 The final item of business this evening is a member's business debate at 5992 in the name of Carol Mawchen on Allied Health Professions Day 2022, helping people to live their best lives. The debate will be concluded without any questions being put. I would invite members who wish to participate in the debate. The presser requests to sweep beat buttons now or as soon as possible. I call on Carol Mawchen to open the debate for around seven minutes, Ms Mawchen. Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. It is an honour to secure this debate tonight, and people will know that it actually is a debate that was moved. It was tonight, an evening, that we were in the chamber voting, and I believe the HPs who are with us, there were many more on the evening, had an event in the Parliament, which I believe was very successful. So we were voting, they were having a successful time, they tell me it was networking, but I have heard that there was a bit of a party that went on as well, but it is absolutely lovely to see here in the chamber tonight. This debate presents an opportunity to celebrate the work of Allied Health Professions in Scotland to recognise their contribution, but also to highlight the challenges and difficulties they face as the third largest workforce in Scotland's health service today. However, I will start by saying hello to the gallery again, but also to those who are watching on parliamentary TV, because many people were not able to come through for a second time, but I am assured that a number of HPs watching is this evening. They have come, I am sure, not just to hear words and soundbites about how much they are valued, but also to go away knowing that this Parliament and this Government will take action to show how much they are valued. HPs are a diverse group made up of 14 professions, and I take the opportunity to ask members to visit them whenever they can. The Allied Health Professions day was on October 14, so we have obviously missed this date, but I think that there still would be opportunity for members to go in their constituencies and visit HPs around their regions, and I am sure that they would be very welcome. I also want to say thank you to members from every party represented in this Parliament who supported the motion that went through and allows us to debate tonight. Further highlights the recognition that HPs deserve and confirms that there is an interest in the Parliament to debate the ways in which HPs have improved and support people in the community. On behalf of Scottish Labour, I thank our Allied Health Professions for what they do every day across the health and social care service and networks, and I hope that they realise that we are pleased to have them here with us today. Allied Health Professions day is about helping people to live their best lives. Like other health service workers, HPs continue throughout the pandemic because although buildings were closed and, in some ways, lives were put on hold, the difficulties facing many of the Scottish population remained, and it was incumbent on HPs and other health professionals to continue to deliver services against that backdrop of a pandemic that was taking lives in every community. We thank the HPs for that continued work through those very difficult times. They deserve a huge credit, and I am pleased to be able to put that on the record here in this Parliament this evening. Some in the chamber will know that I started my working life with a career in dietetics, one of the Allied Health Professions. It is not an exaggeration to say that it set me up for a life in politics like no other. It was a job that I did for nearly 20 years, that I met so many lifelong friends, patients and service users that shaped my life and my belief system. My friend Michelle was at the event, which is not in the gallery today, but I know that she is watching. We met in the matriculation queue at Queens College Glasgow, and I am absolutely sure that Michelle does not wish me to divulge how many years ago that was. At that time, the professions were in different areas, whether you were a physio, dietician or occupational therapist or some of the many professions. However, I know that in my time and knowing some of the students coming through, it was an area where you were well supported as a student. We were always thankful for the support from the colleges who trained those professions as well. I met patients who needed assessments and treatments throughout my career. They showed me kindness and strength of character when often they were facing life-changing illnesses. What I describe as the best job ever, I met service users because I was one of the HPs lucky enough to go into the field that was really about society's role in maximising the best life possible in my job with their disability services. We worked across communities as many HPs do. That nicely leads me to discuss some of the diverse services that HPs provide and the overall aim of that work. The umbrella term well-being can have many meanings depending on who you might speak to and what well-being means to you. For HPs, well-being is, as mentioned in today's debate title, helping people to live their best lives ever. Everyone will have a different view of what their best life is with different end goals, targets and indeed means of reaching those targets. It is the first-class assessments, treatments, specialised groups and community work of HPs in Scotland today that helps them to get there. When members visit local HPs services, they will be greatly impressed with the diverse work and working styles that this group of healthcare professionals undertake. It is my view, my long-standing view, that health provision delivers best when it is local and on the doorstep of those most in need. Health provision delivers best when services go to people rather than waiting on people coming to the service. In a world of digital communication and over-the-phone appointments, it is so important that we maintain strong connections with our communities, utilising the expertise and work of our HPs. That allows them to do just that. As mentioned in the motion, prehabilitation, early intervention, prevention and rehabilitation are four key areas where allied health professions play a significant role in the development of strategy and in the delivery of services to meet the needs of all of Scotland's population. It is in local health centres, community hubs, schools and local third-sex organisations and beyond that allied health professionals need resources to provide that service and allow people to make the best life possible. It is in towns and communities that we know are suffering due to the impacts of the cost of life in crisis where the work of HPs are most impactful. In towns and communities that have been impacted by austerity agenda from the Tories and Westminster and we cannot forget in towns and communities where there are impacts of cuts to local councils and services. Although we come here this evening to commend the work of our HPs, the contribution they make to health and social care provision is the third largest workforce in our health service, I cannot, in good conscience, make my remarks without calling out the actions of Governments in this Parliament and at Westminster. I know that the minister would expect no less of me in that regard. Early intervention in particular is a key area across many services in speech and language therapy, physiotherapy, occupational therapy and beyond where there have been significant failings at a national government level putting considerable pressure on the ability of HPs to deliver those vital services. Therefore, it is important that we hear from the minister tonight how the Scottish Government will deliver clear plans for supporting HPs in the workforce focusing on prehabilitation, early intervention, prevention and rehabilitation. A HPs are in the gallery tonight not just for warm words but to hear clear plans for actions and investments. It is right, however, that we thank the HPs again and I thank the members for joining me in the debate tonight. Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. I encourage those who have not yet done so to press the request to speak buttons. I call Christine Graham, who will be followed by Tess White, for around four minutes. I congratulate the member on securing this debate, which focuses on what White term the unsung of the health service. Indeed, if you were to mention to someone at the bus stop that you were speaking in a debate applauding the contribution of allied health professionals, then I suspect that many would not know who you were talking about. But, of course, it is a whole vital range of professionals that most of us have dealings with over the years. It includes a wide variety of expertise. In therapy, for example, it includes art, drama and music therapists. Those therapists help mental and physical wellbeing. There are also the more well-known, perhaps physiotherapists occupational and speech therapists. It also includes radiographers, both therapeutic and diagnostic, podiatrists and, of course, the paramedics. That list is not conclusive. Their professionalism extends well beyond the medical interventions but, as so often, the TLC, tender loving care, the good words, the kindness, the listening to the anxieties of their patients. Those professionals are essential to the wellbeing of my constituents in Midlothian, South Tweeddale and Lauderdale and, indeed, myself. I have had to use the professional services of a physio on more than one occasion, and I can tell you I am thankful for that. Similarly, a podiatrist who was taking referrals during Covid, I have decided since then to take much better care of my feet. They are more important to me than I ever knew. The intervention of these health professionals cured me of pain and increased my mobility, as they do for many others. Of course, that has a big impact on general health and wellbeing, your mental wellbeing. It is also therefore saving pressure on our GPs, the NHS and our hospitals. There is no doubt, too, that, as the population ages, and I know what I am talking about, we will need more therapists in particular physios. However, I will now turn to the work of paramedics in our ambulance service. They provide specialist care and treatment to patients who have been involved in accidents, emergencies and other crises, and need the ability to make swift decisions and stay calm and calm their patients. Often arriving before a GP and ensuring that patients are stabilised and enroute to hospital without delay. Two examples. A few years back, out with the Borders Police and patrol, there were small hours over a Saturday night into Sunday morning. We were called out blue lighting to a Borders town where a poor woman had thrown herself from a bridge on to the river below. The river was low, so she fell on to rocks. I watched police, fire and rescue and paramedics in synchronised action, without a word having to be exchanged, each playing their part in that rescue. Police sealed off their own fire and rescue and lowered equipment to the river level to raise it up, and paramedics were already there, had descended and wrapped the woman in foil and placed her in a stretcher. The second event was in the course of my profession as a solicitor. I had the tragic case of a woman who tried to cross a railway line, nearly managed to haul herself on to the platform but fell back and was hit by the train, trapping her underneath. The driver was about to move the train but was stopped by the paramedics as the wheels were acting as a tourniquet on her legs. To move would have made her bleed to death. They had crawled underneath the train, covered in hot engine oil, comforting her and taking those early medical interventions that saved her life. Now, not all call-outs are so awful, but many involve road traffic accidents, and like other services that I have already mentioned in attendance, police and fire and rescue may need cutting equipment. They face sights that many and must do impact on them. In conclusion, I thank the member for bringing forward this debate and thank all who work as those allied health professors. I hope that anyone listening to this now realises exactly what allied health professionals are. Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. I thank Karen Mocken for securing the parliamentary time to mark allied health professionals day 2022 after the debate was delayed last month. It's great to see people in the gallery here today. I hope that my colleague Ms Mocken is going to get you a hot cup of tea for braving the weather to get here. This is an opportunity for us MSPs not just to thank allied health professionals for the work they do and their commitment, compassion and dedication during the pandemic but also to reflect on the contribution that AHPs can make to the delivery of healthcare and public health more generally. AHPs make up the third largest workforce in NHS Scotland, employing just under 13,000 allied health professionals. Their impact on their patients' health and wellbeing cannot be overstated. The new mother who needs postnatal physiotherapy following the birth of her baby, the victim of a car accident who needs a prosthetic leg and lifelong care, the young child who is struggling to talk and who would benefit from the intervention of a speech therapist. For sufferers of neurological conditions like Parkinson's, a multidisciplinary team spanning a range of allied professions can have a huge bearing on their quality of life. As a fellow of the Chartered Institute of Personnel, I do feel qualified to say this. There are unfortunately high vacancy rates in the allied health professions and they have almost doubled in the space of four years, from 4.4% in March 2018 to 8.2% in March 2022. The number of vacant AHP posts has increased by 43% in a single year. The new mother who needs a physiotherapist to help her postpartum recovery is having to wait weeks to be seen. In NHS Grampian, the wait is around 24 weeks for routine pelvic dysfunction physiotherapy. Many women are seeking private treatment because NHS waiting lists are simply too long and as we seek to address the gender-related health gap, this risks only further entrenching inequalities. I've challenged the health secretary many times on the SNP's plans for NHS recruitment and retention. NHS workforce planning is a massive issue and one that the SNP has managed to get spectacularly wrong. We know the coming months are expected to be extremely challenging for Scotland's NHS. The Scottish Conservatives believe that we would utilise AHPs to their maximum potential in workforce planning, the diverse skills and expertise of the allied health professions can add a huge amount of value to primary and secondary care, but we need to ensure that supply is commensurate with demand and that the NHS is able to keep the AHPs that come through the pipeline. Finally, against the background of potential strike action by NHS staff over the coming months, it's especially important to understand the pressure that they're working under. They're tired and overstretch, and their voices must be heard. I thank Carol Mockin for bringing this debate forward, marking allied health professions day, sadly slightly delayed, but nonetheless, importantly highlighting the vital role of our allied health professionals in health, social care, education and the voluntary sector. Their tireless commitment during the Covid-19 pandemic and the positive impact that they have on people's lives. I think of my own experience, the compassionate response to my elderly father from occupational therapists after he fell through a glass door and completely lost his confidence. The radiographers who x-rayed my son's broken arm on three separate occasions at the Royal Aberdeen Children's Hospital and the physiotherapists who patiently supported my brother-in-law learned to walk again after a life threatening stroke. We know that people are emerging from the Covid-19 pandemic with increasingly complex health needs, and the approach set out in the right to rehabilitation and the once-for-scotland rehabilitation framework recognises the demand associated with pre-existing long-term health conditions and people living with the long-term effects of Covid-19. It's important to acknowledge other pressures, staffing and recruitment challenges, our ageing population climate change and health inequalities so starkly brought into focus recently in the Glasgow University report linking austerity measures with excess deaths in Great Britain. However, today is about recognition and appreciation of the contribution made by a skilled, experienced and committed allied healthcare workforce. I very much welcome additional funding for psychological therapies and interventions, the launch of the national conversation to improve support for people with dementia and their carers, and this week's announcement of £37 million of Scottish Government funding over the next four years to help future proof our NHS against rising demand. There is no doubt that we are experiencing radical changes in the delivery of healthcare, as such the knowledge and skills required by our allied health professionals has changed too. I would like to cite an example of a small-scale but innovative approach that is supporting students in their practice-based learning. The School of Health Sciences at the Robert Gordon University in my constituency in Aberdeen South and North Concardin has been leading a very contemporary community-based education opportunity, bringing tangible benefit to older people in the most deprived areas in my constituency. The Thursday physio drop-in is a weekly student-led physiotherapy clinic comprising an over 55 exercise class, advice on mobility, posture and strength, all followed by a cup of tea in a familiar setting within walking distance of their homes. Building on that, a new student-led law clinic recently launched in a busy GP practice in my constituency will offer law students the opportunity to gain experience, providing free legal advice to people on low incomes. Barriers to health and wellbeing are complex—housing, finance, negotiating consumer rights—all barriers to the basic requirements of a healthy life, our best life. A first in Scotland, the community law clinic, is connecting justice and allied healthcare to tackle the root cause of issues that contribute to poor mental health and physical health, particularly relevant during the on-going cost of living crisis. I commend Hannah Monego from the Robert Gordon University and Dr Adrian Crofton, lead clinician at the Tory medical practice and everyone else involved in establishing this truly multidisciplinary project. To conclude, I commend all our allied health professionals for their commitment, resilience and contribution to making life better for us all. I again thank Carol Mocken for bringing this really important debate to chamber this afternoon. I thank my colleague Carol Mocken for bringing forward this motion to celebrate allied health professions day 2022. I am grateful for the opportunity to contribute to the debate. Carol, of course, normally replies to members' debates for the health team, so I am delighted that she is leading one herself today. Allied health professionals include 14 different professions. Christine Graham outlined almost all of them, including physiotherapists, radiographers, podiatrists and dieticians, all of them who help us to live better and healthier lives. The work that they do ensures that our approach to health and social care is holistic and is based on prevention. In many of our areas, there are also community link workers working with physiotherapists in the main and helping people to improve their social, emotional and physical wellbeing through prescribing a daily practice of exercise, helping them to develop a healthier lifestyle. However, those key posts at community level might now be under threat because the Government have stripped £65 million out of the primary care improvement fund, some of which paid for these posts. It would be helpful if the Minister could clarify in closing that there are no plans in place for these much-needed additional staff to be cancelled as a result. In our hospitals, for those who are unfortunate enough to succumb to ill health or suffer an accident, it is the allied health professionals working in radiology who perform the scan to help diagnose the disease or injury. It is the allied health professionals who work in prosthetics who do life-changing work in developing and providing artificial limbs to patients who previously thought that they would not be able to walk again. For those suffering with perhaps daily pain and discomfort in their feet from conditions like arthritis, it is the allied health professionals working in orthotic services who can help people improve the quality of their life. In every aspect of our health and social care system, it is allied health professionals who are central to its delivery. However, we are seeing record numbers of vacancies in our NHS with profound consequences for patient care and safety. Over 1,150 of them are in allied health roles. Concerns have been raised around the number of physiotherapists in Scotland that make up the largest area of vacancies within the allied health profession. Statistics show that, although university programme numbers in England have risen by 83%, the increase in Scotland is only 4%. There is a similar story with a lack of radiographers. The Government must really do better at workforce planning or we will store up problems for the future. However, the problems are not just in recruitment and you will forgive me for being parochial. In my constituency, the Vale of Leven hospital physiotherapy service has had to share its location with the minor injuries unit as a result of Covid. They were happy to do that, but they are now being relocated to another part of the hospital, which frankly is unsuitable. Consequently, they are only able to see fewer patients than before and the service suffers. The Government needs to prioritise the remobilisation of rehabilitation services, especially in NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde. It is vital that we do more to not only attract people to those roles but to retain them, too, with decent working conditions that allow them to do their job. Given the pressures that the NHS will face over the coming winter, what the AHPs do around early intervention, prevention and rehabilitation strategies should be at the forefront of our recovery plans, with full support and fair wages given to staff. In closing, I want to take this opportunity to pay tribute to all the allied health professionals who work tirelessly in health and social care across Scotland. We need to support and value them as we work towards our shared objective of helping people to live healthier and better lives. I now call Stephanie Callaghan to be followed by Gillian Mackay for around four minutes. I am delighted to be able to reschedule this debate and celebrate allied health professionals tonight. It was definitely a party the last time from what I saw, and I hope that you all will be partying again tonight as well. When we think of our NHS, it is usually images of doctors and nurses that spring to mind, but the 14 allied health professionals make up the third largest group of healthcare workers in our NHS, and others, including Christine Grahame, have identified these tonight. Allied health professionals play a vital role in the delivery of health and social care services to people across Scotland, and they are rightly valued by professionals, patients and families alike. We have watched our healthcare professionals go above and beyond the call of duty over the past few years, not just adapting their practice, but sometimes their whole lives and showing a selfless determination to provide essential care to others. That includes our allied health professionals, and many of us are forever grateful. Allied health professionals often help reduce or remove the need for medical interventions, helping drive service improvement and sustainability across community and acute sectors, and they are set to play a vital role as we build a national care service fit for Scotland's people. A couple of local stories. In South Lanarkshire, the actual autism hub supports autistic families, including my own, and I remember quite a few parent career sessions organised through the arch with a range of AHPs. The one that stands out most in my memory was a visit from an occupational therapist, and what she did was set out some tasks designed to give parents a flavour of how autistic kids experience the world. For the first exercise, all the parents were given a set of boxing gloves and were instructed to open a packet of crisps, and trust me, it's not easy, it's almost impossible. Next, we were handed a set of binoculars, and we had to turn them around back to the front so that everything looked really, really wee, and then try to step inside some empty boxes. To be honest, it was absolutely hilarious, and I won't ever forget that feeling waving my foot around as I tried to land it inside a large box when my proprioception was thrown right off-kilter. It was really simple, but it was really, really effective, and I was able to experience my child's challenges for myself, and I'm still really grateful to that O.T for giving me that little window into his world. It inspired patients when my child struggled with tasks that others perceived as being really easy, and it really did make me a better parent. Arch also works with a couple of allied health professionals from NHS Lanarkshire, who are trained as specialist autism advisers. They deliver a range of workshops focusing on sensory issues and life skills such as eating, washing and dressing, and offer lots of practical strategies that empower autistic people to really go out there and live their best lives as independently as possible. These AHPs are often described by colleagues as superstars. In Ramon Hutchison, the project coordinator talks enthusiastically about their passion, their curiosity and empathy as they work with families to really understand and support them through the challenges that neurodiversity brings. A second organisation in my constituency, Enable Scotland, places huge value in the allied health professionals that they work with, highlighting their skilled approach and input to multidisciplinary teams as they work to support individuals with really complex needs. I'm told their focus in achieving those outcomes that really matter to individuals is always key from supported self-management to rehabilitation and therapeutic services. Enable Care told me the story of a young Lanarkshire man who spent several years in hospital and how they eventually secured a home where he could live at home in the community with support. That was far from a simple task. It was fraught with complexities and difficulties and it took a long time, but the team's determination actually made that happen. The support of AHPs was really, really critical. It just couldn't have happened without them and this young man got his life back. Presiding Officer, it's only fair we celebrate and showcase the contributions that AHPs make to individuals in our society. So to all our AHPs, we see you and we thank you tonight. Thank you very much, Ms Callaghan. I now call Gillian Mackay, who joins us remotely, who will be followed by Emma Harper. Ms Mackay, around four minutes please. Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. I'd like to thank Carol Mocken for bringing forward this evening's debate and thank all those allied health professionals in the gallery and across the country. Tonight's debate gives us an important space to discuss the valuable work by allied health professionals, the length and breadth of Scotland. Allied health professionals, as we've heard, are a wide and varying collection of professionals, including speech and language therapist diagnostic radiographers, art therapist, podiatrists and many others. Those professionals play a vital role in supporting and improving patients' wellbeing in health settings and across our communities. I'd like to thank Movement for Health for their work in highlighting the great work done by allied health professionals on a range of issues. Amongst their policy asks, they highlight the importance of social prescribing, an issue that I've raised many times in the chamber and in committee. Though we all recognise the importance of our physical health, the importance of wellbeing is becoming an increasingly familiar part of the dialogue within discussions on health. EHPs have the potential to support a wider transition towards more preventative health interventions and for many provide vital support, without which some may have had health issues deteriorated. Social prescribing can allow for more individually orientated healthcare provision. That approach puts the individual at the heart of decision making and outcomes, as opposed to pre-subscribed or genetic outcomes. Without such talented allied health professionals trained across so many various sectors of healthcare, policy initiatives like social prescribing would surely not be possible. In Lanarkshire, in my central Scotland region, there's a well-established social prescribing programme that's been shown to help people by improving self-confidence and self-esteem, reducing low mood and feelings of stress, and helping people to develop positive ways of coping with the challenges of life among other benefits. We must view the relationship between health and wellbeing this way, with both necessary and where helping one improves the other. I must also thank movement for health for highlighting some of the issues raised in the health committees tackling health inequalities in Scotland report. As noted in the report, community link workers are one of those services linking the wider array of allied health professionals to those in the community. One of the report's recommendations was to further embed community link workers across GP practices in Scotland. Community link workers have the potential to further support health and wellbeing and allied health professionals, particularly in areas of deprivation on poor health outcomes, by tying in the expertise of a wide range of social, mental health and physical healthcare providers, including AHPs, and by being able to advise patients on financial and social security issues. As we've heard, allied health professionals make up the third largest workforce in the NHS. Much like other sectors in the NHS, appropriate resourcing is essential to the delivery of good health and social care. Brexit has been a significant driver in recruitment issues in our NHS, and I'm sure many colleagues across the chamber will share my alarm at the announcement of £18 billion worth of public sector spending cuts. The knock-on effect that those cuts would have in Scotland's public sector could be really damaging. As parliamentarians, we have to acknowledge those real and prevalent challenges, especially with the cost of living crisis and the impacts of the Covid pandemic, and ensure that allied health professionals don't just hear our warm thanks but our support in their delivering crucial health and social care benefits, and that they are not left behind in those circumstances. Thank you very much indeed, Mr Kayert. I now call the final speaker in the open debate, Emma Harper, for around four minutes, Ms Harper. Thanks, Presiding Officer. I, too, congratulate Karl Malker on securing this debate. As we've heard already, AHPs encompass a range of health professions, and they make up the third largest workforce in NHS Scotland. I know Tess White said that as well. I, too, welcome those to the gallery in your Parliament this evening, and so it's great that you've came out here this evening. AHPs include dieticians, occupational therapists, orthoptists, physiotherapists, speech and language therapists and, among many others, that have been named as well. Notice how I said dieticians first, Karl. I learned so much about insulin and carb ratios and counting carbs to help manage my type 1 diabetes from a fab dietician, so thank you for that. The breadth of AHP skills and their reach across the age continuum—the third sector, communities and health and care settings—makes AHPs ideally placed to be leaders within the public health environment. Their expertise is used to support prevention, self-management and promote wellbeing, and it's right that we celebrate the contribution of AHPs to the health of the people in Scotland as well as to the prevention agenda and our NHS. Even before the Covid pandemic Scotland, like the rest of the UK, was facing a number of significant public health challenges due to its change in demographics. That change in demographics is driven by improvements in life expectancy of people living longer, but, along with that, people are having fewer children and having children later in life, as well as younger people moving away from remote and rural areas, such as my South Scotland region, towards towns and cities. We know that that brings both opportunities and challenges for the delivery of public services and society at national and local levels. Those challenges have broadened the need for AHPs to ensure that people are being seen by the most appropriate skilled professional. AHPs act as a catalyst by champion prevention and beneficial lifestyle changes to improve health and wellbeing, thus maximising an individual's potential to live full and active lives, so that people can thrive. AHPs can significantly improve productivity, quality and effectiveness by working in collaboration with their medical, nursing and social care colleagues. Complex problems require teamwork within the multidisciplinary team. I know from my former NHS colleagues and from my direct working life in my previous NHS clinical role, that AHPs support patients' flow throughout the whole health system. AHPs are experts in assessment and rehab, and their expertise brings different ideas and perspective to the delivery of services. The role of AHPs is integral to many clinical pathways. However, there is always a huge opportunity to increase and better utiliser AHPs, including them in such as NHS leadership roles. Carl Mawchen is right to ask members to visit local allied health professionals. Just last week, I visited Specsavers in Dumfries, where I was met with her director of NHS services, Stephen McAndrew and the Specsavers' Dumfries director, Elaine Campbell. I was totally impressed by how Specsavers have worked with the Scottish Government, particularly over the pandemic, to ensure that patient needs were met. We discussed glaucoma, visual impairment, vision loss and the excellent knowledge and skills of the team in Dumfries. Specsavers and other optometrists have a demonstrated track record of improving eye health and of dealing with eye problems to avoid hospital visit or admission. I also heard how they are now moving in to do more work to do with audiology. I said welcome an update from the minister on the Scottish Government's work to support and enable audiology into primary care and to ensure access to audiology service for all, as we know it can contribute to productivity, people staying in the workplace longer and they have a better quality of life. I welcome the work of the Scottish Government in committing to raising greater public awareness of the work of AHPs, including through the Scottish Allied Health Professions Public Health Strategy Framework Implementation Plan. With our NHS under so much pressure currently, I would ask if the minister has plans to increase the awareness raising efforts so as to ensure that people are being seen by the most appropriate professional and to prevent secondary admissions to hospital. In closing, AHPs do a fantastic job every day and I thank them all for what they do and I agree that we need to increase awareness of the invaluable role and the contribution of allied health professionals. I invite the minister to respond to the debate minister for around seven minutes please. Thank you very much, Presiding Officer. I'm very grateful for the opportunity to close the debate on behalf of the Scottish Government and I'd like to thank Carol Mocken for moving this motion. I have to say that when I arrived at that reception after many hours of sitting in this chamber it was an absolutely full swing and I was reminded as I have been many times in my professional life of just how can do allied health professionals are. They didn't wait for the politicians, they just cracked on and got on with it. I'm acutely aware that when some people think of our health service they think of ambulances and operating theatres and of accidents and emergencies but what today's debate has shown is the extensive and multidisciplinary roles played by the third largest healthcare workforce our allied health professional community. From physiotherapists to art therapists, from radiography to podiatry, across health, social care, housing, education, prisons and more it is our 14 unique allied health professions who so often are at the forefront of delivering healthcare in this country and I want to thank each and every one of them for the invaluable role that they play in our society. The past two years saw the world face a once in a century event, one of the biggest crises our health service has ever faced and our society has ever faced. The gravity of the situation weighed heavily on the HPE family but day after day they found innovative new ways of working they are can do. I was awd by the way they rose to the challenge. This country and its people owe all the HPEs a debt that can't be repaid as we continue along our road to recovery we will continue to rely on the HPE community to see us through and now it's more important than ever to take an explicit public health focus on how we prioritise the delivery of health and social care. The breadth of services that HPEs provide in communities schools and health settings makes them ideally placed to continue to build on good practice and public health with their focus on early intervention prevention and well-being and that's why the Scottish Government supported the development of a united and collective approach to public health for the HPEs as set out in the Scottish allied health professions public health strategic framework implementation plan. This implementation plan signals a key milestone in expanding the role of HPEs in promoting public health in Scotland along with goals and actions needed to realise this vision. The overall ambition for the role of allied health professionals in public health has been set through collaborative work across the four nations with the development of the UK HPE public health strategic framework 2019 to 2024. It has been important to ensure that the ambition and the goals from the UK strategic framework are relevant in Scotland's unique context and a national oversight group is currently being established. That group will build momentum and monitor progress as we implement the strategy at local level. The Scottish Government recognises the need to recruit and train the next generation of these professions. The Government believes in the power of education and we want anyone with an interest in delivering health care to see a viable path to professional registration and ongoing career development, whether that's investing in a real difference making bursary for paramedic science students worth 10,000 per year or the three tuition fees that are a guarantee for all undergraduate HPEs students or through our commitment to increase reporting radiography training places by 30 from 2020 to 23 as part of our integrated workforce plans. To date 35 students have been funded to complete this training and in addition funding was made available to train 12 assistant radiographers. We've also committed a total of 4.5 million to increase musculoskeletal physiotherapists working in primary care through a funded scheme to increase the number of graduating physiotherapists working in the NHS. 37 students are due to complete their training December 2023 with a further 53 students due to complete training in December 2024. In addition, our funding of the type 2 diabetes prevention framework has enabled the expansion of the dietetic workforce in Scotland and increased patient access to expert dietetic care. With NHS Education Scotland we're investigating the need for dieticians to work in new roles within primary care settings such as GP practices to deliver more prevention, early detection and early intervention as part of the multidisciplinary team. We have also produced a once for Scotland rehabilitation approach published in June 2022 and based on the six principles of good rehabilitation it addresses the challenges of individuals who are emerging from the pandemic with increasingly complex physical and mental health needs that require rehabilitation and the approach has been developed with NHS health boards health and social care partners and third and independent sectors and recognises the crucial role that allied health professionals play in rehabilitation. Finally, I want to mention an investment that I'm really delighted with. Over the next three years we're investing in a new programme of work to support early intervention so that our speech and language therapists come work with our children and their families helping to build confidence and capacity for staff working in early learning and childcare settings, joining up the efforts from across key public services such as health visiting. Colleagues across the chamber have highlighted some unique examples of how EHPs continue to shape the delivery of healthcare across the country but what does the future hold for these professions? How can we make sure that the current approach is consistent with the needs of the people of Scotland both now and in the years to come? That's why the Government's carrying out a review of allied health professional education and workforce led by Scotland's chief HPE officer Carlin MacDonald. Leaders across the profession are working collaboratively and at the centre of the review offering their guidance to chair important work streams or dedicating their time and expertise as a member of the wider oversight group. The scope of the review is unashamedly wide-ranging, looking at the whole system. Everything from recruitment to advancing practice to educational delivery models are being considered and we're doing it in partnership with the EHP community because their continued participation and leadership in this space is absolutely vital to its success. I want to close today's debate by thanking all those who've participated and shared their stories of this inspiring group of professionals. Today we've helped to shine a spotlight on these important roles. Occupational therapists might never have their own BBC drama or maybe my OT pals are going to tell me different. Dietitians might not get a running commentary on the evening news, but each of these unique 14 professions should be celebrated for their continuing commitment to their vocations and the care and support that they provide each and every day across our communities. Now whether that's the physio helping a patient to find their feet after a catastrophic injury or the art therapist providing a means of expression for people in the justice system, they are so often working in areas that we would never think to look. I hope that what we've said today demonstrates the regard in which this Government holds our EHP family. Thank you Presiding Officer. Thank you very much Minister. That concludes the debate and I close this meeting of Parliament.