 The final item of business is a member's business debate on motion 6-3-0 in the name of Alexander Burnett on improving outcomes for people with neurological conditions. This debate will be concluded without any questions being put, and I would ask those members who would wish to speak in the debate to please press the request to speak buttons. I call Alexander Burnett to open the debate around seven minutes, Mr Burnett. Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer, and I thank members from across the chamber for their support in bringing this motion to debate. The motion speaks together for the one-in-six report from the Neurological Alliance of Scotland, an umbrella body of organisations, which represents people with neurological conditions. I want to thank them for their hard work and am delighted some members have joined us to be able to join us in the gallery today. The report presents findings from their recent patient experience survey, and it is the only survey of its kind exploring the views of people living with a wide range of neurological conditions and was, for the first time, residents of Scotland participated. This debate is important because there is a serious lack of funding towards care and data on neurological conditions, which can be hard to diagnose and treat. A primary recommendation is to improve data collection so that there is a greater knowledge on how many people live with each condition. I understand that the Scottish Government funded SPIA to collect such data, but I regret to note that publishing of a data has already been delayed by six months. In addition, this data only considers primary care, which is limiting and does not give an accurate picture of prevalence. The Scottish Government's newrological care and support, a national framework for action for 2020-25, plans to allocate £4.5 million to improving care for people with neurological conditions. One project is the epilepsy register, which has helped to understand prevalence and improve outcomes, for example by identifying unscheduled care and hospital admissions by people with epilepsy and targeting care to those at greatest risk of harm. This is just the start and needs to be implemented for all neurological conditions. Covid has undoubtedly caused a major disruption, but issues with care and treatment extend beyond the pandemic. According to the survey, 37 per cent of adults in Scotland wait more than 12 months from first symptoms to getting a diagnosis. Disappointingly, the Scottish Government's framework for action excludes children and young people. I would like to ask the minister to include him in focus for future projects, because we know that delays for children are worse than anywhere else in the UK. As for adults, 15 per cent haven't seen a specialist nurse for over a year, and nearly half report delays to routine appointments with neurologists. Daniel Johnson? As someone who personally experiences that care, I often find at my annual check-up that the person knows less about my condition than I do. First of all, it is more that we have that routine check-up, but there is also the knowledge and expertise there for the people with the particular neurological condition that they are seeking help and therapy for. Alexander Burnett? I thank the member for that intervention. My knowledge gap is something that I will certainly come to. I also hope that the minister will be able to address when she speaks. I have also heard from constituents such as Steve, who has sleep apnea, peripheral neuropath, autism and functional neurological disorder. He told me how to travel to Dundee to speak with neurologists and to go between private and NHS treatments due to long waiting lists and no appropriate NHS treatment pathways—again, completely unacceptable. It is clear that the lack of specialist training and recruitment is key. In Aberdeen, for example, there are just three private consultants and five NHS consultants of the ARI, yet they cover not only Grampian but also Murray, Orkney and Shetland. The Scottish Government simply has not allocated appropriate resources to cater to patients' needs. For the record, I express my disappointment that the Scottish Government's national workforce strategy for health and social care in Scotland, published in March, does not mention neurology once. There are a variety of different neurological conditions, including epilepsy, MS, cerebral palsy, MND, Parkinson's, ME and others. Those conditions are complex, can be lifelong and progressive and, in some cases, terminal. Symptoms and progression of conditions can vary, and we also do not know the implications of long Covid. I understand that 1 per cent of respondents have long Covid and have experience for same issues in their treatment and care. One child with long Covid in my constituency is having to seek private appointments in London. From the outset, patients should be given detailed information to help them to come to terms with their condition, understand what the future might look like for them and how symptoms might progress. Yet 30 per cent of adults and 38 per cent of children who responded said that they left the consulting room with no information about their condition, again simply not good enough. These patients are not getting the care and support that they need and the result is people not understanding their condition, failing to initiate treatment and a potential quickening in the progression of their disease. We need a neurological workforce that is fit for purpose. For example, there is no ME or chronic fatigue syndrome, specialist consultants in Scotland and only one specialist nurse, so care becomes the responsibility of GPs who do not receive adequate training in how to diagnose and manage the condition, the gap that the member was referring to earlier. Training for healthcare professionals is needed urgently and, as early diagnosis and proper management give patients the best chance of a long-term improvement. Funding undoubtedly plays a key role and the British Heart Foundation Solving the Puzzle report highlighted that the Scottish Government budgeted just £65.5 million in 2018 for funding clinical research, but accounting for inflation, the figure has actually fallen over the last decade by more than £13 million and, again, is much smaller compared to the rest of the UK. We can see the consequences of this, for example in Scotland the latest figures for funding for ME is just £1 per patient per year. To date, £2.2 million of the Scottish Government's framework for action funding has been awarded to 37 projects, but half remains unspent. Can I ask the minister in a response tonight to outline how she will allocate the remaining budget, and can the minister also provide insight into what happens to those projects and commit to continue funding for neurological care and research after 2025? We still do not know the exact number of people in Scotland who suffer from neurological conditions because there is no adequate data system in place, but what we do know is that the lack of research and funding into neurological conditions and treatment is having negative consequences on the care and support available to patients. There is no short-term fix and, meanwhile, the population data indicates that the prevalence of people living with neurological conditions over the long term is increasing. The five aims of a framework remain just as relevant now post-pandemic as they were in 2020, and veering off course at this stage would be a disaster and will potentially make things much worse. I remind all those members who wish to speak in the debate to ensure that the buttons are pressed. I now call Rona Mackay to be followed by Brian Whittle. I am pleased to be able to contribute to today's debate on improving outcomes for people with neurological conditions. I thank Alex and Xander Burnett for bringing it to the chamber. The brains are very complex orc and neurological conditions vary enormously. Those conditions can be caused by degenerative disease, stroke, accidents, mental ill health and, in rare cases, long Covid. The one in six report from the Neurological Alliance of Scotland is interesting and extremely informative and I thank them for their briefing. The alliance says that an estimated 1 million people in Scotland live with neurological conditions such as cerebral palsy, stroke, dementia and epilepsy. Of course, all those conditions are life-changing. The report explores the experiences of people with neurological conditions in Scotland gathering data on a wide range of topics, including the impact of Covid, diagnosis and treatment, experience of hospital care, support for mental wellbeing, access to social care and welfare, education and employment. However, they also highlight issues such as a lack of staff, referenced by Alex and Xander Burnett, and services needed to fully support people with neurological conditions, leading to delays in diagnosis, treatment and routine appointments, as well as difficulties in accessing mental wellbeing support. Of course none of those things are good and the Scottish Government is very aware of the importance of early diagnosis and treatment. The Neurological Care and Support Framework for Action 2020-2025 was launched in December 2019 with £4.5 million worth of funding over five years to deliver its commitments. It contains five overarching aims to support improvements that span health and social care. They are to ensure that people and their carers and partners in their care are given support to improve the provision of co-ordinated health and social care and support for people with neurological conditions, to ensure that high standards of effective person-centred and safe care and support, to ensure equitable and timely access to care and support across Scotland and, crucially, to build a sustainable neurological workforce for the future. 19 projects supporting people with neurological conditions are to benefit from Scottish Government backing. The five-year support action plan includes projects that have harnished new techniques and technology and continued research into those conditions, which is already producing encouraging results for changing the way we approach the care of neurological conditions. The 2022-23 award will continue to support earlier projects as well as invest in new schemes such as the Migraine Trust and Epilepsy Scotland among others. The neurological action plan provides a clear vision for those affected to be able to access the care and support that they need to live well on their own terms catered to their own individual needs. However, like all areas of healthcare, the Covid pandemic has had an unprecedented and massive effect on the delivery of this framework. However, the Scottish Government is committed to implementing it all or part of the framework as soon as it possibly can and is determined to meet its objectives by 2025. In my view—I agree with Alexander Burnett—children and young people must be a priority and I look forward to the minister's response on that. People must be able to access the care, support and information that they need that also enables them to understand their condition following diagnosis and signpost them to relevant resources for their changing requirements. In Scotland, we are proud of fostering a society that treats all our people with kindness, dignity, respect and compassion. I am pleased that that is embedded in the framework. I thank my esteemed colleague Alexander Burnett for bringing this debate forward and allowing us once again to shine a light on the need for more government focus on neurological conditions, of which perhaps I need to get checked after that one. In our roles as MSPs, we get exposed to many issues that perhaps we have not considered before and we have had opportunities to learn more on such a diverse range of topics. In the neurological field that I got interested in many of those topics when I was a member of the Petitions Committee, as we considered those related petitions, I even launched the National Care Framework for Huntington's Disease at Holyrood reception back in 2017. I note that during a Westminster debate on this subject, Hilary Ben noted that there had been a striking unity of purpose and resolve both for Scottish and UK parliaments. Many of us will have spoken in member's debates in this chamber on many such topics from MS to MND. We do so because we recognise the importance of bringing those conditions into the light as we seek investment in delivering treatments and even cures. However, it is only when it hits closer to home that it becomes real. A few years ago, I was due to speak in a motor neuron disease debate when I heard from a good friend of mine, Derek Stark, that that very day another friend of mine, Dodi Weir, had been diagnosed with the condition. It was made all the roar because I was expected to see him at that weekend at a charity golf day. Those of those who know him well will know him as a larger-than-life character, a former international rugby player and just a magnificent storyteller. He was down to speak at that event. I discovered that, at that time, he was on the other side of the world with his family to watch the Lions play in New Zealand while he still had the capability of creating memories with his family. As I said, he becomes all too real. He was given probably 18 months to live. However, in true Dodi style, he has tackled his conditions the way he tackled life head-on. I have not seen him for quite a while because of Covid. The last time was at an event for MND where he was still walking and talking and taking the mickey out of all of us. It was great to see him on Saturday on the pitch at Murrayfield. I just made me realise that it has been a while. He was very frustrated early on in his diagnosis of the slow progress in the development of a treatment for MND and the related conditions and decided to form my name story foundation to try to help fund that research for a cure, knowing that it would come too late for him. I think that that is quite remarkable. His foundation has raised a significant symfan figure, some today, all of which will go to help delivering a cure and support for MND. His journey along with other sporting sufferers like Rob Burrars and the way in which the sporting world has galvanised around the cause is such an inspiration. Alexander Burnett has highlighted it together for one in six reports from the neurological alliance of Scotland. It highlights the significant work that needs to be done by Governments, including the Scottish Government, in matching the drive and ambition of Dodi and his friends. Progress is far too slow. Not because of a lack of know-how but a lack of funding of research and it is a drag on potential breakthroughs. Diagnosis is too slow as is access to treatment, so important in these life limiting conditions. There has been a call for a number of years to ensure that GPs and other medical staff are given the knowledge and the need to both recognise the symptoms and treat them as soon as possible. Surely it is time that that was acted upon. There is a huge mental health component to a diagnosis from neurological conditions and we know how stretched mental health services are at the moment. However, with these kind of life-shortening diagnoses, one would hope that mental health services are readily available. The report, unfortunately, says otherwise. In conclusion, Deputy Presiding Officer, in the words of Dodi, he said, my attitude is you should do what you can today and worry about tomorrow when it comes. This is the card that I have been dealt, so I shall just crack on. It is time that the Scottish Government and other Governments cracked on, too. He and his likes are truly inspirational. Sporting communities have rallied round and done immeasurable work to highlight these issues. Will the Scottish Government accept that same challenge? We should all refer to the last member who spoke as Bob Whittle in future. Let me congratulate Alexander Burnett on securing this important debate on improving outcomes for people with neurological conditions. I would also like to congratulate the Neurological Alliance of Scotland on the publication of their Together for the 1 in 6 report, because it is an important piece of work that marks the first time that fieldwork in this area has extended beyond England to form a UK-wide survey, giving us that important picture across the country. Neurological conditions, as we have heard, are those that affect the brain, spine or nerves, and as the name of the report suggests, one in six people in the UK suffer with one of those conditions. We suspect that that is vastly underestimated, but living with a neurological condition can be difficult, can be debilitating, and over 80 per cent of adults and 95 per cent of children consulted in the report say that their condition negatively impacts upon their mental health. However, the Scottish Government's approach to supporting people living with a neurological condition is patchy at best. I hope that the minister will acknowledge that there is considerable room for improvement. We have heard in passion, please, outside and inside this Parliament for better support from people suffering with ME, with long Covid, MS and Parkinson's, among many others. My motion from last year on the need for specialist huntingtons disease services received the support of 99 MSPs, but action has nevertheless been slow. I would welcome the minister outlining how she will ensure that every area of Scotland finally has the specialist huntingtons care and support that is required. That was promised by the Scottish Government that it backed the national care framework for huntingtons disease, and yet those areas were the greatest need for support. NHS Borders, no HD specialists, NHS Fourth Valley, no community-based HD specialists, and NHS Tayside, with no formalised HD clinical lead, are still suffering from a lack of provision. Turning back to the 1 in 6 report, it outlined that whilst the pandemic has undoubtedly played a part in worsening the outlook for people with neurological conditions, the challenges were around long before Covid-19 first appeared on the horizon. There is no doubt equally that the cost of living crisis will exacerbate the challenges because it disproportionately affects people with neurological conditions. However, we have already heard that data, workforce, mental health support, access to early diagnosis and services are of key importance. The statistics are bleak, and as Alexander Burnett said, 50 per cent of adults experience delays in accessing routine appointments with their specialist nurse. 30 per cent adults and 38 per cent children left the consulting room with no information about their condition and no idea where to go for further support. 69 per cent of patients are not able to access specialist support when they needed it, and we do not have up-to-date accurate figures for how many people suffer from neurological conditions. If it is important, then let us count it, because that is how we need data to plan services. Campaigners have been fighting for action on this for long before our debate this evening, but the sense of urgency has never been greater. It is not good enough to leave people bearing the weight of those conditions without access to services and support. Up and down the country, those with a neurological condition feel ignored. They want and deserve to see action from this Government, and, at the very least, spend the money in the budget that I believe Alexander Burnett has highlighted as being underspent. That is where the recommendations from the 1 in 6 report come in. Those are all actions that the Scottish Government can take and can do so now. The Neurological Alliance of Scotland has done the heavy lifting for you. It has spelled out what is needed and it is now up to the Government to act. I hope that the minister will commit to seeing those actions through for all those who live with a neurological condition and for those who might one day receive such a diagnosis. I now call Rhoda Grant, who is joining us remotely, to be followed by Daniel Johnson, who will be the last speaker before I ask the minister to respond. I thank Alexander Burnett for bringing this debate to the chamber. The Together for 1 in 6 report from the Neurological Alliance of Scotland has highlighted a number of worrying issues. I want to draw on two worrying examples from my constituency to give a bit of context. The first is that of essential tremor. I have raised the issue of magnetic resonance, guided focused ultrasound, and that can be the last time I say it in the debate, to be made available on the NHS in Scotland for essential tremor patients. An issue raised by my constituent, Mary Ramsey, in her petition in the Parliament, we have the equipment and the skills available in Scotland and yet we are referring and paying for patients to be treated south of the border because MRG-FUS is available on the NHS in England. Despite the long waiting lists that we have in Scotland for deep brain stimulation, the Scottish Government refused to support the roll-out of this less invasive and considerably less expensive procedure on the NHS, which is actually available here and indeed. I hope that the cabinet secretary will meet those who deliver MRG-FUS treatment at the drop-in event in the Parliament next March. I also wish to turn to the provision of MS specialist nursing. Clinical standards were launched in 2009 to set out the level of care for people with MS that people with MS should expect. The MS Society in Scotland estimate around 15,750 people in Scotland are actually living with MS and the prevalence of those living with MS in the western isles is among the highest in the world. In 2011, I brought the issue of an MS specialist nurse for the western isles to this chamber and subsequently an MS specialist nurse post was created in the western isles in line with every mainland health board in Scotland. However, NHS western isles have chosen to cut their specialist MS nurse post along with their specialist epilepsy nurse and replace them with a more generalist advanced neurological nurse. That was done without consultation with local people or national stakeholders, including the MS Society, who had initially provided pump-prime funding for the post. The case load for that one generalist advanced neurological nurse has increased profoundly. That generalist nurse right now is estimated to support 1,000 patients. The recommended case load for one nurse treating just MS patients is around 315. That is with additional support that is not available in the western isles. Even under the western isles proposal to have two full-time general neurological nurses, the case load is still far too high. I am concerned that this decision made without consultation with patients will be copied throughout Scotland, placing standards of care and accessibility to treatment at risk. Let me be clear that the decision is one that does not save money, it rather increases the cost and burden on the NHS. In a cost of living crisis, surely we should be supporting more localised delivery of specialist services. MS specialist nurses play a vital role in helping those who live with MS access important rehabilitation treatment and disease modifying therapies shown to reduce the progression of their MS. Removing and reducing access to that vital care is put in patients at risk. The GEMSS MS specialist nurse evaluation project suggests that each MS specialist nurse saved on average £77,400 per year. Government must live up to its promises and must ensure that MS nurses' new posts are retained and I ask them to do so. Thank you very much, Deputy Presiding Officer. I thank Alexander Burnett for bringing this important matter to the chamber. It gives a great pleasure to follow on from him and others in this debate. Given his work that he carries out through the CPG in autism, indeed I am pleased to be the vice-chair of that. I just direct members to my register of interest in that I am the vice-chair of the ADHD Foundation. I apologise if I stray into things that are very much neurological conditions. I very much come from a perspective and knowledge of neurodevelopmental disorders. Given that neurological conditions encompass such a broad range of conditions, ranging from epilepsy to autism, motor neurone disease to cerebral palsy, encompassing things that are lifelong conditions to those that are sudden onset, those that are chronic but stable to those that are degenerative and, indeed, ultimately fatal, we are talking about a very broad range of conditions, a broad range of understandings, a broad range of needs, requirements and help and assistance that people need. It strikes me that the point that the member made in his introduction is therefore a vital one. We are talking about a broad range of different conditions, a broad range of needs. Therefore, we must have data. If you do not have data, then you cannot ensure that you are addressing those conditions properly, providing those services, but it is not just actually the act of capturing that data in itself. That act of capturing that data and our screening can help the individuals as well. This is something that is well known and has been long called for, is that we frequently miss those opportunities to identify those individuals at the point that they come into contact with public services. We must capture the data both in terms of public policy but also to help individuals. I would also just point out that when it comes to those facts, there is a real cost of not understanding those things. Certainly, the conditions that I know most about, if you look at the criminal justice system, I think that you see profound public policy failure. Around 25 per cent of the prison population are estimated to have ADHD compared to 5 per cent of the general population, 50 per cent of the prison population dyslexic compared to 15 per cent of the general population. Autism is about three times overrepresented and 60 per cent of the prison population have a traumatic brain injury. That is shocking. It is a sign of public policy failure. I would say that it is a sign of injustice, and I think that it is something that we need to correct. Unless we understand the problem and collect the data, we will never be able to do that. I would just ask the minister, in her remarks, whether there is an opportunity for those conditions to be included or at least thought about when the Government brings forward its recommendations for commissioner on autism, learning disability and neurodiversity. If not, it needs to be given some thought and consideration. It is not just about ensuring that there are services and treatment for people, but it is also about having wider public policy. We are talking about conditions that are very often invisible disabilities. Therefore, it is not just about treatment but about having wider public policy to maximise accessibility and ensure that people can lead a normal day-to-day life. Finally, I would like to echo and reinforce the points around access to diagnosis. The survey work is welcome, but I think that it grossly underestimates the severity of the problem. My case work is full of people who are not just struggling to get a diagnosis or assessment within 12 months, but who are struggling to get it within two or even three years. That is just an appalling failure. You cannot help people until they actually get the diagnosis that they need. They understand their condition. The waiting times that people are currently experiencing are, frankly, unacceptable. I would be very grateful to understand from the minister what is being done to improve waiting times for assessment. Apologies for that. That is a rookie error. Presiding Officer, I am absolutely delighted to be able to respond to this important motion on behalf of the Government this afternoon. As we continue to reform the delivery of health and social care in Scotland, I have been really keen to hear first hand about the experiences and the priorities of the neurological community. That is why we funded the neurological Alliance of Scotland to facilitate a patient experience survey in Scotland. We actively supported the Alliance to produce it together for the 1 and 6 report. I discussed its findings with the Epilepsy and MS cross-party group in June. We want to know about people's experiences. We want to know where the gaps are. We want to improve services. We want to understand the experiences of those access and care in Scotland so that we can work in partnership to identify good practice and to drive up standards. The time frame for the report encompasses the most severe pressure that our NHS has ever seen. We know that people have faced delays to diagnosis and treatment. We know that further action and investment is needed to ensure that people with neurological conditions access timely diagnosis and care. We are working hard to address that through strategies such as our NHS recovery and workforce plans. That is why our NHS recovery plan is backed by more than £1 billion of funding over five years. The plan will support increased diagnostic procedures in-patient and out-patient activity to increase capacity and to address backlogs of treatment as we work towards achieving that 12-week treatment time guarantee. Through our neurological care and support framework, the Scottish Government and the Centre for Sustainable Delivery are addressing workforce issues and care pathways. Through this neurological improvement work, we are supporting NHS boards to appoint the right staff, address neurology waiting times and improve training and career pathways. Despite the disruption to health and social care services during the pandemic, we have sustained our efforts to deliver the commitments of our neurological framework. The focus and funding for the framework has been maintained and we have spent over £2.1 million over the past two years on work to improve neurological care across Scotland. The scope and reach of the work commissioned is wide and has direct impact on improving patient care and support, including patient and carer information, better integration of services, improved care pathways and workforce capacity planning. The framework was published in 2019, and the current landscape in health and social care has, of course, significantly changed because of the pandemic. The shifting infrastructure has brought new challenges and implemented aspects of this improvement work. In light of that, we are continually assessing how we prioritise and focus our efforts to best effect. Under the guidance of our National Advisory Committee on Neurological Conditions, we are prioritising those outcomes that will have the most impact. Despite those difficulties, we have demonstrated a substantial progress, and in July we published a midpoint report setting out the significant impacts that have been made to date and the on-going work to bring about lasting improvements to neurological services. My colleagues have today urged for better data collection, and I am pleased to say that a search of the spire primary care data system has been completed for neurological conditions and will publish new prevalence data for these conditions on 13 December, which will help to support future service planning. I am very grateful to Daniel Johnson's point during his speech when he said that these neurological conditions are far too overrepresented in places such as prisons. I wonder if it is part of that work. Will the Scottish Government look at the amount of money if we invest in one side of the ledger, how we take that out, and how we come out of the other side of the ledger, which would allow us to continually invest more into neurological conditions? I am certainly keen to look at how we invest money that has the greatest impact, and that impact would not simply be in terms of clinical impact. We would be looking holistically at person-centred care at the entirety of people's needs. There are challenges. Today, we are talking about neurological care. I know that there is a big overlap with neurodevelopmental conditions. I think that, largely, Daniel Johnson was talking about neurodevelopmental conditions and their over-representation of prison. How we separate those out, and how we—I was just going to say that the important thing to me is that individual patient needs are met and that we are able to treat people holistically in a person-centred way wherever they are presenting. I am grateful to the minister for giving me a—I mean a very clearly pointed to TBI, which I think certainly has neurological aspects. I think that the key point is absolutely having a holistic thing, but it is also about understanding the points at which people might come into contact with various public services, public bodies, and thinking about how we can use that as an opportunity to help them, but also capture data and understand that better. Whether that is the prison service or the health service, that is important. Does the minister agree with that point? I would absolutely agree with that point, and I think that there is a real opportunity to improve prisoners' health at the time that they are in prison, and I think that there is a real opportunity to make a lasting impact on their life while they are in prison, which will last way beyond their stay in prisons. I absolutely could not agree more. Alexander Burnett raised the issue of the workforce plan. Now, while the NHS recovery plan and the workforce plan were not conditioned specific, the aim is to effect whole system recovery and to support priorityisation and planning. I mentioned that our national advisory committee for neurological conditions is identifying priorities to strengthen the neurological workforce alongside the national workforce strategy, the remobilisation plans and the rehabilitation framework. I thank the minister for taking that intervention. As we are near the end of the debate, could I be so rude as to repeat the substance of the main question this evening, which Jackie Baillie asked and which those in the gallery have come to ask as well, is whether the minister will commit now to allocating the remaining £2.3 million by 2025? On allocating the remaining funding, we are continually assessing how we prioritise and focus our efforts under the guidance of the national advisory committee, some of whom are here in the gallery today as well. They are guiding us and prioritising the actions that will have the greatest impact for people who are living within neurological condition. Jackie Baillie, I absolutely endorse the process that she has outlined, but I think that the question was simple. Is the money still available to be spent? Yes, the money is still available to be spent. What we want to do is to spend it with the greatest impact. Let me quickly cover a couple of the other points that have been raised during this debate. I have met the Scottish Huntington's Association to discuss the points from Jackie Baillie's motion. We have since 2015 committed over half a million in funding to the Scottish Huntington's Association towards the development of the national care framework and to support the organisation's specialist support devices and initiatives to raise awareness of the condition. On patient information provision, through the neurological framework, we are funding several projects to improve the provision of good quality information to people with neurological conditions. We are also working with NHS Inform, which is a fabulous platform. It is basically our Scottish NHS on the web. We are working with consultant neurologists and third sector partners to review and to create content on neurological conditions for that website. New and updated pages have already been published for conditions such as MS, epilepsy, FND and Huntington's disease. Because I have taken a few interventions for a little bit short of time, I would like to thank everyone who has contributed stories and experiences today. I want to close by returning to the findings of Together for the 1 in 6 report. We know that data is not just data, that there are human stories and individual experiences behind those numbers, and I want to assure you that we will continue to work with the data to understand the underlying factors contributing to listening to the lived experience and developing solutions. We will continue the improvement work that we have begun through the framework, collaborating with partners across statutory and third sector to achieve better outcomes and maximise the quality of life for people with neurological conditions. Thank you Minister. That concludes the debate and I close this meeting.