Current Petitions

PE1204, from Jessie Colson, on behalf of the Richard Colson Severe Aplastic Anemia Fund, calls on the Scottish Parliament to urge the Government to recognise and promote the life-saving impacts that bone marrow testing and donation can have on people with life-threatening illnesses, and to provide adequate funding to the Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service to support bone marrow services and encourage more donors.We have had a number of discussions on the petition. The constituency member, Michael McMahon, who has supported the petition on its journey through the petitions process, is here today. He is welcome to comment, after which we will decide whether to keep the petition open or whether it has reached the end of the road.

Thank you for giving me the opportunity to speak again on behalf of my constituents. I have spoken to them recently about the petition's progress, and I must convey to the committee the sense of frustration that they feel. They feel that the purpose of the petition seems to have got lost somewhere along the way.The petition is about expansion of bone marrow donation and the provision of additional resources, if necessary. However, all that has emerged is a clarification of the partnership that will exist from now on between the SNBTS and the Anthony Nolan Trust. The petitioners are not critical of such a partnership. It is helpful for the Anthony Nolan Trust to know where it sits in relation to the SNBTS so, in that respect, the clarification is helpful. However, that response does not address whether there will be any mechanisms for expanding the number of donors, or whether any additional resources will be made available to enable that to happen.My constituents are looking enviously across the border at how the situation is progressing there. The same partnership exists there between the blood transfusion service and the Anthony Nolan Trust, but things are being done differently in Scotland, in that there has been a delineation of the roles of the organisations. However, it is not that issue per se that concerns my constituents. They are concerned about what will be done to expand the number of bone marrow donors, whether additional resources will be made available, and, if so, how much and when. Those issues have not been addressed.We have received clarification about what the Anthony Nolan Trust and the SNBTS are going to do, but we do not yet know what will drive the expansion of the number of donors who are available so that people can receive potentially life-saving bone marrow donations.My constituents are deeply frustrated. I am glad of the committee's support in taking the issues forward and of the meetings with the Government and between the ANT and the SNBTS. All those things are worth while and have expanded the knowledge of my constituents. I believe that my constituents have helped to expand the knowledge of those organisations in return. However, the purpose of the petition has not been addressed, and that is where the frustration lies.

I do not think that enough action is being taken. For example, we should ask the Government why the approach between the blood transfusion service and the ANT in England has not been replicated in Scotland.

Although we agree in principle that the Scottish Government is trying to move things forward, the question is about the length of time that it is taking. There is no question but that it has given its support in principle. However, as Rhona Brankin has just pointed out, what action is being taken to hurry things along and find more donors? After all, that is the main objective.As a result, we should ask the Government to tell us, alongside the welcome research that is being carried out, the action that is being taken to ensure that the conclusions of that research can be implemented speedily and whether it will commit to providing any additional resources that might be required to do that. That would bring together the two necessary parts of the equation for action. We have got agreement in principle and research is being carried out; that is welcome but, in tandem with that, we need the Government's promise that it will act expeditiously on the research's conclusions and provide any additional resource that is necessary.

Members have made a number of good suggestions, particularly on research and parallel approaches, that we can pursue. We will keep the petition open for now, but I should say that this is another of those petitions that we have been unable to resolve but are reluctant to close.I thank Mr McMahon for his time and patience.