 The next item of business is a member's business debate on motion 4.021, in the name of George Adam, on MS Awareness Week. This debate will be concluded without any questions being put. I could ask those members who wish to speak in the debate to press the request-to-speak buttons now. I call on George Adam to open the debate, Mr Adam. Seven minutes are there abouts, please. Thank you, Presiding Officer. I welcome to what has become known as Stacey's Scottish Parliament MS Awareness Week. My colleague, Gordon MacDonald, says that he says that every year that is because he has been married happily for 21 years and I know my place. I would like to say, Presiding Officer, that last year we were not able to have this debate because of the Scottish elections, but this cross-party group on MS in this Parliament has always been extremely focused. It has always decided that, since it has been first convened, we have always set goals for ourselves and what we can achieve. Over the years we have debated many issues affecting those who live with MS in recent years, it has been the devastating impact of Tory so-called welfare reforms and how people with MS have been singled out by the Westminster Government because of those reforms. This year, we want to talk about the work of the specialist MS nurse. They are very important support for all those who live with MS in many sites of MS nurse as their key contact for treatment, care and support. Before I go on in more detail, I would like to talk about multiple sclerosis in general and how it is an important part of Stacey in my life. As I have said just about every year, we have this debate. MS does not define Stacey or I as a couple. Yes, Stacey has an incurable condition since she was 16 years old, but no one really talks about Stacey as a woman with MS. In fact, the opposite is true. Recently, Stacey has been explaining to people how she is a vulnerable adult. Technically, she is, but to Stacey's disappointment, people whom she knows and colleagues tend to laugh when she mentions it because no one sees her that way, no matter how bad her disability gets. No one really sees her as a vulnerable adult. I know that I irritate Stacey, but I also think that it is a great compliment to her fighting spirit. She never backs off my challenge and unfortunately for me, from a fight. In June 9 this year, Stacey and I will have been married for 21 years. I am led to believe that local bookies in Paisley were giving odds against us last six months, but here we are. We proved them all wrong. Stacey walked down the aisle that day, and today she is more likely to be seen buzzing about the Parliament in her scooter. Life has changed, but her spirit has not. On that day, 21 years ago, my mother-in-law, Rosemary, said that I was always a very likable young man. She says, I have not heard the punchline yet, Mr D. Not what she wanted for her daughter, but a very likable young man. I probably did not help on that occasion by giving her absolute pelters in my groom's speech. However, how we have dealt with all the challenges over the years and how have we done that? Well, as the old song goes, love grows where my saint mirror goes. I will probably pay for that later, because my mother-in-law is called Rosemary. However, we have taken the matter of one-town-one team to such an extent that, along with Gordon Scott and 1,300 fans, we have bought the team. We may have had to deal with the many ups and downs of that great team, but it is a love that we both share. My tie this evening is the limited edition anniversary tie celebrating the great Scottish Cup win from 30 years ago. On Saturday, we both will be at Paisley 2021 stadium, but it is probably a friend from the football that I have noticed the biggest difference in Stacey's condition. We have gone from sitting amongst all our friends in the stadium to now having to ensure that we can get access for Stacey's wheelchair, but that is a completely different debate for another day. However, as Stacey's condition has progressed, her reliance on the MS nurse has become more important. Since multiple sclerosis is such a complex condition, everyone's symptoms are different and you need that speciality of care. There are always new treatments available and unless you have access to that kind of expertise, you may miss out. Your MS nurse can monitor your condition and can help to ensure that when you do meet your consultant, you get more out of the actual meeting. The problem that we currently have is that there are not enough MS nurses in Scotland. There are 11,000 people in our country who live with MS, and they need that specialist support. The MS trust recommends a sustainable caseload of 358 people with multiple sclerosis per full-time specialist nurse. At present, only five of the 11 mainland health boards are deemed as having sustainable MS specialist nursing provision. Across Scotland, that is currently 25.9 full-time equivalent MS specialist nurses. Greater Glasgow and Clyde, for once, can say that they have got a good record in this, because, as the MS society has said, MS specialist nurse caseload in NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde recommends that they have a sustainable model and is actually more than what they currently need. However, that is not the case in other areas. The very idea of the MS nurse plays into the very important role of self-management policies that the Scottish Government promotes and helps to reduce acute admissions through monitoring and understanding of the condition. That has changed dramatically since Stacey was diagnosed 20 years ago. The Scottish MS Register 2016 report showed that 63 per cent of newly diagnosed patients had contact with an MS nurse specialist within 10 days of diagnosis, but that provision can be patchy throughout Scotland. That raises concerns about the level of capacity within MS nursing provision and the levels of support that they are given to do their job. I understand that the neurological standards are being reviewed at the moment, and I look forward to the MS society playing a leading role in helping to shape future provision, as their expertise will be vital. However, one of the problem areas that we have is NHS Lanarkshire. It recently had only one MS specialist nurse who was dealing with 1,200 patients. That is well in excess of the recommended 358. The woman has since moved on into another role, luckily, within the MS community, and she works with MS Revive in Glasgow. However, that leaves us with no provision for anyone who lives with MS in Lanarkshire. NHS Lanarkshire, for its part, has been unhelpful when the CPG has asked questions for any further updates on the current position. That must be addressed as there are currently people in Lanarkshire with no MS nurse. In NHS Lothian, there are two MS nurses with a caseload of 1,200 patients, still too much for them but still better than NHS Lanarkshire. When I asked what your MS nurse means to you, Stacey said in a recent MS society Scotland video, she helps me, she gives me valuable advice and we have a laugh when we shouldn't. Those specialist nurses are a resource that we must keep, because long-term they will save our NHS money. They will continue to work with families who are living with MS and help to manage that horrible condition. Ensure that people with MS get access to disease-modifying drugs, DMTs that will help their quality of life. As I have said, MS affects more than 11,000 people in Scotland. It is often painful and exhausting and can cause problems with how people walk, move and see. In Stacey's condition, I think that I have mentioned before, two weeks after we are married, she turned round to me one day and said, George, I can see two of you at the moment and I said, life just gets better and better for you Stacey. It can also affect how they think and feel. In MS, the coating around the nerve fibres called myelin is damaged and it is a condition that you will have for the rest of your life. There is no cure but research is progressing fast. There is still hope that one day, and at some time, a cure can be found. Personally, I think that it is a long way in the future, but that will not stop Stacey and I living our life. We will carry on fighting and arguing. Sorry, no, that was not in the script here. We will carry on for the rest of our life. For the next 21 years, watching something, crying about something, arguing about something, along spending time with our family, our children and beautiful grandkids, because no matter what life throws at us, it is not going to get us down and we both have far, far too much to be happy about. Thank you, Mr Ram. You are a brave man. Your wife is in the gallery listening to your taking notes. I move to open the debate. I call Fulton MacGregor to be followed by Miles Briggs. Mr MacGregor, please. Thank you, Presiding Officer. It is great that we have this opportunity to raise awareness and talk about the topic of AMS during AMS Awareness Week. I would like to thank George Adam for bringing to a member's debate in the chamber. I know how much this issue means to him and his family, and it is clear from what he said there and what he said to others that he has recognised as a champion in this area across the country for those with AMS. Indeed, I first met George long before AMS, and he came out to a meeting in Coatbridge. During his speech that night, he talked about AMS and what he was doing in the chamber. It has been a long-standing issue that he has taken forward. As George has already said, there is a lifelong neurological condition that affects more than 11,000 people in Scotland, and 600 new cases identified each year. It is vital that we educate ourselves about the impact that this condition has on sufferers and their families. AMS treatments and diagnoses have evolved and advanced in recent years, changing the way in which we view and treat AMS. However, it is still a condition that is unpredictable. Symptoms vary from day to day and from person to person and can be confusing and are lonely time for people who are newly diagnosed or are struggling with a change in their symptoms. It is also a condition with a particular high rate in Scotland, and I know that the reason for this is still unknown with many theories circulating, including a lack of fitment day, but it should be the case that Scotland should take the lead in tackling this issue. As others have and will say, I would like to take this chance to recognise the fantastic and invaluable work that the health professionals play in aiding people with AMS to manage their condition, in particular the AMS specialist nurses that George talked about, who provide front-line support. I would like to spend most of my speech, I will vote the remainder of my speech, concentrating on local people affected. A gentleman whom I have known for many years, Mr Clive Whiteside, who I believe is in the chamber in the gallery today, had his diagnosis in 2002. He probably would not mind me saying this, but my earliest memories of Clive were him chasing me and my friends from plain football off the wee bit of grass that was next to his then house. When he received his diagnosis, Clive was immediately put in touch with the MS nurse who was able to give him the advice and support that he needed to cope with the shock, explain the reality of the condition to him and still is Clive's first port of call in living with AMS. The nurse was able to provide helpful, vital networks for Clive, put them in touch with others, living with AMS and became a linchpin for his life, along with his wife Linda. Clive was receiving counselling at St Andrew's Hospice in Airdrie and got to know the nursing staff there well. Some of the nurses were discussing setting up a group locally to support MS sufferers and the head nurse Annemarie Tolland. Ask Clive if he would like to become involved with this. Both Clive and Linda were keen to do this and started to gauge support by leafletting doors, speaking with family and friends using social media and local press. Two pilot meetings were set up in December 2012 and there were a few people in attendance and it was decided that the group should meet monthly. Further work was done to raise awareness of the group by the third meet and by the third meeting of the group, they nearly ran out of chairs. The group continued to meet and became Sam's in early 2013 and a low independent of St Andrew's Hospice, Sam's group continued to meet with the support and blessing of the hospice and it has been a success since. But another interesting part of Clive's story is Tim the MS bear, who some of you may know from social media. Tim was gifted to Clive and Linda and rather than have him sitting about the house, Clive decided to put him on social media to raise MS awareness. Tim went out and about with him and Linda and his adventures were posted on social media. Clive had anticipated the following that Tim would generate. Clive started to receive messages from other MS sufferers and their families, including a lady in America who got in touch regarding her husband, who was extremely unwell and to say that Tim had made her husband laugh. She then shared her story with Clive. Others did the same and Tim has become a very successful in breaking down the barriers and opening up discussion about the reality of living with any MS. Clive tells me that when Tim is photographed on his travels, people often ask, what is the bear all about? That is the point that allows the opportunity to discuss MS. You are asking me to finish up. I was going to go on and speak about the issue of MS specialist nurses in Lanarkshire, as George Adam has mentioned. I know that others will speak about that in their speeches, but it is needless to say that I will continue to fight this case for Clive and with the likes of George Adam in this chamber. I hope that NHS Lanarkshire, who has now committed to two nurses, should do more and commit to the three at the least that they need. I will close on that. I, too, would like to congratulate George Adam on securing today's debate and pay tribute to his consistent campaigning on this issue around MS and passion for this important subject. I also thank the MS Society Scotland for its useful briefing ahead of today's debate. I agree with George Adam that we should commend the role of all health professionals who are involved in supporting people with MS, especially MS specialist nurses. I share his concern that there are simply not enough MS specialist nurses in Scotland right now. In my own region of Lothian, the two MS nurses have to manage a combined caseload of more than 1200 individuals, yet the MS trust recommends a sustainable caseload of 358 people with MS per whole-time nurse. So Lothian's nurses are having to deal with almost three times more patients than has been said to be sustainable. It means that too few MS patients who are newly diagnosed with the condition can actually be seen by a specialist nurse within the target contact time of 10 days after diagnosis. That is concerning and unacceptable. That is why I have called on the Scottish Government to undertake a review of all specialist nurses and nursing teams in Scotland. As George Adam has said, we need to see a major improvement in enhanced specialist nursing capacity and care across Scotland. In responding to the debate, I hope that the minister will outline whether or not the Scottish Government will commit to that specialist nursing review in Scotland. MS nurses play such a vital part in allowing MS sufferers to self-manage their condition, and the nurses' monitoring and specific understanding of individual patients can help to reduce acute emissions. If we are to invest in specialist nurses, I believe that we can make savings by reducing the pressure on acute care in hospitals, which sometimes they need. I also want to highlight some of the world class research into MS, which is being conducted here in Edinburgh at Edinburgh University Centre for MS Research, as George Adam has mentioned. The centre was founded in 2007 with funding from the MS Society, which was renewed for further five years in 2015. The research by academics such as Dr Veronique Moran has the potential to increase vastly our understanding of MS, provide better modelling of the condition and help to find new and effective treatments. This work is vital, and I wish all those academics and researchers involved every success. We understand the cause of MS, and while we may be in some way finding the actual cure, research is progressing fast. I am pleased that Edinburgh and Scotland are at the forefront globally of this fantastic work. Before closing, I wish to talk about the potential benefit that the implementation of Frank's law would give to MS sufferers who are under 65 in Scotland. As with dementia and other life-limiting degenerative conditions, it seems patently unfair that the current care support system actively discriminates against people under 65 with those illnesses in Scotland. I hope that MSPs from all parties, including SNP members, will get behind the Frank's law campaign and support me in pressing the Scottish Government to put this into practice. Finally, Deputy Presiding Officer, I again welcome today's important debate and thank George Adam once again for bringing it to the chamber. Many of my constituents in Lothian are involved with MS Awareness Week, and I wish them success with the awareness-raising and fundraising efforts that they are undertaking across Lothian region. Thank you very much, Mr Briggs. I call Claire Houghy to be followed by Monica Lennon. Ms Houghy, please. Sharon is a woman with the same responsibilities as many of us. She works, she is a nurse, and, like many parents, she is to balance home life with work. She is also a cherished daughter, wife to her husband and mother of two wonderful children. Sharon has MS, and that makes everything so much harder. Sharon is in the public gallery today to watch this debate, and although I have known Sharon for many years, this is the first time that she has told me what it is really like to live with MS. She said, The biggest issue that I found is people's perception of what MS is. MS is an invisible illness, and I have had people say to me, you don't look disabled as I don't use a wheelchair. They always expect you to be using a wheelchair. I suppose that it's hard enough, knowing that I have a disease that does significantly impact on my life and my family's, but when other folk don't see an obviously unwell person, they don't recognise the level of support required can still be significant. What's also difficult is that my family are always alert to my condition and look for signs and symptoms that might mean that my MS is getting worse. Sharon was diagnosed when her son was four years old. He's grown up, always knowing that mum can't do certain things. She has mobility issues and can't always do the usual simple things a mum wants to do with her children, like playing in the park or running after a ball. Sharon can struggle with things that other mums are lucky enough not to. Not only is this physically painful, it takes an emotional toll too. Sharon also spoke about her experience of fatigue and brain fog as she puts it, which is where concentration and focus becomes extremely difficult, all too common for those with MS. She has days where she feels fine, but she also has days where she can hardly move her focus. Most people have a reserve of energy that is used up throughout the day, especially for those juggling a home life and a job, but for those with MS, that reserve can run out far more quickly than most people appreciate. Sharon also feels pressure, pressure about benefit reviews and fitness assessments, and she's fearful that she will lose the blue badge that is vital for her work and her private life. We should all work to make the lives of people like Sharon easier, not harder. MS affects 11,000 of our fellow Scots, and, as we have heard, it is a condition that impacts them not just physically but mentally and socially too. We in this chamber should listen to the voices of those who live with MS like Sharon and learn what they need to make their lives easier. I, too, am concerned, however, that NHS Lanarkshire, which covers my constituency, is currently without an MS nurse. To have had a service based on one individual is not sustainable, as evidenced when the one and only MS nurse resigned her post. Whilst I have been reassured that they are looking to recruit two nurses, with the second post initially funded by the MS trust, that still leaves a gap in provision in Lanarkshire until they are in place. However, both of those nurses will be paid at band six when the MS trust nurses throughout the UK are paid at band seven. In fact, NHS Lanarkshire is the only Scottish mainland NHS board that does not employ band seven MS nurses. The previous MS nurse in Lanarkshire had, as we have already heard, a caseload of around 1100, when the MS society says that a caseload of around 350 is more realistic. Having two nurses in the service still will not be enough to meet the needs of people with MS in Lanarkshire, but it is at least an improvement. For MS nurses to have career progression and for there to be succession planning in this field, health boards must look at their skill mix in those services and make them sustainable and continue to be able to provide the service that those with MS deserve. Thank you very much. Ms Hawke, if I look a bit distracted, it's because I remember I pressed the request to speak button and they've now done it. I'm not naming you, Mr Finnie. I call Monica Lennie—I'll call a bigger part. Monica Lennie, yes, we've followed now by Mr Finnie who's now pressed his button. Ms Lennie, thank you, Presiding Officer. I'd like to begin by really thanking George Adam for the way that he's championed the MS community. It feels sometimes that perhaps MS Awareness Week happens more than once a year, although Paisley and St Myrran get an awareness day every day that George Adam is in Parliament. George Adam and I had a nice chat yesterday ahead of the debate, because, like George Adam, Claire Hawke and others—I'm very concerned about the picture in NHS Lanarkshire, not what's just emerged in the daily records this week, which was very upsetting for me personally, because Emma Smith is our friend— I've got a wee thing about props. I've put it back down, but because it's been well known for some time that to have one nurse in NHS Lanarkshire with a case of over 1,200 isn't sustainable or safe or desirable by anyone's standards. I am the first to defend the NHS, not just people on the front line, but the big bosses too, because they have difficult jobs to do, but I was very upset on behalf of constituents of mine who were very upset that, in making their remarks to try and reassure the public that they are taking every step possible, they also had a goal and they accused unnamed people of scaremongering and raising anxiety. Now, I quickly got phone calls from MS patients in my area. I've emailed NHS Lanarkshire and they've promptly replied. I just want to say this so that any patients who have been speaking out and speaking to MSPs know that NHS Lanarkshire say that it wasn't aimed at them and they certainly apologise to any patients who have been offended. Several patients have been speaking to me and they were content for me to share their testimonies, but I'm not going to do that tonight. I'm not going to name them. I think that we've seen a story, but I don't want people feeling concerned that they can't speak out. It's clear to me that everyone in Lanarkshire who has been a patient of the nurse who recently resigned have nothing but the highest praises for her and we certainly wish her well and please that she will remain within the MS community, but it's not acceptable that things get to this stage now. There seems to be an awful lot of defensiveness and secrecy from NHS Lanarkshire. I've been speaking to the MS Society a few times this week and it's great that it's in Parliament. People are still concerned. I hope that, perhaps in closing it, the minister might pick up on some of those concerns and genuine anxieties that people have. Of course, this week is about celebrating the nurses and also about raising awareness. Other members have done that quite effectively because we need to see the person rather than just the illness. This morning, I was quite fortunate that the MS Society stall was right outside a meeting room in the garden lobby. I had to quite short notice a group of students, young people, with their teachers visiting from Sweden and they asked me what is a typical day in Parliament like and what are you doing today. I was able to point to the MS Society and tell them that this is a very open Parliament where people come and they talk to MSPs and the lobby us, but we get a chance to have a debate like this and actually come together and celebrate the fantastic work that our MS nurses do. We need more of them and I hope that the minister will take that on board. 25.9 full-time equivalents just simply isn't enough when you look at the scale of the challenge that MS patients in Scotland face. Again, I just want to thank George Adam for bringing this debate to the chamber. I hope to be able to contribute in years to come and also to wish George Adam and Stacey a happy anniversary when it comes. I call John Finnie to be followed by Ben Macpherson, Mr Finnie, and please don't take it badly. I forgot to put my card in. I did worse than you. Thank you, Presiding Officer. The one way to guarantee to get the sun to go away is to move out the sun quite clearly because that's why I move seats. Can I apologise for that and can I congratulate George Adam on a number of things? Can I congratulate him on the motion? Can I congratulate him on his role in the cross-party group, which works very effectively with the assistance of the MS society? Can I congratulate him on his promotion of the positive aspects of dealing with the pernicious thing that is MS? His generally positive outlook, which I imagine is an essential characteristic of the St. Mirren fan, and I wish him very well if not his team. The motion talks about welcoming this opportunity to put MS on the agenda. Well, it's certainly to many and to many in this chamber and to what 11,000 people in Scotland, of course it's never off the agenda. It's never off the agenda for them, it's never off the agenda for their carers and their loved ones. I'd forgotten why it didn't have one last year because it just seems to have been a regular feature. But I was reflecting on what might have happened in the intervening year and the personal issues that people have faced, the undulating nature of the condition which George Adam very well outlined. If I were able to use a prop, I'd be holding up a piece of paper that says that MS sufferer slams awful benefits chiefs who axed her mobility car in favour of £65,000 taxis. There is no doubt that the welfare reform that the cruel and heartless Tory Government at Westminster has foisted on us has had an impact on everyone, not least the woman who had her one of 800 a week who had her car removed. However, the decision was reflected on and the same Government department ruled that she did qualify for help to get to her work so that they are paying £19,000 a year for taxes. That's the economics of the madhouse, it's deeply offensive to that woman and it shows a heartlessness that really we don't want to see. What we do want to see of course is independence and mobility and there are many practical issues around that that I and I'm sure others deal with on a regular basis. I was very keen to support the RMT's case for against driver-only operation and to have the safety critical guard on the train. It's particularly the case when I heard about the situation with people often wheelchair bound being carried beyond stops because there was no assistance given there and this was very eloquently explained by Gail Faulkner, a friend in the Highlands who is an MS sufferer. I attended a meeting and explained the frustrations of travel, the planning that needs to go into it and the advice and support that is needed. Also dealing with someone with mobility issues and a repeated failure and a lift at a ferry terminal, those can be very, very, if we want to work together and have a collaborative approach to dealing with issues, it's small things like that we need to get sorted. The challenges of bus travel are well known. A very limited time but I also want to talk about the challenges of recruitment of the specialist, be it the neurologists or MS nurses. That's been touched on in the situation in Lanarkshire. I'm particularly concerned about the retention of specialist staff that the Brexit and the threat that's posed by that. I think that there's a lot to be very positive about. I won't reiterate a lot of what was said in the carers debate this afternoon. I know that there's a lot of common ground. Setting aside the partisan nature of some of the amendments and that, there's a lot of ground that recognises the real benefit that carers provide. Likewise, the motion talks about commending the charities MS Society Scotland, MS Trust, and I know the good work that's happening across the area and particularly some innovative work in Murray that I'm aware of. Also the MS Therapy centres and I've visited in recent, fairly recent times, Inverness, Kirkwall, Oban, Lacholpid and Petrie. There's a lot to be positive about. There's a lot of challenges there. What people who suffer from MS need to know is that people in this chamber give them their unqualified support. Once again, I thank George for bringing the motion. Before I call the next speaker, I've got four members still wishing to speak. I'm therefore minded to accept a motion without notice under rule 8.14.3 to extend the debate by up to 30 minutes. Can I invite the member to move a motion without notice? Motion takes then moved. The question is that the debate be extended by up to 30 minutes. Are we all agreed? We are agreed. I therefore call Ben Macpherson to be followed by Donald Cameron. Mr Macpherson, please. Thank you very much, Presiding Officer. I too would like to warmly congratulate my colleague George Adam for his motion and for bringing this important debate to the Parliament. I would also like to send warm congratulations to Dean Riley from Scotland, who ran the London Marathon on Sunday for the MS Society in his campaign, Dean vs MS, and completed the marathon and raised significant funds. I think that we should all send him our congratulations. During MS week, we all have the chance to reflect on the effects of MS, the 11,000 sufferers of MS, in Scotland and in our country, and also to think about what more action can be taken to help our constituents suffering with MS to manage the symptoms that they are dealing with on a daily basis and to think collectively and collaboratively about how we can support initiatives towards trying to find a cure for this disease. Fellow members have already raised the point about support for MS nurses and funding for MS specialist nurses. The points around NHS Lothian have been raised by George Adam and Miles Briggs. The MS Society points out that NHS Lothian has the second-highest MS patient to MS specialist nurse ratio in Scotland, and the trust has highlighted that NHS Lothian needs two additional MS nurses to achieve a sustainable and ideal patient caseload ratio. I also want to raise attention and awareness of that point. However, most significantly today, what I wanted to do was to raise awareness and support for local grass roots MS organisations throughout Scotland. I will pay particular attention to the MS therapy centre in Lothian, which is based in Leith in my constituency. Before moving on, I should declare an interest that I am a patron of this charity, a charity that has supported individuals with MS for as long as I have been alive since 1984. These centres, such as the MS therapy centre in Lothian, do significant, important and really meaningful work to support people living with MS by providing a range of different support and services across aspects of their lives. For example, they provide oxygen treatment, which is also known as hyperbaric oxygen therapy in their oxygen tanks. They provide physiotherapy, yoga, pilates and other ways of helping with self-management for those with MS. There is increased demand on some of the statutory services supporting individuals with MS. Local grass roots organisations play a key role in organisations from the third sector and the not-for-profit sector. It is important to raise awareness of the great work that they do and to inquire whether we can do more to support them. Finally, as Miles Briggs alluded to, I think that it is important to emphasise and celebrate the great work that is going on at Edinburgh University to try and work towards finding a cure for this disease. The laboratory and clinical research that they do is pioneering and it is world-leading. As we all work towards helping individuals, constituents and individuals that we know who are suffering from this disease, we are also trying to work towards a scenario where we are not just managing the symptoms of this awful disease but working towards a position where we can have medical solutions to curing this disease and alleviating suffering more completely. I thank George Adam for lodging this motion for allowing us to debate MS here in the chamber. As a member of the cross-party group on MS, I am keenly aware of George Adam's role in convening that CPG. It is a truly cross-party one and his long-standing interest in MS is ably supported by Mrs Adam. I can give witness to that. Also, the work of the MS Society Scotland, who acts as the secretary at and has done sterling work in promoting MS and what we can do for it, not least this week. In many debates, especially relating to health conditions, members often describe their personal involvement with a certain condition. I find that, often or almost always, as a result, their contribution is all the more powerful, given that it is coloured by private or family experience. In that vein, I would like to talk about my father. He has suffered from MS for 32 years. He learned that he had a disease in the mid-1980s, when knowledge of the condition was still at an early stage. Luckily, he has been cared for well and the disease's progression for him, while steady, has been slow. He was diagnosed when he was at the age of 40, which is the age that I am now. I find myself thinking about him a lot in this debate. I can just about remember him without the disease. I can remember playing football in the park with him, having a race with him, but almost all of my life, my memory of him, is living with MS. I would like to pay tribute to his courage in living with it and in his positive and optimistic attitude. He has never let it get him down, and I have never heard him complain. What have I learned from that experience? I have learned that, like other diseases, MS affects the person with it, of course, but it also affects the other members of the family. I have seen, at first hand, the effects on him, on his movement, on his walking. I have seen how it can, especially as he gets older, the complications it has with other conditions or sicknesses. I have seen the difficulties he faces in everyday life, filling a car with petrol or travelling on the trains in Scotland. I have seen, at first hand, that having MS in a rural setting provides its own challenges. Ben Macpherson talked about grassroots MS organisations. I could not agree with him more. The MS Society in Lochaber is one that I know best. As the MS Society briefing for NHS Highland says, one of the issues is long travel times in reaching outlying areas. The MS specialist nurse, for example, in our Garland butte splits her time, her post, between MS and Parkinson's care. She will have a case load of 150 people with MS, and therefore 0.5 specialist is within what is called a sustainable case load. However, that assumes that the nurse has three days of administrative support, and such a nurse also needs professional development. There are other pressures. 80 per cent of respondents to the MS Society survey are still seen in hospital, despite the move that we all support of caring in the community. One issue that has been raised in the cross-party group is the need for neurological conditions to move up the list of priorities for IJBs. Too often, integration is about governance, structures, finance and strategy. However, quickly, we must also start concentrating on specific conditions and make integration work in practice. MS affects 11,000 people in Scotland, three times as many women as men, and it remains a huge issue. One that I want to stay close to whilst at MSP. I have great pleasure in supporting the motion tonight. It is an issue very close to my heart. It is a disease that I have grown up with, I have lived with, I have watched. I now find myself explaining to my children why their grandfather can't walk. He is unstintingly optimistic. He enjoys life to the full. I would like to end by thanking him publicly for the example he has set me in life. He has never been defined by MS. He lives with it, but I would also like to think that he has defeated it. I call Liam McArthur to be followed by Clare Adamson, the last speaker in the open debate. Mr McArthur, thank you very much. Like others, I join in thanking George Adam for allowing Parliament the opportunity to raise awareness of MS in the particular way that it affects individuals. Acknowledge the way that the disease affects the 11,000 sufferers currently in Scotland, their family, friends, colleagues and those around them. I pay tribute not just to the health professionals but to many others who provide the necessary care and support. I led a similar debate on MS back in 2013. It was clear that St Myrran had a crucial midweek fixture that evening, but there was good reason for me leading that debate and taking part in many of the debates over the years. Orkney has the dubious honour of having the highest incidence of MS not just anywhere in Scotland but anywhere in the world. When I led the debate in 2013, I quoted research carried out by the teams at Edinburgh University and Aberdeen University. At that stage, the incidence of MS in Orkney was found to have almost doubled since the 1980s. Since then, it has continued to rise. Almost 100 sufferers now amongst a population of just over 20,000 with a particularly high rate amongst women. The reason for that is not yet appear abundantly clear. Dr James Wilson, himself an Orcadian, leading the research at Edinburgh University, said that those findings may reflect improved diagnostic methods, improved survival or rising incidence. I plead no doubt that more research is needed and so indeed it is. I am pleased that this evening's debate is focusing on the role played by health professionals who play such a critical role in providing that support, and in particular MS nurses. In Orkney, that is Moira Flet, or at least 40 per cent of Moira Flet in terms of full-time equivalency. It is an invaluable and wide-ranging role initiating and monitoring treatment for people with relapsing forms of MS, providing information and support on how best to manage MS and co-ordinating care and providing vital emotional support. It is hugely appreciated. One of Moira's patients is quoted as saying, My MS nurse is great because she listens carefully to any problem, big or small, and helps to come up with the strategies to make a life with MS that little bit easier and manageable for myself and my family. George Adam talked earlier about gaps in provision across the country. I am pleased to say that Orkney, working closely with colleagues in Aberdeen, appears to be meeting the MS standard for service provision, partly due to the impressive use of telehealth over the years in developing that. However, that is not to say that there is not more that can and should be done according to the MS society to which I am very grateful for their briefing. There is much more that can be done in allowing MS sufferers in Orkney greater ability to participate in physical activity and exercise opportunity, and that is something that I will be working with Moira and others locally to help deliver. There is someone else that I want to pay tribute to this evening. I have talked in the past debates about the fantastic work done by Angela Monthe on behalf of the MS community in Orkney and more generally through her work with the MS society. Sadly, Angela and MS sufferers herself passed away recently. She was a stalwart in raising money for and awareness about MS and never missed an opportunity to brief me on the latest of issues. A particular example that springs to mind was pointing up the specific challenges in the island community of MS sufferers and their families in getting together and providing support for each other, given the logistical challenges of living in an island community. Angela is greatly missed, but she has left our lasting legacy, no doubt in part played out by the decision by pupils at Strumrace academy and Westry junior high school, to donate £3,000 each through the excellent youth philanthropy initiative, about which we should hear more in this Parliament towards helping to support MS sufferers and the MS society. I thank George Adam, as ever, for allowing Parliament to get him back to having this annual debate and allowing this Parliament to continue playing a role in raising awareness of MS, recognising the efforts of all those involved in supporting people with MS, and, most importantly, taking the steps to meet the needs of MS sufferers, their families, their friends and their colleagues, wherever they may live in Scotland. Thank you very much indeed. Thank you very much, Ms MacArthur. It just shows your enthusiasm through enthusiasm. Thank you, Presiding Officer. I also thank George Adam for securing the debate in the chamber this evening for nothing else, letting me be a small part in the George and Stacey show. I would also like to commend the work of the cross-party group on MS. It is a cross-party group that I am a member of, and I know that they work tirelessly to make sure that the understanding of MS stays at the top of the agenda in this place and in the wider community. Tonight has been themed about NHS nurses and, as the MSP from Other One Wishers, the situation in Lanarkshire is of some concern to me and to my constituents. I first learned of this when it was brought to my attention in December in 2016, where some of the group in North Lanarkshire was told that the funding for the MS trust was not to be taken up by NHS Lanarkshire to fund a second, very much needed MS specialist nurse. I was disappointed at that decision and I saw some clarification from NHS Lanarkshire and indeed have written to them and had asked that it be on the next briefing to MSPs and MPs that they hold regularly. Unfortunately, that meeting has been cancelled again. As recently as last week I wrote again to ask what the long-term plans for sustainable MS nurse support is for the constituents in the NHS Lanarkshire area, especially as we are told that the one nurse who was there had a caseload of over 1,600 patients when the recommended number is about 329. I have had the information, as we all have, from NHS Lanarkshire, but I think that we have to get some answers for them about what their long-term sustainable provision will be and what has happened to the funding that was supposed to be a seed process. I will get a bit of clarity about what is happening in NHS Lanarkshire, because from the contributions here this evening it is quite evident that it has not been as it should be or as it is throughout the rest of the country. Why is it so important, Presiding Officer? I know my place. I am a wee sister. In all things to do with MS, I defer to my sister Eileen, who is 59, and is an MS sufferer. I called her earlier today and asked her what her MS nurse meant to her. She said that it was someone at the end of the phone, someone at the end of an email, that when she was in desperate need because she had a urine infection and needed immediate care, she could go to her MS nurse and get that immediately without having to negotiate through her GP practice and go through all of those issues. She also told me that she is in the middle of negotiating the PIP process as well. My sister had a lifetime award of PIP and is finding the whole process to be completely frustrating to her. Her own professional body or trade union have told her that she ought to have been able to get a face-to-face interview at home. Rather than that, she has been asked to travel 30 miles to Birmingham to an assessment centre, something that, if she was unwell, especially if a urine infection was there, which is one of the symptoms of MS, it could have made it even more ill and it would have been a really uncomfortable and difficult journey to take part. The most frustrating thing for her is that she still works. Trying to get the day change from a Friday to a day where she does not work has been extremely difficult. She says that she is not prepared to change as she wants to work on a Friday. The reason she wants to do that is that she is a GP and she does not want to let her patients down. To me, that just highlights the complete total disaster that this system is for PIP. A health professional would be taken away from their job letting down their patients and at what cost to the economy, what cost to her placement doctor, to undergo a PIP assessment that is completely and utterly unnecessary, because we all know that the situation for MS patients will not change. It is a disease that has no cure. I highlight that because I think that this is a dystopian situation. It is terrible that people in our country, in Scotland and in the rest of the UK, are still having to undergo this PIP assessment regime. To highlight to the people who are watching today that there is still an opportunity for them to take part in the expert panels that have been set up by the Scottish Government to ensure that our replacement will have dignity at its heart. Thank you very much. I was loath to cut speeches short, because they are also very interesting, but we have the ministers enthusiastic. I will now call Eileen Campbell to close on behalf of the Government minister. Seven minutes are there. I am sorry for being a bit premature in standing up there. It is probably because we all want to go and enjoy the MS event that will happen later on in the garden lobby. I am sure that everyone will be eager to get there and take part. However, I am very pleased to have the opportunity to close today's debate marking MS Awareness Week for 2017. MS is a condition that, as we have heard from so many members this evening, touches families around the country, and everyone has some level of personal experience, whether it is a family member, a friend or a colleague. Like others this evening, I want to pay tribute to my friend and colleague, that likable young man, George Adam, whom I have known for some time—or at least, I think that that is how his mother-in-law described him, I think, those many years ago. He has campaigned with tenacity to advance the cause. I have greater support for those with MS and used his position as an MSP to continue that work. I also want to pay tribute to his wife, Stacey Adams, to a phenomenal campaigner, who is absolutely not defined by her condition but known as a tireless worker to raise awareness about MS among other issues. George said that Stacey has enormous fighting spirit, and I agree. In part, she probably does need that to support St. Myrin, but, more seriously, her strength is an absolute inspiration and echoes the great many campaigners that are here this evening and will join us in the Parliament at this evening's event. I also want to pay tribute to the members who have talked about folk that they know and the professionals that they know who either have MS or help those who do. I probably want to pick out the contribution of Donald Cameron, who was very powerful, emotional and insightful about how the impact of MS for his father is felt across his whole family and the contribution from Clare Adamson about her sister, her big sister, and her interaction with the DWP and the struggles that that has created. It is not easy for members to talk personally about their experiences in this chamber, but I think that the impact on debates is immensely important. Today's debate gives us a chance, and I think that it is an important chance and opportunity as a Parliament to come together to raise awareness of MS. As a Government, we believe that everyone living with MS should be able to access the care and the support that they need, and that includes support for their families and carers. Like members this evening, the Scottish Government values the important role that specialist nurses and allied health professionals play in supporting people with multiple sclerosis and other debilitating conditions. Specialist nurses work within multidisciplinary teams to provide invaluable support and specialist advice to people affected by particular conditions, and they also act as an important resource for the team, sharing their knowledge, their skills to teaching staff and advising on the most appropriate interventions and care plans. In recognition of the vital role, members will be aware that the First Minister announced in January 2015 that an additional £2.5 million has been invested in specialist nursing and care from 2015-16, and those funds have been earmarked as recurring to allow this important investment to be sustained. This additional funding has already enhanced patient access to specialist nursing support and advice, for example NHS Grampian, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde and NHS Fife, all-appointed additional MS clinical nurse specialists. We will publish the specialist nursing and care report soon that will set out how that additional funding has increased overall specialist capacity and how access has been enhanced. I hope that that responds in some way to the issues raised by Miles Briggs. However, we do realise that there are pressures in certain boards and will continue to work with the third sector, social care partners and NHS boards to ensure that everyone who requires specialist nursing services has access to the highest standards of care in every setting. As well as being the Minister for Public Health, I am also a Lanarkshire MSP and also have an interest in the situation in NHS Lanarkshire. We have been in contact with the board who have sought to assure us that patients will continue to receive access to a specialist nurse with MS experience, and NHS Lanarkshire has put into them arrangements in place. The board are recruiting and are in discussions with the MS trust, but we will keep close eye and continue to monitor the situation. I will also seek to remedy the issue that George Asim raised regarding updates from NHS Lanarkshire for the cross-party group. I will more generally ensure that information to MSPs about the situation is provided to those with an interest. Alongside those challenges, it is important to note the improvements that have been made, that have seen increases in MS nurses since 2009, and neurology specialist nurses have increased from 8.6 whole-time equivalents to 28.7. Preliminary figures show that the percentage of newly diagnosed patients who had contact with an MS specialist nurse within 10 days of diagnosis has increased by 4 per cent. On that and on other areas, we totally accept that progress needs to continue and work still needs to be done to make further improvements and to ensure that people who have the support that they need will work hard to do that. Ben Macpherson spoke about the support beyond the NHS and of the centre that he is a patron of in Edinburgh, and he is absolutely right to raise awareness of that work. Likewise yesterday, I was in Govan, opening revive MS support's new centre, and I met with the staff and the people who live with MS. The facility offers a range of complex person-centred treatments and support, similar to what Ben Macpherson described—oxygen, reflexology and a whole host of other complementary therapies. In Govan yesterday, we were also told about writing groups and acting groups, a whole host of different ways in which people with MS are supported. It is a fantastic example of the way in which the third sector organisations can work in partnership to complement NHS services and deliver that person-centred care that is innovative and provides much more than just treatment but also camaraderie and friendship. The Government was proud to be able to provide funding to support the development of the centre in Govan. Third sector partners such as the MS Society, MS Trust and Revive MS support do play a crucial role, and that role should be recognised. The act has powerful advocates for people with MS and they also deliver high-quality services and support to people with the condition. We have a very good and positive relationship with the MS Society. I am pleased to say that we have recently been able to provide funding to the MS Society to support their Active Together project. The project will test and evaluate approaches to enable people who are affected by MS to become more physically active. This is the first time that such an ambitious and innovative project to increase the physical activity of people with MS has been offered in Scotland, and we are really proud to be able to support that work. On Liam McArthur's point about incidents, through our MS register, we are capturing more data and starting to understand more about incidents rates in Scotland. We want to take that further and work to understand that prevalence and its causes via funded research, and we will continue to keep members of their interests updated as that work progresses. However, to close, I thank all members for their thoughtful and personal remarks throughout the debate. I am sure that I will see some of them again very shortly at the MS Society event in the Garden lobby. It is important that we continue to strive for improvements in all aspects of care for people with MS. We must and will keep looking at how we can do better, how we should transform and improve care, how we can equip ourselves to deliver even better health and social care services in the future for those who live with MS and other neurological conditions. We have a hugely committed and professional workforce in our NHS. With the continued support and hard work of everyone involved, we are confident that we can continue to improve care and provide better support for people living with MS. I want to pay tribute once again to George Adam for raising this debate in the Parliament and giving us all the opportunity to highlight the condition. Thank you very much minister. That concludes the debate and I close this meeting of Parliament.