Item 4 on the agenda is consideration of PE953, in the name of Miss Jean Gall, which calls on the Parliament to urge the Scottish Government to increase awareness of the problem of obstructive sleep apnoea and ensure that the health service is properly funded to treat the illness. I refer members to paper HS/S3/09/31/11, which sets out the details of the petition and the actions that the Public Petitions Committee has taken. I declare an interest, in that Miss Gall is a constituent of mine and I have supported her campaign for a considerable period—members will see that the petition has been going since 2006. I have also spoken at meetings of the Scottish Association for Sleep Apnoea.While members are reading the paper, I shall make my comments. There are several issues that I would like the committee to consider. At the bottom of page 3, in annex A, a letter from the Scottish Government to the Public Petitions Committee states:"there is growing concern that driver fatigue plays a role in a significant proportion of road traffic accidents."Unfortunately, in many accidents in which there are fatalities, such as when an articulated lorry jackknifes on the motorway, one cannot tell whether the driver fell asleep at the wheel, but there is a growing body of evidence on that.On page 4, the letter states:"The UK Medical Research Council ... Clinical Trials Unit, in collaboration with the Respiratory Trials Unit ... at the Churchill Hospital in Oxford, is currently conducting research relating to sleep disorders".I hope that the committee might agree to follow that up and to find out when the research might be concluded.We are told that"The UK Department of Transport has also been conducting research on the potential use of fatigue risk management systems with the aim of developing guidance for those who employ drivers with fatigue-related risk factors."That is another interesting issue. The committee might consider asking the Department for Transport when that research will be published. I also note that the chief scientist office within the Scottish Government would be"pleased to consider research proposals for innovative studies on the subject if these were of a sufficiently high standard."I am pleased to hear that. I do not know quite how one would go about approaching the chief scientist office about that, but perhaps our putting that on the record might alert somebody to the fact that, if they are pursuing such a project, that might be worth considering.I would be interested in the committee's comments. I know too much about the petition and do not want to develop it into a story.
Official Report · Committee
Petitions
Sleep Apnoea (PE953)
Speakers
Choose an MSP to read only their contributions- Christine Grahame SNP 4
- Ian McKee SNP 3
- Dr Richard Simpson Lab 3
- Helen Eadie Lab 1
- Mary Scanlon Con 1
- Ross Finnie LD 1
The record
13 contributionsI support the actions that you suggest, convener. I also support the suggestion that we write to the Scottish Government, the Scottish intercollegiate guidelines network and NHS Quality Improvement Scotland, seeking an update on the review of SIGN guideline 73. I cannot remember whether you were a member of the Public Petitions Committee in the first session of the Scottish Parliament, convener, but that committee was presented with the same issue. The issue has been raised over a long period and I am concerned that, after all these years, we do not seem to have made the progress that we should have made. It would be useful to pursue the actions that you suggest.
I support that completely. That seems reasonable.
I support that, too. I remember speaking on the subject in Kenny Gibson's member's business debate in the first session of the Parliament. Very little has been said in Parliament about sleep apnoea since then; therefore, I support Helen Eadie's proposals.
I point out that the intercollegiate guidelines came out in 2003, so the initial actions of the Parliament were not without consequences. There is a pretty heavy work programme of revising the existing guidelines, and I think that SIGN has consulted on whether it is appropriate to update guideline 73. It is reasonable to ask the question, but I do not think that we should press SIGN to change its programme because of the petition.
No, it is just information gathering.
Yes.
We are just asking for an update on the review.
Paragraph 5 of the clerk's paper states that SIGN indicated that the review might take place in March 2009. We have gone quite a bit beyond that.
The response from the Scottish Government says that there has been consultation on whether there is a need to update SIGN guideline 73. If no new evidence has been produced since 2003—
The issue of evidence is crucial, especially regarding road traffic accidents. I recall a recent one in Australia, when an elderly gentleman was driving his family and fell asleep at the wheel for just seconds and crashed into a concrete post, killing the entire family except himself. That is a horrendous life sentence for him.
The issue is not just traffic accidents. Sleep apnoea poses other health risks.
Indeed, but that gives the issue some urgency and extends the perception of it beyond its being simply a medical condition to its being something that causes huge issues in other areas.
In this meeting
Everything on 2 Dec 2009 →- Scottish Parliament Health and Sport Committee Wednesday 2 December 2009 Committee business · 1
- Decision on Taking Business in Private Procedure · 2
- Subordinate Legislation Subordinate legislation · 2
- Subordinate Legislation Subordinate legislation · 2
- Subordinate Legislation Subordinate legislation · 2
- e-Health Inquiry Evidence session · 200
- Petitions Petitions · 13
- Petitions Petitions · 15
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