 Good morning. The first item of business is general questions. At question number one, I call Edward Mountain. Thank you, Presiding Officer, to ask the Scottish Government where the new acute general teaching hospitals will be built over the next 10 years. Cabinet Secretary Michael Matheson. In February 2021, the Scottish Government published its infrastructure investment plan, which outlined the Government's priorities up until 2026. The timetable for the following five-year period is still to be determined, but I would expect the next plan to be published in late 2025 or early 2026. I thank the Cabinet Secretary for that answer. Cabinet Secretary, you'll be aware that support is growing hourly for my petition to replace Raidmore. Given the appetite in the Highlands for a brand-new hospital, will the cabinet secretary agree to meet with both the board of NHS Ireland and me to discuss that? As a Government, we are committed to investing £1 billion over the course of the next 10 years in health capital projects. That will include looking at facilities such as Raidmore when it comes to considering plans for either refurbishment or replacement programmes. We are committed to making sure that we make the right investments. I engage with NHS Ireland. I've just come from a call which involves the discussion with the chief executive of NHS Ireland to look at what further investments are necessary. Of course, the member will be aware that we have just opened the new national treatment centre in Highland at the cost of almost £50 million. Over the course of the past two years, we've sought to new community hospitals being provided, one in Raidmore and the other in Skye, both at £18 million and £20 million worth of investment. We have also agreed to take forward work in the redesign of services in Loch Arbor, which will see the replacement of the Belford hospital going forward. I can assure the member that we are very much committed to making sure that we continue to invest in healthcare in the Highlands and that we continue to do that in a way that is planned with the local health board. It is important that we learn lessons from recent NHS capital investment projects elsewhere in the UK. As we know, in England, 10 of the 40 new hospitals pledged by Boris Johnson have faced lengthy delays in the results of not having full planning permission needed to go ahead. Can the cabinet secretary advise what steps can be taken to guard against similar delays being experienced here and can he provide any further information about anticipated pressures facing capital investment in NHS hospitals, given the difficult economic context? In order to avoid the type of scenarios and problems that have been impacting on the hospital capital investment programme in England, we created NHS Scotland Assure, which has got a very specific purpose in making sure that it has a thorough analysis and challenges every part of our capital investment programme in health in order to make sure that there is appropriate governance and that we have the appropriate permissions etc in place, including planning before capital projects are able to start to specifically avoid the types of problems that they have been having in England. The member is also right to highlight that construction inflation has had a significant impact on capital expenditure. If we look at the spring budget announced by the UK Government, we anticipate by 2024-25, we see a 16 per cent reduction in our capital budget here in Scotland as a result of the cuts being made by the UK Government in capital expenditure, which, of course, has an impact on our ability to invest in new projects. More of that will be set out in the course of the medium-term financial strategy, which will be published later today by the finance secretary. To ask the Scottish Government how it can support the Sudanese community living in Scotland in light of the on-going humanitarian crisis in Sudan. The Scottish Government stands with the international community and communities across Scotland in our shared deep concern over the violence in Sudan. This particularly impacts the Sudanese community living in Scotland, many of whom have friends and relatives who are directly affected. On 10 May, I met representatives of the Sudanese community in Scotland, alongside representatives from the national health service and third sector support organisations. That was a starting point for dialogue about how we can support the Sudanese community in Scotland, including ensuring that Sudanese nationals living here are aware of support services that they can access and where necessary, raising issues with the UK Government. I thank the cabinet secretary for his answer. I would be very helpful if some of those signposting bits of information could be shared with colleagues as this is an on-going situation. In my role as committee convene, I met Sudanese health workers online from across the UK. Those are from senior staff, senior consultants through nurses to support services in our NHS, each a vital cog in making our NHS work. Some of their colleagues who work for the NHS were in Sudan at the time that the crisis arose. Others have gone back to bring friends and family to safety, particularly elderly parents and children, but they find themselves now in Egypt and Dubai unable to attain family visas. Can the cabinet secretary ensure that he is making these representations to the Home Office about the situation, as those are vital workers in our communities? First, I think that Clare Adamson is absolutely right to highlight the role of Sudanese nationals and people of Sudanese descent working in our national health service. It is very important to understand quite how many there are and they deserve our recognition and our support. Secondly, in terms of signposting information, which individual MSPs may wish to share with Sudanese nationals and constituents, I undertake to share that information with her and other MSPs. As asylum and immigration, however, is reserved, this is a matter that we are impressing the UK Government on. I have written to the foreign secretary and the cabinet secretary for social justice to call for safe and legal routes and arrangements for family reunion to be put in place. Those must be flexible enough to enable people forced to leave Sudan to safely come to the UK and join families who already have leave to remain here. I will take a supplementary from Foisal Chowdry, but before I do, I would be grateful for concise questions and responses from Foisal Chowdry. Thank you, Presiding Officer. The situation in Sudan is not improving. Almost one million people have been displaced just one month into conflict and neighboring countries are already overwhelmed with refugees. What discussion have the Scottish Government had with the UK Government about the possible influx of the refugees coming from Sudan if the conflict continues indefinitely? Foisal Chowdry will have heard my previous answer when I talked about the communication between myself and the UK Government, my cabinet secretary, colleague and the home office on this question. He is absolutely right to ask this question. What is it that we can do to help families come together in this time of need? I will be happy to work with him and colleagues across the chamber to do what we can to impress on the UK Government their responsibilities. To ask the Scottish Government when it last met with South Lanarkshire Health and Social Care Partnership and what was discussed. Ministers and Scottish Government officials regularly meet with representatives of all health and social care partnerships, including South Lanarkshire, to discuss matters of importance to local people. The cabinet secretary chaired an introductory meeting with the integration joint board chief officers, chairs and vice chairs on Wednesday 17 May, and a representative of South Lanarkshire IJB was in attendance. Integration progress and priorities and seasonal planning were discussed. Can the minister provide an update on the Scottish Government's work to support the provision of pallid of care, as well as on discussions with the hospice sector on a potential budget uplift to help retain and hire new staff? As the minister knows, Colbride hospice in East Colbride is Scotland's youngest hospice, and they do not yet have the same legacy donations as others do. Will the minister or officials be able to meet with representatives of Colbride hospice to discuss their unique situation? The Scottish Government is considering the issues that the hospice sector raised at its meeting in March with the then cabinet secretary for health and social care and minister for public health, women's health and sport, including immediate and longer-term funding issues. It is the responsibility of the IJBs to plan and commission adult palliative and end-of-life care services for their areas using the integrated budgets under their control. My officials are therefore engaging with health and social care partnerships and with the Scottish hospice sector representatives in relation to those issues, and have also met separately with Colbride hospice on 10 May to hear of their specific concerns. Colbride hospice and all other hospices are facing a funding crisis. There is just a third of their money that is statutory given the rest being having to be raised. So when is the hospice sector actually going to find out for definite how much money they are going to get from government? I thank Graham Simpson for that question. My officials are working as we speak with regards to looking at the issues that are in the concerns that the hospice sector have in Scotland. I am looking forward to working more closely and also visiting some of the hospices to understand directly their concerns. To ask the Scottish Government how it is ensuring that opportunities for continuing professional development are regularly available to our healthcare professionals. NHS Scotland staff have access to good quality training and professional development opportunities both through clinical training and a tourist learning platform. All staff can expect support from their employer to help them to acquire new skills to meet the demands of their posts. Personal development planning and review policy is being refreshed as part of the Once for Scotland policy programme, ensuring that learning opportunities are available to NHS Scotland staff. Agenda for change review is also being conducted where protected time for learning is an immediate priority area. I thank the cabinet secretary for that answer. Throughout my time on health and sport committee as well as petitions there were consistent calls for GPs and healthcare professionals to receive more information on a range of conditions like ME or Lyne disease or Huntington's. In Covid recovery there is a call for GPs to receive specific training to recognise long Covid. However, regular CPD sessions stopped during Covid as our healthcare professionals dealt with a single issue. The chief executive of Ersin Arran told me that we must restore CPD opportunities for GPs if we are to retain them. What will the Scottish Government do to restore those opportunities for CPD for our GPs and give them the tools that they require to ensure the very best of healthcare? We provide a range of training opportunities and Nes have a considerable level of online programmes that are available, including in-person training for healthcare professionals and general practitioners covering a range of areas. General practitioners are part of their own CPD work. I have a requirement to ensure that they maintain a knowledge of new and developing conditions as well. Clearly, as we recover from the pandemic, scope for greater provision of training is an area that we want to see further progress on. That is why, through some of the work that we are doing, through Once for Scotland and also through the Agenda for Change review, we want to make sure that we are providing a much broader range of training available to healthcare professionals across NHS Scotland. To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to modernise the fire state. Minister Siobhan Brown. Steps to modernise the fire service state and our decisions for the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service to make. The Scottish Government has provided a capital budget of £32.5 million for £23 to 24, and the allocation of its capital budget, including whether to prioritise fleet equipment or the fire service state, is a matter for the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service. Kate Clark. This month's freedom of information responses to my office confirmed the poor state of Scotland's fire estate, with around 45 per cent of fire stations assessed as being either in bad or poor condition. Four fire stations are known to have no running water and many have inadequate showering facilities, although we know the toxins that firefighters come into contact with are carcinogenic. The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service is failing its duty of care towards firefighters, so will the Scottish Government commit to an emergency funding package to address these issues? Minister. Thank you. I agree that the safety of firefighters should be our priority. The fire stations with the least facilities are in the remote locations and deal with very few incidents. The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service has introduced procedures to ensure that firefighters in these locations have workable solutions to ensure that contaminated PPE is dealt with safely. I recently had the pleasure of bringing my members' debate to the chamber to recognise Firefighter's Memorial Day and support the FPU's decon campaign. However, there is also widespread support from the STUC, Scottish Hazards and many other individual trade unions for health and safety legislation, to be devolved to the Scottish Parliament. Given the Tory's race to the bottom when it comes to workers' rights and the disappointment over Labour's parking idea during the Smith commission, does the minister support those calls and will she press the UK Government to support them? Minister. I thank the member for the question. The FPU decon campaign highlights exactly why we need health and safety powers devolved to this Parliament as a matter of urgency, so I'm happy to support the call. Thank you, Presiding Officer. To ask the Scottish Government what discussions the culture secretary has had with ministerial colleagues regarding what support it can provide to communities to establish and operate community-owned libraries. Minister, Christina McKelvie. Thank you very much, Presiding Officer. I meet regularly with my ministerial colleagues to discuss many cross-cutting issues, including that of libraries. The Scottish Government's current support for libraries is through our annual funding to the Scottish Library and Information Council, who provide leadership, advocacy and advice on public library matters. More broadly, we provide support to communities to take forward meaningful cultural and creative activity through schemes such as our culture collective programme. I thank the minister for that answer. Strathblane Community Development Trust recently opened the first newly built community-owned public library facility in Scotland for many years. The Thomas Graham library will see services operated in partnership with Stirling Council. Does the minister join me in congratulating the efforts of Strathblane Community Development Trust and does she feel that this model could be replicated elsewhere? Yes, absolutely. Thomas Graham community library is an incredible achievement by the community. It is the first community and council partnership to deliver public library services in Scotland. I think that that is important to mark that. Libraries are a part of Scotland's social fabric. They have a long-standing reputation as a safe place and is free and open to all, meaning that they are uniquely placed in communities across Scotland and are capable of promoting meaningful change. I know that the Thomas Graham community library is a sustainable model and one of which the Scottish Library and Information Council was keen to encourage. I congratulate them on the work that they are doing and hopefully we will be replicating that across the board. To ask the Scottish Government what action is being taken to improve patient access to dental services. We are working closely with the dental sector to ensure that it has the support necessary to offer access to NHS care for patients. That includes Scottish Government providing Scottish Dental Access Initiative grants and recruitment and retention allowances to dentists and dental practices in qualifying areas. The Scottish Dental Access Initiative grant pays out a potential £100,000 for the first surgery and £25,000 per additional surgery to practices setting up a new NHS practice or extending an existing NHS practice. The recruitment and retention allowance provides up to £37,500 across three years to eligible NHS dentists. The current funding model for NHS dentistry is broken. Basic NHS procedures like dentures or extraction are delivered at a loss and there are now no practices taking on new NHS patients in South Ayrshire. Moral is at an all-time low and we are seeing an exodus from the NHS dental workforce. What are you doing to fix this? I thank the member for the question. Dentistry has been raised a lot in this chamber over the last week while and I recognise that there are concerns about it. However, we are working incredibly closely with dentists to find a suitable process and fee structure that will support them to ensure that we have a sustainable dentist service in Scotland that also provides NHS care too. Liam McArthur Minister, our early comment in relation to recruitment and retention will recognise that there are particular issues in rural and island areas. Could the minister give her a reassurance that any allowance, any support for recruitment and retention will not be sped so thinly as to be ineffective in delivering the additional capacity that we need in rural and island areas? As he points out, retention is such an important piece of funding. My officials have looked very closely as to where that should be concentrated to get the best results.