m."

Finally, a nice parliamentary event in Barcelona.

A delegation of Holyrood ministers and MSPs, including the Presiding Officer George Reid, went off to Spain on Thursday for a three day celebration of "Scotland with Catalonia".

They held talks with their opposite numbers, hosted a ceilidh, attended various trade and tourism events and opened an exhibition of Scottish architecture.

This proved appropriate as the region was the home of Enric Miralles, the man who designed the new Scottish Parliament

The delegation also staged a walk behind 400 pipers in their very own homage to Catalonia.