 The first item of business today is consideration of business motion 125 25 in the name of Jofits Patrick on behalf of the parliamentary bureau, setting out a revision to the business programme for today. Could I ask any member who wishes to speak against the motion to press the request to speak button now please? I call on Jofits Patrick to move motion number 125 25. Nid Gwel 5.2.3, yn y name of Joffit's Patrick, yn behalf of the Parliamentary Bureau, on a suspension of standing orders. I would ask any member who wishes to speak against this motion to press the request-to-speak button now, and I call on Joffit's Patrick to move the motion. Moved. Thank you. No member has asked to speak against the motion, and therefore I will put the question to the chamber, and the question is that motion number 1, 2, 5, 2, 3, in the name of Joffit's Patrick, be agreed to, are we all agreed? We are. Therefore, we move to the next item of business, which is portfolio questions on health, wellbeing and sport. Question number 1, Annabelle Goldie. To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking in response to the petition signed by over 7,000 staff, patient and members of the public demanding adequate parking and public transport at the new South Glasgow hospitals. Cabinet Secretary, Shona Robison. There will be 2,500 spaces available when the hospital opens and a third multi-storey car park due for completion in 2016 will provide a further 1,000 spaces. In addition, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde has applied for planning permission for a further 600 temporary spaces until the third multi-storey opens next year. A range of travel options are being promoted, including car share, park and ride and public transport. The new hospitals will be accessible by bus, with 50 buses already serving the site on an hourly basis, and the site is five minutes by bus from the Government subway station. The Scottish Government is also investing up to £40 million in the new fast-link scheme, which will offer direct transport from three main sites in the city centre, Buchanan bus station, Queen Street and Central station to the South Glasgow University hospitals campus. Annabelle Goldie. The new facility is iconic, and it is a beacon for Scotland in the delivery of health care, but very serious concerns have emerged about the inadequacy of public transport and car parking provision. Much of what the Cabinet Secretary refers to is still to happen, and yet, by June, there are expected to be 10,000 staff on this site and unquantifiable numbers of visitors. Frankly, all the Scottish Government has offered us is rosy procrastination. Why has it allowed this crisis to develop, and what is it doing about it now? Cabinet Secretary. I agree with Annabelle Goldie that this new hospital is going to be iconic and a beacon on one of the biggest hospital sites in Europe. In terms of the work that has been going on, a lot of work has gone on between Greater Glasgow and Clyde and the City Council. The application for the 600 temporary spaces is with the City Council, and we hope that it will expedite that so that that can be put in place. In terms of residence parking, there is an issue there because the residence parking scheme that the council is consulting on does not start until October, so we have asked that some thought is put urgently to what happens between April and October and whether some kind of temporary residence parking scheme can be put in place. Annabelle Goldie is quite right to raise this. I understand the feelings of staff about this. We have been urging Greater Glasgow and Clyde to enhance our communication with staff on what the options are, but we need to make sure that those temporary car packing spaces are put in place urgently. I would urge the council to get on and do that. A number of members have asked for supplementaries. Can they be kept brief and I might be able to call everyone or call Ken Macintosh? I would thank the minister for her answer. She gave a very impressive list of parking facilities and transport links. Does she believe that once they are all delivered, that will solve the problem? There has certainly been a huge amount of work put into the planning of transport around this. Of course, Ken Macintosh will be aware that the focus has been on having enough private car packing spaces but also to encourage people to use public transport options. That is, of course, a balancing act. A huge amount of planning has gone in and Greater Glasgow and Clyde and the City Council are confident that what they have put in place will suffice, but, of course, we need to make sure that the temporary spaces are there, because I think that that is important before the new multi-storey car park opens next year. I think that there is still work to be done on the residents' car parking, because, as you know, with human nature being human nature, if people start to park in a particular location and there are no parking restrictions in place, that can become custom and practice. We have to make sure that the council puts something in place until the residents' parking scheme starts in October. Bob Doris. I declare an interest in asking my supplementary, my wife is a nurse who will be translated into southern general in the next few months. I recently met with Nal McRogenhead of Transport for NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, and I raised with him specific issues that nurses on shift work who cannot carpool and carshare will lose out with disadvantage in relation to the permit system. I have made these representations to NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde. I suggest that the cabinet secretary may wish to do the same, and in the point of permit parking for locals, the cabinet secretary may wish to be aware that Glasgow City Council was given £750,000 to bring in parking regulations, and I hope that Glasgow City Council would not charge residents £50 to park outside their homes. Cabinet Secretary. The Scottish Government arranged a meeting this week on 2 March, which included representatives of NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, Glasgow City Council, Strathgate partnership for transport and health and transport officials. All parties are fully supported of the new south Glasgow hospitals project, and they are working together to ensure that suitable travel arrangements are in place. I have some sympathy for what Bob Doris was saying about the residents parking. I think that there needs to be clarity there. I know that there is concern, and there was a very well-attended public meeting that residents were at. I think that there has to be reassurance, given that there will be something in place, even as a temporary measure, before the residents parking scheme is implemented from October onwards. A brief question, if possible, and answer, Patricia Ferguson. The chief executive of Greater Glasgow and Clyde recently asserted that all staff lived within a one-hour journey time to the southern general hospital. Many of my constituents would require to take at least two buses, if not one other mode of transport, before they even got to fast link. If the chief executive of Greater Glasgow and Clyde is so out of touch with where his staff live and how they will travel to the new hospital, does the cabinet secretary have confidence that the plans put in place will serve all those staff and patients who will require to use the new hospital? That is a brief place, but please, cabinet secretary. We have made it very clear to the chief executive and the chair that they must ensure good communication with staff around all the options. It is not just public transport, there are car-sharing options, there are parking ride options and, of course, there is the private car-parking provision being made as well, but I certainly will reiterate the point that Patricia Ferguson has made to the chief executive, because it is important that there is adequate communication with staff around their travel options and we will make sure that that happens. I expect all boards in Scotland to plan and provide healthcare services of the highest quality, consistent with national policy frameworks and guidelines for the benefit of their local communities. I thank the cabinet secretary for the response and I am aware that there has been some discussion in recent times about the fabric of some of the health facilities in the Inverclyde local authority area. I would be grateful if the cabinet secretary could tell me what capital investment projects have the Scottish Government invested in in Inverclyde over the past 12 months and what it plans to do over the next three years. I can say to the member that the business case for the adult and older peoples continuing care mental health accommodation project has been in development over recent months and the project is due to begin construction this year, due for completion in 2016. The £6.5 million project will provide NHS continuing care beds currently at Ravenscraig hospital. The project will deliver 30 older peoples continuing care beds and 12 adult continuing care beds in a purpose-built new facility. The new building will allow for local flexibility and provide a platform for integrated service delivery, as well as being fit for purpose in patient care and experience. The project will meet current and future needs of Inverclyde residents with significant mental health needs, who have previously been in NHS continuing care wards. The cabinet secretary will be aware that acute services are delivered south of the river at the REH in Paisley for residents of Dumbarton, Vale of Leven and Helensburg. Any understanding of geography knows that this is quite a challenge. The local ambition is to have services, including A&E, delivered north of the river using the Golden Jubilee and the Vale of Leven hospital. Does she agree that, with the advent of the new South Glasgow hospital, we need to think about patient flow across the whole of Greater Glasgow and Clyde? Will the cabinet secretary meet a delegation from my local area to discuss how we begin to optimise health services in the area? I am aware that there have been previous discussions on this matter. I think that patient flow is important. We have to recognise that patients flow above and beyond health-word boundaries. They are sometimes there because of historic reasons and we have to recognise that more. I am very happy to meet Jackie Baillie and the delegation to discuss this further. I am sure that we can get that organised as quickly as possible. The cabinet secretary will be aware of the deteriorating A&E waiting times for NHS Ayrshire and Arran hospitals announced yesterday. One in five of my constituents is now having to wait longer than the four-hour waiting time. How is NHS Ayrshire and Arran, with her help, going to address this deteriorating situation? There is a challenge among the west of Scotland boards on A&E performance. John Scott may have heard me say yesterday that there are very clear requirements to be made. Part of the reason for the pressure on the system in the west of Scotland is the acuity of illness and the sheer numbers of people who have been turning up unprecedented levels of admission in west of Scotland hospitals. However, there is absolute requirement for those hospitals to have the resilience to be able to cope with surges in demand. All those boards, Ayrshire and Arran included, now have an action plan around the improvements that are required at the front door of the hospital but also at the back door of the hospital to make sure that issues like delayed discharge are dealt with, patient flow is enhanced, things like better use of discharge lounges and all the things that are best practised to make sure that patients are seen within the four hours that are put in place. I can hope that we will be updated about progress on that. I apologise to the other members who wanted to ask supplementaries but I need to make some progress. Question 3, Patricia Ferguson. To ask the Scottish Government how many referrals of children and adolescents with mental health issues, especially as child and adolescent mental health services, have been rejected by those services in the last quarter? Minister, Jamie Hepburn. For the period from October 2014 to December 2014, there were 7,640 referrals made of which 1,425 were rejected. Where a referral does not meet the criteria for CAMHS, we would expect the service to signpost the child or the young person to the appropriate service. Further details can be found in the CAMHS waiting times publication that was published by ISD on 24 February, covering the period from October 2014 to December 2014. Patricia Ferguson. I thank the minister for that answer. Does the minister believe that 1,400 or almost 20 per cent of all referrals, mainly coming from hard-pressed GPs, which were rejected by CAMHS in the last quarter, were appropriate? Does he know the outcome for the children and young people who were rejected? If not, will he today make a commitment to Scotland's young people that he will commission urgent research to provide them, their families and this Parliament, with the reassurance that the outcomes were good and that the huge variation in the number of rejected referrals between health boards was for genuine and appropriate clinical reasons? I thank Patricia Ferguson for the supplementary question. She will, of course, appreciate—I cannot second guess—the clinical judgment of those experts working in the field. I would, of course, observe that there could be a number of reasons a referral may be rejected by CAMHS services such as the Fferal not meeting its criteria. I would also observe that the number of rejections mirrors, the increase in the number of referrals and the number of children and young people being seen by CAMHS as well, is important to place the figures in that context. We have seen a significant increase in referrals from 4,734 in June 2012 to 7,614 in December 2014, so that context is, of course, important. I would reiterate the point that where a referral does not meet the criteria would expect children and young people to be signposted to the correct service. Very briefly, please, Mary Scanlon. How can the Scottish Government ensure that early intervention and prevention work in mental health is not lost as resources become more focused on children who require substantial or urgent mental health support? We support a holistic approach. I think that a range of those measures are important. I still think that CAMHS plays a very important role. Again, I make the point that where CAMHS is not appropriate, then children and young people who have been referred there should be signposted to alternative means of support. To ask the Scottish Government for what reason the 2015-16 funding for NHS Shetland is 2 per cent below the 2015-16 NHS Scotland Resource Allocation Committee target allocation. Each year, IASD reviewed the NRAC target share allocations for territorial health boards. On 24 February, they published their revision for 2015-16. For 2015-16, NHS Shetland will be receiving a total resource budget uplift of 3.1 per cent, an increase substantially above inflation having previously increased by 2.4 per cent in 2014-15. I am sure that Tavish Scott will welcome the resource. It should be noted that our practice this year is not different to previous years owing to the publication timing of the shares in February. In previous years, we have used this publication to inform the shares for the next financial year. As part of the budget-setting process for 2016-17, we will maintain our commitment to continue to ensure that no board is further than 1 per cent from NRAC parity. We will provide additional parity funding to any board that falls further behind that 1 per cent parity as part of the process. I am grateful for that answer. Does that mean that, in this year, the Cabinet Secretary will find ways to improve on the financial position of NHS Shetland because it is 2.1 per cent, not 1 per cent on the figures that she has produced? That means that she will know that £900,000 less funding is coming to NHS Shetland than should otherwise be the case. Will she recognise that, given the staff vacancies in a number of key areas, it would be very welcome to have those additional resources? I have already said that the resource that NHS Shetland is getting has increased by 5.9 per cent in real terms. She will be aware that this record-level investment in NHS Shetland has helped the board to increase its staffing by more than 20 per cent under this Government to a record high. To be very clear about this, all boards through the funding that was announced were brought within 1 per cent of parity. What I am saying to the member is that, for 2016-17, the additional resource through the budget will maintain that position of all boards being within 1 per cent of parity. I am sure that that is something that the member will welcome. To ask the Scottish Government how it supports participation in sport by disabled people in the Comarican Northern Valley constituency. The Government is clear that everyone should be able to participate in the joy sport whoever they are, whatever their background. That is why, through sport Scotland, we are investing £642,000 in this financial year in Scottish disability sport to improve pathways into sport for our athletes with a disability and increase participation through the Scottish disability sport's local branch. Ayrshire Sportsability benefits from a growing number of grassroots programmes allowing young people to take part in mainstream sport and develop local participation opportunities. Willie Coffey. I thank the minister for that answer. He is familiar with some of the fine work going on in Comarican Northern Valley to encourage people with a disability to take up sport. As well as disabled badminton and cycling clubs, we have the clan whom the minister recently in Parliament and who are a local rugby team who encourage people with disabilities to train and play alongside non-disabled players. Would the minister join with me in congratulating those groups and perhaps, when the Irish permit, would he be able to come and see for himself the wonderful impact that this kind of participation has for disabled people in my community? Minister. First of all, I agree and join with Willie Coffey in acknowledging the range of programmes that have been delivered in Comarican Northern Valley. Of course, I would be delighted to come and visit to see that for first-hand. I am very encouraged in particular by the work being delivered by the clan that Mr Coffey mentioned. As he mentioned, it was the Scottish Rugby Un's recent parliamentary reception, as was he, and I was greatly impressed by the presentation that we had about the work of the clan. I think that it is a great concept promoting equality, diversity and social inclusion through participation in the game, and they are very much to be commended for their efforts. To ask the Scottish Government what action it will take in the light of NHS Grampian, missing the target for treating 90 per cent of patients within 18 weeks. NHS Grampian is receiving additional funding of £49.1 million in 2015-16, including £29 million of NRAC parity funding. The uplift of 6.3 per cent is the largest uplift of any mainline territorial board and is 4.9 per cent above inflation. In addition, the board will receive £2.8 million to tackle delayed discharge in 2015-16. The board is utilising funding from the budget by investing £5 million of the budget uplift to deliver the waiting times guarantee and standards during 2015-16. The Scottish Government is also providing support to the board to improve its demand, queuing and capacity planning processes. That will help the board to ensure that they put in place the necessary capacity to deliver all waiting times standards and guarantees for the people of Grampian in the future. I am extremely interested in the way in which the minister chose to answer that question dealing first with the funding issue. Is that a clear statement by the minister that she believes that the problems associated with NHS Grampian are as a result of serious chronic underfunding? Why did it take her Government eight years in office to realise that it was not adequately funding healthcare in the north-east? I think that performance issues are not just about funding. I think that they are about the way that you organise your services and the way that you deliver your services. What I am very impressed with is the new leadership team at NHS Grampian with the chair and the chief executive very focused on the task in hand, which is already beginning to deliver very impressive and sustained improvement. I am hoping that that is something that the member will welcome. Richard Simpson. Can I ask the cabinet secretary now that Grampian has had its comprehensive review? In light of the deteriorating A&E waiting times in other areas, does she still not concede that there are a college of nursing and others who have called for a whole system review and should now be heeded, including looking at all unplanned and emergency care from demand issues through NHS 24 GP out-of-hours minor and major accident emergency and the planned trauma centres and acute assessment and clinical decision units, doing it as a comprehensive mechanism rather than the piecemeal or what I have called whack-a-mole approach that she has adopted? It is a pity that all of that, Richard Simpson, did not see the need to thank the staff of NHS Forth Valley, who have delivered 96.2 per cent of A&E patients seen within four hours. I think that it would have been a good opportunity for Richard Simpson to thank the staff in the area that he represents for that very impressive performance. In terms of the wider issues that he mentions, I am very, very clear that there are issues that the service needs to look at, not just at the front door of the hospital, which is why, of course, we have got the six essential actions through the collaborative to improve the way that the front door of our hospital operates, but tackling delayed discharge, which is why I have put £100 million into the system, why we have integrated health and social care, also why we are looking at the out-of-hours services to make sure that that is sustainable. I think that Richard Simpson would do well to welcome some of those initiatives because it is going to improve the care of our patients. Question 7, Malcolm Chisholm. For the Scottish Government, what action is it taking to improve the provision of perinatal mental health services? Minister Jamie Hepburn. NHS Scotland keeps under review the range of community and specialist services that it delivers to meet the needs of women experiencing perinatal mental illness. The aim is to identify quickly those at risk and ensure access to appropriate and timely care treatment and support. Malcolm Chisholm. I welcome the fact that there is a specialist perinatal community team in NHS. Lothian, but is it not the case that in many parts of Scotland there is no specialist service available and that women are telling us that in many cases they receive very little help at all when facing this very serious mental health problem? Does the minister agree that this is a very serious problem with profound consequences for a large number of women and children in Scotland? Does he accept that there is a postcode lottery of care when it comes to perinatal mental health services? The 2012 sign national clinical guideline for health professionals on perinatal mood disorders provides recommendations based on current evidence for best practice in the management of anti-natal and postnatal mood and anxiety disorders. The guideline covers prediction, detection and prevention, as well as management in both primary and secondary care. This Government has published guidance on the organisation and accommodation services for mothers suffering from a perinatal mental illness. We would certainly expect NHS boards to take account of that and other available guidance in the delivery of their local services. Claudia Beamish. To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the future of the Glasgow Centre for Integrative Care and its funding arrangements. The Centre for Integrative Care will continue to provide services to meet the needs of patients from across Scotland. Funding will continue to be provided by NHS boards who refer patients to the centre. Claudia Beamish. I thank the minister for her answer and I would like to highlight concerns of constituents regarding the withdrawal of homeopathic services in Lanarkshire and Lothian. NHS Lanarkshire will stop referring new patients at the end of the month and the current patients will be the last. Can the minister clarify whether the health services council was involved in the monitoring of the consultation? As the CIC offers a wide range of services, including prescribing of homeopathic medicines, yoga, mindfulness and self-management programmes, which can be hugely beneficial to people with mental health issues and stress issues, is the Scottish Government in any way considering a more centralised form of funding for this centre? Minister. As I said, the Scottish Government CIC is already recognised by the Scottish Government NHS boards, patients and the public as a national resource. Claudia Beamish is quite right to highlight that it is not only homeopathy that is provided at CIC but also a wide range of other services. We are quite content that the boards who have stopped referring for homeopathy only have undertaken the public consultation and carried out the review in the proper manner. However, as I said, there are no plans to close the CIC. We see it as having a role for patients across Scotland. To ask the Scottish Government what the uptake of the Shingles vaccine has been by 70 to 79-year-olds since September 2013. Minister. Maureen Watt. The Shingles Herpes Zoster programme was introduced in 2013 and is being offered to those aged 70 to 79 in a phased programme over the next few years, comprising both a routine and a catch-up element each year. In the first year of the programme, which ran from 1 September 2013 to 31 August 2014, the vaccine was offered to those aged 70 routinely and those aged 79 by catch-up. Uptake rates were for 70-year-olds 59.7 per cent and 79-year-olds 55.6 per cent. In 2014-15, vaccine was offered to those aged 70 routinely and those aged 78 and 79 through catch-up. Uptake rates are not yet available. However, provisional data suggests that up to January 2015, uptake is higher than the same time last year and is still likely to rise. Roger Campbell. I am grateful to the minister for that answer and the encouraging statistics, but how can she encourage further uptake? Minister. Those eligible for a vaccine receive a letter from their GP practice inviting them to attend for immunisation. GPs can, if they wish, offer the Shingles vaccine at the same time as the seasonal flu vaccine. There is also a poster and a leaflet available to promote the programme and to help to uptake rates. However, as I said in my previous answer, uptake rates are rising and we are confident that they will continue in an upward trend. Given that there are some 7,000 people in Scotland aged 17 above who are affected with Shingles, will the minister agree with me that the vaccine should be made available at the earliest opportunity for all people in that age bracket from 70 to 79, after which I understand that it is less effective? I think that she has told us a bit about the roll-out of the vaccine, but she confirmed that the catch-up flu will be starting at 79 and working down until it meets starting aged 79, working down to 78 and so on until it meets the upwards. How long is that going to take and can it be speeded up? I am not able to do the maths right away, but through both the routine moving up the way and the catch-up moving down the way, it should be within the next few years that everybody in that age cohort is covered. What measures it is taking to increase the training, recruitment and retention of mental health officers across children and adolescent mental health services? Local authorities have a legal duty to appoint a sufficient number of mental health officers to discharge functions under the relevant legislation. They must decide on the number of mental health officers appointed in their area, take into account local needs and circumstances. The Scottish Social Service Council's latest mental health officer's report indicates a 39 per cent increase in admissions to mental health officers award programmes in 2013-14. In 2012, the Scottish Government removed a bursary given to each trainee of educational psychology that resulted in a 70 per cent drop in applications for such courses. The Scottish Children's Services Coalition noted that that, coupled with a quarter of educational psychologists retiring in the next four years, plus an identification of more than a doubling of the number of children identified as having support needs, will leave a major gap in the profession, their words. How does the Government plan to address the deficit of educational psychologists at a time when need for them is increasing and fulfil the promises of addressing children and adolescent mental health services? I think that I might need to first of all write to Mr Hume to draw the distinction between mental health officers and educational psychologists. What we would expect is that we will work very closely with educational institutions to make sure that we always have a steady and constant and necessary supply of health professionals across the whole range of the national health service. To ask the Scottish Government what additional support it has given NHS Fife to help to improve its performance. An additional £12.43 million has been allocated to NHS Fife from this £2.1 million will be allocated in 2015-16 to alleviate drug pressures. The Fife partnership will receive £6.73 million over the next three years, which will go towards developing local community services that will help to reduce unnecessary admissions and ensure timely discharge from hospital. I thank the cabinet secretary for her answer. Can the cabinet secretary tell me how much it is costing NHS Fife per year to pay for the new PPP Victoria hospital, which is built under the last Labour Government? Do your large repayment commitments seriously impact on front-line services? The forecast unity charge for the Victoria hospital PFI contract is £21.7 million. PFI costs are a considerable burden on the system. I can tell the member that PFI contracts will cost the health service £235 million in 2015-16. Obviously, NHS Fife, like other boards, is funded according to the NRAC formula. Under the NRAC formula, it has had a significant uplift. The Fife's budget has increased by £145.9 million from 2006-07 to 2015-16. Although there are always pressures on the system, we would expect NHS Fife to use that resource to improve patient care. To ask the Scottish Government when, at last, representatives of NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde on what issues were discussed. The ministers and Government officials regularly meet representatives of all boards, including NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, to discuss matters of importance to local people. I thank the cabinet secretary for that answer. I noticed that the South University hospital has been mentioned a couple of times already today. Although there are issues to be dealt with, along with my Glasgow colleagues, we have written to the health board to get clarification on that. We do have to accept that the fact that it has been delivered before schedule and under budget is one of the great achievements of the Government. Will the cabinet secretary give me further information on what final steps are in place to ensure a smooth opening of the hospital in a couple of months' time that will benefit patients, visitors and staff? I am happy to confirm to the member that the £842 million project for the new South Glasgow hospital remains on time and on budget. Work is now under way to equip and test the new facilities that will provide the gold standard of co-locating state-of-the-art adult children and maternity services and to train staff ahead of the migration of clinical services between late April and June. That is, of course, a massive logistical undertaking that the health board has been planning for over a number of years. It has assured me that it has robust plans and contingency measures in place to ensure the effective migration of services, while continuing to deliver high-quality services for the benefit of patients. The Government has been and will remain in close touch with the board as this important work has taken forward over the next few weeks. To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the proposed parking provision and transport links for staff and visitors at the new Southside hospital. Further to my previous answers, the Scottish Government arranged a meeting on 2 March, which, as I said, was attended by representatives of all of the partners who are all working very closely to ensure that suitable travel and parking arrangements are in place. The attendees agreed to pursue plans for the temporary car park to cover the period until the third multi-storey car park opens and to continue to provide strong support to staff, patients and visitors to the campus in making appropriate travel arrangements. Support measures put in place include changing shift patterns for staff to make public transport use easier, putting further bus services in place and the provision of specific upcoming functionality in the widely used travel line app to help users reach key NHS links. The committee is looking at the location of the new hospital campus. I thank the cabinet secretary for his reply and for the previous indication regarding parking spaces. The cabinet secretary is aware that the western confirmary and obviously York Hill hospital in my constituency will close and move on to the new side-side hospital. It is imperative that we get proper transport links there. I note in regard to the temporary spaces and perhaps the parking spaces are a parking residential. I ask the cabinet secretary if there was any indication that we need more parking spaces, would that be indicative in Glasgow City Council giving that permission? It has also come to our note that there is a development to look at a bridge to link, govern and partake at the moment. I wonder if the cabinet secretary would agree with me if that was to go ahead, that would be beneficial and a positive move for the people, particularly from my side on the river. I think that the development of a bridge would be helpful and that is something that we would want to keep a close eye on as that development goes forward, although I think that it is in very early stages. The planned car parking provision at the new hospitals of 3,500 spaces is already in line with the maximum provision allowed by the planning approval for the development. Any further car parking would therefore be subject to planning applications to Glasgow City Council. As the member is aware, a planning application has been made for the 600 temporary spaces until the third multi-storey opens next year, and this is currently being considered by the council. Many of the people in my southern part of my constituency, Drumann and Strathendrick area, will be travelling to this new hospital. There are no useful public transport links from this area into the hospital. I wonder whether particular cognisance could be given to the challenging issues that they face by the way of travel to the new hospital, and could you ask the board to look at the area in particular? I will ask the board to write to the member and to make him aware of what provisions are being put in place. To ask the Scottish Government when it last met NHS Lanarkshire. Ministers and Government officials regularly meet representatives from all health boards, including NHS Lanarkshire. I ask the cabinet secretary to continue dialogue with NHS Lanarkshire about soft ancillary services at Hairmire hospital. I also ask that she meets regularly and has discussion with Unison, who has been carrying out a petition on behalf of bringing this into public service. I thank Linda Fabiani for her on-going interest in the matter. She will be aware that the Scottish Features Trust has carried out some work around NHS Lanarkshire's procedures and process around the contracts. That report has been seen by the board and will be discussed by the board later this month. I met Unison on Monday to discuss that and what a number of further actions have emanated from that meeting. We also have been in touch with NHS Lanarkshire to ensure that Unison is very much involved in the discussions and in the discussion of the report and the decision making around this later this month. The issues are very complex and, of course, the contracts that were issued would never ever be issued and, of course, would not be in the light of the action that this Government took in 2008 to prevent soft FM services being contracted out in the future. Those are contracts, unfortunately, that we have inherited. To ask the Scottish Government how it supports the provision of locally accessible maternity scanning services in the Highlands and Islands. Maureen Watt. While the Scottish Government provides the policies, framework and resources for high-quality healthcare in Scotland, it is for each NHS board to decide how best to deliver services to meet the needs of the population. The NHS is committed to providing services as close to home as possible but also needs to ensure that these services are safe and provided by appropriately trained and skilled workforce. Briefly, Jamie McGregor. Notwithstanding NHS Highlands welcome recent announcement that it hopes to reintroduce local maternity scanning services in Argyn and Bute from late 2016, does the Minister understand the frustration and concern of my mother-to-be constituents who, since 2013, have had to make inconvenient, time-consuming and stressful journeys to hospitals in the Glasgow, Grinwick or Paisley for the maternity scans? As a father, whose wife frisly used the local services four times, what guarantee can the minister give that funding will be available for local scans in Campbelltown, Danoone, Eileach, Lock, Gilpedd, Oban and Rossie? Minister, is brief please possible, please? I agree with the member that it is not satisfactory that mothers-to-be have to travel so far outwith the area but, like him, I am pleased that NHS Highland has agreed that services should be resumed locally and as quickly as possible. That concludes question time and brings us to the next item of business, which is a debate on motion number 12491.