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Thank you.

I have a couple of very quick questions. MDTs include not only our physios and pharmacists but people who work in schools, for example. I recently worked in NHS Fife, and children in schools there cannot be given basic medication such as Calpol unless a GP has prescribed it. Dr Kennedy, how is that helping our primary care services?

The Fife local medical committee said that that was the case and that it had been struggling for a year to get schools to change their minds.

My second question also relates to NHS Fife. Those of us who work in primary care want to try to keep people out of hospital—I love to be able to do that as much as possible. In NHS Fife, people who work in primary care are not able to order pretty routine tests, such as a brain natriuretic peptide test for heart failure. Why are there such differences across the piece? There are some basic things that we can do, and I do not understand why it can be said that it is not acceptable for someone who is trained to order an examination that will keep someone out of hospital.

Yes, absolutely. My colleagues will certainly come to those topics.

Recently, we saw a very sad case in England, when one of the Luton Town Football Club players had a cardiac event on the pitch. We have seen such events on multiple occasions. What does the SFA have in place to ensure that we try to prevent those things from happening but also to reassure people that, if something were to happen here in Scotland, we have robust processes in place?

Is there is equivalent diversity in the SFA, too?

I declare my interest as a practising national health service general practitioner and as a BMA member, given that Dr Kennedy is here and my first question is for him.

I am rather concerned about the potential for a two-tier health service, given the issues that we have with recruitment and more generally, specifically when it comes to physician associates. I saw a job advert for a physician associate at Raigmore hospital that said that they would actively undertake clinical supervision of ward nursing staff, junior doctors and student PAs to facilitate the development of clinical skills and practice. NHS Highland followed up by saying that that was an error and that the role in question was a General Medical Council-recognised role. Given that PAs will be regulated by the GMC, might an increasing number of PAs across rural areas be supervising doctors?

My final question is for Laura Wilson. Looking specifically at our rural population, pharmacy first is a great initiative, which allows people to go and get help very quickly when they need it from somebody who is skilled and who knows what they are doing—it is really important to stress that the pharmacists involved are trained to provide such help. However, are there enough pharmacists in rural areas and is there enough time for them to be able to do that fantastic work, or is there a slight difference between what we see in the urban areas and the rural areas?

Thank you, convener, and I should first declare an interest as a former club doctor for Queen’s Park Football Club.

I want to start with transparency, if I may. Look: all fans, regardless of whom they support, think that there is a conspiracy against their club. That is just the way of it. However, with the introduction of video assistant referees—or VAR—there seems to be huge uncertainty about what is happening. Fans in the stadium do not know what is going on, and those watching at home are never overly sure of what is happening, what counts and what does not count. Obviously, I have to be very careful, given that my party leader is a referee, but, for the average fan, there does not seem to be transparency in the game when it comes to decision making and the way that the game is going. How would you respond to that?

Thank you, convener. I declare my interest as a practising NHS GP.

There is a lot of clarity in what has been said, particularly by Nicola Gordon, who spoke about the remit of the national centre. Does the panel feel that the national centre’s remit, as it is set out right now, will significantly address the key issues facing workforce recruitment and retention in rural areas?

It is quite clear from what the panel has said that we should be finding out from the minister exactly what the centre’s remit is and then we can certainly ask you and further panellists whether that is appropriate.

I heard Michael Dickson say that it should be “a badge of honour” to work in remote and rural areas. While I commend everyone who chooses to work in the NHS, and especially those going out to rural areas, that is surely not enough. Do we not need to incentivise people to go out and work in remote and rural areas and try to grab people from other areas to come into Scotland, or even those in the central belt to relocate, so that we increase the number of people coming in rather than try to move people who are already in the area? My question is about incentivisation.